Here our some pictures we snapped at the Kids Art Exhibit! It was so great to see how exited all the kids were to show off their art work to their families and everyone who stopped by!

Just wanted to wish everyone a very merry Christmas!

Kids Art Exhibit

For the past 7 weeks, 20 neighborhood kids have been coming through our community center doors working on fabulous art projects! They have been learning all about different art mediums including painting, drawing, photography, oil pastels, 3D building, collaging, and more! The cool thing about this Art class session is that all the art work is about Community! We have been learning all about Community and the different aspects of our city while creating Art! Come check out all the amazing art about Bellflower created by our neighbor kids! Your support would mean so much!


The Art Exhibit will be Wednesday, DECEMBER 8, 5-6:30pm Come to check out our Kid's art work & Enjoy Refreshments at our community center 16429 Bellflower Blvd.

GSIs new media

Check out Good Soil Industries' new website! goodsoilindustries.com
and see some pics on our facebook page "good soil industries"

Huge thanks to Tim Brandon for his help in developing the website! Check out his other work such as http://www.sweetandsaucyshop.com/
you can contact him at: tim@biti.me

Stacks of Applicants

Hiring an employee is a fun and difficult process, and at Good Soil Industries we do it frequently. The opportunity to give someone a job is a privilege not to be taken lightly. Each month I collect a small stack of resumes on my desk and prayerfully begin searching for who will be the best fit.
There are many criteria for choosing a candidate, but the most valuable question is: “Are you connected with a local church?”. The reason is that we can’t overcome our past by ourselves. First we need Christ to do a miracle in our hearts, and second we need a community to support us through the tough times.
I’d like to say thank-you to the churches of Bellflower for being the supportive community we are called to be. Our current employees continue to praise their local churches for being a place that accepts them for who they are and encourages them to continue following Christ. They have felt loved, and this love gives them the strength to keep making the right but difficult choices. So keep it up! Keep finding ways to love those who are different from you and being a church that reaches out to anyone, anyone, who is searching.

This is what community development is all about...

Last night over 40 families showed up for our neighborhood meetings for Oak St. & Eucalyptus Ave.  Each neighborhood group met to connect with one another, share ideas for improving the community and register for the Christmas Store.  (More on the Christmas Store here and below.) 

Empowering Neighbors
At the end of the evening, we joined the groups together to hear a presentation by Southern California Associates of Governments about proposed plans to bring a public transit project (think train, light rail, etc.) through Bellflower, connecting LA to Santa Ana.  Because there is talk of bringing a train stop to the north end of Bellflower's downtown, which borders both Eucalyptus and Oak neighborhoods, we felt this information is extremely relevant to neighbors.  One neighbor shared her excitement and concern for the new project.  She knew the train would be good for the community, but since Bellflower doesn't have any form of rent control, she was worried that a train stop close by could raise property value and rent, resulting in many families being displaced from our neighborhoods.  The presenter validated her comment and said that is precisely why the neighbors need to be involved at this early stage.  She encouraged them to start talking with the city about their fears.  We decided to host a second meeting with neighbors to strategize how to connect best with the city about their concerns.  


Neighbors Giving Back
We registered 35+ families for the Christmas Store last night.  Individuals, local churches, businesses and organizations donate brand new gifts to stalk the shelves of the Christmas Store.  Registered neighbors come and shop, buying presents at 90-95% off the original price.  Then, 100% of the money that comes in goes to a good cause, which is determined by the neighbors.  After some discussion about a few causes to support, they voted to send the money to help build a well in Africa to provide clean water in a village.  

The neighbors voted to send the proceeds to help build a well in Africa to provide clean water.  We're going to send this picture with the check in December.  Look how proud and excited everybody is in this picture!

True development takes time, but it's worth the wait.  I'm so grateful that I was able to be a part of last night.

Homeless Families and Empty Sunday School Classrooms

I got a call the other morning from my friend Justin. A family that he has known for several years through his youth ministry told him that they were being evicted. This mom of three kids between the ages of 9-14 had been paying $650 a month to rent a travel trailer. When she lost her house cleaning job that was paying her under the table, she could no longer pay the rent. Her neighbor has offered her the back of her truck to sleep in for the night and that might be where they end up staying.

Justin called me because in his words, “that is unacceptable.” He wants to help the family but doesn’t know what resources are available to the family and he is trying to get his church to do something about it but that bureaucratic process will be a long one which will end up with help being too little, to late.

The frustrating thing is, I don’t really know what to do either. Despite the fact that social workers in our organization deal with families like this everyday I have little help to offer. If they do not fit our relatively narrow qualifications for immediate financial, assistance we have no place to send them.

The reality is there is NOTHING in our immediate area that is set up to help families like this. Evicted, broke, out of work… I want someone or something to blame for this dilemma. I jump automatically to the family, they should have called sooner, they must have some sort of addiction stuff going on, they must be lazy.

The reality is stark though. Whatever the cause is of this family’s crisis, our local system in Bellflower has nothing for this specific family. 211, the LA county resource call center, will refer her to a shelter out of the area and or give her access to hotel vouchers for a few nights but there is nothing after that. What is the answer? Shelters are expensive financially and socially. Immediate financial assistance will not really help in the long run because of her eviction. What the family needs is a LOCAL place for at least 3 months were they can land long enough for mom to get a job and the kids don’t have to leave their school.

What will we as God’s people in this city do? We have resources. We have people. We have money. We have buildings (approximately 30 church buildings with countless classrooms that sit empty 90% of the week.) I wonder what Jesus feels about that? With hurting and poor neighbors all around us, is Jesus pleased with our clean and tidy classrooms that sit empty, preserved for telling Bible stories to the kids of the saints a couple of days a week?

Would it be possible to set up a Hospitality Network in Bellflower like this one? http://www.familypromise.org/ihn-video What do you think?

Community Responds to Prayer Requests for Bellflower

Photo courtesy of Diandra Jay/Press Telegram

Last Tuesday we hosted the Mayor's Community Prayer Breakfast.  We had a panel of community experts sharing, from their perspective, how we could pray for our city during the economic downturn.
(From left to right)

• Nichole McGahey, President of Caring Connections, a non-profit organization dedicated to serving the needs of children/families in BUSD, shared about the struggles that local families with school-aged children are experiencing.  She also remarked on the incredible support within our community & school district to help one another.
• Marina Flores, Program Director of Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing through OPHS, shared about the 150 families that have approached their program for help keeping a roof over their heads.
• Mike Egan, City Manager of Bellflower, expressed his deep gratitude for the staff who have remained faithful to serving even though they've had to take big cuts and for the many organizations who have stepped up to take over what the city can no longer afford.  He was transparent in sharing the many financial needs in our city and asked for the people to pray for wisdom for the leaders as they make tough decisions.
• Cristina McConnell, President of the Bellflower Chamber of Commerce, told the crowd about how several business owners are working together to creatively support local businesses in our city.  She also shared about the hard times many local businesses are facing due to people spending less of their paycheck locally.

After the panel shared their prayer requests, four community members led the group of 100 in prayer.

One guest was particularly moved by the stories of local families struggling to make ends meet.  The next morning he dropped off a check for $1000 to Caring Connections to be used toward basic needs for families in our school district.

Click here to read the article written about the breakfast on Press Telegram.

6th Annual Golf Marathon TODAY!

As I write, Joel Holwerda, Kendall Carrico, Adam Edwards, Ethan Strong, Robert VerWys & Rachel VerWys are swinging away at 100 holes of golf for our 6th Annual Golf Marathon fundraiser.  You better believe they're going to be hurting tomorrow :)

It's not too late to sponsor one of the golfers to help Bellflower reach our goal of raising $15,000 today!  (We're already close to the $10,000 mark!)  Click here and select the name of the golfer to make an online donation for Bellflower.

Here are some pictures from this morning:

Do you teach excellence?

Second servings were being passed around the dinner table in my parents’ backyard when my dad broke into a loud laugh. “Son” he says to me, “all those years of mowing my lawn, I didn’t expect it to be job training!”

We shared a laugh, but as I think about it now I am struck by something, isn’t that where most of us received our “job training”? Someone who cared a lot about us invested time, taught us the ropes, and showed us how to do work with excellence. That investment was priceless and our success today is in part due to those people.

At Good Soil Industries, we’re wrestling with the question, “what about the people who didn’t have that upbringing? How will they come to succeed?” It's through daily work and discipleship that God's people are teaching the Good Soil participants the lessons that many of us learned in the homes we grew up in. Timeliness, respect for authority, to wear a clean uniform, to work with excellence; and as the guys begin to internalize these lessons they gain a sense of pride in themselves and in their work. They become successful employees and doors open that were not possible before.

Helping a Lakewood family to stay off the streets.

Susie doesn’t fit my stereo-types about homeless people. She has got a college degree and is used to working two jobs at a high-paying employer in town. She’s used to having enough, she lives in a middle-class town amongst middle class neighbors.

But when Susie came to our office in April 2010 she was facing the reality of being evicted from her apartment and moving into her car with her daughter while struggling with chronic depression. You see, she’d lost her second job and had been placed on disability at her primary employer. Things looked really bad, little did she know things would get worse before they got better.

We were able to enroll Susie and her family in the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Rehousing Program (HPRP), a program that is designed to help families through rental and utility assistance when they fall behind because of economic hardship.

Susie was able to remain in her apartment with her children and with some coaching from Staci, her case manager (pictured above), she learned more about her rights as a renter. Empowered, Susie was able to work with her landlord to lower her monthly rental payments. Things were looking good. But then Susie was laid off by her primary employer.

I thank God that Staci was there to help, encouraging Susie to remain steadfast in her attempt to find a new place of employment, providing the family with just enough financial help to remain stable and housed.

The good news came today. After only a few months without work, Susie was offered a new position with her old employer. She’s following a monthly budget and housing sustainability plan, she has been able to cut costs and locate other community resources that weren’t previously accessible to her.

Susie’s family is going to be safe from the streets. We are so thankful for this innovative program that provides financial and emotional support to families who are not used to the difficulties this economy is presenting all of us with.

Getting My Hands Dirty

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Taylor Seger and I am currently an intern at Kingdom Causes for the summer. But most recently, I became a Good Soil route lead.


I started driving for Good Soil as a part of my internship. I was committed to three hours of driving that morning – I got bored of sitting after one house - so I got to work. I finished up my time for the day and as I drove home, Joel gave me a call to ask, because of an incident that had occurred earlier that morning, if I could come back and help finish up the day.


That's how it all started – a total God thing. I'm the official route lead now, and I love every part of it.


My work does come with its challenges. I think of it like when Jesus went into the wilderness after he began his ministry. Immediately after he was recognized as the Son of God, he was tested in the wilderness. I am by no means saying that I am anywhere close to Jesus’ stature. But right after coming on the team, thinking everything is going great, God challenged my patience and my dependence on Him.


Within the first two weeks, some crazy things happened. It started with a weedwacker breaking down, lost keys (to be specific - keys that I lost...for about 20 minutes), and a fender bender while at the pump (without the bender, thankfully).
Both in the short and long-term, I’ve had to stretch myself. I’ve really had to rely on the Savior to have a spirit of strength, love, humility, and faithfulness. I do my best to stay diligent and pray daily for these of God’s attributes.


My time at Good Soil for the past month has been an enriching blessing in my life. I love sharing work. I appreciate having someone to challenge me - and of course being able to share a good ol’ fashioned radio sesh on the road.

The Joy of Homework Club!

My name is Sarah Leck and I am one of the summer interns for Kingdom Causes. I have the opportunity to work once a week with the Homework Club for the summer. God has really been teaching me to value learning and education through these kids. The kids enjoy learning much more than I ever have. Even though some of them complain at first about doing activities, by the end they are so excited and want to keep going even after the time is over. One of these kids name is Jon. He is always reluctant at first to join in but by the end he is always saying, “Miss Sarah, I want more math problems!” This is amazing to see because I understand his reluctance. Going into my senior year of college, I am starting to lose my academic steam. Working with these kids has been a healthy reminder that God has blessed me with a great education. I should take any opportunity to learn more about the world God has created. I have been blessed by these kids and am so thankful for the opportunity to learn along with them.

Neighborhood Art Class Starting!

On Monday afternoon we had our first Kids Art class for the summer! Each week we are doing a different type of art project, so the kids in the neighborhood will experience multiple types of art. I was very excited on Monday when 11 children walked through the door to our new community center ready to make artwork! This summer the kids will work with paint, clay, oil pastels, paper mache, photography, and more! On August 21st, the kids will display their artwork alongside other local artists at the Bella Art Fest in downtown Bellflower!

Above are some pictures of the Kids visiting the Invitation Decalogue Sculpture, and working on crayon resisting projects and our "Box of Crayons" collage which represents how wonderful our world is because of all the differences we each have and all the beautiful colors we can create!

The Art class is every Monday July 12 - August 16, and the Bella Art Fest is August 21! Email me at kendall.carrico@gmail.com if you would like to volunteer, or donate Art supplies!

Thanks to Paramount Ready Mix!

Special thanks to Paramount Ready Mix who donated the concrete for the new posts in the Community Center! Ron Talsma, from First Bellflower CRC helped to make this connection. Praise God for his people.

Letter from a thankful mom

I wanted to share a letter that we recently received from a local mom whose children have been a part of a couple of the efforts supported and sustained by the local church through Kingdom Causes. It was so encouraging to me and I wanted to pass it along to you, our partners in this work. Thanks for your continued partnership!

Dear Ryan,

Thank you so much for touching the life of my son. Our conversations about what he is getting out of being a [part of Good Soil Industries (www.goodsoilindustries.org)] God is so amazing. It is causing him to conversate with me more about God. He said he has been praying again lately. That just did a great thing to my heart.

Your team has been touching my family’s life in such a way that I could not. [One of your volunteers] will be my daughter's mentor for a season of her life in an academy for 5 ½ months. She chose her because she is a leader at the Wednesday night Teen Bible study group on Eucalyptus ave.

My kids have had a hard life... fitting into the church setting has always been difficult for them, but because your team loves them as they are and where they are at, it seems to be doing a God thing that I can see. It is so soothing to my soul.

Thank you so very much for what you guys are doing in the lives of those that may seem untouchable. I am ever so grateful.

Our Place Housing Solutions 2010

A Homeless Family Needs Your HELP

In early February, a woman reached out for our help. Her husband had just left her and their two daughters and she was forced to move out of their apartment because she could no longer afford the rent. She and her daughters slept in their car for a short time before contacting our Homeless Prevention program in February.

Although the woman works full time, her wages were being garnished because of her eviction so she needed assistance in order to move into a new place. We were able to get her into housing in early March and have been providing minimal rental assistance for the past few months. Our assistance will continue until the garnishments end in July and the family will become completely self-sustaining.

The family is thrilled to be in their own place and off the streets. However, they are still in need of some basic essentials. That's where YOU come in. They have a place, but they don't really have any furniture. Since they don't own a bed or a couch, all three of them sleep on the floor. If you would like to donate a bed, couch, or other household items to this family, please call Kingdom Causes and OPHS at 562.804.2189. It's a very tangible opportunity to love this neighbor who is getting back on her feet.

What do we do?

Guess who's moving?????

After much consideration and prayer, we have decided to move our office and community center downtown.  It's been a good 3 1/2 years on Alondra & Eucalyptus but we are outgrowing our space.  We were offered this new location (16429 Bellflower Blvd.), which is double the size, for the same amount of rent we currently pay.  We feel this move is strategic for connecting with both Oak and Eucalyptus neighbors, as well as providing more community center space for programs.

We're going to need a TON of help pulling this off.  May 1st is our first big move day.  If you're interested in helping, please contact Chrissy.

Celebration Dinner - RSVP by this weekend!

Meet Good Soil's New Employee

A job interview for Good Soil Industries is unique compared to most any other job. We cover the basics, but equally important is to hear their life story and the transformation that God has done in their lives. I repeatedly hear testimony of how a man experienced rock bottom and in their desperation called on God and He answered.

I asked a current employee to share his story of transformation with you. I hope his story inspires you to call on God to do something great in your life.

"My name is Jay Steele. I'm writing this to let you know the miraculous changes God has allowed me to make in my life!!
I once was a hardcore drug addict who went to prison because of my drug addiction. I cared about my drugs more than my life or anyone elses. I in a sense wasted the first 30 years of my life. My family wanted nothing to do with me, and society wanted to put me away.

I got blessed to meet Pastor Fred of I.C.M. He cared, never gave up on me and let me go to a summer camp for kids as a couselor. The experience changed my life for good. I knew of God and Jesus, but didn't KNOW them. To know that people and God care about a homeless, convict, drug addict. To allow ME to do this, to be trusted, to show faith in me.

Now I'm happily married, go to church regularly, teach the Bible to at-risk youth and even have keys to the church. I've been sober for 2 years, live in an apartment, have a job with Good Soil and have been off parole for almost a year. God is the only reason my life has changed so much. And now I am very blessed to have a phone book full of friends and now my family that I can call.
God turned Saul to Paul, so what can he do with a homeless, convict, drug addict like me? Only God knows & time will tell.

God bless,
Jay Steele"

Cool Article - Mixing art and Christianity | Religion | projo.com

Mixing art and Christianity | Religion | projo.com | The Providence Journal

If you're an artist in Bellflower, please visit www.bellaartfest.org to learn about opportunities to use your gifts to bless our community.

Save the date: KC Celebration Dinner on April 29th

It's about that time!  Please mark your calendars for this year's Kingdom Causes Celebration Dinner.  We're super excited to celebrate this year with all of you.

A prayer for Bellflower -- By Pastor Tom Hocking

Today the city of Bellflower hosted it's annual State of the City Address. As with many cities, Bellflower is facing some challenging days ahead as budgets tighten and the economy continues to struggle. The city manager entitled the talk, "The Rocky Road Ahead". I was particularly blessed by the prayer that my good friend Pastor Tom Hocking prayed as the invocation for the event. What he prayed was a powerful blessing for our city and I've included it below. Please pray it as you read:


Heavenly Father,
Thank you for this day,
Thanks for our city and the men and women who serve it and protect it.
Thanks for the opportunity to soberly consider where we stand as a community.
These are obviously difficult and uncertain times and I confess that I have struggled with feelings of anxiety—perhaps many of us have.
But God, when I think about it, the times when I have grown the most as a person have been times of great trouble, not times of ease.
So Lord Jesus, while we pray passionately for the peace and prosperity of Bellflower, I want to pray even more passionately that on the way toward peace (whether that peace is personal peace or social peace or financial peace or relational peace). . .I pray that on the way toward that peace, we would not forget that you and you alone are the giver of real peace—ultimate and eternal peace.
God, the road in front of us may indeed be a bit rocky. . .but considering that you once said that the wide and easy road leads to destruction. . .maybe a few potholes aren’t that bad.
But please help us to negotiate those potholes with grace and wisdom—and above all to make this journey together—loving each other more than ourselves and loving you most of all. I pray for Mayor smith and our Concilmembers: Bomgaars, Dunton, Koops, and Larsen; for Mike and his staff—that you would crown their efforts with abundant success. In Christ’s name, I pray Amen.

Seniors give back!

During the first few months working on Oak street, I gravitated toward the young and idealistic. I wanted the teenagers in this community to reach their potential, and the young families to work together to make their community a better place.

Unfortunately, in the midst of this work, I was missing a key part of the Oak Street demographic. I was overlooking the senior citizens and the rich array of skills and passions that they bring to the neighborhood. Here at kingdom causes, we use the Asset Based Community Development model (ABCD). In a nutshell, this means we look for what is best about a community, and then build on the skills and abilities of the community residents.

As I got to know some of the senior citizens through a senior's luncheon at a local church, I began to recognize how much these people had to offer the community. Over time, though, they have begun to believe that they don't have too much to offer. This mindset is reinforced by those of us who do not ask them to enrich our lives with the wisdom and skills they have accumulated over their lifetime.

In an effort to help these seniors have an outlet for giving back to their community, we've started a "seniors volunteer group" at the Bellflower Manor. There are around 15 individuals who have agreed to give some of their time and talent to various causes in our community. I am excited to learn from them as we serve Bellflower together.

If you know a senior who would like to be involved--let me know! Call our office or shoot me an email at abbeyn@kingdomcauses.org

Money

Better a little with righteousness
 than much gain with injustice. 

  Proverbs 16:8

This verse stirred up a lively discussion with the teens at our house last night.  When you get bombarded with messages that tell you the opposite... to get as much as you can no matter the cost... a verse like this might be hard to swallow.

Please continue to pray for our neighbors... and for the leaders... as we explore scripture and learn more about who Jesus is. 

What is KCB-101?

Here at Kingdom Causes, we're excited to introduce a new tool for volunteer training in 2010. We're calling the training "KCB 101".  We hope to better equip and empower our volunteers so that together we can be most effective at reaching our community. 

We're currently running our first training with a group of volunteers that are already deeply invested, but don't worry if you missed this first round.  This 5-week training will be offered again in April.  Spots are limited, so keep an eye out for the next chance to register. 

We have four goals for this training:

1. To get to know each other’s stories
2. To familiarize volunteers with the values and programming at the heart of our work in Bellflower
3. To help volunteers discover the best way to be involved (connecting your passions with the mission)
4. To help learn how to incorporate KC values into personal lives and spheres of influence.

In short, this training will help you be better equipped to serve with Kingdom Causes, but also to be an intentional "kingdom-maker" in the other areas of your life.

Photo: Teri, Jeudy, Betty, Abbey, Taylor & Alex... participants in the training

Relationships over programs

It's been a year and a half since we started having the neighborhood kids over on Wednesday nights for dinner and Bible study.  When we started we were expecting an entirely different (and smaller) crowd.  I'm happy my expectations aren't always met.  This ragamuffin group of leaders, friends & neighbors has turned into a family of sorts.  Relationships exist outside of 7-9pm on Wednesday evenings.  Neighbors are mentoring these youth and investing in their lives.  That's the real success.  Living an open life that leaves time for taking a neighbor kid out for a taco or a impromptu hangout at the nearby park.  I'm so grateful for the leaders... friends... that show up on Wednesdays and keep in touch with the kids throughout their busy week.  The kids are experiencing neighborly love the way Jesus wants us all to.

6,000 Easter Eggs

Looks like we're going to need your help.

Contact Abbey to find out how you, your family, church, etc., can get involved with this year's community easter egg hunt.