Community Development

We believe that Community Development, next to sharing Jesus, is one of the very most important aspects of missionary work. We are constantly trying to improve all aspects of neighborhoods were we work. This can be a tough job at times because in many cases the people who live there really don't want to improve. But we do.

We have been working this week to get programs re-established at Villas Nueva. With all the renovations and restructuring that is going on it's been quite difficult to get the management motivated behind our programs. They want us there, but they are really very busy with all the changes they are making.

Tomorrow Tim and I will be meeting to work on our strategy and maybe also work with the management to back our programs. This will only benefit them in the long run.

Lastly, we are still facing challenges in our family. Please pray that God will help us work through a few things and come out the better for it on the other side.

We love you all!!!

Wow what a Weekend!!!

I just wanted to catch you all up. Friday Cornelia had lunch with our partners David Crews. If you don't know David he is not only one of my good friends, but he is also a great accountability partner for Cornelia and I. We also appreciate his support to our ministry as well.

Spent the rest of the afternoon doing administrative work.

Jars of Clay

Saturday afternoon we attended the Music Builds Tour with guest stars Jars of Clay, Robert Randolff and the Family Band, Swithfoot, and Third Day. We acquired these tickets six months ago and considered selling them several times. We are sure glad we didn't! This was probably one of the best concerts that I've been to in years. All the groups really glorified Jesus through music and personal testimony. The proceeds are going to "Habitat for Humanity."

John Forman of Switchfoot

Kaitlyn got the thrill of her life and got to shake hands with one of her very favorite singers John Forman of Switchfoot. She was so excited!!!

This morning we attended North Point Community Church. Andy Stanley is the pastor there. Andy preached the last sermon of a series that he has been working through this quarter. His message was on "Pivotal Circumstances" in each Christian's life. He used the passage out of Mark about Jesus raising Lazurus from the dead and the pivotal reaction of each characters in the scripture. Andy is really a great communicator and has a God given talent for making his points simple to understand and relational to life. I think each of us in the Harrell family saw ourselves in the words of the characters in the scripture.

UNITE!!!!

This morning I meet with one of my good friends Mark Whitley. Mark is the athletic director for Parkview H.S. where my daughter attends. He leads the largest SS Class at our church. We discussed how his class could get involves in outreach in my mission territory. I asked him to do a Christmas party for the kids at Villas Nueva in December (never to early to get started). He agreed in part but wanted to discuss the possibilities with his class. I have a sneaky suspicion that they will agree to do it. We also discuss other outreach projects and methods that would get the church at large more involved in reaching out. That's "good stuff."




I attended my first Unite meeting and had the opportunity to sit with one of our partners Matt Johns. Matt is director of the mission work in Peach Tree Corners. We don't see each other very often and it was good to get to know each other better and also compare notes about mission work. Sorry I didn't get a photo of him.

Today's topic was geared toward "disaster preparedness." In light of this years hurricane season, floods, and tornadoes it was good to brush up on agencies and mission organizations called by good to help people in time of need.

One of our speakers was Kathy Haworth from the American Red Cross. She spoke of Hurricane Katrina and how touched the American public was during the disaster and the pouring out of donations, resources, and time. In contrast, she also spoke of the events at Galveston, Texas last week and the almost callous reaction by people. Kathy also told us that the agency is broke and has no money to respond. Currently the RC is involved in an aggressive campaign to raise money and volunteers. Kathy also spoke of the need for shelter operators and explained how we could get involved in training and leadership.

We also heard from Harvey Anderson director of Home Repair Ministries. His organization has been instrumental in replacing hundreds of homes in Bay Saint Louis Mississippi. He continually tries to reproduce himself with other people who have a passion like his.

Unite is a good concept designed to link churches form all denominations together for the greater good of our Lord Jesus. Don't shoot me...but its good to know that the Southern Baptist are not the only show in town.

Late this afternoon I went with Kaitlyn to help pick out her Senior Class ring. She was sooooo excited and I was too.

We Love You all!!!

Home Work Help

Yesterday we tried to begin our homework help program. We did all the prep and advanced advertising. We met them at the bus, talked to the Mamma's and no one came.

But never say never and never give up. That's my motto. So we got our goodies box loaded with bags if chips and took to the streets and the playgrounds. As we walked through the complex the kids would run over to us and as us when the next party is going to be. It's fun to be known as the people that bring parties to the neighborhood. I told them that we had one coming up in October. They were excited. Them they asked whats in the box? I said...chips. They said...can we have some. I said sure that will be $2.00. One of the boys yelled out, "Man what a ripoff. I responded back, not really there free (I really enjoyed getting some mileage out of that kid because he is a bit of a trouble maker).

I asked them, "have you done your homework yet? All of them agreed like any other any other kids that they hate homework. I told them that if they were going to ever be smart and successful then they had to do their homework. Then I told them that if they ever needed homework help, then they needed to come to the mission room and we would help them. They said OK, but one of the girls yelled out I still hate homework.

Laying all the fun aside, when these kids come home from school usually middle school and older these kids are charged with either helping mom cook, clean, and are typically made to take care of the younger siblings. When we have events unusually the older kids come with the little ones in toe. Some as young as two years old. Its a lot of responsibility!

Like I said we never give up. So now we come up with a different approach for the home work help program. It's called kids recreation time. We will create a kids recreation program geared to have fun along with homework help. The trick is if you don't get the homework done you can't participate in recreation.

Pray for us that we are able to make an impact for Jesus no matter what methods we use to reach these children.

We Love You All!!!

Bill On Wheels

As Missionaries we are always looking for ways to help people out. God has commanded us to take care of those who he has entrusted us to our care.




Recently our good friends and fellow church members John and Annette Strietlemeier offered to donate a car to our ministry. We are so grateful for their kind gesture and wanted to really utilize their gift to the glory God. As a non-prophet we new that we could not sell the car for money so we set out to discern the best use for the vehicle.



Then God spoke in his gentle voice and said give the car to Bill!!! Bill Hickey is one of our partners that lives on site at Huntington Ridge,one of Whirlwinds mission sites. So with out hesitation we offered the car to our partner Bill. Bill has been riding the bus or one of his bicycle for quite some time, so we offered to him.



So this afternoon Bill, Tim, and myself set out to make ownership a reality for our brother Bill. We made a trek down to the Georgia Tittle office which is down by the airport. Tim was skeptical that the government transaction would go smooth. I reassured him that things would go well. So when they called our number (government operation) three of us went to the window to complete a five part transaction. Things went just like clockwork...I knew it would. Tim was amazed.



Now Bill is the proud owner of a new (used) car. He will be able to work without having to rely on mass transit to get around. It will allow him more flexibility. Much thanks to our friends and partners John and Annette Strietilmeier for making it all possible.


Love you all !!!

After School Programs and Site Improvments

We had quite a day yesterday in the mission field! As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, we have been negotiating with management on a time slot for our after school programs. Good News! We have come to terms on running the program form 3:30 to 5:00 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Thanks for your prayers team.







Also we received a donation of two additional computers which gives us a total of three. I spent a large part of my day installing computers and rearranging the class room to ready it for next week.





I spoke with Michelle, the manager of Villas Nueva, and she is so glad that we are are there. She has done a great job under a stressful situation. The owners continue to improve conditions for the tenants and renovations continue around the entire complex. Please pray for her as she continues to improve living conditions and upgrade the standard of living there.





The renovations are not only external, but inside the units as well. They maintenance guys are ripping out all of the old toilets and it looks like they are replacing them with low-flow units. This should save the owners thousands of dollars on water bills that hopefully they will use for additional improvements.

Other renovations include replacing rotted retaining walls and other landscape improvements as well. It looks like they are really trying to improve the place.

I was approached by a big muscle-bound Mexican man yesterday. Sometimes when an adult approaches, you can never tell what the reason or motive is. As he approached I gave my usual smile and Hola...como esta greeting. He wasted no time! Thrusting his hand forward toward me, he stuck a cell phone in my face and said in very broken English. You talk!!! I took the phone from his hand and said hello. It was a agent from a temporary service. Evidently he was trying to get a day labor job through a very large communication gap. Finally I was able to gather the name of the hiring contractor, a cell phone number, and address. Alfrado was very thankful and I was relieved that he was just desperate for work.

It was a great start to building a relationship with the adult population at Villas Nueva. Please pray that God will continue to lead us to ministry opportunities, and that we will allow the Holy Spirit to teach us to be patient as we work to share the Gospel with all God's people.

One more thing...Cornelia has gone to work full time to help support our family as I continue to grow the ministry. Pray for her as she is feeling very disconnected from the ministry process. Hopefully we will have our ministry funded soon. She will continue to work on weekends and evening as her schedule allows.

We Love You All!!!

Not Feeling Well Today

Went by the mission today to catch the kids when they were getting off the bus. They sure are full of energy and always tell me how much they hate school. They really don't look that sad to me. I really have fun cutting up with them and listening to their crazy stories.

Went over to Bill Hickey's mission last night to pick up two donated computers. I can't wait to get them hooked up and running so that we can begin to teach computer literacy to the adults and kids who live at Villas Nueva. Bill was showing me a table he made for the kids to work off of. Bill is a really tallented carpenter. A coworker of Cornelia is donating a care to our ministry. We are planing to give it to Bill Hickey so that he will have more reliable transportation.

One of Tim's partners donated to 4 cases of Lay's Chips. I spent part of the afternoon sorting chips and delivering two cases to Tim's house so that he and Ashley could have chips for their kids.

Please pray for me...I have been a little under the weather today. I had lots of plans for today but just couldn't quite get it done.

Cornelia is working an extra to try to help us along until we can complete our funding.

Also my best friend from high school contacted me today. I haven't herd from him since 1998. Its so strange because I was just talking about him to Cornelia last week and low-and-behold...there he was on my Facebook this morning requesting to be my friend. JESUS THING??? You be the judge.

Still working with the people at FBC Lawrenceville to potentially get a new mission started that would be manned by their volunteers. Also hoping to make contact with Central Baptist soon.

We Love You All!