What is Network Table…?

In its humble beginnings it was the Pastor of a church helping what would become a life long friend. There are challenges and obstacles in helping people with in communities. Sometimes the job simply seems too big and we simply don’t feel equipped to manage all of them. This limits how we can help others and how they receive assistance. Open Tables were then created and designed as a group of people working together to tackle challenges and obstacles for individuals needing assistance. This process lasts up to a year, the group would meet and teams of people walking along side an individual would manage tasks together. Network tables formed out of an Open Table concept of people working together to make assistance a reality to not only individuals but groups, families and local businesses. All this was designed to strengthen communities in small steps at a time!

To learn more about The Open Table community and read the full story click here

About Mount Olive Lutheran Church’s Network Table

Mount Olive is a congregation grounded in faith, prayer, with a mission to serve our community by welcoming all and sharing God’s love. As an expression of our mission in Lake Havasu, we formed a Network Table to support early childhood, the youngest and most vulnerable in our society. The Mount Olive Table works for and with a local childcare center by partnering with community members and organizations to strengthen long-term, sustaining relationships

To learn more about First Things First is Arizona’s early childhood agency, committed to the healthy development and learning of young children from birth to age 5 follow the link above. First Things First and Open Table are working together to strengthen Arizona’s families at the earliest stage! Follow up with their newsletter and keep in touch with progress!

Meet our Members:

Jen Clark, Kim Corbin, Shelly Hales, Kelly HaysThorson, Kris Kidder, Rita Kidder, Susan Leifer, and Linda Paquette. Please contact any of them if you would like to help with anything we are currently working on with Guiding Light.

Network Tables for Child Care Centers Expansion in Arizona

Mount Olive’s Network Table was the first designed to support a child care center. We are a pilot project supported entirely by Open Table. Jon Katov and Angie Williams, Open Table’s CEO and COO, felt the network table model was ideal to create a partnership between a church and child care in our community. We have learned an incredible amount over the course of a year. We’ve had hiccups, setbacks, slow-downs, as well as giant-sized accomplishments. As we’ve learned what works and what doesn’t, we’ve shared with Jon and Angie to help fine-tune the model for child care centers. Table members continue to work with Open Table to finesse the process and to assist with planning for future tables.

Our success has helped Open Table apply for and receive grants to support an additional 15 tables in Arizona. Five tables for north Phoenix, five tables for south Phoenix, and five tables for various locations in the state are in the planning stages. Open Table submitted a grant application with Lake Havasu City to support additional tables in our community. The grant process is being finalized. Open Table is on the grant approval final list and is negotiating for a final grant amount. We are hoping to receive enough funds to support five more tables in Lake Havasu! Please pray for the network table team and our community that the ministry bears fruit abundantly! (Thank you, Janet Pippin, for an excellent question which has become a newsletter article topic.)

The Fall Zone team and Windows/Doors team have wrapped up their projects. Hallelujah! The teams have done an incredible job this year working for the children of Havasu!

REMINDER! The Periodontal team, with assistance from other table members, will be raising funds for the Guiding Light staff member’s dental work. Please watch for more information and share!

Thank you, Mount Olive members, for your continuing support of this ministry!

Jen Clark, Kim Corbin, Shelly Hales, Kelly Hays-Thorson, Kris Kidder, Rita Kidder, Susan Leifer, and Linda Paquette.

May Updates

Network Table’s Fourth Month working with Guiding Light:

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me…” Matthew 19:14a

Did you know that 90% of a child’s brain growth happens in their first five years?! That is a miracle! Jesus upended the societal norm of not valuing children and relegating them to the other room. As usual, he had it completely right. This month, we are sharing why early childhood and childcare centers matter. This information comes from First Things First, Arizona’s early childhood agency committed to healthy development and learning of young children from birth to age 5. Please think about each of the following statements, and consider the importance of quality child care:

Early brain development has a lasting impact on a child’s ability to learn.

Language and early literacy development starts from the beginning. Babies are born communicating through eye contact, facial expressions, crying and touch. When adults respond with words, conversation and attention, it helps build the child’s brain in ways that promote healthy development and learning.

Numerous studies have demonstrated that children with access to quality early learning are more prepared for kindergarten. They have increased vocabulary, better language, math and social skills, more positive relationships with classmates, and score higher on school-readiness assessments.

Kids with positive, stable relationships with parents and caregivers, including child care, go on to do better in school and in life. They’re more likely to read at grade level and to graduate from high school. They are more prepared for college and career.

If you’d like to learn more about the impact of early childhood, please visit First Things First’s website www.firstthingsfirst.org. They have a wealth of information. Programs sponsored by First Things First for young children and their families can be found at https://www.firstthingsfirst.org/resources/find-programs/. If you have any First Things First questions, please reach out to Kim. Our Table continues to be busy with obtaining and installing new windows and doors , safe “fall zones” around outdoor play equipment, and periodontic work for a Guiding Light staff member. As always, reach out to any team member if you’d like an update or have any questions! God bless!

Jen Clark, Kim Corbin, Shelly Hales, Kelly Hays-Thorson, Kris Kidder, Rita Kidder, Susan Leifer, and Linda Paquette.

April Updates

Network Table’s Third Month working with Guiding Light: Little Things and Big Things

Sometimes it feels as if our service is distant from those we are helping. Our work is meeting with window suppliers, reaching out to dental professionals, talking to tire salespeople. Doesn’t it seem a little strange for those tasks to be called mission work? Mount Olive’s Network Table is about helping Guiding Light Educational Center raise up, educate and love Havasu’s children and their families. As servants of Jesus, we are working on projects Guiding Light has given us to help them in their mission to the children.
Our Table work has been keeping us busy! New connections are being made every week. This enables us to spread the work to those beyond our congregation. What a blessing as we enlarge the people in mission work in Havasu! We are working in pairs on our priority projects and as a team on Network Table tasks. Three months in and we continue to learn more and more about the depth of Open Table’s support to their Tables across the nation.
As a reminder, our priority needs tasks currently are obtaining and installing new windows and front security door, safe “fall zones” around outdoor play equipment, and periodontic work for a Guiding Light staff member. Prayers for our teams to quickly find the connections they need to meet these needs is greatly appreciated! AND, if our Table work has not kept us busy enough, we met in person (yay!) with Jon Katov, Open Table CEO, Angie Williams Open Table COO, and Stephen Sparks, First Things First’s Director of Fund Development & Strategic Investments at Mount Olive a few weeks ago. Open Table and First Things First are exploring how they can make this pilot project a statewide reality. While the pilot project (our Network Table) is only three months old, they are asking for our expertise (ha!) and input on Table processes and outreach to make it happen. Jon and Angie’s excitement is incredibly inspiring and motivating! Stephen’s passion for First Things First and children birth to age 5 is obvious as he spoke to us of the importance of a child’s first five years. All God’s children deserve a good start!
As always, reach out to any team member if you’d like an update or have any questions! God bless!
Jen Clark, Kim Corbin, Shelly Hales, Kelly Hays-Thorson, Kris Kidder, Rita Kidder, Susan Leifer, and Linda Paquette.

 Network Table December Update

I am pleased to bring you some exciting new updates to our Network Table group. Network Table is a research-driven model training people to form teams that access their skills and personal networks to empower people with complex needs to achieve goals they could not realize on their own. Okay awesome but that can leave a lot of questions! What we are doing, through resources and training from the company Open Table, is outreach to a local organization that instead of simply providing them funding or donations spends time with them makes relationships and helps them accomplish the goals they have to sustain their operation. A local childcare provider identified as needing assistance is in the final discussion process and may begin training as early as the beginning of December. So what does that mean for Mount Olive and our Network Table? Through the training that both groups will have, our Network Table and the local child care provider by Angie Williams the chief operations office of Open Table, will begin making a priority task list of needs that will help them continue to be a long term community child care resource. Instead of simply providing them funds (which of course help) we will be connecting them to other local resources through the connections that we have. This means that for example if the child care provider has a specific need the members of our network table have resources such as personal and professional plumbers, electricians, printing companies, educational training backgrounds etc… We all know different people with different skills and talents, businesses and individuals that can come together and create a support group of resources for the child care provider to teach them things they need. It is the difference between giving a man a fish to eat one meal or teaching him how to fish to provide for himself. We are looking at the future of Mount Olive being an important community resource that doesn’t simply put a band-aid on a need or fix it temporarily, we want to create a network that can knit together holes in our community creating a better future for all of us. It seems like a tall order but many hands make light work! We are thrilled to have such amazing training and guidance from Open Table to assist us in making a huge impact on our community. We look forward to keeping you informed of progress we are making. Keep an eye out for ways you can connect with us on our website as well!

Network Table January Update

Network Table’s Childcare Center is On Board Guiding Light Christian Educational Center has committed to joining with Mount Olive’s Network Table for a year of exciting mutual ministry! Guiding Light has been serving Havasu’s preschool children and families for over 35 years. Their mission is to provide Lake Havasu City with a high quality educational and spiritual program for all children, in a warm and loving atmosphere. Nadine Bartels is the director for Guiding Light and will be Network Table’s main contact. We are overjoyed to be working with her and her staff! We are asking for prayers from the church members. Guiding Light’s founder, Floriana Hanna passed away just before Christmas. Floriana’s daughter, Shanta Abbott will be taking over as executive director. Please keep Floriana’s family, and especially Shanta, in your prayers. The Network Table members have completed their training provided by Angie Williams from Open Table. We participated in mock scenarios where we reached out to the community for support for hypothetical needs. It certainly took many of us out of our comfort zones! We also compiled an initial list of connections. We have eight table members. In 30 minutes, we created a list of 260 connections! That is the power of the Open Table concept. Some of you are on our list already! On the weekend of January 29th and 30th our Table will participate in a commissioning ceremony at each of Mount Olive’s worship services. In mid-January, we will begin the process of supporting Guiding Light by addressing their priority needs list. As the work progresses, we will keep the congregation informed of needs we are working on and will welcome assistance with each of the needs.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions for us, please reach out to any of the table members. We’d be happy to keep you updated! God bless!

Jen Clark, Kim Corbin, Shelly Hales, Kelly Hays-Thorson, Kris Kidder, Rita Kidder, Susan Leifer, and Linda Paquette.