CRM leaders are amazed at the diligence of our kids. Kids are challenged at each Monday night club to memorize scripture and come ready the next week to recite what they have put to memory. To help them do this, we give them a memory verse card to study. The kids use these cards to work on the verse whenever they can. Some children are so excited about memorizing scripture they search for CRM volunteers at different clubs, such as homework or bible club, to share the new verse they have learned. Some leaders, who only help at homework clubs, are awestruck when students seek them out to quote verses. The leaders are struck, not by the fact kids are telling them verses at club, but at their enthusiasm to and joy in wanting to share ‘their’ verse. This is the kind of impact your support makes!

We celebrated our 2^nd annual all CRM Clubs Christmas party on December 14^th. We had 185 students in attendance, as well as parents and volunteers. The building was filled with joy, fun, people and thanksgiving. Families expressed thankfulness for the gifts receive and the opportunity to create Christmas cards with their children. I am thankful for the generosity of the youth at Northshore Christian Church and Community Bible Fellowship who bought presents for our CRM children.

Praises

CRM was awarded $4,700 in grant funds from Greater Everett Community Foundation and the Everett Port Gardner Rotary for our homework club programs!

We are thankful for the many people and groups who have come alongside to partner with CRM in providing meals for our clubs. THANK YOU to Mukilteo School District main office staff, Horizon Elementary teachers and staff, Explorer Middle school teachers and staff, Everett Police Department – South Precinct, Lowell Small Group, Josie Sarno, Linda Casteel, Trent McNeal & Family, Funston Small Group and many others.

Due to the hard work of teachers and diligence of each student, Horizon Elementary has made a 10% increase in test scores in the 2010-11 school year.

Prayer Request

Pray for our kids, families and Horizon elementary on Monday-Thursday or anytime you pass casino road.

I invite you to read a great article in the Everett Herald and see what they have to say about a group of community partners on Casino Road.  Todd McNeal , chairman of the CRM Board, was interviewed for this article!  Copy the link below and paste it to your web browser to view this article.

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20110522/NEWS01/705229935

Heard It Through The Grapevine

A CRM volunteer’s wife was at a coffee shop recently, talking about her involvement in our clubs with a friend. While the two were chatting, a woman walked up to them and said, ‘I apologize for interrupting your conversation…I heard you talk about a club on Casino Road.  Is that with Casino Road Ministries?’ The volunteer replied, ‘Yes, I volunteer for Casino Road Ministries.’ The woman explained she’s a social worker who is working with three kids who attended our clubs three years ago. She said the kids loved going to club because it was the only warm meal they received each week.

 Thank you to Mill Creek Worship Team, the Lowell Small Group, Chuck & Ann Loomis, Todd & Mary McNeal, Marcia Brandell, Adam & Daow Hadnott, Chris Nixon, Ann Covey, and others for providing meals for our kids, sometimes the only warm meal they will receive all week. When you provide meals for our ministry you are not just feeding hungry kids but you are serving Jesus Christ (Matthew 25:31-40).

Inside The Life of Tyrone

Our baby girl will be here in about 15 weeks. We’re still working on a first name, but we have decided her middle name will be Rose.

Samuel continues to amaze us.  He is now at the stage where he mimics everything we say.  Although I know toddlers are little sponges and learn to mimic their parents , I’m still caught off guard each time he repeats something I say on a regular basis.  Samuel, at one plus years (22 months for all of you that track that way) greets me each morning with, “What’s up, Daddy?”.  Who did he learn that from? The finger points at me, for teaching him this warm morning greeting.  He’s heard, “what’s up, buddy”, each morning for the past year and nine months, from me.  I didn’t think he would start saying it back to me. It warms my heart every day.  I love being a dad!

Continuing Summer Events

Year End Party (June 13-16): End of school year celebration parties are happening at each club.

Kid’s Camp (July 25-29): This summer, a group of CRM students entering 3^rd – 6^th grade will spend four days at Cedar Springs Christian Camp, with hundreds of other children from the local Foursquare Churches. Everyday children will gather together for AM/PM Chapel, a time to worship Jesus and hear lessons from the Word (Bible) taught by many wonderful Foursquare pastors. They’ll also have lots of recreation time. The kids will have a chance to hike, swim, have bonfires, do a low ropes course, try the  climbing wall, learn martial arts, go on a giant swing, play laser tag, do archery, zip-line, go through a huge maze, do team challenges & games and so much more. We are excited to provide this camp opportunity to these children.

Jr. High Camp (Aug. 15-20): Another group of CRM students, entering 7^th & 8^th grade, will spend five days at the Foursquare sponsored Jr. High Camp in Medical Lake, WA.  This great camp experience will be impactful beyond words, for these young people.

Please pray for our students as they prepare to leave for camp.

Our prayer is our students will have the best week of their lives in an environment as conducive as possible to meet with God, build friendships with other students and develop a passion to live out what they have learned.

Field trips: We have planned three family field trips for our students and parents. We’ll have a barbeque at Forest Park, visit the Everett Children’s Museum and go to a party at the” McNeal Ranch”.

Thank you for making dreams come true for our students this summer. As I reflect on this past school year as it comes to a close, I am humbled and blessed to serve these great kids.  Summer is so full of promise.  God is good!

Jesus Peace,

Tyrone McMorris

Executive Director

Casino Road Ministries

Have you ever been told “you can’t talk about religion in a public school”?  That is true, you are not suppose to bring up your faith, in any of your conversations with students in the public school setting.   But this last week I bent those ‘rules’ at bit. It happened at our after school Homework Club, at a local elementary.  While at HC, I noticed four girls at the end of a table acting like they were deep in their studies. I, being the professional father that I am, knew this was not the case.

So I sat down next to them and asked how they were doing.

One girl immediately shared about her friend across the table.  “D’s grandfather just died and she is very sad. We don’t know what to say to her. So we just listen. She doesn’t want to talk much about it”.  This, of course, is not what you expect to hear at homework club.  So, I took the next few minutes talking to her about her grandfather. She shared how their family would not be able to make the trip south to go to the funeral.  She was very sad and her friends comforted her nicely. 

The conversation turned in a different direction, as she pulled a book out of her bag. She didn’t know how to properly site the book she was going through for this assignment on her daily reading log. The book was her Catholic Daily Missal.  This being post Palm Sunday, she was reading the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection out of the Book of John.

She had to write down what the story was about on the log.  And right there, I found myself talking about Jesus in a public school with four kids totally dialed in as the young girl was talking about scripture.  It was a great moment as we talked about how this Easter story related to her grandfather!

This was soon interrupted, as most conversations are with 4th grade girls, by another girl talking about how she was celebrating the Laos New Year at her temple that very week.  We talked for awhile about what that meant to her and how important it was to her family.

Here were two girls from two totally different cultures and religious backgrounds sharing with each other at Homework Club in the local elementary school.  I left them to get back to reading and shook my head in amazement. 

 They say you can’t talk about religion in a public school.

Fantastic and easy way donate to CRM while shopping online

We want to remind you of the great opportunity you have to support Casino Road Ministries while doing your normal online shopping.  Simply copy & paste the address below to your web browser, press enter, and select any of the stores listed which you currently shop at and continue on with your shopping.  We will receive between 3 to 15% of your purchase amounts at no additional cost to you!  It is that easy to make a difference on behalf of CRM.  (Remember you must go through this URL every time you do your on-line shopping  in order to help CRM.)

 www.spendforothers.org/CRM

Inside the life of Tyrone

It’s a girl! We found out Suzanne and I are having a baby girl in September. Suzanne is excited to have a girl to do ‘girl’ things with and Samuel is excited to have a little sister. We often ask Samuel which he wants, a brother or sister. He consistently answers “a sister”.

It’s amazing watching Samuel grow each day. He eats more, has more energy, likes to play Lego’s and get in to the mud. He has a great personality and is a little gentleman. Suzanne and I are very blessed to have a great son and to soon add a little girl to our mix.

Serving Together,

Tyrone McMorris

Executive Director

Casino Road Ministries

We had a great time at the Casino Road Ministries 2^nd Annual Auction ‘Happy Days On Casino Road’. We had guest appearances from: Arthur Fonzarelli (play by none other than our very own Vern Fonk!), Joanie Cunningham (we can’t say who play that character) and there was even an Elvis sighting! It was a great night!

At the end of the night, we raised $22,229! Generous gifts and contributions, as well as the great auction turn out made this night such a wonderful success. These funds raised will allow us to send 35 children to summer camp and support our six after-school programs.

Our programs give children the opportunity to develop life changing relationships with caring adults, strengthen academic and music skills, experience God’s love and learn how to be positive leaders of ‘Today’.

Kids’ Camp will be at Cedar Springs Camp in Lake Stevens. The camp theme is ‘Spy: Remote Control…who is controlling your life?’ During camp, kids will enjoy swimming, low ropes course, climbing wall, marital arts, laser tag and many more activities that will enrich their lives and create memories for a lifetime. For updates on our ministries and kid’s experience at camp, follow us on our website.

Thank you for partnering with CRM to help us continue to transform this generation, one child at a time.

Serving Together,

 Tyrone McMorris

Executive Director

Casino Road Ministries

tyrone@casinoroadministries.org

Got Milk? (A Testimony To God’s Goodness)

The week of the auction everything that could go wrong was going wrong in many lives. My car broke down, one of our leaders had a gas pump break on them (spraying gas over clothing), another leader’s refrigerator died while out of town, the school district didn’t drop off our milk boxes for club and other hiccups, too numerous to mention. These are circumstances, which cause some to worry and forget to look to God for support and strengthen. So, on my way to club, I simply asked God for a miracle to show us He’s near.

As I said before, the Mukilteo School District provides us with milk boxes and fruit for our clubs each week. However, this particular week, they couldn’t deliver the usual number of milks, leaving us short by 28 boxes. I didn’t worry about It, but planned on going to the grocery store to buy a gallon of milk before club to make up for the shortfall. However, I didn’t make it to the store.

During homework club, the leaders were gathering the kids together for dinner. And, it was then that I remembered I didn’t go buy the gallon of milk we needed. I ran to the dinner room to ask Todd if he needed me to go buy milk (the answer I thought would be “YES!”). Instead he told me, ‘we have plenty.’ We served over 40 children that night without having a shortfall. I think I remember Jesus doing something like this in the Gospels. Go look it up! He is good, isn’t HE! God is simply amazing!

Inside the life of Tyrone: Lessons through Hardships

My wife and I have endured three weeks of hardships and hang ups. Three weeks ago, the flood gates of hard times were opened up.

The week of the auction (three weeks ago) everything that could go wrong was going wrong. My transmission decided it was a good time to give me problems, so now I need a new transmission. Then, last week, my computer decided to not turn on leaving me without access to the information from the auction. If that didn’t get me, my wife’s car stopped working. What next?

To be honest, I just wanted to run away from it all, sleeping as if nothing was going wrong. Sounds like a good plan right? In actuality, NO, that is not the right plan.

I didn’t run away. Instead, I decided to ‘run away’ to my friend and Savior, Jesus Christ, for wisdom and comfort. As I sat talking to him about the circumstance of my life, I came across some words of the apostle Paul (who knows a lot about hard ships) in 2 Corinthians 4:8-10. Paul writes, ‘We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. ¹⁰ We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.’

I’m reminded of the truth in these verses that my trials will not destroy me, my faith or God’s love for me. Through my faith in Christ, I’m victorious in every trial because He conquered the grave. And this realization causes me to thank Him for being here to help me.

I don’t know what each of you are going through this week. But God wants you to know He loves you and will always be near to encourage, comfort, save and provide for you.

Fantastic and easy way to shop and donate for CRM

We want to let you know of a great opportunity to support Casino Road Ministries while doing your normal online shopping.  Simply copy & paste the address below to your web browser, press enter and select any of the stores listed you currently shop at and continue on with your shopping.  We will receive between 3 to 15% of your purchase amounts at no additional cost to you!  It is that easy to make a difference on behalf of CRM.

 www.spendforothers.org/CRM

To Donate to Casino Road Ministries CLICK HERE

Mark your calendars for CRM (annual) auction on March 12^th at 6:00pm at New Life Church. Tickets are $30 per person, $200 for a table. To RSVP, please contact Tyrone at tyrone@casinoroadministries.org

A New Goal

One of CRM’s parent’s has decided this year to model the importance of education by going back to school to receive a degree. This parent approached me, four months ago, to ask about volunteering at homework club to help other children. (This parent has three children who attend three of our clubs during the week.) My response was an excited, ‘Yes, you can.’ Then the parent replied, ‘I’m not sure if I’m really the right person to help anyone with school work. I can barely help my kids at home. They have to read things to me.’ I asked this parent to make a six week commitment to show up each week, help younger students by reading stories to them and listening to them read.  After the six months, we’d talk about the experience.

Last week, this parent pulled me aside to share that his goal of going back to school to get high school diploma! As we talked, I saw the biggest smile on his face as he talked about how the program would help him get his high school diploma, prepare him for getting a job and, most importantly, allow him to help his children with their school work.

It is such a blessing to walk alongside and witness people begin to transform the destiny of their family tree. This dad attends our church on Sunday’s. He hasn’t attended regularly, but when he comes he’s engaged in the service and learning so much. I’m very blessed to know this family and I look forward to seeing what God is going to do in and through his family.

Supporting our kids

One of my students told me he’s dealing with some tough things at home. He doesn’t see positive examples of people working hard at home. He’s frustrated that his mom doesn’t have a job and they are getting evicted.

As I listened to him, my heart broke. Then he said, ‘Tyrone, I’m just a kid…I can’t do anything to fix it.’ We both cried as we embraced each other. I told him as adults we don’t always know what to do. As believers, we can take our worries and fears to God and trust him to comfort us. He doesn’t always answer in a day, week, month or years, but he listens and cares about us so much.

No, my conversation didn’t fix his circumstances. But, having someone to talk to and cry with was what he needed. I’m so thankful God has given us, through CRM, opportunities to share life – the good, the bad and the painful times with our kids and their families.

Inside the life of Tyrone

This has been a season of changes in the McMorris household. The change has centered around the growth of our son, Samuel.  Samuel’s a year and a half (18 months for those who count in months) and keeping us busy. He loves to workout with me in the mornings, sing Christian rap songs with me (His favorite song is ‘They Callin’ by R-Swift) and making us laugh.

Suzanne and I had the chance to attend a marriage retreat at the end of January. This was a great time to talk about marriage, spend some time alone and spend time with other married couples. We had such a great time!

Fantastic and easy way to shop and donate for CRM

We want to let you know of a great opportunity to support Casino Road Ministries while doing your normal online shopping.  Simply copy & paste the address below to your web browser, press enter and select any of the stores listed you currently shop at and continue on with your shopping.  We will receive between 3 to 15% of your purchase amounts at no additional cost to you!  It is that easy to make a difference on behalf of CRM.

 www.spendforothers.org/CRM

We want to let you know of a great opportunity to support Casino Road Ministries while doing your normal online shopping. Simply copy & paste the address below to your web browser, press enter and select any of the stores listed you currently shop at and continue on with your shopping. We will receive between 3 to 15% of your purchase amounts at no additional cost to you! It is that easy to make a difference on behalf of CRM.

www.spendforothers.org/CRM

Christmas Party 2010

I recently found myself walking through the halls of Horizon Elementary and through the apartment complexes on Casino Road, my heart aching. I saw lives ridden with pain, brokenness, confusion, hopelessness, and depression. Do they know their value? Do they know their worth despite their circumstances?

On December 15^th, CRM held a Christmas Party for the children and families who participate in our clubs. This party was held in partnership with Northshore Christian Church (NCC), whose Jr. High youth group graciously organized fun games and donated gifts. We had a great time.

As the story of the birth of Jesus was shared and spoken over 156 kids and 45 parents, my prayer was that they would know what they are worth to God, that our small attempts to show the very love God has for them, would be magnified by His Holy Spirit in such a joyous setting.

As the event wound down and families and children filed out of the building, noises of the night slowly fading, a small voice spoke to my heart,

“Don’t worry, My love is far greater than the chaos in these people’s lives”.

Thank you to the youth group at NCC for their willingness to organize a fun event in the midst of a community in such need. I sincerely enjoyed watching kids and families get a taste of true love and joy.

Praises

We are constantly looking for ways to make CRM run smoothly and with valuable resources. In December we found ourselves awarded a $4,000 grant from United Way for our homework clubs. We also received an anonymous gift of $5,000. These donations, as you know, help us run the wonderful ministry happening through our homework clubs. So many lives are touched on a weekly basis on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings. We are very thankful for these great gifts and for your continued support.

We helped send 14 Jr. High students to summer camp in Spokane. They spent a week camping, playing games, singing and many other activities with 400+ teenagers. I sat down with one of our Jr. High students to get the details on the camp experience. Jay (name changed) shared her camp experience with me in an interview this week.

Tyrone: How many years have you been going to camp?

Jay: This was my third year at camp, but first time at jr. high camp.

Tyrone: How was Jr. high camp different from Kids camp?

Jay: There were more things to experience at Jr. camp like building friendships with other teenagers and more activities.

Tyrone: What things did you do at camp?

Jay: Camp was so amazing? There was a lot of group games all week long, we got to experience God (sing songs to Him, pray, listen to speaker share bible stories and read the bible) and had cabin time. I enjoyed cabin time a lot because it gave me the chance to share what I learned from the speakers and how I can apply it to my life.

Tyrone: What made the most impact on you?

Jay: The day our speaker talked about vomit. He said sometime we need to ‘throw up’ our sins to get them out of our lives. We need to let go of some things from our past or confess the bad things we’ve done before. God is willing to forgive us of all past and present sins.

Tyrone: What would you say to someone who is interested in going to camp?

Jay: It’s fun!  You get a week to spend with friends and make new friends. It’s a great place to go to know God and talk to Him about the bad things you’ve done or bad things someone has done to you. You can also ask God to forgive you from hurting someone and let go of the pain someone has caused in your life. Camp is a great place to just spend time talking to God.

Thank you for sponsoring our youth to go to camp. Your contributions helped pave the path for many youth to experience God, build friendships and have a great summer camp experience.

Ministry At The Park by Katie U.

The best way to describe our field trip to Forest Park was a breath of fresh air in the midst heart ache, worry, and concern. Earlier in the week, another murder occurred in one of the apartment complexes we serve. The murder was a crude reminder of what families on Casino Road face every day. However, our trip to Forest Park was also a clear reminder of hope. A group of twenty enthusiastic children and ten caring adults enjoyed swinging on monkey bars, running up and down slides, and playing tag.

While eating dinner I sat by a 6 year little girl. We laughed and giggled as we talked about roller coasters, embarrassing moments, and our favorite foods. We didn’t really talk about Jesus, we didn’t really talk about good choices, and we didn’t really talk about worries. Sometimes simply enjoying life together is more than enough.

For a moment this little girl felt safe. For a moment this little girl found peace, joy, and hope in the midst of the hardships she faces every day.

Volunteer Opportunity

Do you want to help our growing ministry but don’t want to work directly with the 200 plus kids we work with? We still need you! We are looking for a person that can organize spreadsheets and cabinets (yes that is a spiritual gift). If you have a couple hours a week that you can come into the office to make administrative magic, let’s talk. For more details, contact Tyrone at tyrone@casinoroadministries.org.

Prayer Request

Pray for CRM, our children and volunteers any time you pass by Casino Road.

CRM needs three volunteers to help grade school students with homework and reading on Thursday afternoons from 3:30-4:30pm at Horizon Elementary. If you are interested in being a homework and reading helper, please send an email to info@casinoroadministries.org.

Monday – Kids' Club

6:00-8:00 pm @ The Children's Village (14 E. Casino Road, bldg d)

Tuesday – Homework Clubs

3:30-5:00 pm @ The Bluffs on Evergreen Way

3:30-4:30 pm @ Horizon Elementary

Wednesday – Dinner & Homework Club

6:00-8:00 pm @ The Children’s Village (14 E. Casino Road, bldg d)

Thursday – Dinner & Homework Club

6:00-8:00 pm @ The Children’s Village (14 E. Casino Road, bldg d)

If you have a heart for working with children and love to serve, please contact us .

When asked what they enjoyed most about camp, one young boy said he liked the night ‘God showed up in the room. Everyone either cried or laughed.’

Our student’s lives were touched and changed by God’s presences at camp. Six students asked Jesus to be their Savior for the first time. We appreciate your generosity in partnering with us to send these students to camp.

Jesus Peace,

Tyrone