This picture is of a sledding trip I took a couple of weeks ago with some of the kids. My parents bought sleds so I could take them out...for most of them, it was their first time! It was a great time...in spite of lack of warm clothing, kids who desperately needed to use the bathroom and a dead van battery!

On Monday nights, I have been talking with the girls about reasons why Christ died on the cross. I am taking the talks from John Piper's book "The Passion of Christ". Even though the book is pretty deep and over their level, it gives 50 reasons why Christ had to die, so I adapt a few each week to talk to the girls about.

Our Bible studies usually are hit or miss. Sometimes the girls are into it and have questions, other times they are goofing around, and then there are the times they are quiet and seem bored. Tonight was a combination of all three. However, we had some good dicussion times. As we talked about Christ's death giving us access to a relationship with God, they had a lot of questions about what this means for non-believers. Like, "If your not a Christian, does that mean God doesn't answer your prayers" Granted, some of them were hard questions to answer, but with answers that were good for them to hear.

I am heading to New York on Thursday with other Navigator staff for the African American ministry conference. I am looking forward to this time with the team, being in NYC, and also the conference :o) It was last year's African American conference here in Detroit that gave me my first exposure to the Navigators!

Please pray for me as I am on the "support raising" track right now. It has been a new journey for me! One that is stretching, but also exciting. I've enjoyed making contacts with people and learning to trust God to provide. I have a Navigator website at www.navstaff.org/hilliker Feel free to check it out!