Custom BLING!

Initials of loved ones on a personalized necklace! Perfect gift for Valentine's Day!

Nicknames of Ms. Nikki's nieces and nephew for a gift for her sister! 

What I think about New Life...

I was okay my first day, but I felt scared because I was new. Now, I feel alright and comfortable, because I know everybody. My favorite things so far are to help the little kids and going on the computer.

-J, 7th grade
(1st week at New Life Bling)

New Life Banquet

Kids, Teenagers, Adults, Volunteers, Teachers had a great time celeberating what God is doing in Humboldt Park!

Beautiful BLING middle schoolers awaiting the debut of a new BLING video!

Another BLING middle schooler and Ms. Nikki.

Budding Artists displaying their work at the banquet!

Thiefs, Murderers, and Prostitutes...

God called Paul--a man who had been directly involved in the killings of people.

God called Levi--the tax collector who had been stealing from people.

God called the woman at the well--who had a "reputation" throughout her village.

***

On Monday when the apprentices were walking to my house, we watched a guy who played in open gym get booked outside of my house. We talked about the event of a undercover cops posing as women who prostitute on North Ave. to catch solicitors.

On Tuesday as I was walking Andre home, we saw three other young men on his block being booked probably for possession.

On Wednesday, our box with $140.00 worth of supplies was stolen out of Beth's, our director's, car. 

Friday...there were helicopters hovering over Humboldt Park. 

Yesterday, a man was shot in front of Esme's house around 4 am. 

So, when two apprentices and I got together yesterday, there was a lot they had to talk about. A lot of emotions about the violence, a lot of questions about what to do.

***

I posed a question to them: "Did you know that God cares for the victim of violent crime, as well as the people who commit the crime?" 

I told them that I have started praying for the hearts of the perpetrator just as much as the one who has been hurt. 

"That's different," commented the visiting sister of one of the apprentices.

"God can change any heart..." Then, I told them about Paul, Levi, and Yesenia (the dance teacher who is always there when we come in on Saturdays.

"I guess God can do anything he wants to," commented one apprentice.

***
The world sees people as what they do--they become labeled and stereotyped, sometimes for their who lives.
Murderer
Thief
Prostitute
Drug Dealer
Gangbanger

But, as one ministry said: "Labels are for cans, not people." God can change and transform the heart--which is a miracle in itself. For whoever who accepts Him, Christ's righteousness is seen instead of our own bad deeds--that in itself is something to praise Him about. 

Another God Story

Glass on North Ave. & Springfield

Yesterday night, Esme said: "Ms. Nikki, I was catching the bus on North and Springfield in the morning and there was a ton of glass from the bus stop. I was going to call you or collect it, but we didn't have our phone and I couldn't collect it, because I was going to school."

Little did Esme know, one of the New Life Staff, Marena had called us when she was taking her daughter to school. My roomie who was going to go on a run, but she ended up collecting a ton of it (I had a meeting and was running out the door). The glass was extremely heavy, but Lisa ran into a man whose family we were working with--he helped her carry it! How about three cheers for COMMUNITY EFFORT!

God has taught us so much about community here in the neighborhood! He has shown me the reality: many people (often unlikely characters) play a role in His Story. The amazing GOD STORY of renewal and redemption. Sometimes, a "God thing" seems impossible. You don't know how you're going to manage to do it, but you go to that place He has shown you out of pure obedience and faith that He will work it out.

The story of collecting this glass may seem a little small compared to how God works out big plans, but not really. God used five different people that day--and all of them contributed in some way to helping God work out His will through the apprentice program. Many of the characters He used may not have known that they were contributing to the lives of 3 neighborhood teens who are learning about the love of Jesus and seeking to know truth in this crazy world.

BLING Apprentices Excited to Sponsor Compassion Child

Yesterday night at BLING apprentice program, we talked about the importance to "pour" your life into the lives of others. We watched a video from Compassion International called "One Act". Helen, Yaneth, and Esme all decided that they wanted to give a portion of  their apprentice stipend to sponsor child.

Yaneth said, "I'm a selfish person sometimes. When I do get something, I want to use it for something I need. This good, because I can help someone else--even if it's just a little bit."

"This is a good idea," Helen said as she cut more purple wire. 

"We want to make a difference," Esmeralda said as she continued to wrap Urban Hope.

My heart overflowed!

-Nikki, BLING Facilitator

"One Act"

http://vimeo.com/10353578#

New Life

I went to an art event at the Moody Church a week ago. A group of women who had experienced a multitude of abuses stood before us delivering poetry, singing songs, and painting canvases to display the healing power of God in the darkest of times.

Underneath this canvas pictured above is a dark picture of a mask with words like "horror," "sadness," "anger," "silence," etc. The artist used that first painting with its colors, forms and shapes to produce this work of hope.

That night, I cried. Cried about many things... but a particular stream of tears was produced when I thought that one day, some of the kids I work with would experience God and all His healing power. That one day, they would be the ones up on the stage, with  mic, with a paintbrush, with a healed heart...

Out of the darkness--the soil--of sin and oppression, God sovereignly can use it to produce new life. What a beautiful picture of God's grace, ability, and power.

Nikki, BLING Facilitator