Kenneth E. Mitchell,EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Mary Lynn Mitchell,ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Thomas 0. Kay, President

Ralph C. Fuhrken, Vice President

Bettye Rambo-Taylor, Secretary

Stan Welch, Treasurer

David E. Beatty

Suzanne Berman

Jim Condra

Verne Evans

Charlyn Fargo

William Ilch

Robert John Kane

Larry Lipka

SUMMER CHILDREN'S

P ROGRAM UNDERWAYWe are kicking off a new type of children's program at Washington Street Missionthis summer. Rather than conducting evening services for the children during thesummer, we are providing a full range of afternoon activities. The afternoon pro-gram will take advantage of the time the children have available and allow us tominister to the children more effectively.

About fifteen children in grades one through six and another ten youth in junior andsenior high school are currently participating.

Three afternoons each week the younger children are picked up and brought to theMission for games, Bible studies, crafts, and other activities. Hands-on interactionwith the Bible and its truths for daily living is being highlighted in the Bible studies.

At the end of the afternoon activities a meal is provided for the children. They aretaken home at about 6:00 p.m. Field trips and other special outings on selecteddays will also be an important part of the program. This will be a continuation ofthe former Mission Expedition program.

The junior and senior high school youth are meeting at the Mission on Thursdayevenings. Snacks, games, and Bible studies are part of the program.

Service projects will also be built into the program to teach the children that theyneed to give as well as receive. Giving items they make and presenting a programfor nursing home residents might be included. Asking the children to assist in acommunity clean-up project is also being considered.

Throughout the summer wewill be looking for opportunitiesto involve the parents and fam-ili es of the children in the pro-gram as well.

We believe that God will usethis program to allow us tobuild solid biblical truths intothe lives of a number of chil-dren and families. Please praywith us that this effort will beeffective.

Nothing is more fun for children and youth at the mission than playing basketball in the activity room,and they are very good at it.

TUTORING TOUCHES LIVES With the school years coming to a close, our Tuesdayafterschool tutoring program is also winding down. Ten tofifteen children have participated in the program eachTuesday this Spring. The children have received help withtheir homework and have developed some better learningskills. Even more important to us, some significant rela-tionships have been formed.

One little story may help illustrate the way in which thisprogram can begin to have an impact on the lives of chil-dren. One of the tutors who began to help in May wasunable to attend one Tuesday. In order to make sure thatthe child he was tutoring did not feel left out or forgotten,the tutor sent a note along with some arithmetic work-sheets he had written out for the child to work on.

The child was surprised by this simple expression of con-cern. He read the note eagerly, worked on the arithmeticproblems, and rather sheepishly asked us if he couldkeep the note.

Building relationships like this is one goal of the program.Of course, we want to help these children develop goodmath and reading skills, but we also want them to knowthat someone cares about them and is willing to spendti me helping them.

During the final week of the tutoring program this Spring,one of the volunteers who teaches high school mathoffered to provide extra tutoring help for one of the olderchildren who is having a very difficult time with elementaryalgebra. Other tutors have promised to send notes andletters to the children during the summer to keep in touch.These extra efforts communicate something very impor-tant to these children about people who care.

Touching the lives of children with love in the name ofJesus is a goal we are lifting up at Washington StreetMission.

Tutors work with the children on math and reading skills, some-ti mes in creative ways like searching for Waldo.

LETTERS THANK THE TUTORS

The children who participated in the Tuesday tutoring pro-gram were asked to write notes to their tutors as theschool year was coming to a close. Here are someexcerpts.

One of the older girls wrote, "Thank you for tutoring meand for taking the time to teach me. I have drawn a pic-ture of a flower to show how sweet you are."

A younger girl expressed her appreciation in this way:"Thank you for coming to have a good time together. Ihope you have a great summer. I like you so much."

One of the boys wrote simply, "Thank you for all yourhelp." Another boy said that he enjoyed being able toread a book with his tutor and was looking forward tobeing able to do it again.

Perhaps one of the most sincere expressions of thankswas from one of the younger boys who wrote, "We havefun when you come."

Finally, a girl wrote, "Thank you for everything that youhave done for me, especially teaching me. I also thankyou for caring about me and my work if I make a mistake."

COFFEE AND A DOUGHNUT IN JESUS' NAME

One of the most visible ministries of Washington StreetMission is a morning coffee time each weekday. Whenthe coffee hall opens at 9:00 a.m. each morning, needypeople find a warm cup of coffee and a doughnut waitingfor them. They also find a friendly face, someone to talkto, and a safe haven from the streets.

Many use the time to take advantage of the publicrestroom at the Mission, talk with the Mission staff aboutdiscuss particular problems they are facing, or pick up aBible or other Christian literature to read. The hall cansometimes become somewhat noisy, but there is usuallyan occasion for a quiet moment or two of reflection,moments which are all too infrequent in some of theseharried lives.

Twenty to thirty people are served each day during thismorning coffee time, when most other services for thesepeople are unavailable.

Some of the people who come to the Mission during thecoffee time are homeless. Others are living at temporaryshelters. Some come from Sangamon Towers or NearNorth Village, the two housing developments closest tothe Mission. Most of the people have somewhat unstablehousing situations and move fairly frequently.

Some of these clients are employed regularly, but physi-cal, mental, and social problems limit the ability of manyof them. They desperately need the physical, social, andspiritual nourishment the Mission provides.

The coffee time is a tangible way the Mission serves acup of cold water in the name of Jesus.

HOW CAN You HELP? Does the Tuesday tutoring sound exciting to you? Areyou looking for an opportunity to have an impact on thelife of a needy child? Do you think God might be leadingyou to reach out in Christian love and friendship in thisway?

We are hoping to be able to expand the tutoring programin the Fall by including more children and adding anotherweekday. But we will need more tutors.

If you are interested and willing to devote some time andenergy to these children, we would love to hear from you.Anyone with even average reading and math skills canhelp. The only qualification is a heart touched by Jesusand a willingness to serve him.

CLOTHING MEETS REAL NEEDS

When you drop off some used clothing at the Mission, doyou wonder if it really does any good? Do you wonder ifreal needs are actually being met? You might wonder ifyou are only clearing the clutter in your basement or sim-ply disposing of items you were unable to sell at the yardsale. Does it make a difference?

The answer is yes. As we watch over two hundred menand women go through the Mission's clothing hall eachmonth to pick up needed clothing without any charge, wealmost daily see evidence that these items do make a dif-ference.

On one women's clothing distribution day about a weekbefore Easter an older woman was searching rather des-perately for clothes for her husband. She explained thatshe wanted clothes that he could wear to church onEaster Sunday, but had been unable to locate the largersizes he needed.

As she continued to search in the clothing hall, word cir-culated among the Mission staff about her needs. One ofthe volunteers in the back room, who was sorting clothes,overheard. "Did she say she was looking for size 52?" heasked. "We just received some size 52 men's dressclothes this morning and I'm sorting through them now."

The woman was overwhelmed by the opportunity toreceive just what she and her husband needed at just theright time. She left with expressions of praise and thankson her lips and tears of joy on her face.

God seems to provide for each need at the right time.Just-in-time inventory might be his invention.

Do your donations of used clothing make a difference?Yes indeed.

MONTHLY GIVING PLAN For many years Washington Street Mission has relied onholiday appeals for the bulk of our contributions. The giftsin response to appeal letters at Easter, Thanksgiving andChristmas have been vital to maintaining the ministry ofthe Mission over the years.

Ken and Mary Lynn Mitchell have been serving as Executive Director and Associate Director since March, when Jim andLorraine Beatty retired and moved to North Carolina.

Many people have begun recently to give more regularlyto meet the needs of the operation of the Mission. Suchconsistent giving on a monthly basis enables the Missionto maintain a better cash flow. This is especially impor-tant during the summer months when giving often dipsand the holiday appeals are a long way off.

The enclosed gift card includes a box to check if you planto give on a regular monthly basis. If you check this box,we will simply send a gift card and envelope for your useeach month as each month's gift is received.

Giving monthly tor the Mission makes sense.

I NTRODUCING SHANA The daughter of Ken and Mary Lynn Mitchell is joiningthem in their ministry at Washington Street Mission thissummer. Shana Mitchell is serving as the SummerChildren's Program Assistant from June through Augustand will be responsible for many of the children's ministryactivities.

Shana has just completed her second year at BethelCollege in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she is majoring insocial work. She has become deeply concerned abouturban ministry in the past several years. For the past twoyears, she has spent her Spring break in the Bronx,assisting in a variety of ministries to the needy there. InJanuary, she spent several weeks in an urban ministrystudy program in Chicago.

In the Fall, Shana is planning to begin a year of participa-tion in the Mission Year program developed by Tony andBart Campolo. Taking a year off from formal academicstudies, she will be immersed in urban ministry and com-munity service in one of the several cities selected for theprogram: Atlanta, Chicago, Oakland or Philadelphia.

Bethel College student Shana Mitchell willbe working alongside her parents at theMission during the summer months.

Looking Ahead

There are some great opportunities ahead of us here atWashington Street Mission. Early next year we will havethe opportunity to celebrate the 90th anniversary of thefounding of the Mission. It will be a great time to remem-ber the foresight of the businessmen who established thisministry in 1910 to impact the Springfield community withthe Gospel.

It will be a great time to praise the Lord for his faithfulnessover the years in sustaining this ministry and continuing tomake it effective. Remembering the innovative and cre-ative ways in which the leaders of the Mission haveapplied the message of the Gospel to the changing needsof this community should encourage all of us.

Right now we are focusing on two more immediate oppor-tunities: focusing the ministry of the Mission on familiesand networking with other services and ministries in thecommunity more effectively.

Too often we have ignored the fact that God establishedthe family as one of his basic institutions for structuringand directing society. He wants to use families to trans-form and renew our society. As we touch families with thetruth of the Gospel, new opportunities will open up for thechildren.

The family of God reaching out to needy families is veryclose to the center of our vision for Washington StreetMission in the days ahead.

We also tend to forget that we are not in the battle alone.We need to engage creatively with other agencies andministries to discover the most effective ways we canserve in Jesus' name. We want to work together for God'sglory and the advancement of his kingdom.

We cannot minister alone in our little corner. And we cando absolutely nothing without the strength and vision theLord will p rovide. We need you to ioin us in this effort.

"The desperate conditions that face urbanAmerica call for a revolution in our attempts at asolution. Over the course of my thirty-five years ofliving and working among the poor. I have come tobelieve that these desperate problems cannot besolved without strong commitment and riskyactions on the part of ordinary Christians withheroic faith who believe, as the little shepherd boyDavid did, that our God is greater than any Goliaththat dares to mock his name."

John M. Perkins, Beyond Charity(Baker Books, 1993), page 1 2