Shine International

Monday Night Basketball

Maureen — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 08:50:51 +0000

Monday night is the first day of our new outreach, Monday Night Basketball in the Park, for all the refugee kids in the area. Please keep us in your prayers as I’m hoping to get a good turnout and turn this into a weekly, ongoing event. This could be a huge opportunity to build relationships with more children and families….

A Little WII Action

Maureen — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 09:25:45 +0000

The WII has become an instant hit with one of the refugee boys from Eritrea, Johannas. He is especially fond of the Boxing game… as you can see from the picture below, he is pretty intense when he plays Thanks to everyone who played a part in his enjoyment!

Makeover Complete!

Maureen — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:21:00 +0000

I am ECSTATIC to say that Shine! is FINALLY, COMPLETELY made-over!!! It’s been a looooong time coming and many baby-steps along the way. Naturally, little things will be added here and there, but the overall aesthetics are complete. Some before and afters…..

KITCHEN/DINING/HOMEWORK/CRAFT AREA BEFORE:

AND AFTER:

LIVING ROOM/HANGOUT CENTER BEFORE:

AFTER:

HERE WE GOOOOOOOO!

Calling All Music Lovers!

Maureen — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 11:16:13 +0000

For most parents, its inevitable! The moment your child reaches the age where the recorder is featured in music class as a beginner instrument. Hot Cross Buns, Three Blind Mice… the sounds of squeaking music filling the air.

And what happens to all those lovely recorders after the year is over? There are closets and boxes all across America who can answer that question…. maybe your closet is one of them.

This is where Shine steps in. One of the projects I plan on implementing in our Summer Club is teaching the girls music….specifically the recorder. Many of you know that I used to be a teacher, but you might not know I also taught Music for two years. Because it was a small school, without many resources available, I decided to teach the kids how to play recorders…and they loved it! The recorder is the easiest and cheapest way to introduce a child to the world of instruments.

So what does this have to do with you? How can you help?

It’s a bit difficult to teach recorder without the actual instruments, so I’m sending out a call to anyone out there who might have an old recorder laying around, not being used. Donating your old recorder is an amazing way to help give a refugee girl the gift of music, a gift most of us take for granted everyday.

Anyone who is interested in donating your old recorders and/or any easy kid-based music for the recorder, contact me and I will send you information on how to send it. If you do not have any recorders, please pass on the information to anyone you know who might. The sooner we have enough recorders, the sooner music can fill the air. This is a practical way to show God’s love to these wonderful girls!

July Newsletter

Maureen — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 14:07:27 +0000

Getting Creative

Maureen — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 15:48:47 +0000

Shine Headquarters is in the midst of getting a makeover, so I have been busy painting, re-arranging, and decorating. I’ve enjoyed being able to be “artsy” again, a hobby I’ve missed as of lately. One project I have taken on is refurbishing an old toy chest I found in the trash. It was in really bad shape, but I saw some potential in the little guy. I took some before, during, and after pictures….

Before the whole toy chest was a disgusting yellow color.

After the first coat: the body is blue with the seat white.

Painting the zebra stripes as a final touch.

TA DAAA!! And its finished

Thank you Egypt!!!

Maureen — Wed, 19 May 2010 08:31:53 +0000

I recently took a quick trip down to Egypt, mainly for personal reasons, but also as an opportunity to build up my Arabic library for the center. It’s a constant struggle to find children’s books in Arabic in Israel, but in Egypt EVERYTHING is in Arabic! I found writing workbooks to practice writing the letters and an variety of children’s books…I wanted it all

I think the coolest thing I found though, was a series of small books all about different places in Egypt. Each book gives a short history of why that area is important (in kids terms) and at the end of each book is a map of Egypt and where that area is located. The books were crazy cheap, about the equivalent of $1.50, so I got all of them (12, I think) Here is a quick look at the books, the Arabic even having the vowels and all! (Like in Hebrew, Modern Arabic does not use any vowels. Children learn to read in the beginning with the vowels, but then they are taken out as soon as the concept is mastered.) I’m super excited!!!

Do YOU know your A B C’s….. in Arabic???

Maureen — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 16:55:03 +0000

I’ve been decorating and getting the youth center ready, and one focus will be teaching the kids how to read Arabic. Most of them SPEAK Arabic at home as their first language, but they do not know how to READ it. It’s been on my heart since I began working with them, and I believe it will only benefit them later in life.

To prepare I made cards of each Arabic letter to form a border around the top of the walls. I must say it adds lots of color to the room

Next up: The Hebrew Alphabet….

March Newsletter

Maureen — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 10:44:44 +0000

This pioneer has moved to a new prairie…

Maureen — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:37:25 +0000

As I sit here typing my first blog entry from one of the rooms in the new youth center, this is what surrounds me:

A complete state of chaos and mess!

I can hear the workers in the next room speaking Russian to each other, mixed in with the sounds of hammers, scrapers, painting, and whatever else they are doing to finish the other rooms. Its been a whirlwind of a week, to say the least. BUT, its coming together shway shway as we say in Arabic. (slowly, slowly).

I moved in this past Sunday with the help of some friends from my congregation. At that point NONE of the rooms were finished, so it was only my things that moved…. I stayed on the couch at my old place. By Monday night, one of the rooms (and one toilet ) was completely finished, so I was able to camp out in there. Tonight (Tuesday) they are working and we believe that everything should be finished late Wednesday night. (thats true faith there)

Its been interesting these past few days, talking with random people down here. I have been asked by pretty much everyone the same question over and over again, tonight was no exception. Alex, one of the workers, asked me what I’m doing here. I get this a lot, so I start with my normal “Why I’m in Israel” speech to which he interrupts me and says, “No. Why are you HERE, here?” (referring to the area) After I explained to him what I’m doing and why I decided to live here, he just looks at me and says, “you are a pioneer.”

It was a simple sentence, but one that really meant so much to me. Even though I am NOT the first one to do such a thing, for him I was. Leaving the comfort of my life in the quiet Ramat Gan, to dive into the madness and noise of South Tel Aviv… it was unheard of to him. I’m pretty sure he thought I am absolutely crazy, but then again there are moments when I think the same thing.

Pioneer. This word keeps playing over and over again in my head, and as I look out my window to see the streets below filled with grime and filth, I can only wonder what my “prairie” will behold.