Interesting Happenings at Operation Exodus!

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At both sites this winter, the students have been experiencing college from the eyes of the adults they see every day. Tuesdays and Thursdays a staff member presents information, memories, and other exciting information about the universities they attended! The hope is that the kids will see what it really looks like to go away to college and get them excited about working towards furthering education!
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This past fall, all of our students participated in a story contest. For the national event, Lights on AfterSchool, we had a local story teller, Joe Ricci, a previous mentor for Operation Exodus, come and tell a story. For the next month, students worked on their own creative stories after homework time and we had a contest. The winners of the writing contest had their stories read and acted out at the Christmas Party and a panel of judges picked a Top Winner! The kids were extremely creative and everyone had so much fun!
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The park has been something of the past this January, but the past week has been warming up a little and the kids have gotten to experience the outdoors once again!
The Heights:
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Creative classes are also going well at the Heights site! Kids can pick between original classes like pantomime, praise dance, magic tricks, and Around the World! Around the World is a mix between geography and art, the other classes are primarily art. Right now the students in Around the World are learning about China!
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The Heights site is beginning their Homework Bucks program on Thursday. Students have already been accumulating bucks, but the store opens up this Thursday.
Inwood:
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With a new site, everything at Exodus Inwood is exciting! One thing the tutors have really taken ownership of is the creative class time on Fridays. The students can pick from a variety of arts including: jewelry making, interior design, baking, and drawing. In interior design we have a student designing a WWE themed miniature wrestling ring! And the baking class filled the site with the sweet aroma of brownies this past Friday. It made the staff very hungry!
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Early homework is now an official part of the Exodus Inwood site for kids struggling in different subjects or just struggling to focus during class time. It is giving the students extra time to get work done and it is also helping the distracted kids get done more quickly so they have time to read steps during homework time!
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The Inwood site is beginning Academic Olympics on February 12th and it will close on February 19th with a day of physical events! The classes will each have a color and the color will represent a country. The classes will learn about countries and they will also have trivia games every day at the level that the students are at. The medals will be awarded based on scores from those in class games.

‘Ah-Ha!’ Educational Moments at OE
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At the Heights site, four more students reached the 100 step mark for the 100 Book Challenge last week!
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Tutors had a training on math strategies and learned fun games that help kids work on place value, multiplication, and other math concepts. The kids are really enjoying them!
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A Kindergartener at the Inwood site is beginning to read on his own outloud!
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One fifth grader at the Inwood site, has made giant strides in his academic success. He was a student on the verge of failing and is now striving for straight A’s. It is so evident that his teacher noticed and sent a letter to Operation Exodus.
Seeds of Change at OE
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The three older boys in Brenda’s class have also matured greatly. It is small steps, but they are taking responsibility in class work and being more responsive to authority.
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At Inwood, community students have adapted well to the structure of Exodus and students we expected to see have behavior issues have had no issues and are doing better in their academics.

Greetings from Bobbi Jo

Hey Everyone,

Thanks for stopping by the Mission to the World (MTW) /Operation Exodus (OE) Mission team blog! It is our prayer that you will find this to be a resource to assist in preparing for serving with us in New York City. Be sure to check back weekly, as we are gearing up to post regular updates for you.

This year we have mostly all new teams schedule to serve at Exodus, therefore I wanted to take the opportunity to introduce myself to you so you know who the person is on the other end of the phone or the email you receive.

My name is Bobbi Jo Brooks and I am the Project Administrator for MTW's short term trips to New York City, but also for Asia and Europe! I will also be your host while you are serving in New York City.

I grew up in Western, PA at a mission minded church and it was there the Lord began calling me to serve in missions. After graduating high school I spent a summer serving as an intern with MTW in Miami, FL. Then went on to college in Grand Rapids, MI where I studied Bible and Social Work. After I graduated from Kuyper College, I moved to Europe to serve as a missionary to youth in Sighisoara, Romania. After serving in Romania, the Lord brought me Atlanta to serve with MTW and have been here for just over five years!

In my "free" time, I love spending hanging out with friends, cooking for others, traveling and photographing weddings and portraits. Feel free to check out my photography blog at www.blog.bobbijobrooksphotography.com

I look forward to the opportunity to know you and to see how the Lord will work in and through your teams this year!

Delighting in the Lord's Faithfulness,

Bobbi Jo

http://twitter.com/bobbijobrooks

www.facebook.com/bobbijobrooks

New Project Assistant!

Hi All!

My name is Stephanie, the new project assistant for New York City, Europe and Asia! I work with Bobbi Jo at MTW and I'm so excited to see where the Lord will take us in the coming year! He is sure to move greatly through our efforts at Exodus this coming spring and summer!

I am newly engaged to an awesome man! We have set a date for this year and are looking forward to many years together with our cat, Auldi, and the dog we hope to have one day!

When I have a free minute I love crafting, browsing etsy.com...and planning our wedding! But usually you can find me in the office, or playing drums in my band.

I am eager to see how the Lord will use me at MTW, and I'm so blessed He has placed me here to serve all of you for the glory of Christ :)

Stephanie

Mark your calendars!!

PCA Global Missions Conference

WHAT: MTW partnering with Covenant College to host
the 2010 PCA Global Missions Conference

WHEN: November 5-7, 2010

WHERE: Chattanooga Convention Center -- Chattanooga, TN

A group discount will be available for six or more participants.
Check back with www.mtw.org in January to register online and learn more details.

Update from Exodus

Dear Friends,
We have wonderful news! As you know, Exodus started running our afterschool program at an Inwood site this year, in addition to our Heights site. Then we had to install a fire alarm system and make some building repairs. So while under construction, we’ve transported our students to the Inwood site. Well, now the Heights site is ready, and we welcomed the students to the newly renovated program on Thursday! Students and parents alike could not be happier.

Felicita, Moises’ mom, stopped by on her way to work at noon to say how thankful she is to God for hearing her family prayers: “Moises asked us to pray every Thursday for the program, so every Thursday we prayed,” she said. Moises was one of our students who rode with us to Exodus Inwood at the beginning of the school year. Both of his parents work and don’t have family support and don’t speak English, so when we told them we had to close our Washington Heights doors to install a new fire alarm system, they had no other alternative but to send him to our program in Inwood.

“Another program would have said, ‘We are sorry, we have to close temporarily, look for help elsewhere.’ The need for afterschool education is big, so you wouldn’t have to worry about finding new people. But you didn’t do that,” Felicita remarked. “You went above and beyond to help us. You paid for transportation; you cared for our son and he is doing well. You care. You care. Thank you.”

The students who waited for us to be back were full of joy to see their old friends. “She didn’t say good bye. I no longer exist for Ayleen,” said Maria about her daughter, a second grader. “She is all giggles talking to her friends.” Jeritzel, a seven grader took a more dramatic approach: “Hello, Exodus walls; hello, Exodus Welcoming table; hello, desks,” In a Dianne Wiest – deep and slow voice tone - sort of way in “Bullets Over Broadway,” but as soon as she saw her friend Avian, also a seven grader, she jumped up and down and wouldn’t let him go from her long embrace. They both go to the same school. “You don’t understand,” she said. “We are not in the same class. We don’t see each other. We had fun here.” Avian replied proudly: “You should have gone with me to Exodus Inwood. I got all As and Bs in my report card.” He was very proud about that. It was then that Leonardo, a third grader, walked in the door, like he usually does in his tornado sort of way. “I didn’t think I was going to miss signing in at the door, but I did.” They like routine, said Maria, “Ayleen doesn’t want to do homework at home - only at the program.” Since Ayleen is only seven, Maria didn’t want her to travel with us to Inwood. While we were closed, she periodically stopped by to see how we were doing. “At home, Ayleen just wants to watch TV. When she was here, I didn’t have to tell her to read. She loved to read to me. She was doing great. Now, I don’t think she is going to get a good report card. You never know what you have until you lose it.”
Still, many students enjoyed the Inwood site, and made new friends there. There was sadness on Thursday at both the Inwood site and the Heights site. We hope that having all students to the Heights site on Saturdays provides a great opportunity to continue building those friendships.

Please dear friends continue to pray for our programs. It is an honor to serve the LORD and see His amazing hand at work.
In Him
Matt and Tatiana Mahoney

Come Serve With Us in 2010!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring Break @ OE with VCU

 

 

 

 

From Jason, youth director at Christ Kingom Church in Orland, FL

"Serving at Operation Exodus was a great experience for our high school youth! Students not only experienced another part of our country that they had not been to before, but also had to step out of their comfort zones to care for the kids in Washington Heights. They had the opportunity to see what our Savior means to these children and learn about another culture.

Our students returned home with leadership experience and a better sense of how to relate to others. They also learned that sharing the Gospel is not simply reciting verses to people - the Gospel is reflected in how you live out your life.

Mission to the World did a great job preparing us for our time in New York, and did an even better job taking care of us during our week. Our Project Director was very relational with the staff and kids at Exodus, and served as a great role model for each of us.

All of our students said they would definitely consider returning to serve at Operation Exodus."

Part 1 - A week serving at Operation Exodus

Part 2

A message from Matt, the director of Operation Exodus