August Update
August 2, 2004
Our last report began with these words: Working in Houston’s Montrose community with ex-offenders, recovering drug and alcohol addicts, and street kids is the most challenging and rewarding experience of our lives.
Sometimes the needs feel overwhelming – like shooting a water pistol at a raging fire. One place that this is true is in our efforts to penetrate the street kid sub-culture. Loren and Tanya Gardner are on Harbor’s leadership team and participate in the Castlecourt house church community. This past week, they received a call from Kim Dale who, along with her husband Martin, and Pastor Joe Williams, do a ministry in Montrose called Street Reach. Street Reach is held every Wednesday evening in a parking lot in Montrose. Street kids are entertained, fed, offered a worship experience and friendships with caring Christian adults. Harbor Church has partnered up with this ministry, providing prayer support and worship leadership.
Here’s Loren’s report of Kim’s call. “Kim call and said they had a 22 year old with a 13 day old baby needing a place to stay ASAP. Since Tanya and I had already agreed that we would be a safe home for this kind of need, I said yes.”
“We took Lori and Scarlet in and they lived with us for five days before moving on to the Salvation Army’s shelter home. This is a long-term facility that is safe for Scarlette and where Lori gets parenting training, job training and so much more. Tanya and I had the opportunity to mentor her in taking care of her baby and herself. We were also able to just love on Scarlet. The first night they arrived, Scarlet cried and cried but by the time they left she was resting well and eating her share.”
Street kids is somewhat of a misnomer. We are talking about adolescents and young adults who are usually between the ages of 17-25. Though some do live on the streets – what is more likely is that they live in abandoned buildings or in a low rent apartment that is shared by a group. Many survive by prostituting themselves – heterosexually and homosexually – to make money to buy drugs and eat. In our work in Montrose we are discovering a growing number of them who themselves have children.
In the face of this, we are seeking to find ways to faithfully and effectively minister and serve this part of the Montrose community. Providing safe houses for those like Lori and Scarlet is one way we are serving. Here is an update on our most recent “needs” letter.
Intercession: we will mobilize at least 100 individuals outside of Harbor Church to receive a regular prayer update. The battle is won first in prayer and the battle is intense in Montrose. We will provide detailed reports from the battlefront. Currently we have eleven who have agreed to interceed on a regular basis.
Laborers: we need “home missionaries” to join us on this journey. We need disciples who are willing to become involved in the lives of street kids. We need Christian teachers to consider teaching at Gregory Lincoln, our local elementary school. We need Christians in business who will employ and mentor one of the young men or women in our ministry. We need mentors for individual ex-offenders and those in recovery from drug use. At this point three people have offered to serve as a mentor. Also, Stephanie Phillips, who has been attending Harbor for a while, has recently moved into Montrose from Spring. She is a school teacher and is looking for an opportunity to teach in Gregory Lincoln or one of the public schools in Montrose.
Donors: our budget is $128,500 annually. Though we teach those we reach to give, many come to us from the streets or prisons. Their tithing generates less than half of our budget, so we need partners who – above tithing in their local congregation – will make a monthly contribution to our work. We need to raise $60,000 in outside income for the next twelve months. That seems like a lot – but if you calculate it, that’s 100 people giving $50 per month. Some can give a lot more – some less – but the goal is doable. Today we have commitments of $12,500 toward our $60,000 outside support goal.