5 Big Things

I hope that all is well with you, and that this Christmas season will be very meaningful for you and your family.  I am looking forward expectantly to 2011!  In 75 days, our Dallas dream will be reality!  Can’t wait to see what God does!

A few things:

1) A Big THANK YOU!
   You guys really came through as we were able to bless the mom and son from EPMS.  We delivered everything on their list, plus a little more!  Here is a note from our contact at EPMS:

PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO ALL INVOLVED
Brad it was nice meeting you this morning.  Thank you for bringing everything to the school and thank you to everyone who donated for the cause.  I know North Star will be a blessing for the Paulding Co. community.  Merry Christmas
 Andy Aarons, Counselor, East Paulding Middle School - 6th (M-Z), and 7th Grade

2) Another opportunity:
   Several of you did not get my email in time to get in on helping out the above family, and have asked for anything else that needs to be done.  Well, last week, Nick and Jamie and I helped move one of our long-time members and her two HS girls to some temporary housing.  In the last year, they have been in and out of women’s shelters (due to domestic violence) and had been evicted from their apartment.  We are in the process of helping them land somewhere a little more permanent.  Of course, it’s Christmas, and I’d love to be able to help them by presenting the mom with some gift cards to some local stores (Target, Wal-Mart, and even Sears), that she can give as gifts for her girls.  If any of you would like to participate, just drop them off at the church office with my name on them by the end of business on Wednesday.  I will deliver them as a gift from NSD!

3) Two NSD families that need our prayer!
   Don’t know if you remember Mallory Smith (http://www.vimeo.com/14780062).  She is one of our former KMHS students who has had two liver transplants.  Well, she has been in ICU at Emory now for a couple of weeks, and is in the fight of her life.  Her brother, Michael and his wife, Angela, are a part of our NSD family.  Please pray for her and her awesome family as they stand by her side.  You can read her story and journal here: (http://www.teammal.org).
    Also, please remember the sweet Vehar family (Diane, Christina, Dan, and Lizzie), who lost their husband and father, Tom, last week.  Pray for their adjustment to life on their own – they have been surrounded by many wonderful friends and family, but we need to keep them in our prayers!

4) NSD Special offering:
   So far, NorthStar families have given over $40,000 in support of the Dallas campus launch!  Yes, this is (so far) short of our goal, but it just means that we get creative and begin thinking outside the box!  We want to be good stewards of every dime contributed to this work.  People can continue to give up until March 6th.

5) Mark you calendars:
   Our next NSD family meeting will be January 9th at 5:30pm at the Seven Hills Clubhouse (432 Seven Hills Blvd., Dallas GA 30132).  More details to come.

Merry Christmas!  (Staff Christmas greeting: http://www.vimeo.com/17811332)
Hope to see you at one of our Christmas Eve services!  (Here’s the frosty video from Sunday: http://www.vimeo.com/17993256)


Brad Parkhurst
Campus Pastor
NorthStar Church, Dallas, GA
www.northstarchurch.org
Twitter: @BradParkhurst

Luke Lettre's praying for Dallas!

Abney Elementary needs

I just had a meeting with Karen Paulk, the counselor at Abney, and Mandy Howell (a NSD member and bookkeeper at Abney).  I wanted to hear from them what they felt like were the biggest needs at their school, and maybe discern a couple projects we could tackle.  Here are the notes:
- Abney has more needy kids this year than they ever have.  When the new school opened this year, they were rezoned, and picked up a lot more needy families.  27% of their students qualify for free lunches, and another 7% qualify for reduced rate lunches.
- They have several kids with a parent who is incarcerated, and one child who has both parents in jail.
- Because of the current state of the economy, their funding sources are obviously not nearly as strong as they were.
- They're in pretty desperate need of mentors and a strong male presence to be "around" (more below).  They have a lot of kids that have very little adult influence in their lives.


What projects could we be involved in?
*Mentoring - could we send some of our great adults up to the school, even for just a short period of time once a week (or even every two weeks) during school hours to mentor kids?  This would involve reading with them, playing a game, etc.  It would be a one-on-one deal, where you connect with the same kid repeatedly.
*Watch D.O.G.S. Full Explanation - they'd love to start this program.  Men donate one day a month to be on campus- helps with security and more male role models.
*Christmas Project - this is more of an immediate need.  They have several kids that they sponsor for Christmas as a staff, but this year, there are so many more kids, and many teachers can't afford to help.  I'm checking with Marlon to see if we can direct some of the "Christmas at NorthStar" funds there.
*They used to have an emergency fund, for when a needy kid needs glasses or shoes, etc - they can help.  Maybe this is an "Extraordinary Giving" thing we do after we get started?
*I spoke with one of our current NS members about beginning a program to send home food with needy kids either every day or on Fridays.  This would take a lot of coordination and support, but could make a HUGE impact.  They loved the idea!
*Provide snacks for kids that can't bring one every day.  This could be done at any time!


So, that's the scoop.  What do you think?  Post a comment here, or email me with your thoughts.