Unsung Heroes

By Taylor Lightsey

Ziegler Elementary School is comprised of five to six hundred students from kindergarten to eighth grade. More than a building for learning, this school is a haven for many of its students. Locked down from the outside this concrete building with no air conditioning (a foreign concept to this Floridian) is nestled in the middle of a low-income, high-crime profiled neighborhood in northern Philadelphia. Parallel-parked cars crowd the roads and each tiny town house sits but a few feet away from its neighbor. Many of the students at Ziegler walk to school through this same concrete jungle in which they wouldn't dare play basketball in for fear of the violence that has enveloped this little neighborhood.

The biggest challenge these children face growing up is being overcome by a worldview that limits them to dropping out before completing high school and naturally sliding into the same impoverished lifestyle led by the previous generation.

Where I come from, you ask a small child what they want to be when they grow up and expect a bright eyed response of becoming a ballerina, an astronaut, and at least one dreamer who claims that they will surely be a pirate.

On our first day at Ziegler, as we asked this same question we quickly realized that to ask them to dream was foreign, unfathomable. Most of the children's spirit to dream has long ago been disheartened as they grow up witnessing divorce, domestic violence, abandonment, adoption, drugs, gang violence, murder, etc.

Dreaming is not the only rare commodity around Ziegler Elementary. For the vast majority, also unfamiliar to these children are organized sports, problem resolution, and school spirit—really… spirit in general. This community is in a drought; void of the fruit of the spirit and the living water that is the gospel.

Our goal as a team of 6-8 was to throw these 550 students the first spirit week Ziegler had ever seen. On paper it sounds impossible, but serving a God who can't be summed up in simple text, we were blessed beyond our means. Especially with such a small team, I knew God would have to do something drastic here. He would have to be the one to move in the hearts of these kids to let them be spirit filled. We could have had all the supplies and ideas in the world, but God would ultimately have to do the heart work.

Going in, being firmly grounded on a plan of action— that rug was quickly ripped out from under us and that is when I believe the Holy Spirit took over. Through the medium of stickers, coloring sheets, silly dances, competitive games, candy giveaways, a school painting project, and organized sports, we brought the students daily virtuous lessons of Hope, Individuality, Self Control, and Friendship.

The same kids who are daily serenaded with violence rather than resolution and raising your voice rather than reasoning, were so quick to respond to our questions of what it means to have hope and to be a friend.

The same kids whose view of love has been severely fractured by their environment were quick to light up as they saw us walking down the hall, learn our names, and race to wrap their arms around our waists for a quick embrace between classes.

Our goal was to give the kids 5 days to take ownership, to reclaim their right to dream beyond what society expects of them; to give them back a hope that, where they come from, does not have to dictate who they will become because that is not where their identity lies.

Society says anonymous; God says priceless. Society says they've already failed so why bother; God says that Christ came so we have life and have it abundantly.

These kids are hungry; hungry for more than their school certified free meals that most of them depend on, they are hungry for the love of Christ. I was privileged to be the hands and feet to represent this love to them last week and challenged to pray for the unsung heroes that have dedicated their life's work to influencing the beautiful little souls that walk the halls of Ziegler Elementary School.

Spirit Week Report

By Jenn Kingsley

After being here for a couple of weeks without her, my fellow intern Taylor finally got to Atlantic City on May 31. Right away, we were presented with a bunch of materials and given the assignment to determine a curriculum plan for Spirit Week at Ziegler School in the inner city of Philadelphia.

Taylor and I spent hours of work brainstorming and reading through the material that was given to us. We had no idea what was in store for us for the up coming week, but we wanted to be fully prepared for whatever came our way.

The Grace Falls family partnered with Northeast Community Outreach, with the help of three women from Dayspring Baptist in Mobile, Alabama, Ed from Heritage Baptist in Cantonment, FL and Toby and Kyleen of Impact International Ministries in Kentucky, worked hard to make this a fun-filled week for students and faculty.

I was terrified to get up in front of 200+ kids and teach them principles such as hope, individuality, self-control, and friendship. On Monday I quickly noticed that the curriculum that Taylor and I had put together was not going to relate to students in the urban environment. As a team, we all worked together to adjust our plans and come up with activities that would be best suited for these students.

I am a very structured person, I like plans, and to know what is in store. As I served at Ziegler, God really worked with me to trust in His plans and to be able to go with the flow. To be honest, I am so thankful that this is how things worked out. I learned that I do not need to rely on my own plans and schedule, but rely on the Lord’s plans for me.

Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today.

Continuously all week long Exodus 14:13 kept coming to my mind. So often I like to have control over a situation I knew that God was reminding me to just stand still, don't stress out, because the Lord always has the right things planed.

Our team lead assemblies everyday that included interactive videos and games so we could reach out and get personal with the students. As the week progressed, we began to build relationships with these students. I would walk down the hallways and was bombarded with hugs from kids that were so excited that a group of individuals would come to their school everyday of the week to show them love, compassion, and most of all, have some fun! To say the least, I felt like a celebrity that week.

Out of the 550 students in the school, this one little kindergartner really stood out to me. Her name was Charlie; she has the brightest blue eyes and beautiful curly hair. The timid look on her face immediately got my attention. Throughout the week I was able to get to know more about her through talking, laughter, and dancing, of course! Every time we passed each other in the hallway we always gave each other this goofy face, followed by heart felt laughter. She really won me over.

Though our team was not able to teach theses principles in a biblical perspective, Christ revealed Himself throughout the week. The children really took in and understood what we were teaching. Though this was the first of many projects being done at Ziegler School, I am so blessed to just have been able to be apart of a great team that spent time at this school. Being able to come alongside the great kids and faculty to encourage, uplift, and just love on this community has really touched my heart.

I am excited to see what is in store in the future with Northeast Community Outreach and Ziegler School!

Ziegler Spirit Week

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Our God is awesome and yet we are continually dumbstruck by His power as He prepares the path before us! We praise God for His goodness.

Grace Falls’ Pastor Buff McNickle and Pastor Alonzo Johnson of Northeast Community Outreach continue to partner together to reach the hurting of the northeast as they combine their experience, gifting and resources to spread the Light and love of Jesus Christ.

This has been a tremendous week as we have been invited to host School Spirit Week activities at William H. Ziegler School in the Frankford neighborhood in North Philadelphia. Principal Spina and the teaching staff have graciously adjusted their schedule to accommodate us as our team helps students to celebrate the end of the school year through fun activities, while teaching valuable life-lessons.

We recognized that God was preparing our steps when we discovered that the ThinkOrange.org materials that we subscribe to for the Children’s Gatherings at Grace Falls also have materials that have been developed for use in the public school system!

Using this valuable resource this week, we have been featuring a character trait, animal and color of the day. Activities and discussion-stimulating opportunities have been developed to build on the traits of Hope, Individuality, Self-Control and Friendship.

With the help of summer interns Taylor and Jenn, plus volunteers Kyleen and Toby of Kentucky, Ed of Florida, and Vallie, Allison, & Catherine of Alabama, the students have been allowed to take a break from their school work, appreciation has been shown to the teachers and support staff, and everyone has seemed to have a good time!

Principal Spina indicated that he would love for the team to paint a mural of the United States in the school’s recreation area. Members of our crew prepared the outline and then each teacher selected a student to represent their class who would participate in the painting process. Principal Spina explained that “ownership” eludes most residents in this community, so it will be important for these students to feel that they own this artwork and will treasure the investment they have made by contributing.

Early in the week, the Student Leader Team was invited to a pizza lunch. When asked what their greatest concerns for their neighborhood were, comments included:

• Graffiti on the walls and the dirty streets made their neighborhood feel depressing.
• Because it is not safe to play outside, one boy told how his father has set up a basketball hoop in the basement so his dad could have a safe place to teach him to how to play.
• At least seven of the 15 students had witnessed a shooting.

Yet, through simple activities such as bouncing a beach ball to one another, several students expressed that they had never had such an exciting time at school! They also cheered and laughed as teachers were invited to participate in a dance-off!

• Please continue to pray for this team during the remainder of the week.
• Pray that the students will remember the valuable life-lessons being presented.
• That trust will be established and deeper relationships can be built in the future.
• Pray especially for the activities on Friday as the team meets with 8th grade students and cast a vision for their future as they prepare to enter high school.
• Pray for provision as we have incurred greater expenses than anticipated.

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See the entire album here.

Introducing Summer Intern Jennifer

My name is Jennifer Kingsley, but most people know me as “Jenn.” I am 21 years old. Born and raised in Tampa, Florida. I am going on my fourth year in college, and recently accepted into nursing school! I am a very adventurous person. I love being outdoors and seeking new places. I grew up running track, specializing in hurdles. Fun fact, I was a state finalist in my event during my high school years. Since college, I have found a new love for beach volleyball.

On a more personal note, my faith was made real in May of 2015. Although that may not be a long time, the amount of things that the Lord has taught me in this short time, has stretched me immensely (My story is extensive, but I would love to share it with you sometime). Since that day I have experienced the constant unconditional love, mercy, and grace that my Savior has given me. Now I feel the all consuming urge and desire to share that kind of love with others.

I have been an active member of Idlewild Baptist Church in Lutz, Florida, where I hold a position in leadership in the college-age ministry and have been active in their outreach ministries. I really have a heart for serving by coming alongside individuals and encouraging them through life-on-life discipleship.

A few months ago, I learned of the opportunity to be apart of Grace Falls as a summer intern and to serve in New Jersey. I was immediately intrigued to learn of just some of the ministry work that is being done in this community. I was given a chance to take a weekend trip to visit and experience what I was going to be involved in over the summer. Let me tell ya, I was blown away! I got a taste of ministry like I never have before. Immediately, I was plugged in with a fantastic group of women who share a mutual passion for women who work in the adult entertainment industry. The stories and fellowship I shared with this group sparked a desire to be apart of this ministry.

I am really looking forward to all of the opportunities that come my way to further the Gospel in the South Jersey and Philadelphia areas this summer. I come expectant, seeds will be planted, and lives will be changed in the name of Jesus.

Your Plans Or His?

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From the breaking of the daylight Help us see the world through Your eyes Finding beauty in the broken Trusting promises You've spoken

CHORUS You've got plans to give us a future and a hope We are not forgotten We are not alone Plans to lead us home into Your heart You are always with us Everywhere we are

On and on Your love will never stop Shining down upon us Never letting up On and on Your love will see us through Even in the shadows We will trust in You

VERSE You stay loyal for a lifetime Through the shadows and the sunlight When our worries overtake us We believe that they won't break us

If you are making plans for your life and you are not seeking God then you probably won't be successful at what you are attempting to do. God doesn't usually bless your plan for your life, in fact He seems to take delight in upsetting the plans that we have made without Him, just when you begin to move with your plan it can all fall apart in a heartbeat.

 "My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the LORD. "And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts."

Isaiah 55:8-9

We all have dreams, we tell our kids to dream big, we all have ideas about what we want to be when we grow up or how we want our life to turn out. God did not put you on Earth to live for yourself and He didn't put you here to make your own plans. There isn't any good reason that I should settle for my plan when His plan is for me to do far greater things than I could even imagine.

Are you in a place you never expected to be? Has God taken you on a path you never would have chosen?

God has not deserted or forgotten about you, usually it is the other way around, we forget about Him. We get ourselves into circumstances that were not chosen by God, and suddenly we realize that we have been making our plans without Him and it isn't working out so well.

God knows exactly what He is doing. Most of the time we need to slow down and wait for him so that we can hear Him speak into our life over all of the noise. You need to realize that He is desiring to accomplish more in you and through you than you could ever think or imagine.

Spring Break Bowling

We had a great time rewarding the children that participate in our After School Homework Help program. The children had a great time with unlimited bowling during their spring break. The children worked hard this year to get better grades and really deserved this bowling and pizza celebration.

Buff and Cissy McNickle and Tami Webb had additional help from Ron Lewis from the Pleasantville Community Center, Tabitha visiting from Albertville, Alabama and Adam Ingvaldsen and Taylor Lightsey visiting from Hudson, FL.

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