It's a New Season!

     In 2008, God breathed in me a desire to reach out to our youth, particularly in the inner-city, in a new way, welcoming rather than shunning the kids “unwanted” by other programs due to their difficult emotional, behavioral, and sometimes legal histories. At that time I was already working therapeutically with a large group of such kids in my profession, so gaining entrance into that population was as easy as earning their trust…and fortunately a few key teens had already come to trust me through their exposure to me in my work, and willingly vouched for me in the community. I will always be grateful to those few “founding members” of Arms Wide Open, who were at one time on the Youth Advisory Board and helped spawn ideas as well as bring in new members. One such member attended AWO events and camps until he graduated high school and went on to join the Navy.

     In the eight years that have passed since its inception, Arms Wide Open Ministries, Inc., has mentored and discipled around three hundred adolescents and teens. From the beginning the only restrictions on our reach were transportation and funding….we stretched every penny as far as we could and crammed as many kids as we could in every available vehicle for field trips, events, and summer camps. We never turned a child away as long as we had room. Unfortunately, sometimes life can interfere with ministry. A little over three years ago I realized my marriage was over and started the long and extremely painful process of divorce, forcing my focus from outreach ministry to my PRIMARY ministry, my children and home. Two years ago we became a single-parent household, and it has taken a great deal of my energy (and almost all of my financial resources) to just survive. In spite of this, I continued ministering as much as God made a way for me to. On the weekends my kids were with their dad, I took the AWO kids to church, conducted Bible studies, and fellowshipped with them. I still held summer camp, even in the absence of volunteers or funds. You see, many people that previously supported AWO withdrew because of the divorce. I understand that they did not know the circumstances…no one does, really, because I have chosen not to share the details openly…and may have felt I was “disqualified” to minister due to the breach of covenant. I never breached my covenant with my Father, though, and His call on me to minister to the teens He has chosen to send me has never wavered. I could not abandon the relationships I have worked to build for the last eight years, and I will not. I have done all that I could do without neglecting my own family during this time. However, I have sensed that the dynamics and calling on AWO has been shifting. I have been seeking the Lord on this for quite some time.

     Over the last year someone new has stepped in alongside me in ministry, quietly…without ever being asked…only by His directive. Andy Dow started helping chaperone AWO events when he was able, and he began building relationship with some of our kids. He also was led to teach the Purple Book Bible study last year and met with the AWO teens bi-weekly to do so. At the end of that time, he also helped chaperone the summer camp this past June in Helen, Georgia. At the summer camp God spoke that this shift is to one-on-one discipleship. Intimate study of the Word. AWO will no longer host summer camps, although we will still have occasional events or outreach activities. I am currently discipling several of our teen girls, who are now in the last years of high school or their first years of college, and Andy (who also disciples full-time with The Fishermen, Inc. of Valdosta, GA) is discipling several of our boys as well. Our focus has narrowed in on the last remaining kids of the group, about 10-15 kids, who are on the verge of adulthood. The other kids we mentored over the years have either moved away, or have grown up and gone out into the world. We have a couple of college graduates, one military member, and even a world-traveler working in international studies. I keep in touch with almost all of the kids, and they still lean on me for support in trying times. I consider them spiritual children, so I hope they always will!

     In the meantime, God has moved my biological children and I into a NEW SEASON, and even a new home. When we arrived here we found that He had a ministry prepared here for us before we ever knew the home existed! The day we moved in I prayed over the house and asked God to fill it so full of His love that the love would seep out the doors and windows into the neighborhood and draw others in. And HE DID!!! Since our first day here we have had children from the neighborhood at our house that have become another generation of spiritual children to me. We have totally unchurched children from non-believing households practically living with us! Two of the children have been allowed to accompany us to church a few times and we are hoping for the opportunity to take the rest! There are around 10 kids but they are increasing in number. What I’m seeing is that God wants me to show them what a Christian family looks like…teach them who He is, help them come to an understanding that they are LOVED, and hopefully bring them into relationship with Him. We have dispelled quite a few misconceptions of who God and Jesus are already…some make us laugh, others make us cry. We are conducting Bible studies with them here in my home, having them for family meals (which apparently none have ever experienced before), teaching them how to pray, and letting His love pour through us. One thing is for certain, Arms Wide Open has been relocated from the inner-city into the outskirts…and the need is just as great. Our elder AWO teens/adults will be coming alongside us and partnering with us in this new ministry and will be adopting “little brothers” and “little sisters” among this younger generation of AWO kids. God is truly creating a “family” in this ministry. I’m excited for this new journey and where God is taking us! 

     I thank all of you for your prayer support through the last few transitional years, and I ask for your continued prayer coverage as we ever seek to share His love with children who have not yet encountered Him. May His blessings overflow on all of you!!

AWO Christmas Party 2015

I cannot believe another Christmas is here! Time flies, and even more quickly when you are walking in the things you are most passionate about! We were able to host the kids at The Party Place for their very own private Christmas party this year (thanks to State Rep. Dexter Sharper!). We started the day with separating out the boys from the girls, where each was taught a Bible lesson and asked to participate in a related activity. I spoke to the girls about Esther, and how she rose from an orphaned commoner to QUEEN, who ultimately was given the task of saving the Jews. Andy spoke with the boys about David and how he was raised from a lowly shepherd position to KING, and how he was mighty in God but still failed in some big ways, but was ultimately redeemed. The overarching theme was that God has purposed you for a cause, no matter your station in life, and if you allow Him to He WILL use you and elevate you to where He needs you to be.

Sheba Phillips (The Carpenter's Daughter) then conducted a worship dance workshop of a song and dance related to this lesson, teaching me and the girls a beautifully choreographed expressive dance. The girls so enjoyed this, and (even though I was a little off in my timing) so did I! Andy simultaneously wrote a song in collaboration with the boys about David's journey. We all then took a break for lunch, where the kids had pizza, cupcakes, cookies, chips, candy (donated by Highland Christian Academy's 2nd grade class), and spent some time fellowshiping with each other. After lunch we had a time of entertainment, where the boys performed their song for all of us, and the girls performed their dance, as well. I think everyone there had an absolute blast! Finally, just before leaving, each child received gift baskets and goody bags. The looks on their faces were priceless! I have to thank you again for helping me reach this point, for supporting and encouraging me along the way, and especially to all the people who personally contributed to make this day possible. Today you made a difference in a LOT of lives! :) May YOUR Christmases be Merry and Bright! Blessings to you in this Holy season!

Positive Changes in Ministry

I've long prayed for God to send godly men to disciple and pour into the young men involved with Arms Wide Open. In 7 years of ministry, not one man has been willing to spend consistent time discipling these young men. This year, in 2015, God has sent Andy Dow to not only teach them, volunteer and help chaperone, but also to individually disciple, these boys. Andy was discipled himself by a pastor at the Fishermen of Valdosta and is passionate about discipleship being an integral part of our Christian walk. He started teaching The Purple Book Bible study to our kids in August and recently began individually discipling a young man who a few people have told me to "give up on" over the years. I always knew it was not God's will for me to give up on this young man, and rest assured, God's calling on me in this area is so strong I will NEVER "give up" on any of my kids. I am so glad I stayed faithful and continued pursuing him and reaching out to him over the years, because he went from being a disruptive, cart-wheel turning (IN CHURCH) teen, to a regular church-attending, Bible study soaking, prophetically GIFTED young man who very much enjoys his weekly meetings with Andy, where he gets to break bread with him over scripture. I see that God is doing new and wonderful things with Arms Wide Open, and I cannot wait to see what is in store for 2016!!

AWO's Summer Camp 2015

     So our 7th year of ministry is closing and summer camp is finished. As I have experienced year after year, the weeks before camp were full of attack and opposition but God did prevail and camp was a wonderful success! It started out by vehicle issues that are still not fully resolved, a swollen liver, and finally severe abdominal pain that had me visiting the doctor the day camp was to begin. My goal was to be given the "ok" to continue on with camp and I was given that (appendicitis was suspected but I trusted God to get me through if that was the case). I was physically under attack and in tremendous pain BUT God sustained me and camp was not affected.
     This year our kids have been taken to church every other Sunday and those that wanted to participate in the school of ministry were also discipled and taught that material (thanks to Kingdom Equipping Ministries and Terry Shiver's church for helping sponsor this). They learned hands-on ministry of praying for people on the streets and in the marketplace and witnessed some miracles firsthand! This year our camp was held at Reed Bingham State Park and they got to experience camping OUTSIDE in tents for the first time. We had a tent malfunction right at the onset of camp and fortunately someone came to our rescue and loaned us tents before the park gate closed (thank you so much Andy Dow!!). That was God sending rescue literally at the 11th hour....without that we would have either had to cancel our camp out or sleep on the ground with no cover! But as always, God provided for all of our needs. This was a wonderful example for the kids to see how, when you walk in His ways, you will encounter struggle and difficulty but He always makes a way!
     I was led to teach them out of Psalms and Matthew and we learned why Jesus instructed us to pray in the manner of the Lord's Prayer. We also incorporated some inner healing prayer during our hike. We finished Saturday off by watching fireworks and celebrating America. When asked what they have learned this weekend they replied "how to survive in the wilderness," "the Lord's Prayer," and "how important it is to forgive others." Thank you to all who prayed for us and supported this time of ministry. What a wonderful weekend it has been!!

Merry Christmas from Arms Wide Open!!

     We are praising God for you and your support in all it's forms because this year Arms Wide Open has seen the fruits of the last five years of ministry.  We have seen a baptism, a college graduation, and a military graduation, all in part because of the support system we offer. We have heard "thank you"'s aplenty as time after time our kids come back to show appreciation just for BEING THERE, LOVING THEM, and BELIEVING IN THEM. You see, that's really all they need. A Christ-like unconditional love and a little faith goes a very long way in the life of a child. I know, because it sure went a long way in mine!
   
     I would not be where I am today nor would I be so passionate about helping as many kids as I can if I had not once been one of these children in desperate need of love and faith myself. I didn't have anyone to take me to church and I didn't have anyone to take me to wonderful Christian events, and I never had the opportunity to go to summer camp. But there were good Christian people along the way who loved on me in passing, who gave me just enough hope in a better future to keep me going when it seemed everything was hopeless. I will never forget those people. I want more than anything else in this life to BE one of those people. I hope that I am.

In addition to the great success stories we have witnessed this year, we have also continued ministering (minus the short sabbatical) by transporting teens to church and doing other trips and events such as: the Wait Now event by Options Now/Future Now, two separate Summer Camp weekends at Reed Bingham, our annual Grand Bay trip, a trip to the Museum of Natural History in Gainesville, FL, the ChristOutLoud "It's Christmas Tour," and the Flint RiverQuarium in Albany.

On behalf of all of our children we want to thank you for your encouragement and support as we continue to seek to shine Christ's love into the next generations.

We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year!!  May He bless you and your families so abundantly that your cups runneth over!

Kristi Godwin
Arms Wide Open Ministries, Inc.

Our First Albany RiverQuarium Trip

I cannot express to you how exciting it was for me to be able to drive these kids to Albany, Georgia today. It was almost as exciting as getting on a plane to fly to Paris, France (which, by the way, was a lifetime dream for me)....I so love experiencing new and educational things with these kids that it has been on my heart to take them to the RiverQuarium in Albany for years now. The issue was transportation and finances. Well, this year God decided to give me the desires of my heart (isn't it amazing that He loves us enough to do that???) and He enabled me to buy discount tickets, making it an affordable trip. So, today, I was finally able to live one of my dreams, and we thoroughly enjoyed every single second we were there!! We first toured the aquarium, which elicited many "oooohhh's" and "aahhhhh"'s. We also visited the bird sanctuary before heading across the street to Imaginarium theater to watch a film on the ecosystem of Baja. After that we couldn't resist stopping at the Ray Charles memorial, which I absolutely love. It plays his music over the speakers so you can almost imagine you are at a live concert. Before leaving the boys ribbed us all into rolling down the grassy hill behind the memorial (just for fun). And, yes, I did roll down the hill with them!! In doing so I discovered the answer to one of life's age-old questions: What happens when an old person (in this case ME) rolls down a hill just for fun? The younger people come running to see if you are ok!! :).

I had one of the best days of my life today. God is so good, and His gift of life is so much more enjoyable when you are doing the very thing He created you for. There is nothing else more blissful than that!!

Mikeschair and the "It's Christmas" Concert

We had the great privilege of taking our teens once again to see Mikeschair live in concert. Thanks to ChristOutLoud's ministry of bringing great Christian music here to South Georgia, we have been able to treat our kids to many wonderful artists. Not only did we all have an amazing time worshiping God and celebrating the birth of our Savior with live bands, but I was especially blessed because one of my kids actually used his money to buy me a t-shirt from this concert without me knowing. He surprised me with it afterward as a Christmas gift. My heart just melted!! How humbling to know that he is appreciative enough to do something that grand and selfless. These kids steal my heart over and over. I love each and every one. Sometimes, in moments like this, I wonder....if I can love these children who are not "really" mine this much, how much more does our Heavenly father love us?? It boggles the mind, it truly does. Our human understanding is just not equipped to grasp His love. Oh, thank you, Lord for your love that knows no bounds!! Let me demonstrate just a glimmer of that love to all I meet!