AUGUST 2019 NEWLETTER
This summer has been hoppin’! We started a partnership with St. Francis Community Services working with children in the foster care system. During the summer, the McAdams Day School offers these children, waiting for a placement, daytime activities such as tutoring, sewing, woodworking, cooking classes, and one-on-one counseling. When school starts, the Day School will include suspended students from Sedgwick and surrounding counties.
Help me spread the word - We need volunteers! What a tremendous opportunity we have to pray for and encourage these youths; youths who are often scared, discouraged, or angry about their current life situation. Some of these youths are confused as to why their parent(s) say they love them but yet abuse them. One young girl did not understand why her mother gave up her parental rights and chose to stay with the boyfriend accused of abusing her daughter. It is a scary, topsy-turvy world for many young people in the foster care system. These children need an adult to listen as they share their struggles and yes, even pray with them when they ask for prayer.
We also started a Vo-Tech class this summer. Woodworking has been the main focus and the teens have built everything from birdhouses to chairs. The shop is a great place to teach life skills. One young lady wanted to make a flower box for her autistic sister. I showed her how to design the project on a piece of paper. We then went to our pile of donated scrap wood, the wood others didn't want to use, and picked out pieces of lumber we could use. We measured and cut away the broken and split pieces until we had enough wood to do the project. To finish the box the student did a fantastic job painting it. As we both sat there admiring the flower box, I mentioned how she, through building this box, now knew what most people never figure out – how to take control of your life. She replied, “by building a flower box?” "Yes," I said, "you began with an idea or a dream of what you wanted to do. You used a piece of paper to turn that idea into a plan that would guide you along the way so you wouldn’t forget your goal. You used the resources that were available to you and didn’t get discouraged when you had to take time to cut away the broken and tattered parts of the wood to get to pieces of wood you could use. And after nailing it together, you painted the box using your God-given talents to make your project uniquely yours. If you can do that with a flower box, you can do that with your life." I don’t know where the young lady is today, but I have to believe that the two days we had her in our school was life-changing, not just for her but also for myself.
Chuck Knowles
Please email or call to set up a time to visit McAdams and see the many different ways you can invest your God-given talents in the life of one of these youths. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This year because of bad choices, some Sedgwick County children will be removed from school and miss a full year of educational opportunities. Will you consider helping us give these kids a second chance?
YES! I would like to help in the following way:
⦁ DONATE - Donate online by going to one of our websites, ictcbar.com or mcadamsacademy.org
Or Mail a check payable to CBAR or McAdams Academy in the enclosed envelope. ⦁ VOLUNTEER – Tutoring, Mentoring, Cooking, Sewing, Games, whatever you enjoy doing we have a place for you! Please give us a call or come visit us and see where you can help! ⦁ PRAY – We need your prayers in every aspect of this ministry. Pray for individual kids in the program, their families, staff, material needs for the ministry.