Go Beyond

Kingsland’s missions ministry has several strategic urban alliances with partners who serve in some of the most difficult neighborhoods in our community. Mike and Kenzie Malkemes of Generation One are among our favorite urban ministry partners. I met Mike almost six years ago through the recommendation of my friend Jim Herrington of Mission Houston. Mike is an ex-Marine who is committed to making a difference in the lives of at-risk kids in Houston’s Third Ward. Our missions ministry helped Mike to rebuild and refurbish a building in the heart of this tough inner-city neighborhood — an initiative that took us a little more than a year to complete. Generation One uses this building as the base of operations for reaching out to children who face uncertain futures. And now, we are assisting Generation One to get their new volunteer center and dormitory up and running.

Kingsland's College Students

Yesterday, Mike and several volunteers came to Kingsland to pick up a load of furnishings that we have had in storage. We worked for over an hour to load a large U-Haul truck and also a trailer with desks and other items that will be used in their new volunteer center. And this morning, Brian Stone and I took several of our college students to work at the volunteer center. We constructed and installed utility shelving, painted car stops, trimmed hedges, pulled weeds, and sorted and folded donated clothing. Our team of college students did a great job today. Because Mike mobilizes thousands of volunteers annually, it’s important that he get this new volunteer center operational as quickly as possible. Our work today helped Mike to get one step closer to opening the center. And, our labor of love will have a lasting impact as Mike utilizes this center to host the thousands of volunteers who come from around the nation to work with the at-risk kids he serves in the Third Ward.

I am grateful for guys like Mike who serve in tough places and who mobilize Christ-followers to invest in the poorest children in our community. And I am grateful to all that Kingsland has done and will continue to do to strengthen our urban alliance with Mike and Kenzie and their staff. On Wednesday, August 3, we will fill 300 school backpacks with school supplies that Mike and Kenzie will give to the children they serve. And on Wednesday, August 10, we will collect new and gently used children’s books to help stock the Generation One children’s library. These are two of our final three Wednesday night Summer of Service initiatives at Kingsland. I hope that you will include these dates on your calendar and help make a difference in the lives of the kids who call the Third Ward home.