My name is Barbra Khourie and I am a Martial Arts Instructor. The name of my school is Khourie's Black Belts of Faith in Mounds, IL. I am currently a 4th Degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do and Ching Sai Do, but I am working on my 5th Degree.
 
I have been in Martial Arts for approximately 20 years. I started out studying under Everett Woods and Jo Stamp at Tru Form Karate in Mounds where I received my first three Black Belts. Then I studied under Master Moore and now I am currently studying under Kang Rhee from Memphis, TN.
 
While I studied under Everett Woods as a Purple Belt I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was going to quit Martial Arts because treatments were too much for me, but Mr. woods talked me into staying and after my treatments I went back to classes regularly.
 
Martial Arts really helped me to get past having cancer. Then a year later I was diagnosed again in the other breast. I thought that it would never be the same again. Woods talked to me again and told me to be strong and I would make it through the treatments again. I finally realized that God had a plan for me and all I had to do was pray about it. I loved going to tournaments and teaching and I was good at it but I still wasn't happy. Until one day I finally listened to what God was telling me.
 
God saved my life from breast cancer two years in a row. I can't go out and preach to people I see and don't know the Bible well, but one thing I did know was Martial Arts. I finally realized His plan for me. The Bible says; "Bring the little children unto me." So I decided to open my own school, a really different kind of Martial arts school. By using Martial arts to bring people into the school I can teach them about God's 10 Commandments and how to pray. when I started I didn't have money to even be opening my own school but God has provided me. we are not a fancy school but the thing we do have is love for each other and for God.
 
I have between thirty to forty students in my school. Some of these kids are good kids but some of them have a lot of problems. if you've ever heard of Mounds, IL. then most likely you have heard a lot of bad things. That's because anytime anything good happens you can't get anyone to talk about it, but if something bad than that's all you hear about.
 
For example; just like the year I had two thirteen-year old girls and one fifteen year old girl receive their Black Belts. We called News Channel 12 and they were really interested until they found out where we were located and that we were a Christian Martial Arts school. So they never came to do a story. We decided to try News Channel 3 and we were told then the exact same information  that we told News Channel 12. News Channel 3 called two days later and set up a day to come and they did a wonderful job with the interview of the three young students.
 
A lot of my Martial Arts students go to Meridian School, everybody and the faculty tells me all the time that they have seen a difference in my students. My students are very good kids and they work realy hard. last year we brought back over 100 trophies from different tournaments. I am so proud of them and I try to tell them how proud they make me. Some of these kids didn't even know the Ten Commandments until they started my school. We start every class by saying them. And every night before I dismiss the students, one person says prayer out loud. We pick a different person every time to pray so that everyone gets a chance to pray.
 
Before a student can move to the next Belt they must say the Commandments and before a student tests for their Black Belt they must know the Commandments in order. I do a lot of  things with my students. A few things we've done this past year. We put flags on the graves of Veterans in Mounds City's  National Cemetery, we had a kid-a-thon to raise money for St. Jude's Hospital and we did a road block to raise money for a fellow student who has a breathing problem. The little boy in my class was hospitalized for his breathing problem and the doctors told his mother he had to have a special machine to filter the air in their home before he could come home. His mother told me about the problem and all the kids in the class wanted to do something to help because they missed him and wanted him home.
 
We go to any school, church, or business and do demonstrations. We especially like doing things with children because we want them to know how to keep safe from abductors. We teach them about sex offenders and internet predators. I want them to see how Jesus shines on all of us for the good we do. We have a lot of blessings that have come out martial arts and Mr. Thomas Black of Carbondale is one of those blessings. I met him at one of his tournaments that he held. Since then, we have become close friends. He asked me if our school would like to join the 'Alliance'. At first I didn't want to belong to any group because I felt that I may believe different than they do and I don't want a group or anyone for that matter telling me how to run my school but I was wrong.
 
The Alliance is a wonderful group of people and I feel very blessed to be in The Alliance. At first I tried it for a year and realized how great everyone in the Alliance is, so I have decided to become a Lifetime member.
 
Thank you for your time and I will end this letter the way we end class;
"Jesus is Lord, and He's Lord of All!"
Shalom
 
Thank You,
Barbra Khourie