Our New Home on Sept 18th

*all names have been changed for privacy reasons

So, this is the house that we just found out will be ours on Sept 18th!  Amy and I are very excited and can't wait to move in.  For the last month our apartment has been in chaos, which makes us feel like life is in chaos.  For the next 3 weeks we'll be living at Amy's parents and waiting to move in!  We can't wait!!!  Pray that it continues to move along smoothly!

Winter Blast

We took 22 kids up to Winter Blast at Camp Forest Springs in north Wisconsin for a weekend.  It was a great opportunity to get out into the cold weather and go sledding(we did a large sledding chain at night which is what the video is), play snow football, broom hockey but most of all challenge kids to grow in their relationship with Christ.  The theme of the week was to surrender and many of the Plymouth youth made great steps towards changing their normal harmful behaviors.

One example is Terri.  She grew up being taught to fight her way out of her problems and lives with her dad and three siblings.  When she first came to TreeHouse she was a force not to be reckoned with!  

Just to give an example, she was with a friend (who also goes to TreeHouse) and they were at the Library.  They were on the computers when two white girls came by and called them "Niggers."  In response they each angrily grabbed a girl slamming their heads into the desk and beat them up.  They each got pinned with assault and are having to pay a fine and do community service hours.  Anger was a correct response but obviously the way they handled it was destructive!

That is a crazy story, but it has been amazing to see God soften and change her heart in the last year.  She is one of the sweetest and most caring kids that I know!  At the retreat she surrendered her pride and fighting and it wasn't just something she said, but something she deeply meant!  

Praise God for how he transforms us into people of real power!  

*all names have been changed for privacy reasons

Opportunity Fair

Two weeks ago we put on an Opportunity Fair for all TreeHouse high school kids.  We brought 20 from Plymouth and overall we had around over 130 youth attend to discover what college, work, or financial support opportunities were available in their soon future.  It was a great time where kids were challenged to think about their future and encouraged that they can do anything they want if they have goals and focus.  

For many of the kids they have the chance to be the first one in their family to get an education and break the cycle of poverty in their family.  I loved seeing some of them get it for the first time and actually talk to people that can make their dreams happen.  Here are a list of the programs and schools that attended and talked to youth:

College Assistance Programs

Admission Possible (www.admissionpossible.org)

Educational Talent Search (www.ed.gov/programs/triotalent/index.html)

Upward Bound (www.ed.gov/programs/trioupbound/index.html)

Dunwoody Academy (www.dunwoodyacademy.org)

Dunwoody's Youth Career Awareness Program (www.dunwoody.edu/diversity/ycap.html)

Community Colleges

North Hennepi College(www.nhcc.edu)

MCTC (www.minneapolis.edu)

Normandale Community College (www.nr. (cc.mn.us/)

Technical Colleges

Hubert H. Humphrey Job Corps (http://huberthumphrey.jobcorps.gov)

MCTC (www.minneapolis.edu)

Hennepin Technical College (www.hennepintech.edu)

Trades

Cement Finishers

Electrician

Military

Army

Navy

Colleges & Universities

University of Minnesota (www.umn.edu)

Bethel University (www.bethel.edu)

Northwestern College (www.nwc.edu)

Crown College (www.crown.edu)

Broken Femur

Yesterday I took my dog, Kona, to the dog park to walk and play.  It is about a five acre forested plot of land totally fenced in, so that dogs can go off-leash.  It's a beautiful place right along the Mississippi River that allows dogs to not only run among the trees but take a dip in the water.  Obviously, Kona loves going to play fetch and swim in the river, she's a free dog!  

So as I said, yesterday after being there for about an hour and a half we were making our way out walking up a hill.  As we walked the hill started to plane out into a cliff and my plan was to continue walking up and out when I turned around and Kona took a full leap off the cliff about 30 feet off the ground.  I couldn't believe what I had just seen!

As soon as she hit the ground she began to yelp and to my surprise she survived the fall.  I almost killed myself running down to check on her and see what I could do.  Immediately I knew her leg was broken, it was just hanging and swinging from side to side.  I scooped her into my arms and carried her out of the park and drove her immediately to the animal clinic.

X-rays(above) and hours later it was confirmed that she had a serious femur fracture and will be having surgery on Wednesday.  As you can imagine this whole incident is and will cause our pocket book to take a huge hit.  It's a little disheartening, but I realize I'm more attached to this dog than I thought I was.  It was  pretty traumatic experience for me and I've always taken the approach that she is a dog and I will not treat her like a human.  I still believe that but after some serious thought we know that we should and will do the surgery.

Inside there is the battle of knowing that in America we take better care of our dogs than the homeless on the corner.  The realization that after this we will have spent more on Kona's medical bills than families in some countries make in an entire year.  When I look at the families I work with and what this money could do for them it makes me shutter a little.  But maybe to make myself feel better, I've come to the conclusion that many people spend much more on cars that last less time than Kona will and bring way less pleasure.  I'm still not completely settled in my heart about it all but Amy and I have decided, and I think it's the right choice!  

All this to say tomorrow is her surgery and it has been a long couple of days.  Kona lays on the ground and moans constantly.  I slept maybe 2-3 hours last night.  Please pray for the whole situation.  Thank you! 

Christmas Tree Lots

(email me at Tcryer@treehouseyouth.org if you want a coupon)

Free

Tree Bag- plus

$3 OFF Tree

($5 Value)

Friday, November 28th - Saturday, December 22, 2008

Lot Hours: Mon-Fri Noon-8:00pm ~ Sat 9:00am - 9:00pm ~ Sun 9:00am - 7:00pm

Trees and Wreaths will be sold at the following:

Plymouth - Cub Foods on Vicksburg Lane (Hwy 55 and Vicksburg)

Plymouth - Pilgrim United Methodist Church (Co Rd 9, Rockford Road & Zachary Lane)

Minnetonka - Westwind Plaza (Hwy 7 and Co Rd 101)

Net Proceeds go to TreeHouse

A program for hurting teens and families

www.treehouseyouth.org

952-238-1010

Dating Panel

Last Thursday night we had four people come to TreeHouse to have a dating panel.  Many of our kids are facing the hard struggle of dating relationships and often making the poor choice to jump in bed with the guy or girl they like.  This has caused multiple girls in our programs to have abortions which in turn has caused deep sorrow and heartache.  We had one of our girls give birth about four months ago and right now we have two girls that we know of that are pregnant.  

Along with these heart breaking realities something like 75% of the families involved at Plymouth TreeHouse are either divorced or are single parents.  Many of those families have kids from multiple fathers.  On Thursday we asked everyone that has experienced a broken family to raise their hand and almost the whole room had their hand raised.  It made my heart sink!

Our goal with the dating panel was to let them know that they are worthy of a meaningful relationship based on more than physical intimacy.  We wanted them to know what is appropriate when dating and how to set their standards high.  We told them that they could be the first person in their family to break the cycle.  The most important thing we told them was that if they don't put God first they are walking down a dangerous road that will most likely lead to a place of hurt and destruction.

Pray that the messages that were sent out were received and that maybe one or two kids go the message to not settle and to realize they were created as precious children, worthy to be loved.

Vikings Game

Last Sunday 3M donated 10 Minnesota Vikings vs. Greenbay Packers box seats to TreeHouse.  Not only that but one of the staff at TreeHouse has a brother that works for the Packers and was able to get us on field VIP passes for before the game.  If you don't know, the Packers and Vikings are one the greatest rivalries in the NFL and tickets sell out weeks before the game.

It was an amazing opportunity and I was able to bring three youth to experience something they would never forget.  Two of them had never been to a game and none of them had ever sat in box seats.  It was an amazing game that went to the last minute where Greenbay missed a game winning field goal by inches.

The kids loved every minute of it.  They felt like royalty walking into the bottom level of the Metrodome and having a box with unending food to themselves.  I loved being there but most of all I loved watching as the kids had a day to forget about all the worries and just enjoy an amazing day of football and stuffing their faces!

P.S. If you get the chance buy an extra pad of post-it notes to thank 3M for being so generous!!