You Are Invited to a Party

Nini and a friend are out delivering invitations...

She wanted me to give this one to you:

Adoption Reception

• Friday, April 16, 2010
• 6 to 9 pm
• At South Side Mission 1127 S. Laramie Peoria IL 61605
• We will be partying in the gymnasium, the Chef School kitchen, and the board rooms
• This is a dessert reception. Come after supper and have a cup of coffee while dipping strawberries in the chocolate fountain.
• No gifts, please. Your presence is your present. : D
• Kids can play in the gymn as they run off all that dessert. There will be a quieter place to talk in the board room.
• Park in the back lot

Please RSVP if you are coming, to pandjnewton@yahoo.com. We will need a head count for the caterer.

If you prayed, you're invited. We'd love to see you and praise the Lord together. Come and meet Esther Anina Newton.

"The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy."

-psalm 126

How to Take Someone to Church with You

This smiling volunteer painted Ella's fence back in 2007, beginning a servant-evangelism story that culminated with Ella coming to church yesterday.

Ella went to church on Sunday.

So what's the big deal, you say? A lot of people went to church on Sunday. What's so special about that?

Well Ella went to church on Sunday. That's a big deal if you know Ella like we do.

You see, about five years ago, we started working with Ella on one of South Side Mission and Northwoods Community Church's adopted blocks. Faithfully twice a month, we would knock on Ella's door, trying to get a chance to meet her. We had our banana bread ready to bless her with and to pray with her. We would hear her shuffle her feet behind the door. We figured that she was peering through the peephole trying to determine who these smiling folks were who showed up two Saturday mornings a month at around 9:30. For a year, we knocked. The door never budged open.

We knocked on the 20 degree days, to say hello as we shoveled the snow off her porch and sidewalk. We knocked on the 90 degree days, ready with an inexpensive electric fan to give her some relief from the heat. We knocked on rainy days and pleasant ones too. Another year went by with no word from Ella.

Finally, after two years, in 2007, Ella finally opened the door to us. She greeted us pleasantly and said something akin to "I guess you're not going to go away." We introduced ourselves and offered our services. We told her about South Side Mission's Hope Builders program that helps south side homeowners with free "big ticket" home repairs. We asked her if she had any prayer requests and if we could pray with her. She was interested in the home repairs and had several projects for us, including painting her picket fence out front and the wrought iron porch rail. Also there was the cracked window and a little work on a bathroom inside her home. It was a great visit. Ella did not want to talk to us about spiritual issues, though, and we left the door open to bring it up at a further date.

Well, from there, Ella had all kinds of projects. In 2008, Hope Builders volunteers painted the large privacy fence that she enjoys in her backyard. In 2009, volunteers painted the exterior trim on Ella's home as well as her porch swing. We would always look for an opportunity to speak into Ella's life the life-giving message of Jesus Christ. Ella, was always a bit hesitant each time we would bring it up.

So when Northwoods Community Church and its adoptablock partners South Side Mission launched a bus ministry to take folks from Ella's block to church and sent out invitations, we were floored when we received an RSVP from a classy and very private lady whom we all loved--Ella.

Ella did go to church at Northwoods on Sunday. She enjoyed riding the bus each way and was blessed by the service. We hope and pray that Ella will come to know the Lord and grow in a relationship with Him. We sure have enjoyed growing in our relationship with Ella. She is precious.

And that's why it's a big deal.

Ministry By the Numbers - February 2010

HIGHLIGHTS FROM FEBRUARY 2010

Decisions to follow Christ for the month
280

Average number of homeless women & children housed nightly
23

Families served with free clothing, furniture, appliances & housewares
414

Avg. Attendance at Roosevelt Magnet School before school Bible study
50

Attendance in our Laramie Street Sunday School, weekly
37

Attendance at our RiverWest Bible Study
3

Avg. Attendance at Trewyn Middle School before school Bible study
15

Elderly Services home, hospital or nursing home visits
58

Formerly homeless women moving out successfully
2

Avg. Attendance at Harrison Primary School before school Bible study
20

Food baskets given away at our RiverWest Satellite Office
13

Average attendance at the Lighthouse Diner
16

Avg. Attendance at Manual High School before school Bible study
12

Kids enrolled in after-school tutoring
62

Churches that have Adopted Blocks in 61605
15

Food baskets given away through our Garden Street Benevolence Center
305

Attendance at our South Side Manor Bible Study
9

College Club kids enrolled in college
14

Food baskets given away at our Harrison Homes Satellite Office
40

Attendance at our Harrison Homes Bible Studies (2)
18

Attendance in our Chapel services, Laramie Street, weekly
45

Volunteer hours, as a ministry
1,578

Attendance in our Chapel services, Garden Street, weekly
179

Attendance at our B’Nai B’Rith Bible Study
11

Pastoral care visits & counsels (non-elderly)
62

Attendance at our Hurlburt House Bible Study
10

Hot meals to the poor
4,895

FINANCIALS FROM FEBRUARY 2010

Monthly revenue vs. budgeted
$174,331/$125,276

Monthly expenses vs. budgeted
$243,688/$254,713

Positive or Negative on the Month
- $69,356

Yearly revenue vs. budgeted
$366,468/$250,552

Yearly expenses vs. budgeted
$499,854/$505,417

Positive or Negative on the Year
- $133,386

How we’re doing versus budget
+ $121,479

Indicated decisions for Christ 280 February 2010 was one of those blessed months when it seems like every department at South Side Mission gets into the act on evangelism. The Holy Spirit is not a respecter of persons and brought folks of all shapes, sizes, colors, and ages to a Saving Knowledge of Jesus Christ in February. Here’s how the numbers shook out: there were three in Mission at Prayer, 13 in the Breakout Youth Center, one in Kings Kids, 15 kids at our before-school prayer meeting and Bible Study at Roosevelt Magnet School, six kids at our before-school prayer meeting and Bible Study at Harrison Primary School, six at our Harrison Homes Satellite Office, two at our RiverWest Satellite Office, two at our Seniors Bible Study at Hurlburt House, one on the Adopted Block of El Vista Baptist Church, eight in chapel at Laramie Street, one in Mission Mart!, one in Elderly Services, and an amazing 221 at Benevolence Center!

We have a new Bible Study going on in the Harrison Homes Satellite Office of South Side Mission. The Discipleship Bible Study meets on Sunday mornings.

Verla who showed up for some clothing at our Benevolence Center. She went to chapel and finished shopping around 10 am. She came back in less than an hour, crying and very upset, and asked if she could speak to someone. She needed someone to talk to and Mike and Steven went to the office to listen. Verla went on to share how her boyfriend got in a wreck and left her in the car with three children. He never returned. She was crying uncontrollably and she began to share she was 13 weeks pregnant and was thought about having an abortion. The baby’s daddy gave her direction to abort this baby and this feeling she could not describe was tormenting her. Verla said that she was a Christian and she knew she had made mistake .Her feelings she was having were real to her and she could not erase them from her mind. We prayed and talked for over an hour and we surrounded her with Pastors phone numbers and the team at the mission followed up with her. The last report we received was a good one from one of our pastoral team. Verla has been going to church and the baby’s daddy decided not to abort the baby.

Thanks for all you do to help those we serve. Drop me a line anytime to tell me what you think of this report. If you’d ever like a VIP tour of our ministry, let me know. Thanks!

In Christ,

Phil Newton, Executive Director

When Brethren Dwell Together in Unity

Pastor Jeremie Davis of Laramie Street Baptist Church prays with South Side Mission Assistant Executive Director, External Ministries, Rev. Craig Williams and representatives from 20 area churches at an Adoptablock Summit, held at South Side Mission February 27th, 2010.

There is great power when God's people come together for a common cause. We saw that first hand on Saturday, February 27th at South Side Mission.

Every so often, we convene churches that have signed up to do Adoptablock with South Side Mission in zip code 61605 and those that are interested in joining the team. We praised the Lord together, celebrated the Lord we share in common and compared best practices and stories of lives touched through the ministry of Adoptablock.

Churches represented were:

• Northwoods Community Church
• St. Jude Catholic Church
• City on a Hill Church of Christ
• New Life Church, Morton
• Imago Dei
• Richwoods Christian Church
• Maranatha Fellowship
• We Care Ministries
• New Jerusalem Baptist Church
• Sovereign Grace Missionary Baptist Church
• Laramie Street Baptist Church
• New Beginnings
• Woodland Baptist Church
• Christ Lutheran, Peoria
• Word of Faith
• Fresh Fire, Canton
• New Hope International Ministries
• Abundant Hope
• City of Refuge Worship Center
• United Fellowship
  

These churches share in the vision to see all 310 blocks in zip code 61605 won for Christ, discipled and plugged into local, Bible-believing churches through servant-based, door-to-door evangelism and ministry. That's what Adoptablock is all about.

We at South Side Mission are grateful to Dream Center Peoria for introducing us to this vital ministry back in 2002. DCP operates its own Adoptablock program in Taft Homes. Our dream is to someday meet the folks at DCP over by the baseball stadium, declare each of our areas completed and start on the next zip code!

For more information on Adoptablock at South Side Mission, please call Reverend Craig Williams at (309) 676-4604 or email Craig at craigw@southsidemission.org

A Smoldering Wick

Matthew 12:20 says:

"A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out, till He leads justice to victory."

Do you have a situation in your life that has you feeling like smoldering wick--just about totally burnt out--with little hope for the future?

Take heart, my friend. The latter part of Matthew 12:20 has a promise for you. It says "till he leads justice to victory." I have often thought that the promises from God's word don't feel like promises until we are in a position to take him up on them. Are you needing victory after a long and painful battle? Take God up on the promise of Matthew 12:20.

It has been my experience (and the experience of many saints before me) that God swoops in at the last possible moment, just before that reed would break or that wick loses the last of its warmth, to provide victory in our battle. In doing so, the Lord adds another chapter to His legend and gains even more glory. He gets the victory, but we get to share in it. Thanks be to God for causing us to triumph.

What Happens When the Lighthouse Meets Soveriegn Grace

[top photo - SSM Assistant Executive Director, External Ministries Reverend Craig Williams, left, checks in with volunteer Joe Forbis and Deacon Phil of Sovereign Grace, right]

What happens when the Lighthouse meets Sovereign Grace?

Somebody ends up getting blessed--that's what happens!

The Lord gave us a vision, several years ago to see South Side Mission, or a satellite office of the Mission located on the north, south, east, and west sides of zip code 61605. This way, people in need in our beloved 61605 can be within walking distance of the Mission or one of our ministry sites. We want to eliminate transportation as a barrier to the Gospel and to getting something like a food basket or a warm coat.

Our latest satellite office will be at the corner of DuSable and Martin on the north side of the South Side, if that makes sense to you. It will be inside the new Sovereign Grace Missionary Baptist Church. Our friends at Sovereign Grace Missionary Baptist will be renovating the old Lee Auditorium and were kind enough to reserve a spot for a South Side Mission satellite office in the rear of the church.

We returned the favor by applying our Hope Builders resources to their project, providing much skilled labor at no cost to the church and, in the process, helping to carve out what will be a beautiful new sanctuary. God is good!

Satellite Offices of South Side Mission can be found in the Harrison Homes and RiverWest housing projects and offer free food baskets, clothing, after-school tutoring, substance abuse support groups, Bible studies, community outreach picnics and more.

Rise Up in the Presence of the Aged

Gloria (left), a great friend of ours who lives at the senior citizens complex South Side Manor and South Side Mission's Director of Elderly Services Robin Winfrey, RN pal around before a recent Bible Study at South Side Manor.

Meet Gloria. She is one of our faithful attenders of the Seniors Bible Study at South Side Manor housing complex. Gloria loves the Lord and enjoys opening the Word with us. We are grateful to have a faithful group that comes to study the Bible the first and third Thursdays of the month at 1:30 p.m. South Side Manor is at 915 S. Helen in Peoria.

We have two other Seniors Bible Studies that happen regularly. The Hurlburt House study is the second and fourth Thursdays of the month at 1:30 p.m. Hurlburt House is at 818 W. Hurlburt in Peoria. The B'Nai B'Rith study meets every Tuesday at 9:30 a.m at 215 Sam J. Stone in Peoria.

It's our goal to set up Seniors Bible Studies at each seniors housing facility in zip code 61605. I have had the privilege of attending, though I am not yet a senior and let me tell you those seniors have some great wisdom from the Word and from their life experiences. Pastor Gene Hooker leads the studies and conducts a lively course.

If you'd like to attend any of these studies, feel free to come by and join in!