Vision Day 2015 at Mission Arlington^®‘s Medical Clinic with Visionworks.  Here, a technician screens 17 year old Alberto to see what the next best steps should be.

In partnership with Visionworks and six local optometrists, and just in time for the start of school, 91 children and youth had their vision tested at our medical clinic this past Saturday, August 15th.  As it turns out, 80 percent those screened needed new glasses.

According to experts in the field, and to our own common sense, having a young person’s eyes and vision examined by an optometrist early in their visual development is best. It is important for parents not to wait until their children have visual problems, because correction after this point becomes more difficult. It is important, therefore, for children to have their eyes examined routinely and early.

However, when working people struggle to “get by” or to “make ends meet,” it is too easy for people to wait until a problem with vision evidences itself in the child. Correcting the concern at this point is typically much more difficult and costly.

The Mission Arlington^® family and the community of providers working with us step in at this point, so that families can take care of their children’s eyes in a way that doesn’t disrupt the family’s stability.  We are grateful that we have the privilege of working with so many talented, generous, and engaging people (like those mentioned above) who see the problem and lend a hand to help out.

After the children & youth were screened this past Saturday, those who needed corrective lenses were given a voucher which was paid for by Visionworks and six local optometrist offices. The young people could go with their family to the eye doctor who in turn provided corrective lenses to each student free of charge.  Whenever Mission Arlington^® is involved with people, there is never a charge to the people in need. That has been made possible by generous donors like these mentioned above, and it has been true since our beginning 29 years ago.

The health clinics which operate here every day take care of the physical needs of hundreds of people each month.  We are so thankful for the opportunity we had this past Saturday to provide health care to our community’s children and youth.

We are grateful for the privilege of this partnership with each of you who pray, give, and volunteer. We hope you can see how important this work is, and that you are making a difference here.

Anna, a Mission Arlington teenager, gets a hug from the Texas Rangers’ Mascot.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “dental decay is the most common chronic disease in young people between ages five and 15.”  While younger children “typically attend dental appointments with their parents, teens have more control over their free time and may not choose to visit the dentist for regular checkups.”

As a result, many teenagers “don’t get the dental care they need,” or the “proper education to make smart decisions” regarding their oral health. (Read more here!)

For several years, two groups have come together to help Mission Arlington^® address these concerns about the dental health of teens.  This past Saturday, the Texas Rangers  and United Concordia partnered with the Allan Saxe Dental Clinic, to make a difference.  As mentioned above, teenagers are generally the most under-served population with respect to dental care.  This past Saturday, Twenty-seven (27) teenagers received care, worth about $11,000 of free dentistry.

Teen Dental Vision Day 2015 With United Concordia and Texas Rangers Spencer Patton and Chris Gimenez

A special thanks to Texas Rangers’ Spencer Patton and Chris Gimenez, and more than thirty (30) volunteers who gave their resources to make a difference with young people. It was a fun day.

Also, a special thanks to every dentist, hygienist, and all other volunteers in the Saxe Dental clinic, who give their time at Mission Arlington^®.

Your support makes a difference in the lives of real people, and we are truly blessed because of your service.  Thanks also to each and every group, like the Texas Rangers, and United Concordia, who keep giving their time and resources here.

We are grateful for this community of volunteers who come together at Mission Arlington to make a difference in the lives of teenagers.

Click our Facebook link to see more pictures.

Mission Arlington’s Heritage Congregation helps give out school supplies.

This year, Mission Arlington^® has already given school supplies to over 7,000 children already, and there are more to come. This doesn’t come together overnight. Many different groups of people work most of the summer to make sure the children go to school with pens, pencils, and everything they need for a successful year.

Early in the summer, the Mission Arlington^® missionaries start gathering names and grades of the children in the communities where they minister. This involves much walking, door knocking, and meeting new families in the process.

At the same time, donors from all over the community gather supplies to give to Mission Arlington^®. Community centers, churches, and businesses set up boxes as drop-off points. Some give financially, and a small group of volunteers goes to purchase supplies. Everyone watches out for the best sales to get the most from each donated dollar.

As the donations come in, different volunteers groups organize and group everything according to the lists supplied by the school district. They spend many hours filling paper bags given by grocery stores with what each grade needs.

When enough bags are ready, the Mission Arlington^® missionaries come in to pick-up their orders. All others in the community who don’t live near a Bible Study site also come into the office to get what they need for their children.

This year, one Bible Study leader found himself alone delivering many sets of supplies to a central Arlington area. He needed some help, so he asked his Mission Arlington^® Bible Study family to come help. On a Wednesday night, thirty people from that church went to deliver supplies. As they knocked on each door, they gave the bags of supplies, asked how they could pray for the families inside, and invited them to join them for Sunday church. They had just studied what it means to serve God, and this was the perfect opportunity to put it in action.

How great to see a church that began in a small apartment community years ago reaching out to help another apartment community. And all of this was possible because God prompted donors to give and volunteers to serve throughout the summer.

Please pray for the children; school begins in a few days. We want every child to have what they need physically and spiritually as they head back to the classroom.

The Mission Arlington^® family, as you may know, loves to provide for children.  The children are always so open, receptive, and a lot of fun.  This past Saturday, in partnership with the Baptist Center for Global Concerns, twenty-seven (27) children spent a morning learning about healthy lifestyles.  Surely, as the saying goes, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

At Mary’s Table, the young students (1st through 6th grade) learned

1. the biblical perspective on health, and how God wanted them to take care of their bodies.
2. They were taught the difference between healthy and unhealthy snacks, and then they made some creative, tasty, but healthy snacks to enjoy while they were there.
3. Finally, they heard from a dental hygienist about what it means to take care of their teeth.  Each student received toothbrushes along with other hygiene items.

The children were led by staff and volunteers from the Baptist Center, and also by the Smiles team from Warren Dentistry in Fort Worth.  These adults had an affinity for children,  and they were able to teach them in a way that was both instructive and fun. Afterwards, one parent wrote that her fifth grade daughter had a “wonderful experience and learned a lot,” and that she had not stopped talking about her fun time there.”

Mission Arlington^® values and appreciates the wonderful supportive partnerships of so many individuals, and teams of people who love God, and who love people in such practical ways.

Our prayer is that the seeds which were planted this past Saturday will blossom for years to come.

Thank you for your constant support of our work.

First grouping of KCBI volunteers gathers at Mission Arlington to start the day of service

The Mission Arlington^® family is so honored to serve our community, and we have been doing so for 29 years, but we don’t do it alone.  So many people and groups of people walk alongside of us, lifting the burden and carrying the mission forward.  These past few weeks have been especially privileged to partner with various groups who help us accomplish our mission.

This past Saturday, for example, KCBI (90.9 FM radio) broadcast that their “summer of service” activities would be held at Mission Arlington^®.  The radio station invested its time, energy, and resources to pre-register people, and to organize the volunteers in a way that matched their giftedness with a specific project or task that they wanted to accomplish.  Mission Arlington^® simply received the volunteers and put them to work. Hundreds of volunteers came to help.

Many other partnerships form the foundations of our volunteer work here.  For example, through this summer, we have partnered with Student Life, Mission 58, Campus Crusade for Christ (Cru), and Texas Baptists‘ Campamento, all who have sent hundreds of students here for a day, or for several days to serve the community.  As the Fall semester starts, Dallas Baptist University will be sending 300 students to serve for a day, as a part of their welcome week, and UTA students are here constantly lending a hand. Go Now missions and the student ministry of the Mississippi Baptist Convention sent us beautiful student interns who spent the summer with us.

Add to this the number of local partnerships with churches, civic groups, businesses, schools, and so many others who walk this journey with us, and you will understand why we feel so blessed, supported, and protected. All of this is just the way that our Lord has put this together.  Many people walk working together to help a community get the help it needs, and to share together the great message of the gospel.

As the Mission Arlington family prays together each day, we always begin with Thanksgiving and grateful hearts for partners like you who give, pray, and help here each and every day. To God be the glory!

Students are already receiving school supplies from Mission Arlington. We are expecting to care for more than 9,000 students again this year.

We are grateful for the effort and the sacrifices being made all across our community to make sure that the students in Arlington ISD have what they need to begin the academic year.

Young student receives school supplies and a back pack from Mission Arlington.

Your generosity never ceases to amaze us, and we are grateful. Thank you for all that you do to help us help these young people.

School supplies are “flying out the door” now as they are being personally delivered across our community. For Mission Arlington^®, school supplies are more than a “hit and miss” proposition.  We value the opportunity we have to walk along-side students and their families all year long.

Pictured above and to the left are students who have already received their supplies from us for the coming school year.  We are so honored and humbled to share with them what has come from you. You give it, and we give it away. Truly, we are twice-blessed.  We hope these pictures assist you in seeing that there are real students – boys and girls – with good families – behind the numbers we report.  They are just in a moment of need, and because of you, we can help.

Your support would especially be appreciated in these days to help us have what we need for the 9,000+ students coming to our front door  We expect to give out more supplies than ever before, and it takes all of us working together to provide what our community needs. The following items are especially needed right now.

Thank you so much for helping us have the supplies we need to give to our community’s students.

A Church Sunday school group donates beans and rice in the summer, helping Mission Arlington get ready for Thanksgiving.

No, this article isn’t about accountants, but about beans – well, beans and rice.  If you have been around Mission Arlington^® very long, you know that Thanksgiving season here is very meaningful.  For the entire month of November each year, individuals, families, and groups of all kinds “lend a hand,” helping us get ready for Thanksgiving morning.

What you may not know is that for almost every big event we do at Mission Arlington^®
takes a full year of preparation.  That is true of our Christmas Store, our Easter egg hunt, and our Fall Festival, among other things.

To get ready for Thanksgiving, we collect and separate Thanksgiving food all year long:

Turkeys, Hams, Mix Canned Vegetables, Canned Sweet Potatoes, Canned fruit, Canned pie filling, Canned Cranberry Sauce, Box/Mashed Potatoes, Macaroni and Cheese, Beans/Rice, Tuna, Peanut Butter, Rolls, Pie Crust

These foods are donated through the year by the community.  This past week, a Sunday school department from a local church worked hard to put together Thanksgiving food.  They collected 34,000 pounds of beans and rice, and brought it to us.  We were so blessed and touched by their spirit, their energy, and their desire to make a difference for the Lord and for people in need.

We are ever grateful for individuals and groups who give of themselves, their money, and their prayers to provide support here.  Thanksgiving is still months away, but the spirit of Thanksgiving is alive and well at Mission Arlington^®.

We may not be counting beans at Mission Arlington, but we sure are counting our blessings.

To God be the glory.

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling!

That’s what we do five  days per week with the transportation services of Mission Arlington^®/Mission Metroplex^®.

Each day, babies are taken to child care,  and children and young people are transported to school. Those in the shelters are taken to social service, and medical appointments and many other rides are given to those in the community who are in need.

Since there is no public transportation in Arlington, individuals and families without cars find it very difficult to get the places they need to go.

We receive calls daily from people in the community needing to go to medical appointments, job interviews, and social service appointments. The calls come from those desperate to get to places to help meet critical needs in their lives. What a blessing to be able to say “yes” we can provide that ride.

Suddenly the stress in their voice disappears when they realize there is help for them.

For 25 years, Mission Arlington^® has helped transport adults and children in need who have no other options.  In 2014 we provided 41,877 trips to almost 900 people.

We collaborate with the Arlington Independent School District, local homeless and women’s shelters, hospitals, senior citizen apartments and any other place that refers to us.  What a blessing to see someone get a job, receive medical care, go to school, or become self-sufficient because rides were provided.

God has given us a way to make a real difference.   Thank you for the support you give to make this possible.

Students enjoy water games in the hot, Texas sun. They are obviously having a great time.

Mission Arlington^® finished its second youth camp yesterday.  182 students and a total of 220 people altogether attended this free camp provided for students throughout our community.  Bible study leaders start early on Saturday morning, picking up vans from the mission.  They drive across the city, picking up students and bringing them to Mission Arlington^®‘s offices downtown. The student register, receive a colored wrist band, and load on to buses.  Precisely at 9:30 the buses head toward camp.

Once the students and Mission Arlington^® volunteers arrive at camp, they form into groups based on the color of their wrist band, create a team cheer, and then worship the Lord together.  For the bulk of the day, these incredible young people swim, climb rope ladders, play slap dodge ball, enjoy water games, slide down zip lines, and walk across obstacle courses in the sky.  Included in the day is a great lunch provided by the Mission Arlington^® team.

Slap dodge ball is a fun, competitive, high energy game for youth in an outdoor setting at camp.

In the devotional section of the day, the students heard solid biblical teaching about faith, and what it means to be a believer in Christ, and they heard it in a way that was specifically designed for youth.  After the teaching time, the students got into small groups and talked about what they had heard with their Bible study leader.  At the end of the day, Bible study leaders took the students back home.  It was an extraordinary day.

Over two weeks and two youth camps, the Mission has taken 319 students to camp. Still ahead for our youth is a “back to school” event later this summer.  Many of them, of course, will be receiving school supplies from us in the next few weeks, and in mid-August, in partnership with our health clinics, to sponsor both a vision and dental day just for youth.  Young people are an important part of the work at Mission Arlington^®. We are grateful for this incredible privilege.

A special word of thanks, as always, goes to Camp Thurman for their support in hosting this camp for us and providing volunteer help.  We are blessed to have such a great partner.

We also want to say a word of thanks to each of you who pray for us, give to us, or who lend a helping hand here on occasion. We are so grateful for you and your generous, faithful support.  We hope you can see how the gifts you provide to us are being used to make a difference in our community.  These camps are provided free of charge to each student. We can do this, because you provide the resources.

Finally, and most importantly, all glory to God!

Mission Arlington® turns twenty nine (29) today. We are in our 30th year.

On August 1st, 1986, Tillie Burgin answered God’s call  to reach her city for Christ. Hired by First Baptist Church Arlington as the church’s Minister of Missions, Tillie responded to an emergency call within hours of her first day on the job.  A single mom living in an apartment community on Arlington’s north side was living in the Texas heat without electricity.

The electric bill was paid, and that community became the site of the first Bible study started by Mission Arlington^®. Seventeen (17) people, dressed in blue-jeans and tennis shoes, attended the very first study. Today Mission Arlington supports and sponsors Bible studies in 349 locations across our community. People come “just as they are” to discover the Lord. Thousands of people attend each week. Mission Arlington^® loves and values “taking church to the people.”  (Read more about our history here, or here.)

Tillie Burgin, former Missionary, school teacher, and personnel director for the Arlington ISD, has been at the helm of Mission Arlington (under God) for 29 years.

As people spread out across the community to share their faith, many in the community couldn’t hear, because there was a certain level of hurt and heartache all around which blocked the message. Tillie knew that they couldn’t turn from human need, or just hope that people got some help.  They needed to do something now.   “One life at a time,” the mission began responding to human need with real and practical help. Today, approximately six hundred people each day, six days a week, come through our front doors. These are ordinary, working people who have had a health crisis, a job loss, or the unexpected breakup of a relationship which tumbles them into our front door.

Through the years, the ministry has grown. Today, the Mission offers medical and dental services, basketball, baseball, and wrestling leagues for children and youth, free summer camps,transportation to and from school or job interviews, a free Christmas store, and so much more.  In 2014, for example, the Mission recorded more than 355,000 ministry touches just in one year. From one church sponsor in the beginning, support has grown to include many churches from all across our community.  We are grateful.

Our heart, on this special day, desires as much as anything, to express our gratitude as clearly and deeply as we know how – to each of you – for the way you pray, give, and serve here.  We couldn’t do it without you.   Mission Arlington^® has a reputation for being generous, because you were generous first.  When you give, we are able to give it away.  We wish you could see what we see on a day-by-day basis – when people receive what they most need, because of you.  We especially want to thank you for your prayers.

Having said this, our deepest and most consistent prayer is that our Lord will be pleased with the offerings of our hands and hearts in this place and throughout the community.  Mission Arlington^®

is more a movement than a strategy, more a spirit than a structure, more like a family than an organization. It’s not about religion, and it is as much about God as it is about people. God has done something amazing here, and He has done it in His own time and in His own way.

Mission Arlington^® belongs to God. This isn’t our story, but His. He had plans in place for this Ministry and for all who work here long before it happened. He started this mission, sustains us moment by moment, and He holds our future in His hands.

We are grateful to each and every one who has walked this journey with us.  Together, we will serve Him into the future, one day at a time.  Praise His Name!

Happy Birthday, Mission Arlington^®!