Thank you for taking the time to look at our ministry and for your participation with us. Please continue to pray that we raise more financial support in the next couple of months. Please pray that we grow and God supplies all that we need to serve in the Hispanic community of Buford Highway as we bring His hope to others.

May God richly bless you and yours during this Christmas season! Merry Christmas!

Tim and Angela Campbell

For more information on how to donate, click here.

Feel free to call us at: 404-213-8740, click here for more contact information.

Hope for Atlanta Update

December 2008

Recent glimpses of our lives and ministry

This year has brought us new changes and new people to work with. First, our family has gone through changes. The passing of Tim’s father, Ovid, at the end of August was both a difficult and very busy time for us. Ovid found that he had esophageal cancer at the end of April. Because it was in the later stages already, we had the privilege of being with him and taking care of him in our home until he went to be with the Lord. We thank so many of you who took time to care for us during this hard time.

Activities at Hope for Atlanta fill every week. For instance, Angela arrives at the Center about 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday mornings to set up for her Pre-Kindergarten class of eight 4-year-olds. Most of their mothers stay and are joined by other women for the 10:00 a.m. class in English. Because they have an intense desire to learn, they give their full attention to Tom Marsh, our volunteer ESL teacher. Nearby in their own classroom, the children sing, learn the alphabet, count, enjoy stories, draw, paint, play games, and practice proper behavior in school to prepare them for kindergarten. The children love their ‘escuelita’ (little school).

Our preschool has expanded to the Hamptons at Lenox apartment complex near Northeast Plaza on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Lucy Soto, a trained Pre-K teacher, leads these classes.

About 3:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 15 or more kids gather in the playground behind the apartment manager’s office. Their eyes light up when they see Ms. Angela, and they come running full speed to meet her at the office front door: “Ms. Angela, Ms. Angela can you help me with my homework?”

About 4:00 pm on Friday afternoons more than 20 kids gather outside our apartment expectantly waiting for kids club to start. When Dorothy Felker arrives she is greeted with many excited children clamoring to talk with her. “What are we going to do today, Dorothy?” ask the children. She says “we’ll see.” What an exciting time for the kids. They play wonderful kids games and then participate in learning about Jesus. Please pray that the Lord will send Dorothy someone to help her with the many children who come on Fridays.

I arrive at our apartment at 8:30 am on Saturday morning and change from my small truck to the Hope for Atlanta white van that the kids call ‘the Magic school bus.’ There are only about six kids there, we lack ten more! So, we get in the van and look for the rest. Finally, we arrive at the Boys and Girls Club in Brookhaven where a soccer tournament has just begun. Our coach, Julio, is already there refereeing the first round of the 8 and 9 year old teams of our Alma Fuerte Soccer Club. The Club, made up of four teams right now plays in different places. The older team of 17 and under boys plays as far away as Dublin, Georgia. Pray that we can find sponsors for the Club.

 A Health Fair was held in our apartment and outside the apartment at the Huntington Station Apartments on November 1st, among the many activities we had 130 receive flu shots sponsored by “Wellness on Wheels” which is a part of DeKalb Medical. One young gentleman had a tremor in his hand and needed immediate help. Tim took him to an Hispanic doctor nearby. Many people at the fair were helped in many ways with the health problems that they have. One of the best parts of the fair was that the help to put on the fair came from the Hispanic community in the apartments and a local Hispanic church that we work with (El Calvario Baptist Church). About 30 people of all ages helped there!

During this Christmas time, many of our families have been hit hard by the current economic situation. More than ever, we need gifts of food and grocery store coupons for those who need it. Also, we will need some Christmas gifts for those who will not have gifts this Christmas. We need soccer balls, basketballs, baseball bats and balls for boys and table games for girls. (Uno, Imagine If, Taboo, Guesstures, Connect four, chess, Checkers, Battleships, Sorry) and socks for everybody. Christmas Carols will be sung in the community and with the community on December 19 (5-6 in the evening). We also need three newer (preferably Pentium 4 or equivalent) computers for our After School Program. We have the only computers most of the kids we work with have.

If you could see them, you would understand why we keep coming to help these wonderful kids. Some need a mentor to help them with math or geography or reading. Others come for help with a problem they had at school that day with another kid or a teacher. Several gather around the bookshelves. Choosing one or more books, they sit on the carpet or the couches to read. Soon all gather around the long tables for an after-school snack. We are blessed by high-school teens and other, older volunteers who come to help us with these elementary and middle school students.

After the children leave at 6:00pm the “Big boys” (middle and high school) come around 6:30 pm for their club. Some Friday nights we go to Intown Community Church where we play games (pool, foosball, ping pong, air hockey, video games, etc.), eat pizza and have a short talk about God. Other Friday nights we stay at the apartment and have a Bible study or a speaker. We have had a missionary from Chile and a marine come to speak recently.