About three years ago, our leadership began dreaming up what a season of accelerated generosity could look like at South Side. If all of our resources - money, time, people, facilities - were no obstacle, what types of ministry efforts would we undertake? As the structure of what we now know as Uncharted began to take shape, it was evident that South Side would lead with our commitment to missionary efforts.
South Side has long been a church that has significantly given to missionary efforts, and we knew that this initiative needed to match or even exceed typical levels of mission giving. Once the idea of Uncharted was launched in the spring of 2016, we designated significant resources to several partner organizations. The very first $40,000 given to Uncharted was sent to the remote slums of Nairobi Kenya to help our missions partner CMF build a new community center. A year later we allocated $30,000 to Christ's Church Albany to support their need to locate a long-term ministry facility. All along a ministry effort closer to home was expanding, bubbling up from a desire for our own South Siders to be everyday missionaries in our backyard.
Black Hawk Elementary School is just six-tenths of a mile from South Side. Hundreds of children in our own neighborhood gather every day for school. Our missions team began asking, "How could an army of South Siders show God's love in a practical way to all the kids at Black Hawk?"
The personal impact of adult mentors, personal tutors, and event volunteers was obvious. South Side had already been hosting Compass in our building every week. (Compass is a program where students receive academic and emotional support, life skills, and a hot meal each Wednesday.) This connection caused us to look deeper into ways we could support the students and faculty at Black Hawk. Over the course of two years, dozens of South Siders have regularly served as Compass volunteers, reading tutors, event volunteers, lunch-hour mentors, and tutors.
While this personal impact was obvious, in what ways could we help financially? Our missions team had allocated some Uncharted funds for this purpose, but we didn't exactly know how they could be used. Initially, there were some smaller needs - a printer for the classroom, funds to help buy coats and shoes for the winter, weekly meals for Compass...but we turned to the Principal Terrance Jordan (a.k.a. - "The King Bee") for his suggestions.
Mr. Jordan explained how difficult it was for new individuals to navigate the school facility. While the faculty and staff pride themselves on being a family (even playing the Sister Sledge hit "We Are Family" theme song on Wednesday), those new to Black Hawk are often intimidated by how to get in the building and where to go once they've arrived. With the level of volunteers increasing, and the transient nature of families moving in and out of the school's boundaries, improvements to signage could go a long way to improving the experience for everyone entering the school building.
In partnership with Black Hawk's neighbor, Ace Sign Company, 129 different signs were installed inside and outside the school building. These would clearly designate classroom locations, improve navigation within the facility, and create a sense of pride throughout the building. Mr. Jordan remarked, "I know something as simple as signage may seem normal or boring, but it has gone a long way to improve the pride that our teachers, students, and families feel when coming into our school." While this may not have been the first need that our missions team would have thought of, we wanted to honor Mr. Jordan's desire to see this project come to life.
Throughout the course of Uncharted's 24 month history, South Side has invested a total of $18,328.91 into Black Hawk Elementary. The signage accounts for a little over half of this total, while the rest has helped provide Compass meals and other resources throughout the building.
Whether or not you've been able to physically volunteer at Black Hawk, know that your generosity through the Uncharted Initiative has helped us fulfill our calling to be missionaries right in our own backyard. Thank you, but don't take my word for it...
