Boys' Night Out

Written by volunteer Brad Gregory


As a long-time volunteer at Kid's Adelante, I have truly come to love my Thursday nights with the kids. I savor my time with them, but my hectic schedule keeps me from getting anywhere near enough time with them outside of the Thursday night programming.  But, thanks to the generosity of a Mission Adelante supporter, I had the opportunity last weekend to take three of our young men LIT students to the Sporting KC game at Livestrong Park.  We started the evening with some great pizza at D' Bronx in Mission followed by a highly-competitive round of putt putt mini golf at Mission Bowl. It only took a short while with these young guys to remind me of two things that I had forgotten:
1) How to laugh - these boys know how to have fun. They were more entertained by hitting the ball into the water than into the cup!
2) Young men can EAT!!  They always want something else to eat!!!


Sporting KC played a great game, and we especially enjoyed the fantastic seats we had. We were having such a good time that the boys wanted to be sure I didn't return them home any sooner than the time I had told their parents, so we even squeezed in a late-night McDonalds' run.

As I drove home after dropping them off, I asked myself why I don't do that kind of thing more often. I loved every minute of it and this reminded me of how impacted and blessed I am by sharing life with the families and kids in the Mission Adelante community.


In other news:

• David Stetler, Kristen Maxwell, and Drew Hammond, the Bhutanese Outreach staff that returned  last week from a trip to Nepal and India, are occupied with processing through all that they saw and experienced, and are formulating personal and ministry applications.
• Kristen Maxwell, Director of Bhutanese Kids programs, held an informational meeting last Sunday to announce to the Bhutanese community the launch of Leaders In Training for Bhutanese students this fall.  The parents of potential participants caught the vision for the tutoring and character development program, and their sons and daughters were invited to apply.

Prayer needs:

• Please pray for Blake and Lindsey, our summer interns who will arrive on May 26, as well as Drew and Hannah, both in the middle of a one-year internship.  Pray for their fundraising efforts, and for God to prepare them for the fast pace and intensity of the summer!
• Pray for Megan McDermott, Kids Adelante Director, as she is in the season of discerning which students to invite to participate in Leaders In Training next year.
• Help us ask the Lord to supply the volunteers we need for our summer trimester, which begins the week of May 28.

Current needs:

• Bhutanese outreach volunteers for the summer trimester--Tuesday evenings May 29 through August 7.  Please e-mail morganh@missionadelante.org if you're interested in any of these roles.
• Five Kids Club volunteers
• A worship leader for Teens Club
• A driver with a CDL
• Individuals familiar with sign language and deaf culture to work with several deaf Bhutanese ESL students

• A couch has been requested through the resource center.  It's also time to stock our resource center with baby's and kid's summer clothing.  Please contact Molly at 913-281-6274x5 if you can donate any of this.
• Several 4-8 person tents for the upcoming L.I.T. canoe trip, and tarps large enough to put under the tents. Please contact Megan at 913-281-6274x2.
• Fifteen reusable water bottles for Teens Adelante.  Please contact Brooke at 913-281-6274x8.

Important dates:

• Volunteer Orientation & Training--Saturday, May 19 @ 9:00 a.m.  All volunteers should attend this training once at the beginning of serving with Mission Adelante.  It's also a great way for someone to become familiar with Mission Adelante.  If you or someone you know is interested in finding out more about what we do, and about our volunteer opportunities, please plan to attend/encourage him or her to attend this informative training.
• All Volunteer Huddle & Dessert--Monday, May 21 @ 6:30 p.m.  We encourage everyone that will be volunteering with us during our summer trimester to attend so we can prepare for a great launch.
• Summer trimester program launches--Week of May 28
• Saturday, June 30 @ 9:00 a.m. Adelante Missions Institute Seminar.  We're pleased to announce that Noel Castellanos, CEO of Christian Community Development Association, will visit Kansas City at the end of June.  Mark your calendar!