Friday, January 30, 2009

Dates Selected

May 16-23, 2009

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

It's a Mission Trip!


As of yesterday, Divine Design has been given permission by the missionary committee to go to Atlanta on this mission trip.  So, this summer, the women of Divine Design will be doing two trips: one to the Atlanta Dream Center, and one to Grace Centers of Hope in Pontiac, Michigan.

Planning begins now!  And I am reminded by Owen's Grammy that I need a new logo and it must have a peach and some pecans.  

It is going to be a great summer!

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Ten Apartments

Here is the apartment building that belongs to the Atlanta Dream Center. Inside are 10 very small apartments.  Forty seven students live here.

There is one communal kitchen in the basement.

Here are some random shots of the apartments.  There is a boy's floor and a girl's floor.  Everyone sleeps in bunk beds that they made.


It is the same as all of the old homes we work in.  No storage, no lighting.


Each apartment is very small, I am guessing about 500 square feet.  4-6 kids live in each one.  Each has a kitchen area that is the largest part of the apartment.  They have stoves but they have been unhooked and nobody is allowed to cook except in the communal kitchen in the basement.  They are allowed to microwave in their apartments.  Some apartments have refrigerators.

A lot of the house has really nice hardwood floors.



This is nothing more than a nook and two boys sleep here.  It is a little bit wider than a single bed, you can see the full size mattress stuck in there.

The house has good structure, good floors and ceilings.  It could be made a lot more comfortable and live-able.

These kids are learning to be the hands and feet of Jesus in a really hands-on way.  They spend long tiring days working and studying.  They come from a generation that believes they are entitled to everything without working for it.  But, these kids are not like that.  I watched them feed the homeless, pray with people, walk door to door in the rain to make the presence of Jesus known.  

Meeting the crew at Atlanta Dream Center

I spent some time at the Atlanta Dream Center on Saturday and participated in one of their programs called Adopt a Block.  Most of the participants in this program are students in the ADC bible school.  You can see more about the school here:  ADC Master's Commission. 

This is Scott, he is the leader of this program and has the map of the fourth ward for reference as he gives a pep talk to the block leaders, called Block Pastors.

The kids are joined by volunteers and break into groups, each group has an assigned block.  They walk the neighborhood, take food, pray with people, give hugs, and whatever comes up.  Yesterday a young girl baptized someone on her block.  Pastor Paul and his crew are well known by every person in the neighborhood.  You can't walk 5 steps without a knuckle bump or a hug.  Pastor Paul tells me that the street the Mission office is on has not had a gunshot in 2 years and a month.  That apparently is very different than it was when they took over the house.
Pastor Paul in the background, his daughter Hannah in the foreground.  She is a block Pastor.  Her block is the retirement home.  


The kids and volunteers grouping up and singing praise before heading out in the rain on Saturday morning.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

How it Began

1-7-2009 9:22 am

Good Morning,

Here is something interesting...
Larry said that the people he works with in Georgia for
missions trips have just purchased a 10 apt. building downtown
Atlanta. They are renovating. Just put in flooring...

Could be a divine design trip.... you could email Larry for contact info.

what do you think???

LeeAnne


1-7-2009  9:59am

Hi Kim,

Would it be a good fit? You better believe it! I have enjoyed working with Pastor Paul Palmer and the Atlanta Dream Center since 2004. We take down a team every year except on those years that the DCLA evangelism conference meets (the conference is every 3 years and the next one is July 10-13, 2009 so we won’t be going down to Atlanta this summer). I was just with the Palmer’s in their home this past Sunday night and “Divine Design” came up because I told them about what you’ve done for Grace Centers of Hope. They bought a “Ten-plex” which is in great need of your ministry. I’m digging out from being gone and I have a lot to get done before we leave for Spring Hill this Friday so I need to run. Feel free to call me on my cell to talk about this more.

You can find out more about the Atlanta Dream Center by going to their website at www.atlantaic.org. Let me know if you need anything else. I love these people and the ministry they are doing in Atlanta is significantly impacting 1000’s of lives. Thanks for your interest!

God Bless,
Larry


1-7-2009  10:35 am


OK, talk about an appointment set by God..... I am headed to Atlanta this very afternoon for gift market. I just called Pastor Paul and I am going to spend part of the day with him on Saturday. He is taking me on his Adopt a Block ministry in the morning and will show me the rooms we would be considering.

Please help me pray that God will be loud and clear with me about this ministry. I tend to get excited and forget to listen to Him.

Thanks to both of you!
Kim


1-7-2009   11:33 am


Hey Kim,

That really is incredible. I will call it an appointment from God because that is EXACTLY what God did to me this weekend. Long story short—Pastor Paul calls me this past Friday to tell me to watch “Deserving Design” on the HG channel on Saturday at 8pm because 2 of his staff were featured. I told him that I would watch it. As I’m talking to him I realize that I was going to be down in his area this past Sunday because I was taking my oldest son back to college in South Carolina which is only 2 hours away from Atlanta. I spent the night at Pastor Paul’s that night and all Monday morning with him. As we’re just running around together we go to Home Depot and that’s when we get into this discussion about the 10-plex. That is also when I mentioned to him about what you guys have accomplished through “Divine Design.” There are a lot more things that I could tell you about God’s leading in this process but keep this in mind—the main reason I made this trip this past weekend was because I had got a speeding ticket when I went to visit my son in November and the court date was yesterday morning in North Carolina. If I didn’t get that ticket I would have let Bryson just go back down to school with a friend from here in Canton, as we have in the past.

All that to say—WAY too many “God-coincidences” to dismiss in this. Also, I just happened to mention in passing to LeeAnne that I mentioned “Divine Design” to Pastor Paul for no other reason than to show my admiration of all that is happening in your guy’s ministry.

Larry