Inner City Carnival Students create their own carniual for inner city children in North Little Rock and giue support to the local church. Many students discovered a whole new mission fi Id in North Little Rock this year . One of Arkansas' biggest c ities w e lcomed more than 200 Harding students to an inner c ity parking lo t to provide a carnival of fun and fri endship to children who w ere starved for attention and Christian care . Students b egan the day (November 6) with a communion service in the Ganus Athletic Center during which they dedica ted the day's mission to God . They then head ed for the Silver City Courts housing project wher more than 400 inner c ity residents gathered for two hours of activities . The guests scrambled to th ring toss , a b ean bag toss , face painting, juggling, c lown ac t , singing performance, potato sac k races. and sidewalk chalk and balloon art, all booths made and donated by the students themselves. Chris Phillips , a senior Bible/psychology m ajor , organized the carnival. In coop eration with Chuck Baker and Benny Bittle of the Levy Church of Christ , Phillips and other workers entered into this project with a de finite goal in mind. "We wanted to show th love of Christ to a group of worn-down kids in a violenc -ridden inner c ity," Eel 1\1015011 - Murfreesboro. Tenn. Rach e l Warson - hananooga. Tenn. T o n y \Va rr ers - Duncanv ill e. T exas Den ae Webb er - 1\bi lcne . T exas Chris rina \Ve/Jer - Ellisvil le. Mo. Emily We llman - Midd le town . Md . KeLiin Wells - Broken Arrow. Okla. Benjamin Wendike - Ben1onvil le. Ark. Kami Wenrz - Los Alamos. N .M. Lisa Wes r/Jro o k - Ma ri e11a. Oili o Dennis W/1 eeler - Conn eaut. O l1i o Lane W/J i rak er - Cabot. A rk . Angela \Vhir e - Mon1gomery. Ala Jana W/Jir e - Farmerville. La. Laura Whir e - Spring. Texas Laura C. Whit e - Piggott. Ark. Jill Wh ires ic/e - Mayfield. Ky. Angelee Whit low - Li11Je1on. Co lo. Aaron \\lhirringron - Harlingen. Texas Jeff Wieneke - Ind ianapo lis. Ind. Hea rher Wi ese - Ho us 1o n . T exas C /Jrisr ie Will cox - Grapevi n e. Texas Bract Will i ams - Marked T ree. A rk . C/1ri s Wi lliams - Longmon1. Co lo . Peop l e 106 S o p 11 o m o r e s Phillips said. "We also wanted to g ive the River Ci ty Minis try (sponsored by the L vy church) a chance to get a foo t in the door to build a stronger re lationship with the people." The event n eded little public ity. word of a Chris tian-sponsored carni va l spread quickly. "We d idn't reall y have to publi c ize it much because the kind of parties they usually have involve drugs and guns instead of Jesus and laughter ," Phillips said. The event was cov red statewide by Little Rock's NBC affili ate, channel 4, and the CBS a ffiliate, channe l I I. Harding's TV- I 9 and the Bison also covered the act iv ities. "I think they're very nice, and they care about us ," one child said in a television interv iew aired during the Io o'clock news cas t. As follow-up work, s tudents organized a spring break campaign in No rth Littl e Rock . River Ci ty Ministries provided m edical needs , food , c lothing, Bible studies , afte r-school tuto ring and love and support to those who needed it. But this first of what many expect to be an annual carni val, brought the Levy church a step c loser to tl1e people of the ir community . - Georgia Choa te
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