Well the holiday break is almost over and that means the Ice Box will be starting back up. It’s been a good break and a great opportunity to reassess how everything’s been going and where we need to go next. Something I always appreciate is people’s opinions and insights. It usually takes a while for me to form my own, so I want to ask you some questions and hear your feedback.
-As a parent, what do you want your child doing after school?
-Do you have or know any resources in developing young leaders?
-What are some good ways to keep a program like this fresh?
-What are some good ways to get some cheap computers?
-What would an “Ice Box” look like in your community?
We really feel blessed to be a part of this program and want to do the best we can to keep it going and make sure it’s running at its potential. We look forward to your comments and/or replies. Thanks for your time and consideration.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Next Few Weeks
Tomorrow is the last day of the Ice Box for the next few weeks while the students are on holiday. I’m hoping during this time we will be able to assess how this last term has gone and how we can improve. We’ve definitely had some good inroads with some of the students. We decided to add a little something extra to our normal Tuesday pizza night yesterday and took the students to the Imax to watch the new Transformers movie (which was awesome, by the way). We got our tickets a good 20 min before the movie started so we all headed downstairs to the game room just to add to the cool time we were having.
Friday the 3rd, we will be attending our normal monthly Raise-Up-n-Represent event. For the last 4 events we’ve been providing youtube videos for the students to watch while they take a break from the dancing. It’s cool to watch the walls break down when you get a group of the “gangstas”, popular people and not so popular people all laughing at the same thing. They all have this image they want to maintain but when you see something funny you can’t help but laugh and that’s when you realize that in some way we’re all the same. Since this group of videos are already made we can’t add anything to them, but we want to start doing a little more advertising for the Ice Box. One of the ideas is to do a “text to win” thing in-between some of the videos with a question they have to answer. We’ll see how that progresses.
We will also be hosting our very first Parent Date Night on July the 10th. Part of this is a follow up from our family seminar a few weeks ago, but it is also just a service we want to offer the community. From 5-9 pm we will be providing free childcare for up to 30 children ages 3-15 while their parents have some time to themselves. I have a really good feeling about this project and can see it making a huge impact in the families that attend. One of the best ways you can take care of your family is to make sure you’re taking care of yourself and your marriage. The next day is my birthday so I’ll be sure to do something a little more relaxing after a night of watching children.
Morgan and I will also be volunteering at our fourth holiday program at the Community House. We usually only have three or four kids signed up but as the morning progresses we end up with 10-12 each day. Morgan and I will only be helping out the second week instead of both. We always try to make sure we’re there on the field trip days. Last time we went swimming, this time I think we’re going bowling. Since we’ve volunteered for eight weeks we’re really hoping to get some of the parents to come to the Parents Date Night on the 10th.
Well that’s our next couple weeks in a nut shell. We’ll be sure to keep you posted on how each event went.
Friday the 3rd, we will be attending our normal monthly Raise-Up-n-Represent event. For the last 4 events we’ve been providing youtube videos for the students to watch while they take a break from the dancing. It’s cool to watch the walls break down when you get a group of the “gangstas”, popular people and not so popular people all laughing at the same thing. They all have this image they want to maintain but when you see something funny you can’t help but laugh and that’s when you realize that in some way we’re all the same. Since this group of videos are already made we can’t add anything to them, but we want to start doing a little more advertising for the Ice Box. One of the ideas is to do a “text to win” thing in-between some of the videos with a question they have to answer. We’ll see how that progresses.
We will also be hosting our very first Parent Date Night on July the 10th. Part of this is a follow up from our family seminar a few weeks ago, but it is also just a service we want to offer the community. From 5-9 pm we will be providing free childcare for up to 30 children ages 3-15 while their parents have some time to themselves. I have a really good feeling about this project and can see it making a huge impact in the families that attend. One of the best ways you can take care of your family is to make sure you’re taking care of yourself and your marriage. The next day is my birthday so I’ll be sure to do something a little more relaxing after a night of watching children.
Morgan and I will also be volunteering at our fourth holiday program at the Community House. We usually only have three or four kids signed up but as the morning progresses we end up with 10-12 each day. Morgan and I will only be helping out the second week instead of both. We always try to make sure we’re there on the field trip days. Last time we went swimming, this time I think we’re going bowling. Since we’ve volunteered for eight weeks we’re really hoping to get some of the parents to come to the Parents Date Night on the 10th.
Well that’s our next couple weeks in a nut shell. We’ll be sure to keep you posted on how each event went.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Busy Weekend!
We have been beyond busy this last week, especially the weekend. Last Monday a group of campaigners from Harding came in to help our church out. There are 7 of them, but including the 3 Aimers we currently have working with us, that makes 10 college age students looking to our team for work. We are currently hosting two of the aforementioned students while the others are divided up among the rest of the team.
It's been good to have our small numbers boosted by other Christians while we work here. We've also been putting these students to work. While they are here, we are responsible for providing them with some entertainment and devotionals but also with ministry. So we had them help with the Ice Box both Tuesday and Thursday. Then we had them pass out fliers for the Parenting Seminar we hosted on Saturday. We did two flier handouts, one on Wednesday and one on Friday.
Our Parenting Seminar was held at the local YMCA on Saturday afternoon. We currently have Charles and Cara Speer visiting from Sunset Church of Christ and were able to use their experience to teach the Parenting Seminar. We offered it to the community for free and even offered free childcare during the event so that parents could really give their full attention to the information presented. We were pleased with the turnout and how the presentation went and were able to meet several new people as well as see others we previously knew who were able to attend. We are planning some follow-up events to keep the contacts we've made from this seminar involved.
After the Seminar we then hosted everyone over at our house for an All Blacks game that night. Our team did prevail thankfully, but it was a rough game. The following day we had church and dinner for everyone at our house again, which lasted late into the evening.
Normally, Monday would be our day off, but since the Speers are leaving soon, we had a meeting with them to finish up some stuff from our team retreat a few weeks back. The meeting was wonderful and particularly productive, but also went longer than usual. We made it home by about 10pm that night, and are now back to our original schedule of ministry. I'm just about to leave now to head up to the Ice Box where Skylar is already setting up furniture in preparation for the kids arrival this afternoon.
The Harding students leave Wednesday morning and the Speers leave Thursday morning and then we'll be back down to the 6 on our team and the 3 Aimers we have here working with us, and back to our normal routine. It's been exciting to have so many people around and we look forward to next year when, hopefully, the Speers will be back.
It's been good to have our small numbers boosted by other Christians while we work here. We've also been putting these students to work. While they are here, we are responsible for providing them with some entertainment and devotionals but also with ministry. So we had them help with the Ice Box both Tuesday and Thursday. Then we had them pass out fliers for the Parenting Seminar we hosted on Saturday. We did two flier handouts, one on Wednesday and one on Friday.
Our Parenting Seminar was held at the local YMCA on Saturday afternoon. We currently have Charles and Cara Speer visiting from Sunset Church of Christ and were able to use their experience to teach the Parenting Seminar. We offered it to the community for free and even offered free childcare during the event so that parents could really give their full attention to the information presented. We were pleased with the turnout and how the presentation went and were able to meet several new people as well as see others we previously knew who were able to attend. We are planning some follow-up events to keep the contacts we've made from this seminar involved.
After the Seminar we then hosted everyone over at our house for an All Blacks game that night. Our team did prevail thankfully, but it was a rough game. The following day we had church and dinner for everyone at our house again, which lasted late into the evening.
Normally, Monday would be our day off, but since the Speers are leaving soon, we had a meeting with them to finish up some stuff from our team retreat a few weeks back. The meeting was wonderful and particularly productive, but also went longer than usual. We made it home by about 10pm that night, and are now back to our original schedule of ministry. I'm just about to leave now to head up to the Ice Box where Skylar is already setting up furniture in preparation for the kids arrival this afternoon.
The Harding students leave Wednesday morning and the Speers leave Thursday morning and then we'll be back down to the 6 on our team and the 3 Aimers we have here working with us, and back to our normal routine. It's been exciting to have so many people around and we look forward to next year when, hopefully, the Speers will be back.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Happy 26th Elijah
Today was Elijah's 26th birthday. Admist the normal Tuesday business we managed to celebrate at Burger King. I had been secretly sewing his birthday present for the last week or so. I was so excited to give it to him.
At Burger King we hid all his presents in the slides and he had to open them one by one and then slide down the slide with it. It was a blast.
There he is with a candy bar from the Harding students that are visiting.
And here he is with the present I made for him. It was specially requested by him earlier in the year but I'm not sure he really expected them because he seemed quite surprised. I had a blast making them. I think they will be very important additions to the Peters family now.
Happy 26th Elijah!!! Hope it was good.
At Burger King we hid all his presents in the slides and he had to open them one by one and then slide down the slide with it. It was a blast.
There he is with a candy bar from the Harding students that are visiting.
And here he is with the present I made for him. It was specially requested by him earlier in the year but I'm not sure he really expected them because he seemed quite surprised. I had a blast making them. I think they will be very important additions to the Peters family now.Happy 26th Elijah!!! Hope it was good.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Project K Mentoring
Last year Skylar and I heard about an awesome mentoring program here in the Waitakere area high schools called Project K. We asked about being involved, but they already had enough mentors for the year. Last month though, I received an email asking if we'd like to be involved this year.
Today was the first of two Saturday training sessions. It was a blast and really productive. Instead of lecturing, the day was full of tons of experiential learning activities where we performed some kind of task in groups and then reflected on what it taught us. It varied from discussing our opinions with a partner on certain subjects to trying to keep as many balloons as possible in the air as a group. (Our group of 16 was able to get 19, but we had good strategies ready to employ if given another chance.) We had fun learning and bonding with the other mentors and we managed to meet some really neat people in the process.
We have one more training Saturday to go on July 4th and then we'll be ready to be matched up with a Waitakere teenager. We are really looking forward to the privilege of mentoring a youth here in New Zealand. I think it has the ability to positively affect both us and the youth and it goes hand-in-hand with some of the ministries we already have going.
Today was the first of two Saturday training sessions. It was a blast and really productive. Instead of lecturing, the day was full of tons of experiential learning activities where we performed some kind of task in groups and then reflected on what it taught us. It varied from discussing our opinions with a partner on certain subjects to trying to keep as many balloons as possible in the air as a group. (Our group of 16 was able to get 19, but we had good strategies ready to employ if given another chance.) We had fun learning and bonding with the other mentors and we managed to meet some really neat people in the process.
We have one more training Saturday to go on July 4th and then we'll be ready to be matched up with a Waitakere teenager. We are really looking forward to the privilege of mentoring a youth here in New Zealand. I think it has the ability to positively affect both us and the youth and it goes hand-in-hand with some of the ministries we already have going.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Good Times
You know those really good friends that can say what you need to hear in the way you need to hear it, and can listen at the same time? Well, Charles and Cara Speer are that to us. They’ve recently made a trip here to New Zealand to visit with us as a team and to fellowship with some old friends.
This past weekend we had a team retreat in which the Speers helped facilitate. It was a very refreshing and encouraging time. Prior to this we all as a team had a “Charles and Cara day”, where each family got to spend the day doing something fun and enjoyable while mixing in some quality time. Morgan and I took Charles and Cara to play at this really awesome putt-putt place, where Cara won and I came in solid last, after lunch at a great Italian restaurant, only to return after the game to treat ourselves to an awesome cheesecake.
The Speers are with their kids right now enjoying the memories of their times past while touring the country. They will come back next week and Cara will teach a parenting seminar that we are hosting at the local YMCA. Their time here is priceless to us and we praise God for servants like them, so if you have friends like I described above be sure to say a prayer of thanks to God and enjoy every moment you get to spend with them.
Cheers Charles and Cara, good on ya!
This past weekend we had a team retreat in which the Speers helped facilitate. It was a very refreshing and encouraging time. Prior to this we all as a team had a “Charles and Cara day”, where each family got to spend the day doing something fun and enjoyable while mixing in some quality time. Morgan and I took Charles and Cara to play at this really awesome putt-putt place, where Cara won and I came in solid last, after lunch at a great Italian restaurant, only to return after the game to treat ourselves to an awesome cheesecake.
The Speers are with their kids right now enjoying the memories of their times past while touring the country. They will come back next week and Cara will teach a parenting seminar that we are hosting at the local YMCA. Their time here is priceless to us and we praise God for servants like them, so if you have friends like I described above be sure to say a prayer of thanks to God and enjoy every moment you get to spend with them.
Cheers Charles and Cara, good on ya!
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Through the Grapevine
Last Thursday at the Ice Box I was interviewed by a women going to Unitec, a local university. She is majoring in Youth Studies and had to do an assignment on a local youth group. Interestingly enough, she and her professor had heard of the Ice Box through their local networks. This is great because we haven't even done any major advertising. We've mostly just kept it contained to the kids at Massey High School. So the fact that adult networks are talking up the program is really good news.
She came in to observe the program but also needed to ask a bunch of questions. She asked how we got started up and what the goals of our program are. She seemed really impressed with the program and said it was much better than some others she has seen around. She even mentioned her professor is keen to check it out. We talked for close to 30 minutes about the program, the local youth, what we see as the potential for the youth in Massey and how the program can help them.
It was really encouraging to find out that people have been talking positively about the Ice Box. To realize that, after only about 13 or 14 weeks of putting the Ice Box on, we are impacting the youth and positively raising eyebrows in the community inspires us to put even more into it. We have some big plans for the future of the Ice Box. I can't wait to see it in a couple of years, when there's been some returning kids and a crew set in place. I'm keen to see the changes it can make in the community!
She came in to observe the program but also needed to ask a bunch of questions. She asked how we got started up and what the goals of our program are. She seemed really impressed with the program and said it was much better than some others she has seen around. She even mentioned her professor is keen to check it out. We talked for close to 30 minutes about the program, the local youth, what we see as the potential for the youth in Massey and how the program can help them.
It was really encouraging to find out that people have been talking positively about the Ice Box. To realize that, after only about 13 or 14 weeks of putting the Ice Box on, we are impacting the youth and positively raising eyebrows in the community inspires us to put even more into it. We have some big plans for the future of the Ice Box. I can't wait to see it in a couple of years, when there's been some returning kids and a crew set in place. I'm keen to see the changes it can make in the community!
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