Hope & Care, December 2016 Edition

December 2016

& Family Ministries

hope & care p ro v i d i n g h o p e & c a re

, whatever you did for o ne of the le ‘I tell you the truth ill reply, ast of the w g n i se brot K e hers o “Th f

Quarterly Newsletter

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ABCS HIGHLIGHTS

Message from the Executive Director

Big thanks to Wal-Mart, local churches and individuals who helped us fill holiday boxes for those in need. Page 2

We praise God for the work he has done through Arizona Baptist Children’s Services & Family Ministries in 2016. This ministry would not be possible without all of you. Thank you for your continued support, partnership and prayers.

The first annual 5K for Foster Care was a great success! Thanks to everyone who helped make it possible. Page 3 Tax credit gifts to New Life Pregnancy Center reduce what you owe in AZ state taxes and could qualify us for a grant of up to $25,000! Page 5

Our prayer as a ministry is that we will always seek God’s will and His plan, and that this will guide our work each day.

Ministry work can be hard, and we face our share of challenges, but we continue to look to the Lord and His strength, and seek His face always.

ew 25:40

read through the enclosed stories to see how your financial support directly helps ABCS ministries, and to see examples of lives changed by Jesus.

The Arizona Charitable Tax Credit has increased for organizations working with foster children. This means that you can reduce what you owe in state taxes by up to $1,000 for couples or $500 for individuals when you give to ABCS or any of our seven ministries. Please prayerfully consider a year-end gift, and how God might utilize your gifts as a volunteer for ABCS in 2017.

Reaching hurting and lost people for Christ is our motivation.

MERRY CHRISTMAS Sharing the Gospel May God bless you m fro ABCS Core Leadership is the thread that for your faithfulness ties our seven to Him. I pray that you Pursue Life New Life ministries together. We know that and your family will enjoy a wonderful Adult Pregnancy Ministry Centers our efforts to help people are holiday season as we celebrate the birth of fruitless without the hope and our Lord. love that Jesus provides.

In Him, New Life Mission When you support ABCS & Family Ministries Transitional Encounter with your time and Program 360 7 Ministries | 1 Mission resources, you not only Steve Hanna meet immediate physical Providing hope and care to Executive Director hurting children and families and emotional needs, you through Christ-centered ministries.

Community make an investment in the New Life Resource Counseling Kingdom.

I encourage you to Centers

Free pastor and adult leader workshop featuring national speaker, Dr. Amy Hanson. Page 6

Foster Care & Parent Aide

abcs.org 7 (800) 678-0648 7

M N P V ABCSministries

CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS

Community Resource Centers

Community Resource Centers in Tucson, Phoenix and soon in Yuma rely on volunteer support to meet physical and spiritual needs. Serve your community alongside your local center by volunteering to help assemble food boxes and diaper bundles, and hand out items to clients in need. Volunteers of any age, individuals and groups are invited to serve.

JOSH HANNA

Director Caring Ministries & State Director ABCS Resource Centers jhanna@abcs.org (520) 495-0333

AARON NORWOOD Director Rio Vista Center & Casa de Amor anorwood@abcs.org (480) 510-1353

LOCATIONS CARING MINISTRIES, TUCSON CASA DE AMOR, MESA RIO VISTA CENTER, SOUTH PHOENIX TUCSON CENTRAL PHOENIX

Decisions: 13 Foster kids in care: 235 Current foster

The holiday season presents a time of greater need for families and clients of our Community Resource Centers.

To help meet this need, two of our hub resource centers have long histories of providing holiday aide and meals.

Saturday, November 19, was the 13th annual Turkey Day event at the Rio Vista Center in South Phoenix.

Families in the community visited the center to receive a hot meal and take home a frozen turkey and fixings for Thanksgiving. For over 20 years, Caring Ministries in Tucson has given out holiday boxes including frozen turkeys, canned goods, dry goods and baking supplies.

We are grateful to churches and individuals who have partnered with these centers year after year to provide holiday support to those in need by donating funds, goods and volunteer time. In addition, this year a major community partner joined in on the holiday helping.

Managers at the Walmart on Oracle and Magee in Tucson connected us to their warehouse location for discounted bulk turkeys. The warehouse not only allowed us to purchase 1,600 quality turkeys at an extremely generous discounted rate but delivered them, along with other holiday food items, directly to Caring Ministries.

CONTACT

Foster Care & Parent Aide

THANK YOU, HOLIDAY PARTNERS!

The support of Wal-Mart allowed the Rio Vista Center and Caring Ministries to save hours of time and thousands of dollars gathering supplies, making your support go even further toward helping those in need around the holidays. When we launched our Community Resource Centers ministry this year, we did so with the vision that we are better together. Combined effort makes us better stewards of our time and your support.

Filling holiday boxes is a prime example of this vision taking shape, allowing our holiday operations to be more smooth and cost-effective.

2016 YTD Decisions for Christ: 41 ABCS MINISTRY HIGHLIGHTS

Community Resource Centers

New Life Pregnancy Centers

Decisions: 0

Decisions: 24

Food boxes: 31,612

Pregnancy tests: 789

families: 204

Clothing bags: 8,983

DCS-involved families: 1,802 (est.

5,406 children)

Diapers: 25,050

Adoptions: 69

Hygiene bags: 1,407

Material assist: 24,257 Decisions for life: 26

New Life Counseling

Decisions: 0

Sessions: 2,159

Current

Leader Care Sessions: 57

clients: 6 Children: 11

Attendance in parenting classes:

Work program clients: 2

3,250

Mentors: 4

Bible study: 1,066

2

New Life Transitional Program

Decisions: 4

Leader Care Event Participants: 108 Leader Care Contacts: 2,010

Mission Encounter 360 Decisions: 0 Volunteers: 1,286 Volunteer hrs: 38,104 Interns: 30 ABCS Tours: 764 Mission actions: 69

Foster Care / Parent Aide

5K FOR FOSTER CARE (CONT.) Parent Aide

5K FOR FOSTER CARE The first annual 5K for Foster Care was held on September 3 in Prescott to benefit Arms of Love and raise awareness about foster care needs in the area. Over 80 runners and 30 volunteers participated. We are grateful for support from local businesses and churches who made this event possible. Willow Hills Baptist Church and First Southern Baptist Church of Prescott Valley provided free popcorn, snow cone machines and shade for the finishers. Chipotle, Einstein’s, Starbucks and Redbird donated water, juice, bagels and granola bars for the event. Owl’s Auto Body, Haley Contractors, Fann Construction and Arizona Shine Radio Group were local business sponsors. Arizona Shine was the title sponsor of the event. They played music and handed out prizes, making the day lively and fun for all participants. Donations of pajamas and children’s Bibles were brought to the event to give out to children coming into the state’s care..

We treasured the time spent with many of our foster families and children. We hope to continue hosting this event in years to come to grow relationships in the community and spread the word of the need for foster families. We are so thankful the community came out to support what God is doing in the area.

JESUS, BE THE BOSS OF MY LIFE A parent aide was driving Cody* to a supervised visit with his parents when the vehicle was struck by a tire tread, from the freeway. The tire shattered the windshield, caused some other damage and startled Cody and his parent aide. Cody has since been extremely concerned about driving on the freeway, thinking something else might happen to the car. The parent aide has explained to him that while she can’t control what happens, she believes that God protected them from getting hurt and that she trusts God to continue keeping them safe. Now on the way to and from all of his visits, Cody asks questions about God and makes sure his parent aide puts on the “God music”.

Last Friday, on the drive back to his foster home, Cody continued with some of his spiritual questions, which his parent aide tried her best to answer. At the end of their conversation, Cody said he wanted Jesus to be the boss of his life and he wanted to live with Jesus forever.

On their long drive, the two talked about praying and asking God to help us make the best choices. He said he wanted to do that but was adamant that he wanted to make sure that Jesus was with him and that he was going to go to heaven. Before the parent aide could respond, Cody began praying. He asked Jesus to “be the boss” of his life and help him to “tell the devil to leave [him] alone.” Cody apologized for the times he acts “mean”. When he finished, the parent aide asked if she could pray too. She prayed for Cody and continues to do so. She hopes others will come along to help support him in his life and faith and that their future drives will continue to encourage him.

CONTACT NICHOLE TAMBURSTUEN State Director Arms of Love Foster Care ntamburstuen@abcs.org (602) 346-2300

CHERYL HUTCHINS State Director Parent Aide chutchins@abcs.org (800) 678-0648

*Name has been changed to protect child’s safety

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INTERN SPOTLIGHT C h r i s t y Madi will graduate this semester with a Bachelors of Social Work from Arizona State University. At the end of her internship Christy will join our Arms of Love Foster Care team as a licensing specialist.

Christy shared, “I’ve always wanted to help children, and I’ve realized the best way to help children is by helping families. Foster care has always been on my heart, and I’m so excited to have the opportunity to journey through foster care with families.” We are blessed to walk alongside many amazing students like Christy each year through our internship program. We love seeing God work in and through them during their time with ABCS and beyond!

CONTACT DANE CLARK

State Director Mission Encounter 360 dclark@abcs.org (800) 678-0648

AUTUMN BUSBY

Assistant State Director Mission Encounter 360 abusby@abcs.org (602) 346-2300

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Mission Encounter 360 GRAND CANYON UNIVERSITY We recently had the privilege of attending a volunteer fair at Grand Canyon University. It was great being able to connect with many students and share about opportunities for them to make an impact in their community through ABCS ministries. With one of our pregnancy centers located next to the campus and our main Phoenix office and the Rio Vista Center close by, there are a variety of ways for these students to help make a difference on an ongoing basis. We were able to speak with dozens of students, and many have already begun volunteering with us!

Over the past several years God has allowed us to cultivate a wonderful partnership with several departments and ministries of GCU. Many amazing student volunteers have served with ABCS for both short and long periods of time. Some of those volunteers have even gone on to be interns and eventually ABCS staff. We are so blessed by the relationship with Grand Canyon University and other colleges that partner with us throughout Arizona.

VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT - LAURIE CARNES We love seeing how God brings such wonderful folks to serve with ABCS throughout the state. Laurie Carnes is a faithful volunteer who has been with us for multiple years. Laurie enjoys serving at two New Life Pregnancy Centers in the Phoenix area and is often out in the community advocating for our ministries.

Laurie shared that ABCS has also made an impact on her family. “I have two kids, and New Life Pregnancy Center gave them the opportunity to serve and to learn how to serve. That is very important to me.”

In addition to helping regularly in the centers, Laurie Laurie Carnes (center) with fellow volunteer is always looking for ways to help the ministry by and former center director Lori Palmer (left) connecting with others in the community, attending and State Director of New Life Pregnancy events and picking up donations for ABCS. Her love Center, Raquel Williams (right) for God shines through the way she humbly loves and interacts with others. We are grateful for Laurie and the impact she has made on so many people!

New Life Pregnancy Centers

newlife pregnancy center

CHOOSING LIFE Rebekah* called the Wickenburg New Life Pregnancy Center at the urging of her pastor to schedule an appointment to meet with the center director. She found herself facing an unplanned pregnancy and had many reasons why she believed she should get an abortion. However, she agreed to talk with the director to learn more information about the other options she had with this pregnancy.

Rebekah came to the center at her scheduled time and spent a while talking with the director about her situation. As a believer in Jesus, Rebekah was conflicted in her decision. She had already attempted to take an abortion pill, but felt God interrupted her plans and did not allow her to do so. The director shared with Rebekah her alternatives that would mean life for her baby: placing her child for adoption or parenting.

After a long discussion and prayer together, Rebekah decided to parent her child! She left the center with a list of people in her life who support her and would continue to support her as mother to this new baby. She also had the beginnings of a plan to raise the baby on her own. There is a lot in Rebekah’s life that seems to be against her right now, so we are praying with her that she can continue to trust God to make a way for her and her baby where there truly seems to be no way.

A MOMENT OF IMPACT Angelica* visited the Tucson New Life Pregnancy Center for help with free diapers and clothing for her children. She sat down with a volunteer who asked about her needs and also about her spiritual beliefs.

Angelica told the volunteer she is not a Christian and although she was open to discussing spiritual things, the volunteer could tell Angelica was in a hurry to leave.

TAX CREDIT IMPACT Arizona Baptist Children’s Services is a Qualifying Foster Care Charitable Organization, meaning gifts to any of our seven ministries qualify for a dollar-for-dollar state tax credit of up to $1,000 for couples and $500 for individuals. Additionally, New Life Pregnancy Center is one of 10 Arizona nonprofits chosen to participate in the Impact AZ grant program. Your tax credit gift can help New Life Pregnancy Center qualify for a $25,000, $15,000 or $10,000 grant. Grants are awarded based on the number of tax credit gifts between October and December 2016.

SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE Request free promotional materials for your church or group to celebrate Sanctity of Human Life Sunday on January 15. Learn more at abcs.org/SOHL.

After briefly sharing about her faith in Jesus, the volunteer gathered the materials Angelica needed for her children as well as a few names of additional community resources. As she gave these items to Angelica, the volunteer asked if she could pray with her. Angelica agreed and after the prayer said, “You don’t know how much you have made my day.”

CONTACT

Although their time together was short, Angelica was impacted by the kindness of a volunteer who took the time to talk with her and pray with her. New Life Pregnancy Center volunteers have the opportunity to build relationships with clients and share the love of Christ with them. Even in small moments, it’s a privilege to share the hope Jesus offers with individuals like Angelica!

RACHEL RAMEY

RAQUEL WILLIAMS

State Director New Life Pregnancy Center rwilliams@abcs.org (602) 346-2300 Assistant State Director New Life Pregnancy Center rramey@abcs.org (602) 346-2300

M N nlpcAZ *Client names have been changed to respect their privacy

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UPCOMING EVENTS PROJECT QUARTZSITE Bring your travel trailer and be on mission all week, January 20-27, or join Pursue Life on January 21 for a mission experience. Cost is $25 per person for transportation.

Visit pursuelifeaz.com or contact Mona McDonald for more information at (602) 346-2300 or mona@abcs.org.

GRAND ADVENTURE WORKSHOP Help grandparents in your church focus on leaving a lasting legacy for their children and grandchildren.

Contact Mona McDonald for more information.

PASTOR & ADULT LEADERSHIP WORKSHOP National speaker and expert on older adults, Dr. Amy Hanson, joins us for a free workshop on engaging the boomer generation on February 9 in Phoenix and February 10 in Tucson. Visit pursuelifeaz.com for more information and to register.

CONTACT MONA MCDONALD

Vice President Pursue Life Adult Ministry mona@abcs.org (602) 346-2300 pursuelifeaz.com

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Pursue Life Adult Ministry CALLED TO COMMUNITY In a recent study by Duke University and the University of Arizona, one in four Americans said they have no one with whom they can talk about their personal troubles or triumphs. More than half report having no one outside their immediate family with whom they can share confidences (American Sociological Review).

Paul Tripp says in his book Whiter Than Snow, “We weren’t created to be independent, autonomous or selfsufficient. We were made to live in a humble, worshipful and loving dependency upon God and in a loving and humble interdependency with others. Our lives were designed to be community projects.” Romans 12:10 instructs us, Love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor. We are directed in 2 Corinthians 13:11, Comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace, and Galatians 5:13 tells us to serve one another through love. We are commanded and created to live in community and love others. Developing intentional relationships is a sure priority as we age. We retire, lose friends and spouses to death and illness and see family members move out of the area. These circumstances can sharply reduce daily social contacts and stimulation, which in turn has a direct impact on mental and physical health. A goal of Pursue Life is to offer a multitude of ideas and opportunities for doing life together. Nearly 300,000 adults over 60 years of age in Arizona live alone (suburbanstats.com). Doing life alone is an epidemic in Arizona. Let’s change that! Who do you know in your family or neighborhood that you can build community with in the name of Jesus?

DON’T BREAK THE CHRISTMAS BUDGET The Christmas season is one of the most joyous times of the year, but it can also bring lots of financial stress if you don’t have a plan. Below are several tips to making sure your finances last through the Christmas season.

77 Start Early: This may seem simple, but begin by creating a plan mentally or on paper about what items you want to buy. Starting early gives you the ability to save more money, shop the deals at different locations and not feel pressured to make an expensive purchase.

77 Be Patient: Just because the store says it’s 75% off and the sale ends tomorrow doesn’t mean you necessarily need to go out and buy it right away. Make sure you are truly getting a good deal before you spend your hard-earned money.

77 Get Creative: DIY gifts are sometimes all you need to place a smile on somebody’s face.

77 Think Outside the Box: Maybe your extended family all agrees this year to take the funds you usually spend on gifts for each other and combine it to buy gifts for kids in need or to buy food for a family in your church so they can have a special Christmas dinner. You have the opportunity to create a lasting impact and possibly save some money while doing it.

New Life Counseling

TAMMY BREWER

TRAGEDY COUNSELING Recently, Dr. Roger Daniels was asked to speak to a local church group concerning the causes, effects and treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. During a question and answer time, someone asked, “When there has been a local tragedy and we hear on the news that counselors have been sent into the schools, what exactly do they do?”

Research indicates that individuals recover quicker and have fewer long-term concerns when allowed to have this group process. During this debriefing, thoughts, feelings and behaviors are normalized, and individuals are encouraged to find positive coping skills, which include helping them connect with God as their spiritual anchor.

Incidents of “tragedy,” as this individual described it, are otherwise referred to as “critical incidents.” A critical incident can take several forms, from a terrorist attack, to natural disaster, to the sudden death of a prominent church member, to suicide of a teenager, or a grade schooler’s death resulting from illness.

Our second goal is to work with the organization’s leadership, usually a school or church, as to how best facilitate a healthy and God-honoring expression of grief. In one case, we helped a small Christian school plan a memorial service. In another, we helped church staff plan the Sunday worship service in the wake of a teen’s suicide just 48 hours previous.

Untimely deaths are an unfortunate part of community life. Churches and schools, even Christian schools, are not exempt.

A few years ago, for example, a gunman walked into a church’s morning worship service then shot and killed the pastor as he was delivering the sermon. This episode made the national news.

At New Life Counseling, we receive requests on a regular basis to respond to such occurrences. We are asked to enter schools and churches to provide spiritual and emotional support in the aftermath of these incidents.

When we intervene, our first goal is to allow the opportunity for the expression of grief as a common experience. While everyone grieves and responds to tragedy in different ways, victims of a critical incident share a common experience. A group de-briefing is scheduled with a team of counselors to encourage the group to process their thoughts and feelings together.

FEATURED COUNSELOR

Third, our goal is to provide longer term follow-up care. Counselors are made available (on site in many cases) in the days following a critical incident to provide support to individuals and groups.

Fourth, we refer to other behavioral health providers or local church ministries for even longer term support and care.

Many members of the New Life Counseling team, as well as Leader Care facilitators, are trained in Critical Incident Stress Management. We stand ready to respond to the needs of our partners in ministry if there is ever a need. For more information, contact New Life Counseling and Leader Care at (800) 678-0648 or newlifeaz.com.

Tammy Brewer is a Christian Counselor providing C h r i s t centered, Biblically-based counseling for individuals, children, the elderly and couples.

She received her Bachelor of Science from the University of Phoenix and completed her Masters in Counseling from Grand Canyon University. Tammy is EMDR trained (therapy to help heal from disturbing life expereiences). She has been active in ministry for more than 20 years as a lay counselor, group leader and life coach.

She is married with five adult children and four grandchildren. Her heart is to equip and empower people to handle life’s difficulties and manage stressors using a variety of techniques while keeping an awareness of the need for God’s intervention and plan for our lives.

CONTACT ROGER DANIELS, MA, MDIV, DMIN Vice President New Life Counseling rdaniels@abcs.org (800) 678-0648 newlifeaz.org

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GET IN TOUCH STATEWIDE OPERATIONS Southern Arizona (800) 678-0648

STEVE HANNA

Executive Director hanna@abcs.org

CHRIS CHAN

Assistant Executive Director chan@abcs.org

CURT GARNER

Executive Vice President of Finance cgarner@abcs.org

ANDREA STUART

Executive Vice President of Staff Services and Care stuart@abcs.org

MICHELLE CLEMENTS Vice President of Development & Communications mclements@abcs.org (602) 346-2300

ELAINE GASTON

Program Administrator Eastern Arizona egaston@abcs.org (928) 536-4760

BYRON REINER

Program Administrator Northern/Northwest Arizona breiner@abcs.org (928) 308-1774

SHERYL VAN HORN Program Administrator Southwest Arizona svanhorn@abcs.org (928) 726-5568

CONTACT DESIREE GOODWIN Director New Life Transitional Program dgoodwin@abcs.org (800) 678-0648

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Transitional

New Life Transitional Program

FACING FINANCIAL HARDSHIP One of the greatest struggles clients in the New Life Transitional Program work to overcome is financial hardship. Financial hardship has many effects on a person’s life. It can cause someone to feel trapped and in crisis day after day. A key theme and focus of the transitional program is to help clients see a better hope for tomorrow. Each week they work with mentors to set goals and problem solve when a new crisis arises. Financial hardship can seem hard to escape, but God continually offers hope. One participant in the program shares about her experience below.

My first thought when I wake up is that I hope the car makes it where I need to be because I don’t have the money to fix it. Actually, that thought keeps me up at night. I can’t sleep when the bills aren’t paid. I have two children in school and one who I pay to send to daycare when I am at work or in class. The state can help with childcare costs, but it’s hard to qualify for it when work is infrequent.

I work for a healthcare agency that does not provide enough to maintain my monthly expenses. I am looking for other job opportunities, but I have been turned down many times because I have a criminal background from years ago. Most healthcare agencies won’t give me a chance, and every time I get turned down I feel like I am trapped by my past mistakes.

I live in a constant state of anxiety because there are many factors that can go wrong in my day. Will I have enough money for gas? Will I be able to pay for my cell phone bill? If I don’t have a phone my employer can’t call me. Are my kids doing okay? Am I going to get back to them in time? Should I choose to pay for gas or electric this month? Who will help if someone in my family gets hurt or sick? Who will care for my family if I get hurt or sick?

I have recently have had an issue with my foot that has caused a lot of pain when I work.

My only choice is to push through it and hope it doesn’t get worse.

I think about going back to college and about my children’s future and if they will struggle through life as I am. My hope for the future is to be given an opportunity to overcome, to move on from my past and to provide a better life for myself and my children.

YOU CAN HELP You can support clients facing financial harship and alleviate day-to-day struggles.

Business owners and professionals can give opportunities for internships and jobs and can host mock job interviews to help clients practice for the job application process. Toiletries and cleaning products cannot be purchased with food stamps and so are always a need for clients. Car maintenance is another ever-present worry, so resources for low-cost mechanics and oil change certificates are helpful. For those clients that don’t have cars, a $15 Fry’s giftcard can pay for one month of public transportation and bus passes. Visit newlifetransitional.com or contact us for more ways you can support participants in the program.