Village Grace Mission Center

March/April Update

April 7, 2003

Greeting in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I can hardly believe that the two months since our last newsletter has gone by so quickly. I thought that after the "Treasure Boxes" were over we would have time to relax. Not true! Even though the foot traffic has slowed because of the cold weather - there has been a lot of work to gain more of a presence in the neighborhood.

Personally Reida and I have been through some spiritual warfare. My health is now a big factor again. Two years ago I had arthroscopic surgery on my left knee, well it seems that I have re-injured it somehow and I must wear a temporary brace until the VA Hospital decides what they are going to do. This limits the amount of motorcycle related activities that can be done for a while. Reida has injured her right knee and we will be going to the Ortho doctor this Wednesday. Reida's sister was in an Alabama hospital this last month with a heart issue and her brother-in-law has just had surgery for a a triple by-pass at the same time her brother was in the same hospital with pneumonia. Please keep all of us in prayer.

I just received a call asking me to do the invocation in downtown Cleveland at Public Square this Sunday at a rally to support our troops. What an honor! If the weather is good they are expecting about 4,000 motorcyclists.

The phone keeps ringing - A friend just called and told me that a very good looking couple made the front page of Connection Magazine (A Northeast Ohio Christian Magazine). I went and got one and low and behold he was right. In the upper left corner is a 1" by 1" picture of Reida and with a heading "Area bikers take their message to Slavic Village" (See Page 5). Hey - that's close to the front! For those of you who do not receive the magazine, I will scan and send the article tomorrow.

Upcoming Events

Annual River Sweep - Saturday, May, 10 from 9:00am - 12:00 noon - Last year we has two youth groups from the fellowship and about 8 adults attend. If you are looking for a great service project that may offer witnessing opportunities give us a call. (Cell 216-299-0752) I will need to know if any groups want to participate, so that we can pre-register.

Here's a little background information:

River Sweep is an annual, environmental awareness and clean-up initiative developed by Ohio Canal Corridor. The event partners multiple, non-profit organizations with private companies in an effort to clean areas along the Cuyahoga River Valley and its tributaries. River Sweep is a "done in a day" event where volunteers gather at one of six designated areas.

Entering its' 14th year, River Sweep stands out as Northeast Ohio's most successful environmental clean-up with teams of environmentally aware volunteers, community groups, non-profit organizations, government agencies, and corporate partner's clearing the river valleys of debris.

In 1999, Ohio Canal Corridor incorporated the High School "Clean Team Challenge" as part of River Sweep. Three area high schools participated in. the contest and brought an additional 250 volunteers to the event. The results were phenomenal, with volunteers collecting more than 16 tons of litter and 1,000 illegally dumped tires. The success of the first "Clean Team Challenge" led to it becoming a permanent part of the annual River Sweep initiative. In 2002, the numbers climbed. Our volunteer total reached 700. We cleaned up 20 tons of trash and disposed of 1800 tires. This year, Ohio Canal Corridor will again reach out to local high schools with It’s "Clean Team Challenge". We will also reach out to community organizations, sports groups, alumni clubs and all citizens interested in bettering the city in which they live.
River Sweep 2003 is scheduled for Saturday, May, 10 from 9:00am - 12:00 noon. Water, gloves, and bags will be provided to all volunteers, and commemorative River Sweep t-shirt's baring the distinctive "frog" logo will be given to the first 200 volunteers. The day’s event will end, with a celebratory luncheon open to all volunteers. River Sweep is not a "fundraiser". Money raised from pledges and sponsorship contributions directly assist in underwriting the costs of the event.

Book Store

The Mission Center bookstore is still accepting donations of adult and children's Christian books. Also we are collecting Children's K-5 secular books. This is to try and help Fullerton and Union Elementary Schools by putting books in the reach of all their children. We still need to build one more bookshelf and figure out some type of system to use on the new books and the used books. If you have any ideas please e-mail us and let us know. We have tried a few different things but they don’t seem to work. The store’s has purchased a Bunn coffee pot so we can bring folks into the building so that we can work on relationships. Free coffee and friendship is the plan of action. As summer quickly approaches we are trying to find a popcorn machine to use with the neighborhood children as a reward system. The 4oz or 6 oz machines cost about $500. If you have any contacts in this area please let Reida or I know.

A special emphasis is going to be on any children’s books that you may have. Christian and secular books that can be used with grades K – 5. The elementary schools are in desperate need of reading material to put in the hands of their students.

Zach Boehm has produced a video of this years "Treasure Box" Gift Program. It is in the final stages and I will try to make a copy available to all fellowship churches on the district. We had an idea to make them available for a small donation but that is still in the planning stages. I will let everyone know if that idea becomes a reality.

Ministry Opportunities

We have had good response to our plea for volunteers!!! The Mission Center needs people who have a heart for the inner-city to staff the bookstore/office. All that is required is a heart to talk to people as they walk by or come into the center. This is a good experience to use your witnessing skills. As the weather gets warmer and there is more sunlight there is a pressing need to increase the hours that the doors are open. People know of us from the newspaper articles and the Treasure Boxes, but they also need to know that someone is there to listen and possibly to help. Our hours have not been regular with all that is happing in our lives. Starting when the weather changes and there are more people on the streets – We would like to make a volunteer monthly schedule. That way we can extend the hours of operation.

Reida and I pray that God will touch the hearts of people with a passion for ministry opportunities and send us people willing to do God's work in the inner city of Cleveland.

Please pray for volunteers.

Forever in HIS Service with Thanks,
Rich and Reida Bartley