"The kids were climbing all over him and the tree."

Yes, you read that right. Not only are the friends in Solano, CA (B) building capacity to plan and increase their level of teaching activities, not only are they connecting with their neighbors and recognizing opportunities to address the needs of their local community, not only are they encouraging others to taste the joy of service, they are demonstrating in the clearest way possible that we are all leaves and branches of one tree. . . .

We had our second reflection meeting as a 'B' cluster on Saturday! At our reflection gathering we reviewed our experiences, our current human resources, and what we can do to multiply our outreach activities. We learned that there is a role for all of us to play in advancing the Five Year Plan, at the level of individual, community, and institutions.

As we move forward now in the next three months, we are striving to keep our current efforts going strong and are looking forward to starting new ones. We are in need of various kinds of support. Our afternoon teaching in the park, for example, has already made clear the need for a second children's class in the same neighborhood! Here is the story: . . .

Two groups of the friends happened to have met different members of the same family in the same afternoon and had conversations with them about children's classes, study circles, and God and the Holy Spirit. They were very open to having conversations about God. Several children were pouring out of their home and though they were not available to attend the current children’s class because it is held on Sunday mornings when they go to church, they invited everyone to revisit their family in the afternoon. Some friends went back on Sunday afternoon and were literally bombarded with 8-10 loving kids (about 3 of which were junior youth). One team member started helping one of them up the tree in front of the house and, of course, he became an instant hit! The kids were climbing all over him and the tree!

Though the adults we had met the previous day were not home, another family member was home, and the possibility of an afternoon children's class was mentioned. Both she and the children were very open to it. One of the children had even recognized members of the team after spotting them in the park in the morning, and a couple of the kids walked away with team as they said goodbye.

Whether you are interested in supporting these projects or initiating new ones, we invite you to come observe learning in action. You can participate in the children's class, just observe and be a positive presence, talk to the parents that bring their children to the class, or do follow-up home visits with families in the neighborhood—there is so much exciting work to be done!

Thank you to all for your continued prayers and support!

Loving greetings

Your cluster development facilitator (on behalf of your core team)