Impact Report                           April 2010

1.       We finished our short series on Christ’s words from the Cross having presented our final lesson on Easter Sunday.  This has allowed the body opportunities to digest the significance of each of Christ’s saying during Impact groups and bible studies, and keep a great focus on Christ’s sacrifice and completed work on the cross for an extended amount of time.  Next series will focus on the Monsters in our lives:  things that scare and seem to overpower us.  We want to reveal what these monsters truly are and affirm how they are powerless in the light of God’s truth and love.

2.       The Garage Sale, though it brought in less than last year, still was a great success.  Needed funding was provided for the many ministries and activities at Impact.  Producing the Garage Sale, to me, is the most striking aspect of our annual Garage Sale.  SO many people put in SO many hours using SO many resources and working SO hard.

3.       Though our small groups share the same purposes and values, their makeup are very different.  Our college-age group is one of the fastest-growing, and has great potential for setting the bar higher for our other groups.  In order to prepare enough leaders, several extra prep meetings are arranged, but they are worth the extra effort.  Put simply, it is active leader training, and it works.

4.       Spring Break was crazy incredible!  The first week, we hosted a Spring Break version of an Impact VBS.  The groups from Oklahoma and ACU taught classes and loved on kids, fixed houses, helped oraganize the warehouse and Distribution Center, and helped get our newsletters ready to be mailed.

5.       This year, we reinstituted the Urban Plunge!  This downtown tour of life on Houston streets was a shocking education for the brave souls who volunteered to submit to the homeless experience.  They only spend a few hours out (6 hrs., actually), but that is a mere drop in the bucket compared to what our outdoorsmen truly experience even in just one day.  Our guides were ex-homeless men who had a wealth of information for our college students.  This is a tradition that must continue because the education is invaluable.

6.       Be getting ready now for our Annual Night of Celebration at Impact.  This has come to replace the fundraising dinner.  It is set to be May 6^th, 7:00pm at the Impact main building.

7.       The Distribution Center is beginning to open their doors extra hours to serve working single mothers.  Thursday evenings will be dedicated to this service which may be a good filter to more Bible studies and exposure to the church.  The expected demographic is 80% Hispanic.

8.       The Bridge Program, an “alternative-school” alternative which houses its students in the Impact Teen House during school hours continues to do well.  After a year and a half of hosting students and permitting them to involve themselves in service in on-campus ministries, The Bridge Program has caught positive attention from the HISD Superintendant.  Seems they are making an impact on the lives of these students, and may be seen as a way to do so more and more.

9.       April is starting off active, with Passover Meals, Easter activities, Quincenera preparations, unexpected changes , and life in general, but we have great hopes of having a less active month.  Our  youth plans to have various retreats (editor's note:   Fire at Camp of the Hills changed many plans.), and youth ministers are making final preparations for the summer, which basically “kicks off” mid-May when our interns arrive, but overall Impact is expecting a more even-keel month.  Sometimes normal means being able to catch our breath.  Sometimes not.