Tutoring

Since leaving Wonder City last December I have not been as involved in direct ministry. Although I am still teaching and preaching, I am not doing these activities on a set regular basis. My ministry has been more through developing new relationships and helping out where needed.

Yesterday, I started attending “1 Up” as a tutor to elementary age kids. “1 Up” is Memphis Urban Ministry’s after-school tutoring program in the downtown community. This program was started earlier this school year. Although, I am needed, this will now become a regular part of my ministry with MUM post Wonder City.

I enjoyed yesterday. Although different from the after-school program we had at Wonder City, it was good to hang out with the kids and help them with their homework and subjects where they need to improve. Yesterday, I was helping Tameesha, a kindergartner, with matching and phonics. Her phonics homework involved looking at a picture, saying what it was, and writing the letter that made the final sound in the word (ex. one picture was of a fan and she needed to write the letter “n”). No matter what word I used to indicate the final, last, end sound of the word, Tameesha kept saying the beginning sound of the word. Eventually she got the hang of what she was supposed to be doing and finished her homework quickly.

So far “1 Up” is enjoying success. Yesterday the student brought their second report cards. All the students were able to improve at least one letter grade in most of their subjects. I don’t remember any student who had an “F” on their report card for this previous grading period. I believe this is due to the quality of volunteer tutors our Outreach Minister, Dorn, has put together and the one on one tutoring the students have been receiving two days a week. SAY YES! at Wonder City didn’t enjoy this level of success for a couple of reasons: 1) only one day a week and 2) 5 students to one mentor/tutor. I hope and pray that God will continue to allow us to see this level of success at “1 Up.”

Growth

The next couple of weeks I will spend some time reflecting out loud about my time at Wonder City. It is hard to believe that I only have two more weeks left at Wonder City after being here seven years. One of the things I that I have noticed the most over that time is the growth that has taken place at Wonder City. Seven years ago (back when I was a lowly apprentice) when Chris (the minister who founded Wonder City and whom I originally worked under) would bring up an issue with the church members to discuss they would usually automatically defer to whatever Chris thought. They had a hard time understanding and grasping that this was their church and they had ownership in the church. They had a right and a duty to help make decisions and shape the future and direction of the church. Now we have Servant Leaders. Spiritual ladies who help make decisions that affect the church. Even when an issue is taken to all the adults they don’t have a problem any more telling me what they think (without deferring to my judgment). An example is a couple months ago I had ordered some curriculum for the Wednesday adult class. After going through the first book, I had several adults let me know they didn’t like it and they thought it was under where they were. So I returned the remaining books and we started something different. This past Wednesday they let me know they like what we are now studying.

You may be reading this and not see anything significant about it. However, this is a huge step for the poor and depressed. They are used to having their lives acted upon and being told what to do. The government tells them where they can and cannot live, how much food stamp money they will receive, and the list goes on. As a result they lose any sense of ownership (even over their own lives). So when someone comes along and gives them a choice and sincerely wants their input, they don’t know what to do with that. Therefore they will usually defer to the one asking the question. Consequently learning the ability to regain ownership and no longer be a victim in one area (such as church) means they have learned a skill they can transfer into the other areas of their lives (schooling, housing, etc.). This is also a key to breaking the cycles of poverty. Adults who take responsibility and ownership of their lives can pass that trait and ability on to their children.

Wonder City has undergone tremendous growth over the past several years. This is just one example. There is not enough time or space to discuss them all.

School Store & Denpendency

This week we held our annual back to school supply giveaway. We had 125 parents come through and pick up supplies for over 350 students. The few leftover supplies were donated to Maddox Elementary School.

This week’s school supply giveaway—while a great service to our community—has allowed me some time to reflect on the subject of dependency. One reason is that I knew there would be people whom I never see except for at our giveaways who would walk through our doors yesterday. Additionally, we have had one of our founding families recently walk away due to the churches’ unwillingness to continue to support their dependency issues. It breaks my heart when I see people who are so dependent on others they will do nothing for themselves. It takes a lot of work and a lot of time to break the cycles of poverty and dependency. However, it is possible. While at the School Store on Thursday I heard a success story. A young lady who attended WC as a teenager (but hasn’t been around for about 4 years) will be entering her senior year at University of Central Arkansas (Conway) next week. She will graduate next spring with a teacher’s degree. She has also made it this far without having a baby. In fact her family member who was giving me this information told me that she said, “I don’t have time for a baby.” I don’t know to what extent the time she was at Wonder City has helped her achieve her life goals and break some of those cycles of dependency for herself (and hopefully her children). However, what I do know is that it is possible.

A Success Story?

It is too early to know just how much of an impact has been made this past school year. Through the quiet generosity of several individuals a 2nd grader from Wonder City was able to attend West Memphis Christian this school year. Earlier this week we received a note from her teacher, telling us the great progress this student made academically. Her reading level has gone from 1.3 to 2.3! While she is still slightly behind where she needs to be—she has progressed a whole reading level during the course of a school year. She has also completed 13 levels on Math Facts in a Flash. However, I believe that her accomplishments academically pale in comparison to what has been accomplished spiritually. After school every day she has been coming to the church office to wait on her day care van to pick her up. For the past couple of weeks (at least that is how long I have heard her) she has been signing Christian songs like Sanctuary and Someday. Here is a young girl, singing “Oh Lord prepare me, to be a sanctuary…” all on her own. She doesn’t care who is around or who hears her! This combination of education and love of Jesus is exactly what it will take to break the cycles of poverty in the lives of many served by Wonder City. Sadly, at this point this child’s mother has decided to return her to public school next year. It is my hope and prayer that God will take this one year and use it as a base that will propel her throughout the rest of her life. But, I am also praying that her mother changes her mind!