Sista Circle Class 5-backtrack?

As a teacher I've had good teaching days and bad teaching days. I admit, sometimes it's me, and sometimes it's the students. Last night was a rough night for Renee and me. As focused as the girls were the previous week, they were the opposite this week. Talking all the time, not respecting us or one another. It was very frustrating and difficult. Knowing that we only have one more class before our performance didn't help either. But as I tried to maintain order with the girls, it crossed my mind that everyone has these kind of days. I have no idea what events happened during the day to create the class we had last night, but being consistent and showing them love had to happen no matter what. At the end of class, one little girl, Portia, came up to me and gave me a big hug. She thanked me for teaching and being there. Once again, it made it all worth it. We took some pictures with the entire program last night as well. I've included some of those for you to take a look at.

Who Am I?

It's rare that I put a video up and I am pretty critical when it is a dramatized video, but this one caught my attention. The words to the song, the message that it delivers, and the creative way it is delivered is worth watching till the end.

Psalm 145:6-8

"They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds. They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness. The LORD is gracious and compassionate; slow to anger and rich in love." Ps 145:6-8

This verse hit me in a new way today when I read it. How powerful yet loving our God is to allow us to serve and worship Him. I pray that through every child I work with for Urban Arts, the power of God's awesome works and his great deed will be shown through celebrating His goodness and singing praises.

Sista Circle Class 4-FOCUS

We were in a different location for Sister Circle tonight. A whole new venue. Once in a while the church isn't available for us to use so we get bumped to another location. It's not a bad thing, but it's definitely more challenging as a teacher. You see, we all have comfort zones. We are creatures of habit. Once we get use to something, we open up a little more; take risks. Last week I saw evidence of that. The girls began to open up and focus.

This week the FOCUS was hard to see. We were in a new environment, a bigger room, more activity going on with people passing through the room. I wish I could get these girls to see how important it is to have focus; to keep it and how to use it. Again, I am reminded that I must be patient and see the Lord work over time. These life skills are not something that any of us learn in 2 hours. So, that being said, I worked on a Maya Angelou poem and only got through the first stanza. I'm pretty sure very few of the girls had every "analyzed" poetry before. But that is basically what I was doing..walking them through the poem and helping them understand it. I have 3 weeks left for them to understand it, learn it, and memorize it before the performance. It will only be the Lord's doing!:)

Sista Circle class 3-beginning of breakthrough!

At the end of class tonight, my eyes were misted over. I felt the Lord giving us breakthrough! But, let me back up. Renee, my teaching partner, wasn't able to come down to CDC tonight so another mutual friend stepped in for her. Laura is great! She is really good with the girls and she's got a great voice so it worked out well.

Before Laura and I got going, Evette held the bible study with the girls. The topic was on friends: how to be a true friend, what a Godly friend is, etc. The girls were a bit rowdy, and it seemed like we were stopping every 45 seconds to get them to stop talking or being rude. I know it takes time to break bad habits, but I don't know that these girls are held to the high standards we hold them to during any other part of the week. And if that's the case, will only 2 hours a week make a difference? I can only pray that it does. A good example that Evette came up with was how there was a crack in our sister circle. She asked the girls to identify the cracks. Several of the girls gave very observant responses. When she finished sharing, I transitioned into the music part of the evening. We are teaching them the Kirk Franklin version of "Our God is an Awesome God". Laura did a great job with it! There are two girls who don't like to participate. I haven't figured them out yet, but I'm really praying that God will show me how to connect with them. I continued to work on pantomiming again this week. I think the girls are getting the hang of it, except they can't do it without at least one of them talking...go figure:)

The class was about over, but I had brought a Maya Angelou poem, Touched by an Angel, to share with the girls. I wasn't sure how it would go. Some kids either love poetry or hate it. Those that hate it are the ones who usually don't understand it. (that was me for a portion of my life). So, I prefaced the whole thing with "you may not understand what you are about to hear but give it a chance". I recited the poem interpretively. The girls actually clapped. Now, I don't tell you that because I'm all proud and happy about my little performance. I share that because that response told me that they "got it". I know some were a little confused, but they appreciated it. If they appreciate it, I can teach it more easily! I gave each girl a copy of the poem to take home to study. I'm excited to work through it with them next week. That isn't why my eyes were misted over though. I asked for a volunteer to pray. Several girls raised their hands. The first young lady said she just had something to say. So I let her. She said how grateful she was to be in the class with the other girls. Then another girl raised her hand and asked to say a word. She thanks us for coming and taking the time to share with them. Hearing those two girls make everything worth it. I only see them 2 hours a week, but the Lord is moving in the lives of each of these girls and He is graciously allowing me to be an instrument. I stand in awe.

Urban Arts Supply List

Urban Arts has an awesome set of camps planned for this summer! Several individuals have been asking how they can help support us. There are two ways.

1. Sponsor a child for a week of camp. The cost is $70.00.
Checks should be made out to START Ministries, a 501-c3 organization, and the memo should say "Urban Arts".

• Mail the check to START Ministries. You will find the address on the website.

• Use Paypal on the START Ministries website. Please follow instructions carefully: the initials KBH should be written after your last name when using PayPal in order for credit to be given to Urban Arts.
• Donate through Facebook for the Urban Arts Cause

2. Donate items on the following list:
t-shirts
silk screening paint
Water color paper
Water color paints
Water color brushes(good ones)
Plaster of Paris
Small color photo printer and ink
4x6 photo paper
2 CD players
300 CD-R disks
8 cans of silly string
Bag of Confetti
100 Party Hats
100 brown paper lunch sacks
White Board/easel/markers/eraser/cleaner
colored gaffer tape
Mini-DV tapes for video camera
juice boxes(100)
cookies
Snacks(Goldfish, fruit snacks, etc.)
sandwich makings
spaghetti noodles
spaghetti sauce
paper products(cups, napkins, plates, silverware) for 300
Gift Cards to Gas stations, Sam's Club, Michael's, ITunes, Amazon.com, Walmart

Sista Circle Class 2

Last night I was in Detroit to teach the girls at CDC. We flipped things around and had the devotional first followed by the drama and music time. I'm really glad we did because this gave me a whole other perspective on the lives of these young girls. I can't get some of the things they said out of my mind. It just keeps playing over and over again like there is a continuous rewind and play button. My heart aches for some of these girls. They are looking in the wrong direction for love, acceptance and self-respect. The devotional was on Provers 10:12 " Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs." It was interesting to see the girls begin to talk about hatred. I could actually see so much in a few of the girls. There was one girl who took a leadership role and began to discuss the passage. I think she is going to be one who is a really good influence on some of the girls. After the devotional, I split the girls up into 3 groups (we had 15 girls this week!) and had them create a group pantomime. I think they enjoyed it. It took so long to get them quiet after each "practice time" that we only had time for each group to perform twice. Renee then took over and worked on music rhythm, notes and breathing. I know that there are some girls that don't want to be there or they don't enjoy one of the elements of the evening, but I hope at the end of the 7 weeks, Christ is presented and they find their love and purpose in Him.

Boutique Shopping for a Good Cause

Thanks to a generous contact in Michigan.... We have a great fundraiser where you can purchase women's accessories and help women around the world! Mother's day is just around the corner, graduations are quickly approaching and birthdays are every month! This is an easy way to shop for these special events.

If you make a purchase on www.boutiquetou.com between now and April 25th Widows Might Ministries will receive 20% of the sales profit!

The money will then go to caring for the needs of the widows and their children in Nigeria, Mali, Ghana, Kenya and Siberia.

An additional 10% will go to Katie Beth Hostetter's Urban Arts ministry that is starting this summer and will conduct 3 weeks of inner city visual/performing arts camps in Detroit with kids who desperately need a hope and purpose for their lives!

IMPORTANT: WHEN CHECKING OUT ONLINE, PLEASE WRITE "Widow's Might Ministry" IN THE COMMENT BOX. (if this isn't done, no credit will be given!!)

Also, come to the warehouse and take a look at the goods in person! On April 26th from 1-4 pm Boutiques for You will donate 20% of the sales to Widow's Might Ministry.

Sista 2 Sista class 1

I just got back from my first evening with 10 awesome middle school girls who live in Detroit. CDC, Central Detroit Christian, has a great program going where dinner is provided, tutors are available, basketball is open court, and different types of classes are offered on each Tuesday night. My friend Renee, who is helping with the Urban Arts, and I volunteered to teach a 7 week class to get these girls interested in the arts. I have to say that they seemed pretty interested, they just had not had the exposure to it. I guess both of the middle schools they came from cut the music and drama programs. So, I started off with explaining pantomime and demonstrating one. We had some fun with that. Then the girls started practicing with me. We played a drama game and then it was Renee's turn to do the music side of it. She warmed them up, explained the importance of correct breathing and we did some fun vocal exercises. She worked on rhythm and introduced a song that we will do for the performance. All in all, it was a good night and flew by! I am praying and hoping that these are some of the girls who can come to the camp this summer.