Vacation Bible School

The week of the 10th through the 14th was a bit busier than normal at Acorn Center. A group of wonderful young moms (and a couple of dads) from Northwest Hills Church had contacted me months ago about doing a Vacation Bible school for neighborhood kids. They decided to open it up to very young children and so the group ranged from age 2-5 and the kids were very active and fun. Briza, Bryan and Julian, children of students in our English classes who live nearby, came to VBS every day and heard Bible stories for the very first time.

We hope this will be an annual event, although judging from the excellent lessons, crafts, games and snacks, it was a lot of work for the volunteers. I loved having the kid energy happening around Acorn again. We've missed that as we have moved to working more with adults. We're certainly open to having children's programs again, but we need more energetic young volunteers like this team from Northwest Hills.

Our adult classes have continued seamlessly all summer long, in spite of vacationing teachers. In an earlier post I wrote about needing more volunteers and I am happy to say that I have 3 new people who have started in the last few weeks. There is still room for more helpers, since my most long-term teacher, Karen Berg, just left for a year in Uganda (hopefully she'll be teaching some English there to keep in practice), and another long-termer, Sara Phillips, will be having her first child this fall and will need some time off. She wants to continue at Acorn though, so maybe I'll volunteer to take care of her baby while she teaches!

Our student numbers have been down a bit this summer since lots of people are working long hours while there is work to be had. But we have had students of every ability level coming to class, and we have been trying to offer 3-4 levels of English as well as computer instruction at all of our class times. I anticipate the attendance will increase as the weather gets worse.

Beating the heat

I was impressed that we still had plenty of students last week, in spite of the record temperatures. So while I was coordinating and teaching our English classes at Acorn, Peter went on a field trip with 4 of our neighbors.

Now that our own kids are grown up, Peter needed someone to play with and invited the Refugio family children. The highlight of the trip was probably the campfire and s'mores, but the kids are still young enough that they enjoyed the frigid water.

On a completely different topic, I have created a section for links on the right side of the blog and so far I have included two that have to do with immigration. I plan to add to these and change them from time to time as I find interesting articles and/or websites. I wholeheartedly recommend the on-line and print magazine called Prism, published by Evangelicals for Social Action. If you haven't heard of it, definitely check it out - Ron Sider is the head of the organization and they have been doing wonderful work for about 25 years now.

Volunteers are beautiful

What would any non-profit organization be without its volunteers? We are so blessed to have many people who give of their time and energy in a variety of ways that support our ministry. I love that there are opportunities for people of almost any age to help out. Some volunteers are teaching or assisting in our weekly English classes, others help with childcare, many have helped with work projects over the years, others donate their professional expertise (accounting and computer tech support are at the top of my list), and some give money and materials for our programs. Countless others are praying for us and the people we serve.

I'm humbled by the number of people who support us, but I do need to say that we could use more helpers, if you or someone you know is available - students needing to pick up some extra volunteer hours, underemployed people who want to contribute while they are looking for work, retired folks with a bit of extra time available.

In Spanish, at least among the people I speak with, the words ugly and beautiful show up a lot. Almost anything bad that happens is feo and if you want to report on a good time you had on a trip, at a party, or even just a dinner with friends, it was bonito. I speak Spanglish better than either Spanish or English, so let me just say that in the midst of a world where feo things happen, Acorn volunteers are muy bonito.

Reflecting on friends and food

Now that we have this blog, I guess I'm supposed to be posting on it regularly. The problem is that I'm too busy living life to stop and reflect on it. Peter and I have just returned from a 25 year reunion where a group of us who were friends in our carefree 20s spent three days together reflecting on our friendship and where our lives have gone over the years. It was a great experience, and on the drive home, Peter and I both expressed that while we loved being back in the Bay area because of all the friends, we are so happy with the life God has given us here in Corvallis, that there was no sadness in leaving. Rather, we were excited to get back to work and back to the people we care about here.

Our open house on the 21st was a wonderful time of appreciating where God has led the ministry in the past 10 years. There were about 40 people who stopped by, and I was able to introduce some of my awesome volunteers. Blanca (in red apron) made pupusas for everyone.

She wants to work from home selling this traditional food from El Salvador, so let me know if you're interested, and if you still don't know what they are, just ask and we'll invite you to our next pupusa party.

We also served amazing Mexican sweet breads that my friend Manuel from Iglesia Emanuel bakes in his home. Yes, I am shamelessly advertising for my friends.

Welcome and Open House

Welcome to our Acorn Outreach blog, not to be confused with any other Acorn blogs that might be in the news now and again. Most of you who have found your way here know that we are a small Christian non-profit located in Corvallis, Oregon.

We are beginning our 10th year of ministry and would like to invite you to an open house next Sunday, June 21, from 11:30am to 1:00pm. We will be serving coffee, Mexican pastries, pupusas and other goodies, and showing off our 1200-square-foot learning center and neighborhood garden. The address for Acorn Center is 1740 NW Division St.