Streetwise NEEDS you!!!!

This is Mulenga.  I just adore his sweet sweet face! 

Luis is explaining to the boys where the hats came from.  

God has recently reminded me of the mandate He gave us for the streets kids of Zambia.    Basically it is this.....RELATIONSHIP!!!!   It is all about building trust and establishing relationship.   He has reminded me and refreshed me to the reality that we are not the answer to the issue, Jesus Christ is the answer!  All we have to do is be consistent, to show up when we say we are going to show up and lend a listening ear.  Thats it!   The rest is up to God!  

These guys are showing off the hats the Military Ministry ladies at TSC made for them.  

It is hard to keep the above mentioned in focus when we come in contact weekly with CHILDREN who are hungry, broken, filthy and cold.   I can’t tell you how many times I just want to pile as many of them in my car as possible and bring them home, feed them hot soup, give them hots baths, and tuck them into nice comfy beds in a clean house where they don’t have to worry about roaches crawling on their faces, or being cold, or being robbed.  

Streetwise has grown!  We have been faithful to the best of our abilities to the mandate God has given us.  We have gone out faithfully every wednesday since January 2012.  We have a team!  We even have an outreach coordinator!   We are going to expand the outreaches to a Saturday morning one as well.  We have discovered where the boys sleep in a drainage ditch at night.  So we want to show up there with hot tea and sandwiches when they wake up.  

The Craft Co side of things has been underway for a year.  For that amount of time Luis and I have been slaving away in our living room / dining room developing a product that we can teach the boys how to do and then they can go on and make a living for themselves.  

Our Craft Co display set up on our front porch.  We allow customers to come to our home and shop or place orders.  

Here is the issue......because it is in our home, we cannot bring the boys in to work.  We have three little girls that we need to consider, plus neighbors who might not appreciate the intrusion.  In addition to the fact, I am SICK of tripping over piles of wood and spray paint cans in an attempt to make dinner and do homework with my children. 

Me in our "dining room" / art room

the "dining room" 

How can you help?

1. You can PRAY!  PLEASE PRAY!!!!!!!!!!  We need a space to open up for us to move the operation into!  We have        been looking at one near our home, but the land lord seems to be stalling.   PLEASE PRAY!!!!!!!  We desperately want to work more effectively with the boys!  Also please pray that more people get involved.  We are going to need more day to day help when the Lord allows us to move into the space.   English classes, feeding programs, and SWCO skills. 

2. You can give!  You can give financially to the work.   As of now the cost of running Streetwise is about 300 usd per month.  That includes supplies needed for the Craft Co, supplies for the outreaches and any extra expenses that come up.  When we get into the studio, PRAYERFULLY BY JANUARY!!!!! The costs will shoot up to 2,000 usd per month.  That is inclusive of the rent, bills, food 2x per day for the boys, and wages, plus the above mentioned supplies for the outreaches and the craft co.  Would you be willing to sacrifice two Starbucks a month to give a kid a fighting chance at a future?   Two Vente Caramel Latte is enough to purchase bread and tea for 30 kids!  

3. You can come volunteer your time!!!  “But Myranda I don’t know what I am doing!”  Doesn’t matter one whit!!!!  All  you need is a willing heart and an open mind and a set of clothes you don’t mind getting filthy!  It is FUN! 

4. You can help us spread the word!  Where you are you can hold fundraisers!  

Pancake Breakfasts! 

Spagetti Dinners!

Car Washes!

Fun Runs!

Karaoke Night!!! 

Silent Auctions!

The list is endless!!!!! 

Here is my point......If God is burdening you with Streetwise and you can’t physically get on a plane and come over, NO WORRIES!!!  You can get involved where you are!!  Pray!!  Give!!  ACT!!!  

A missionary is only as effective as the people supporting them!!  

You guys ROCK MY WORLD!!!!!!!!!!  ALWAYS AND FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

If you are interesting in giving financially to Streetwise you can go to tscnyc.org. Click on GIVE.  Follow the prompts to MISSIONARIES then choose our name.  It is tax deductible!  (thats always a plus!!!)

streetwise fun runs rock!!!!!!!!!

Last saturday October 4th 250 people gathered at the Lusaka South Country Club for the 2nd Annual Moonlight Fun Run to benefit Streetwise. 

From left to right Nikki Timmerman, Luis, me and Ilke Greene

Nikki Timmerman and Ilke Greene took the initiative and planned the first one last year.  They both wanted to get involved with Streetwise outreaches, but due to family commitments and husbands work schedules, they are unable to.  They decided this is how they could be involved.  AMAZING!  And again this year.  We never asked for this to be done, they just did it!   What they are able to pull together blows my mind!  And they didn’t do it for themselves or for any thanks....they just want to be a part of the team.  Those amazing ladies raised 2,200 USD!  WOOHOO!!!! 

   

Courtney won first place for the women's!  GO GIRL! 

The guy shown here won last year and again this year!  Yup, he's awesome 

The kids ran a half race and got one of a kind Streetwise participant medals as a reward . 

There was even glow in the dark body paint.....tons of it.  :-) 

We think he took a bath in the paint.  

All in all a wonderful evening filled with laughs and happy memories! 

What is the money going to be used for? 

With in the month (but Africa being Africa, might be January) we will be moving the Streetwise base of operations OUT of our living room and into an actual work space!!!!!  

We are super pumped about that for several reasons, A few of which are....

1. We get our living room back 

2. We will be able to begin bringing the boys into the craft studio on a day to day basis to being teaching them in a more concentrated manner.  

3. We will be able to hold outreaches from the store front.  This will enable us to control the environment the kids are coming into in a productive manner. 

4. Did I mention WE GET OUR LIVING ROOM BACK!?

The money raised will help with rentals,  buying food for the boys that come to the trade school and helping support kids that we send to Teen Challenge rehab.  

How can you help?

PRAY!!!!!!  Pray for us!!!  Pray for our family!  Pray for the Streetwise team. PRAY!!!!! Get a group together and PRAY!!!!!!  A missionary is only as effective as the people praying for them! 

You can give financially.  (I hate putting that part in there, but its true!)

You can hold fundraisers for Streetwise where you are!  Nikki and Ilke saw a need, saw how they could help, and they took off with it.  You could have a car wash, a spaghetti dinner, bake sales, pancake dinners, silent auctions, raffles.  The list of possibilities is endless.  Not only does it raise awareness for Streetwise, it provides an opportunity for you to get your community together for some fun family time!  

PRAY!!!!!!

Thank you so much for your time!!!! 

Luis with one of our Streetwise volunteers, Chibwe.

If you would like to give to what we are doing here please go to tscnyc.org, click MAKE A DONATION, the choose MISSIONS, then MORALES FAMILY, ZAMBIA.  

my tribute to Uncle Mike

As many of you may know my Uncle Mike died last week.  He had terminal brain cancer.  He died surrounded by love and family and went straight to the arms of Jesus.  

As I can't be there for the funeral, I asked my Dad if he could read the following at the service for me.

As I have sat and thought and pondered over the life of my Uncle Mike, the memories that stick most in my mind are of him standing at our stove in Dallas making chili and his laugh.  He made the yummiest chili and he had the most infectious belly laugh of any one I have ever heard.  You couldn’t help but be happy and join in when he laughed. 

When I got the news that he had gone home to Jesus a visual immediately popped into my mind of him wearing a white robe with a baseball hat and I heard his laughter.  It was a laugh of victory, joy and homecoming.  I saw him holding hands with Grandma Marie and Grandpa Gene and my heart was filled with joy and sadness.  Joy that his suffering is over and that he has heard those beautiful words “Well Done Mike Hampton!  Enter into your joy!!!”   Sadness that I won’t hear him laugh until I join him there, and yes it was all tinged with a bit of jealousy.

My father pointed out a crucial fact to me when Mike died.  Uncle Mike lead Dad to the saving knowledge of Jesus, which lead Dad to make the decision to attend the Sheep fold, which lead to him meeting my mother, which ultimately lead to......ME!  I now serve the Lord along with my amazing husband and kids in Africa.  Mike played a crucial role in that!  Kinda mind blowing!  We never know the impact our lives are having!  The groovy thing thing is now Mike sees the bigger picture and he sees that!  

The best way I know to honor my uncle is to share the love of Jesus with you all now.  The saving knowledge of Christ is what drove Mike.  At the core of everything Mike loved Jesus Christ more than anything.  If he were standing here now he would plead with you, probably beg you to consider what Christ has done for you!  One thing I have always respected about Mike is when life knocked him down, he NEVER EVER gave up on his love for Jesus.  He simply picked himself off, brushed off his knees and kept moving forward.   

Jesus Christ died on a cross for you and me.  He died a wicked and cruel death so that we don’t have to be separate from Him for all eternity.  Our sin keeps us separate from the love of Jesus, but the sacrifice He made on the cross is the bridge that crosses the divide.  When He said on the cross “It is Finished” He meant just that.  The driving, the trying, the striving to prove ourselves......the need for all that was wiped away with the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross!!!  It is a free gift!  He loves you and me with a love that is beyond understanding.  Mike would say to you today “Please!  Don’t let the opportunity for peace pass you by!  Let Jesus take away the burden of your heart.....the burden of sin, the burden of sadness and rejection, and let him replace the emptiness with His Joy, with His Peace that goes beyond all understanding...with His Life!!!” 

My Uncle Mike loved life, but more than that he loved the people in it.  No matter what life threw at him, no matter how bad things got, he loved us and he loved Jesus!  

Thank you!