The Lord continues to move His people to serve in the Gardere Area and great things are happening! This Christmas, several outreaches were carried out. Among them were:

1. Operation Comfort and Joy
2. The Love Fest
3. Christmas Caroling
4. The Gardere Christmas Journey

Through these outreaches Christmas gifts were provided to hundreds of children in poverty, the Gospel was shared with hundreds of Gardere residents, new relationships were formed, and people who need the Lord and who need to be a part of a church body are becoming involved with Gardere Area churches. One church, Greater Sixty Aid Baptist, has at least 10 new families that are getting involved.

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Folks gathered at the BREC park on Gardere Lane in August. A Christian rapper and minister named “Big A” used music and poetry to deliver a message about the Lord. He was followed by Dr. Dana Andrus, “Dr. Truth,” who focused on education and parenting in his message. Pastor Eric Sanders offered an invitation and some of the guests came forward to accept Christ and receive counseling.

After the messages, we served lunch to everyone and gave away 500 kits of school supplies!

This outreach, like all the others, was a big team effort. Many prayed, some gave money to pay for school supplies ($6,500 was provided for the 500 kits we handed out), and some volunteered at the outreach.

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Last May about 250 folks from at least 12 churches teamed up to show the love of the Lord to over 1,200 people who live in the Gardere Area. We provided clothing, household items, medical evaluations, food, caring conversations, and the Good News of God’s provision for us all through Jesus Christ!

It was such a time of joy and encouragement as the believers in the Gardere churches were so excited for other believers to come help them reach out. All the folks from the churches had fun getting to know each other and many people in the surrounding neighborhood were touched to see that others cared about them. In addition, people became involved in the Gardere churches. The Hispanic church doubled in size within four weeks of the outreach!

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Last school year at the House of Repentance Church, we had 36 tutors representing ten different churches working together to help children with homework and to share God’s love. We had an
average of 12-14 students per day. This year we now have volunteers from an
additional two churches and student attendance is averaging 20 students a day
with it increasing each day. We are in a new and bigger location that is
working out very well, Greater Sixty-Aid Baptist Church on Gardere Lane north of
Burbank. God continues to bless and open doors!

If you can read, know your letters, colors, numbers, and shapes, you can be a tutor! Come one or two days a week or more. Join in providing homework help, encouragement, prayer, and positive experiences in the lives of children living in the Gardere Area.

Nancy’s goal is to start a Christian school in the Gardere Area!
She and her husband, Dan, have formed a Board for the school and they are
starting fund raising efforts in November.

Please contact Nancy Zito at nancyzito@gardereschool.com or 761-7205 for more information about tutoring or the new school.

This is a great opportunity to make a difference in the life of a child and a whole family!

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The Gardere Baseball/Softball Clinic Outreach this past Sunday was a big success!

To view a brief video showing some key parts of the afternoon go to www.connectionsministry.com and click Videos on the upper menu. Then click the picture for the Baseball/Softball Clinic and the video will play.

M.L. Woodruff, the Parkview Baptist Baseball Coach led the outreach. About 100 children took part in the clinic. Some of the parents of these children stayed in the ball park for the afternoon allowing some good times of interaction with them and they were able to hear the testimony and Gospel presentation after the clinic.

At the end of the afternoon, we served hamburgers and hot dogs. Then as the children were leaving, we gave them baseball equipment that had been donated. Monday, Martin Luther King Day, was a day off from school. Someone was thrilled to report to me that he saw kids in the Gardere neighborhood out playing with their new baseball equipment.

At the end of the Gospel presentation we gave comment cards to the parents and children. That way they were able to let us know if they want to learn more about a relationship with the Lord and if they would like to be contacted. Pastors and church members of the Gardere churches will be back in touch with these folks and we hope that many of them will become meaningfully involved in a church.

Thanks to those who prayed, volunteered, donated baseball equipment, donated money, or participated in some other way! The Lord is using us to make a difference in the lives of folks in the Gardere Area!

Clayton Hays

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The Lord is on the move again in the Gardere Area!

About three months ago M.L. Woodruff, the Parkview Baptist Baseball Coach, called me and said, “Clayton, I want to help reach kids for Christ through baseball. I have 30 boys on my team at Parkview. What can we do in the Gardere Area?”

This is another example of the Lord moving His people to shine His light and love upon folks who live in a dark and unloving area of town! It is so incredible to get to watch Him do this!

As a result of that conversation, M.L. is heading up a free baseball and softball clinic on Sunday January 17th from 1 PM to 6 PM. It will take place at the new and beautiful Cypress Mounds baseball complex on Gardere Lane. The group above is one of the planning groups that has been involved in preparing for this outreach the last couple of months.

From left to right in the picture is Eddie Henderson, Associate Pastor of Sixty-Aid Baptist, Dwayne Pitre, Director of Outreach at Istrouma Baptist, Tricia McClelland and Kendra Farris, key members of the Gardere prayer team, M.L. Woodruff, and Katie Snee, Administrative Staff at Cypress Mounds. All of our planning meetings have been at Cypress Mounds with their staff.

This clinic will provide top notch baseball and softball instruction for boys and girls, ages 5 to 14. Roger Cador, the Southern Baseball Coach, Southern players, professional and former professional players, and the Parkview and Dunham baseball and softball coaches and players will participate.

In addition to great baseball and softball instruction, the Gospel will be presented to the kids and their parents, we will enjoy a good hamburger together, and we will give baseball and softball equipment to children who don’t have any. This is shaping up to be and outstanding time!

Even though our focus is on Gardere folks, this clinic is open to any children in the city. So feel free to come and bring your kids. And bring other kids and their parents.

We are looking for volunteers to cook and serve food, supervise children on the inflatables, and visit with parents and help them feel welcome.

This Sunday (Jan 10th) at 1:30 PM we are meeting at Sixty-Aid Baptist to pray for this outreach and then to go into the neighborhood to pass out flyers to children and their parents.

If you want to join us this Sunday afternoon or volunteer at the clinic, please let me know!

Thanks to so many who have already volunteered in Gardere outreaches! God is using us to touch lives and to make a difference!

Clayton Hays

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The nativity scene above was the first stop on the Gardere Christmas Journey enjoyed by about 200 Gardere residents Sunday evening. As they “took the journey” they heard the Good News of God’s provision of the Savior and how they could receive forgiveness and life in Jesus’ name! At the end of their journey they were able to enjoy a bowl of hot gumbo and talk with one of the volunteers who served at the outreach about what they had seen and heard.

The cold rains of Friday and Saturday slowed us down, making preparations and publicity for this outreach difficult. Sunday, however, the weather was great and we had a really good time with people from the Gardere neighborhood. I saw a lot of wonderful interaction going on between the volunteers and our guests and I know God was at work. Here is what one woman who volunteered wrote to me in an email yesterday:

“My children and I got to spend time with an 11 year old boy we will call Michael. I’m certain he was one reason God burdened us to go. It was good for our boys in particular to connect with a young boy their age who is growing up in different circumstances than their own.

Michael was there by himself. He had come on his own and seemed so excited. As it grew darker and colder, I asked him if he had a jacket and he said he did not. I happened to have a sweatshirt in the back of our car so I gave it to Michael. I told him it was God’s provision and told him that God cares about him. I encouraged him to remember God’s provision every time he wears his new sweatshirt.

I have no idea what kind of environment Michael went home to. I hope he didn’t get in trouble for the sweatshirt, but hopefully he will remember, not us, but being cared for by God through us.”

Seventy to eighty volunteers from several different churches worked together to prepare for and host this outreach. Sixty-Aid Baptist, El Aposento Alto, and Living Word were key churches and the ones that supplied the actors for the scenes from the life of Christ.

Thank you for praying as we prepared for this outreach! Please continue to pray that folks who saw God’s love and who need the Lord will respond to Him. Please pray they would be moved to seek the Him through one of the churches in the area.

I hope this Christmas will be a meaningful time of worship and celebration for you and your family!

Clayton Hays

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I know we have not yet celebrated Thanksgiving, but my focus is on the Gardere Christmas Outreach scheduled for Sunday Dec 13th - the Gardere Christmas Journey!

The picture above is of the GSRI Ave and Seabord intersection and El Aposento Alto, the Hispanic church in the middle of the Gardere Area. In just two weeks and five days the church’s property is going to look very different. There will be tents and lots of lights. Inside the fence will be four live scenes from the life of Christ, starting with the nativity and ending with the resurrection. In addition, Gumbo will be served to all who take the “journey”.

Three African American Churches are working along with El Aposento Alto and believers from other churches to serve Gardere residents with this outreach.

At the scene of the resurrection, those who attend will have the opportunity to receive God’s forgiveness and new life in Christ. Over a bowl of Gumbo we will talk with those who want to learn more and begin to help them get plugged into a church. Please pray with us that many will be saved and begin a life-changing relationship with the God who is seeking them!

If you have ever found yourself at Christmas time wanting to reach out to folks in need but not being sure how, this is a great opportunity to do it. We need help setting up tents and lights, building sets, preparing costumes, serving Gumbo, and eating Gumbo and talking with those who receive Christ.

Please respond to this email or call me at 803-4566 if you want to volunteer!

Additional events are scheduled for December 11th & 12th. Please go to www.connectionsministry.com and click on the Get Involved button on the top menu. Then click on Gardere Area Ministry to see the schedule for the whole weekend.

Remember…… things don’t have to be the way they are in the Gardere Area. God will use us to make a difference if we will serve Him together!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Clayton Hays

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This past week Nancy Zito, who has worked as a school teacher for many years, and her team started a tutoring program based at The House of Repentance Baptist Church. It is a ministry to children and their parents.

This new ministry is off to a great start and they need more tutors. The following is information from Nancy on how to volunteer:

The Gardere After School Tutoring Program has begun at The House of Repentance Church on GSRI Ave. We are tutoring children from the Gardere Area Monday through Thursday from 4 to 5 each afternoon. We have a total of 44 students registered with an average attendance of 23 students. We need more tutors to make the program more effective.

If you can read, know your letters, colors, numbers, and shapes, you can be a tutor! Come one or two days a week or more. Join in providing homework help, encouragement, prayer, and positive experiences in the lives of children living in the Gardere Area.

Please contact Nancy Zito at nlzito@cox.net or 761-7205 for more information.

This is a great opportunity to make a difference in the life of a child and a whole family!

Clayton Hays

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The Block Party on Saturday September 5th went really well!

A team from Istrouma Baptist brought pop up tents, tables, chairs, grills, food, and inflatables for the kids to play on. They fed about 250 people and were incredible!

The volunteers from Istrouma, Living Word, South Baton Rouge Presbyterian, The Chapel, The House of Repentance, and El Aposento Alto did a great job of serving and visiting with folks from the surrounding Gardere neighborhood. The Gospel was shared with folks in individual conversations and about ten new people have attended services at The House of Repentance the last two Sundays.

You can see a brief video of the Block Party by going to www.connectionsministry.com. Click the Video button on the upper menu to reach our new Video Gallery. When you click the picture of the video you want to see, it will begin playing.

At the end of the video you will hear from Hector Mendoza, a key leader in El Aposento Alto, and Eric Sanders, the Pastor of The House of Repentance Baptist Church, as they share observations of this outreach and others we have done since May.

Hector, Eric, and others who minister in the Gardere Area face big challenges. Many of the people they reach are in poverty and may have other very difficult issues that need to be addressed. Please pray that God will cause deep and lasting changes in the lives of many through people like Hector and Eric!

Thanks for praying!

Clayton Hays

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