March 23-29, 2025
Day 1
We started our day with a self-guided tour of the Notre Dame Campus. We ate lunch in town and spent several
hours shopping for the Family Event we are hosting on Thursday night. This evening we had dinner at Transformation Ministries with a few staff members and their Next Level Team. Next Level students are high school juniors and seniors who have taken on a leadership role within Transformation. The students of this program gave us a tour of the facility and we also talked about the various aspects of Transformation Ministries and their goals and values.
Day 2
The morning started off with breakfast and getting to know the Transformation Staff. Kory Lantz, founder of
Transformation Ministries, took us on a walking tour of the Keller Park neighborhood. God planted the vision for Kory and his wife Ally to live here and meet/invest in the lives of their neighbors.
After lunch we heard some stories of the lives transformed by the ministry Kory and his team provide. Our team split up into three groups with some working with City Light Kids (CLK) (K-5 grade students), some with the Iron Sharpens Iron (ISI) students (6th-12th grade), and some organizing and prepping for the party PV is hosting on Thursday night.
CLK kids heard the Bible story from Luke 5 about the four friends who lowered their friend to meet Jesus. The kids made cross necklaces, played games, and got to know our kids. The ISI students heard about entrepreneurship and had an opportunity to develop and present their own business idea (think Shark Tank) to a panel of judges.
We ate dinner with our host families and ISI students, played some large group games and got to know our host
families more. Our day was long and full, but also rewarding and life giving at the same time.
Day 3
This morning we heard about Transformation Ministries’ vision to open an early childhood development center,
Transformation Ministry Early Childhood Empowerment Center. This would bring to fruition their desire to complete the
circle by offering programming from newborns thru early adulthood. Our team split into groups to survey the neighborhood
and gauge interest in a facility and program like this. A specific prayer request in regard to this adventure is that Transformation would be able to purchase the two vacant lots directly next to their facility to build the early childhood center.
After lunch our team spent some time preparing for the family celebration event that we are planning for tomorrow night. We went back to Transformation for afternoon programing with City Light Kids and Iron Sharpens Iron students.
This evening several of our team helped one of our host families and Chef T prepare dinner for the students and team.
We played more games with the ISI students and host families, and spent some time giving ‘shout outs’ and how
we’ve encountered Jesus this week.
Day 4
Today our team spent some time with the Transformation ministries staff to talk about “Crayon moments” (ask a
team member to explain that) and just reflecting on the week.
Most of our day was spent cooking, setting up games and preparing for our Family Go for the Gold party we are hosting tonight! It was a great opportunity for the PV team to bless the Transformation team and their families! There are lots of
pictures in the link below.
We are heading home tired, but our hearts are full. We feel abundantly blessed to have had the week in South Bend, IN with the Transformation Ministry Families!