CPS, MLK Parade and God Belongs in My City

by colleen on January 20, 2010

Child Protective Services (CPS) is something that many of us know nothing about other, than you’re supposed to report known abuse etc. of children to them, however most of my kids, have had experiences with CPS or know exactly what to do should CPS arrive at their homes. In fact many kids I deal with have CPS social workers that visit them in school to check up on them, it’s not unusual to see 10 social workers in a week visiting kids. It breaks my heart quite honestly, but what breaks my heart even more, is the fact that I’ve had two children say to me this week, “Miss Colleen, if I ever get taken away by CPS, I am going to tell them I want to live with you, you’re the nicest person I know.”

I don’t doubt that for some of these kids, I am the nicest person they know, but what breaks my heart is that they are thinking about who they’d want to live with if  they got taken away from their parents. That they are thinking about getting taken away from their homes, that they are concerned that CPS is going to get called on their parents. This is heart wrenching, do you or I even know what it feels like to worry about having to go into CPS custody? I am begging you to pray for these kids tonight, calm their hearts, pray for deliverance for their parents, pray for protection over their homes, pray for God to be used in mighty ways in their lives so that they can reach their parents.

Our float in the MLK day parade was awesome, it was so cool to see such unity happening in our city, did you know that Baltimore’s MLK day parade is one of the largest in the nation? It was such a good opportunity for us to show unity and share our message of hope. I have gotten about 15 phone calls just this afternoon, from people wanting to know how to get their kids involved in MetroKidz, I am so excited about the opportunities God is providing for us to get our name out their, get our vision out their, and let people see how this is a place for Kids to dream, and chase after their dreams.

Speaking of opportunities I am excited about the opportunity I am being given to host a silent prayer movement called God Belongs in My City Baltimore on Saturday March 6th. We’ve been praying for at least 500 people to join us in this Prayer Movement through Baltimore City, it will give us a chance to unite as Christians and stand together declaring our faith. It’ll give us an opportunity to move through the city, praying for God’s Hands and Love to take over this city, we’ll pray through the Inner Harbor to City hall and back. We’ll ask God for protection, vision and strength to take over this city in His name. I am praying for the hearts of the people who are going to join us on this journey, I am praying for God to move in the hearts of people to get out of their seats and take a stand. If you’d like more information about God Belongs in My City Baltimore, please feel free to send me an email colleen@metrokidzbaltimore.org

Prayer Request: Tonight we’re sharing the Gospel and challenging our kids in a way we never have before.  Fifteen or so teachers will be presenting the Gospel and inviting their kids to accept Christ tonight, please pray for open hearts, no distractions (haha) and for the right words for each teacher!

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First MK of 2010 and MLK Parade

by colleen on January 15, 2010

Ah, this week it was back to MetroKidz, I never thought I could miss my kids so much…I had seen them at school and even on the streets, but it’s different when it’s not MetroKidz, and they’re not banging down the door on Wednesday evenings. You know it’s a true MetroKidz, when a fourth grader is cussing out her sister, a boy gets banked with a tootsie pop and two teens boys wanna scuff in the street, ah welcome back to my sweet life!

Not many people understand how much I love this life of mine, how these kids are MY KIDS, they are my world and that well getting banked with a lollipop, getting yelled at, and pushed around while it’s not right it’s a part of life. I have made it my personal goal this year to visit every kids who’s on our attendance list at home, to attempt to meet their parents, to find out what their home life is like etc. Being a part of their lives at the school has been good, because I have seen a lot of parents, I have heard a lot of stories and I have seen these kids in “action” at school, while I don’t know everything and I know that knowing this “junk” about my kids is going to help us in the long run.

So now for a shameless plug, if you feel God tugging at your heart to impact some kids, you should check us out on a Wednesday night! You heart will melt as you’re loved by kids who don’t always know what love means! We’re always in need of volunteers and have something for everyone!

This is an exciting weekend for us, we’re building a float, yup that’s right we’re building a float! We’ve earned ourselves a spot in the Martin Luther King Day Parade, it’s going to be chilly and maybe even wet, but I am so excited for my kids to get to be a part of this. One of the teens said to me on Wednesday Night, “You know Miss Colleen, there ain’t many white people in the MLK day parade, you gunna stand out,” that’s right friend we are, and I couldn’t be more excited. This is a very prestigious parade in our city, and we’re honored to be a part of it. If you wanna come hang with us, or see our float in the parade here’s the info:

Parade

What: The city’s 10th-annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade
When: January 18, 2010, noon
Route: Begins at Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and Eutaw St. Proceeds south on MLK to Baltimore St.

There’s been a lot going on around MetroKidz, a lot of happiness as babies are being born, a lot of saddness as we lose two amazing families to new jobs and new homes. We just lost the Neas family an awesome family of five who became our family for the last 8 months and this week we’ll lose the Gagne family another family of five, that has been on this journey with Pastor Mike since the beginning, we pray for both  of these families as they embark on new adventures and God calls them away to serve in different place, we pray that they know how much they’ve impacted our ministry and our lives.

Finally, we had our baby, his name is Drake (junior maybe), he was born on January 31, 2009 and weight 8lbs 13 oz. He’s a cute little chubby man and we just adore him. We’re praying for Sarah and Drake as they become accustom to being parents!

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2009 in Review

January 1, 2010

January: This is a pretty slow month for us, this past year we began visiting our kids once a month as a team in January, it was probably one of the best things we’ve done yet. In January of ‘09 I got to experience hope with some of my kids, I began to form relationships [...]

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Doughnuts with Drug Dealers

November 24, 2009

Two weeks ago, I felt like I was supposed to do something for some of the young boys who push drugs on our street corners, at first what that something was, wasn’t exactly clear, and honestly I wanted to run from the idea, these boys know me, they respect me and they know my name [...]

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