11/26 Update Rob
I realized that it has been a month since I have updated this. It has been a very busy November. The office has been so busy with volunteers helping us get ready for the Christmas Store where the kids come and shop for their mothers. We use this to try and teach the kids the joy of giving and give them the diginity to come in and pick out a few gifts for the mothers. Most of the kids don't have the opportunity to get a gift for their moms and last year (with no advertising) we had 150 kids through the store. This year is going to be great, we are expecting close to 300 kids.
The weekend of the 16th we took 27 AtG kids and 10 kids from 4th Avenue Church's youth group on a leadership weekend. We had an incredible time at a farm in Tullahoma and the kids were given some experiences that they have never had before. The girls stayed in the main house and the boys were in a cabin at the back of the property. We had a lot of fun, the kids got to go down a firepole, we stood on the back porch of the cabin and looked at a natural stream that drops 75 feet right behind the cabin, we had a bonfire, played football, shot a BB gun and chased cows. We had a lot of fun, but the teaching on leadership really challenged the kids to step up and make a difference in their worlds. We had 3 teaching times where we learned three key aspects of leadership; vision, integrity and service. The weekend ended with the kids from 4th washing the feet of the AtG kids. I was so impressed with how the AtG kids handled this. They displayed respect and maturity. I even had one of the boys ask if he could wash my feet. What a humbling experience.
I'll try to keep this updated through the holidays. We are going to be busy and are taking a break to visit family in Michigan, but check back for more updates. If you want to get our updates in the Newsletter, send an email to newsletter@atghope.org and send your mailing address.