Reading for Success! Tutoring Ministry

...local missions at its best!

Yesterday I had the privilege of talking with Vicky O. from Northwest Baptist Church (northwest side of Milwaukee). I was so encouraged to hear what their church has been doing for the past five years to minister to their community, so I'm sharing it with you! My prayer is that you too would be encouraged and see that this is something that we can all do.

It started with a phone call to the nearby public school. "What do you need? We'd like to help." The answer was a laundry list of items such as hand wipes, ink cartridges, etc. The church began to donate these items to the school. Then the school held a food drive to donate food to the church's food pantry.

So when the church shared that they wanted to help kids that were struggling with reading, the school felt comfortable sharing that opportunity with their students. And for the past five years the Reading for Success has ministered to kids in the community!

What I've found most encouraging is how they do it. Sometimes we build up in our minds a very complex picture of what a ministry has to look like...so complex that we end up doing nothing. How does a church that has approximately 200 in attendance every Sunday manage to minister to about 20-25 kids with 20-25 tutors involved?

• The original intent was not to 'teach' reading, but to provide listening ears and encouragers for those kids that struggled with reading. This doesn't take a lot of extra training, just a heart to listen and love the kids God sends.
• Reading for Success is held at the church the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month during the school year. They tutor from 5-6pm, then the kids and their families join the workers for a meal at 6pm. This provides opportunities for the tutors to get to know the families and form vital relationships.
• From the tutors' perspective, many are only volunteering about 4 hours a month of service...not an insurmountable task! There are others that meet more regularly with their students and have developed relationships that extend beyond the scheduled ministry hours.
• The second year of the ministry, there was a shortage of volunteers. The church invited several from Luther Manor to help. These are elderly men and women that have so much to give, if only we would ask.
• Incentives - the students are given stars for attendance and good behavior; they are given verbal and written confirmation of their hard work; at the end of the year the church holds a recognition service commending the kids for their diligence and hard work; two times a year the kids and their families are invited to church, followed by a movie matinee held at the church and a pizza lunch.
  
• Study hall was set-up for siblings that don't need tutoring and children of the volunteers. It's a time of games and yes, homework too if the kids want to work on that.
  

Entire families are seeing the love of Jesus Christ in action. Relationships are being formed that extend beyond the four walls of the church building. A witness is being made in the community and to the schools that Jesus Christ loves people and His church is a means of loving them. Join me in praying for Northwest Baptist Church as they begin a new school year of ministering to those in their midst. Join me in praying that many of our churches in Wisconsin will go and do likewise!