Lamar High School band welcomes Nichols Jr. High students at a huge Pep Rally, kicking off the Souperbowl of Caring for North Texas.

Nichols Jr. High’s student council, along with Principal Julie Harcrow and her team, led the efforts to collect money to give through Mission Arlington®, so that people in need could have something to eat.

The students collected move than $1,500 worth of pennies, and gave the check to Mission Arlington® who will use the donation to provide food for  hungry people.  That’s a lot of pennies!  It will also provide a lot of food.

Food insecurity is a real problem in or own communities, something which the staff of Mission Arlington®, sees every day.  More than 200 families a day (about 600 people) come through our front doors for help. These are ordinary people who are experiencing a momnt in time where one family member has lost a job, or has had a health crisis of some kind.

The check was given to Mission Arlington®, at the opening Kickoff of Souperbowl of Caring in a pep rally at Lamar High School.  Lamar hosted the Nichols students, and kicked off the event with their marching band (pictured above).

AISD superintendent Dr. Marcelo Cavazos attended the event, along with Hall of Fame Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Drew Pearson, who spoke to the crowd, and other dignitaries and officials from the community.

The Mission Arlington family would like to give a “shout out” to each and every Nichols Jr. High student for this special gift for the people.  Around Mission Arlington, we are already calling this gift “pennies from heaven.”   We are grateful for our continued partnership with the students, faculty, an admnistration of Nichols, Lamar, and with so many similar teams in the Arlington school system.

Thanks to each of you who give, pray, and volunteer here at Mission Arlington, so that people experiencing a moment of crisis can find the “hand up” that they need.

We are humbled and honored to be a part of this community.

Many know that Mission Arlington responds to emergency needs in people’s lives every day.  Hundreds of people every day come to our downtown location for help with food, clothes, household items, furniture, and emergency financial assistance for rent, utilities, and more.  Not everyone knows that much of Mission Arlington®’s work actually happens away from our downtown location, but instead, all across the city.  Over the past 28+ years, 349 Bible studies and congregations have been formed which meet weekly all across our community.   Volunteer Bible study leaders from this group provide a host of activities for the children and youth that live in these communities.

One of those activities is Mission Arlington® gym nights. On Friday, January 9th, we held our first gym night for youth, and 90 students from multiple Mission Arlington® Bible studies participated.  Last night, Friday, January 16th, we held our first gym night of the year for children, and 249 children came to enjoy the evening.

Bible study leaders come to the mission offices early on Friday afternoon to get a van, then transport the students from home to the Mission Arlington® gym in central Arlington.  The children run, play, laugh, and have a great time.  Adult leaders spend the time playing with and listening to these children.  Spending time with them is such a great gift.

Some of the children who don’t enjoy playing basketball go to another room filled with card tables and all kinds of table games that they can enjoy.  Before the children head home, they get to hear a creative lesson from the Bible designed to help them know more about the Lord and His Word.

The Mission Arlington® family “loves to love” children.  We are so grateful for the privilege of serving our Lord in this community. One of our greatest privileges is getting to do what we do alongside you.  Your support, and your gifts of time, money, and service make such a difference here. To God be the glory!

Mission Arlington student (in red) wrestling at our first tournament in early January

Back in the Fall, Mission Arlington began a wrestling program for childen and youth from our Bible study congregations.  This would give the students plenty of exercise every Tuesday and Thursday evenings, along with teaching team building, and spiritual development.  Bible readings and devotional times are a part of each team practice.

This past weekend, more than twenty (20) students participated in the team’s first wrestling tournament. The students did very well, and all had a good time.

The Mission Arlington family is so grateful for the opportunity we have to work with these students. We are thankful for the volunteers who give their time, energy, and (often) their own resources to provide this kind of time and positive influence for these students.

We are also so thankful for each of you and for the way you give of your time and resources to help us walk along with young people in our community.

May our Lord bless each and every one of you.

A high school student gets ready to drive to the basket at a Mission Arlington Youth Gym Night

Mission Arlington® hosts basketball nights for children and youth each month, and it is such a blessing.  Two Friday nights each month, Bible study leaders gather children with youth from across our community to play basketball, to develop relationships, and to share God’s love with each student. The children (through 6th grade) gather on one Friday night, and the youth (through 12th grade) gather on another.

This past Friday night, more than ninety (90) junior high and high school students gathered to play basketball in a gym in central Arlington.  The students learned teamwork, exerted quite a bit of physical activity, (until they were tired by the end,) gathered in small groups throughout the evening to hear a devotional from God’s Word, and overall just had fun. We are grateful.

Children’s and youth programs, i.e. personal attention to these age groups is an important part of the work that Mission Arlington® does, day in and day out.

We are grateful for the constant, generous, and faithful support of this community as we work to share God’s love each and every day.

Thank you so much!

Even on the coldest days, the light still shines

Mission Arlington® is powered by prayer.

As a cold, and perhaps wet, front moves into the Metroplex, people everywhere are bundling up to keep warm from the cold weather.

As the Mission Arlington® family closes out this beautiful year, we do it with gratitude for the generosity of the individuals and families in this community which surrounds us. We are thankful to God for you.

Tonight, to close out the year, we will gather to hold hands, sing, read Scripture, and to pray.  Prayer forms a kind of warm fabric which covers and keeps our work alive, vibrant, and humble throughout the year.  Every morning – all year long – the mission family begins the day in prayer.  We pray together as well at the close of each day.

This year, we began to set alarms at 10:00 a.m. each day, stopping to pray in those moments.  We are asking people to join hands with us, no matter where they are and what they are doing by stopping to pray for Mission Arlington® and its work at 10.  If you haven’t joined us in this movement, would you join hands with us in the new year?  We covet and appreciate the prayers of God’s people for His Kingdom’s work.

Because of your gifts, your loving support, and your prayers, more than 800 people a day received food, clothing, furniture, and/or emergency financial assistance.  Those who were sick, but couldn’t afford medical care, could still see a doctor or a dentist.  Families were able to eat a Thanksgiving meal in their own home, and children had toys under the tree on Christmas day.  Most of all, we were able to share Christ, and to teach his word each week, and every day, throughout our community.

How is it possible for us to say thank you to each of you for all you have done this year.  We praise God for your faithfulness, and for the privilege we have of walking this journey with you in these days.

May each one, and every family truly be blessed in this new year. We are looking forward to 2015.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Mission Arlington’s front door.

Mission Arlington® last updated its website in 2008, six years ago.  The website was a gift to us by developers, and it worked beautifully as a vehicle to communicate the work here at our place.  After six years, however, the “behind the scenes” technology made publishing ever more difficult.  This past Summer, we knew that the time for a new website had come.  Through a special donation, once again, we were able to find a new way to communicate with you.  The end result is what you see here.

There are a few new features of this site which we are proud of:

1. The updated design is fresh and “easy on the eyes.”  We’re pleased with our new look, and the comments we have received so far indicate that you like it too.
2. This website can now be translated “at the touch of a button” into multiple languages. We routinely operate in at least two languages here, and at times throughout the year, we do our work in six or seven languages with the help of translators. We truly serve an international community, and the ability of the website to be read in several languages is a plus for our extended family.
3. Our website has always been fairly representative of our work, which meant it operated in multiple layers, and that it was fairly complex. The new website contains the same content as the old one, so the same problem exists when attempting to find relevant material.  To address this concern, we’ve added a search box.  Now, users of the site will be able to search for the material they need without clicking through all of the layers.
4. This website automatically adjusts to hand held devices of all types, and computers of all sizes automatically.  When you open the site from the phone, you can now see what you need without much difficulty.  This is a huge improvement over the inflexibility of our old site.
5. The Mission Arlington® curriculum is the most used portion of our site. Our curriculum currently is being downloaded 2,500 times a day, and it is being used to spread the good news of God’s love all over the world. Now, users can search for the curriculum in several ways – by scripture, by series, by topic, etc.  We expect there to be a learning curve as people learn how to use this new approach, but we believe this will ultimately help users find what they need from our extensive library of free Bible curriculum.  Users can also use the search box from the home page to find curriculum they need in much the same way they used to find the curriculum in the old site.

We are so grateful for all the ways you support our work here.  Don’t hesitate to send us feedback about this new site, or to let us know how we can be supportive to you.  2014 has been a good year.  We are looking forward to this new year, and we are grateful to have an updated way to stay in contact with you.  May the Lord bless you and your family here at year’s end.

Merry Christmas from your Mission Arlington® Family

On Christmas day, Mission Arlington® closes. It is the only day all year that we aren’t here. There is a beautiful calm, and quiet to this place, as our families are celebrating Christmas at home. We have been so blessed this Christmas season, as we have watched the incredible generosity of this community – day after day, and as we have watched our Lord make all of this possible. We are truly honored to be a part of this great community.

On Friday morning, we’ll be back. Our trucks will be picking up your donations; our food pantry will provide food, and we’ll be here to love our Lord and to serve the people – alongside of you.

May this Christmas, for each of you, be truly blessed. From our family to yours, Merry Christmas.

Mission Arlington®’s Christmas Store closed today at 6 p.m.  For ten days, this free store swirled with volunteers, eager to lend a helping hand at Christmas.

Families in need placed their children in the childcare, then picked out gifts for those children from a room full of toys for kids of all ages. Those gifts were wrapped with care, and help was often available to carry people’s gifts to their car for them.

Every adult who came through got to hear the Christmas Story, told in various ways, straight out of Luke chapter 2.  Many people responded to that story, wanting to know more about Christ, or by becoming Christians themselves. Through yesterday, 324 adults had accepted Christ.  Many more wanted to know more or had questions.

Final numbers aren’t in just yet, but by the end of the day on Monday, 24,429 children had received toys from the store.

Mission Arlington® will still be open tomorrow, Christmas Eve through 4 p.m.  We will be making final bike deliveries, providing toys to families experiencing a last minute emergency before Christmas, and receiving donations from the community.

We are so humbled by the way you gave, volunteered, and prayed for us through this beautiful season.  We are so grateful for your constant support.  Together, one life at a time, we are making a difference in our community.  Thank you!

To God be the glory!

Christmas Store Opens: December 12th – 23rd, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily (closed Sundays). You can bring new and/or nearly new toys to the mission offices up through Christmas Eve. (For Holiday Toy Ideas, click here.) To volunteer in the “store,” call 817-277-6620. If your family or someone you know needs help at the Christmas Store, click here to discover the details you need.

“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas” is perennially one of the top ten Christmas songs. Written by artist Meredith Wilson in the 1950s, it seems just as relevant and fun with each new Christmas season.

It really is beginning to look a lot like Christmas, after all, at Mission Arlington^®. No, there isn’t snow on the ground like there was at this time two years ago. However, there have been a team of people working since last Christmas, on the “Christmas Store.” Toys have been organized and moved into place, getting ready for the public opening of the store on December 12th.

There is a beautiful spirit which permeates the hearts of those here at Mission Arlington^®, but it seems especially energized in these days leading up to Christmas.  The generosity of this incredible community just continues to make us smile.

Knowing that hard working parents – in a moment of crisis – are going to be able to take care of their children for Christmas, because of that generosity, just feels good.  Before it is over, more than 30,000 children will receive Christmas gifts from the “Store.”

Beyond that, and as important as anything we get to do through this season, is that we tell the “Christmas Story” to every adult who comes through the Christmas store.  Many of those adults will hear that story this year for the very first time.  For many, that very story will change their lives forever.

Because of a baby born in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago, it really is beginning to look a lot like Christmas at Mission Arlington^®.  We are grateful!

With Cyber Monday approaching, you have an opportunity to support the work of Mission Arlington® through eligible purchases online at Smile.Amazon.com.

Many of you have already been providing support in the weeks leading up to and through Thanksgiving. Some of you have been giving directly to Mission Arlington®.

We are truly blessed, and we are so grateful for you.

If you are thinking about ways to provide support, the Amazon Smile option is a good way to help.  As you are purchasing items in preparation for Christmas through Amazon, simply choose this link to provide support for Mission Arlington/Mission Metroplex®.

SUPPORT MISSION ARLINGTON® THROUGH AMAZON SMILE…

When you purchase through Amazon Smile on behalf of the mission, Amazon contributes 0.5 percent of your purchase to Mission Arlington®. When everyone purchases through Amazon Smile in this way, it really adds up.

Thank you for all you do to support our work here. We are really excited about the Christmas season.