TEEN INITIATIVES!
As Sidewalk Ministries continues to see its long-term kids grow into their teens, we continue to focus on developing programs to meet their needs as they mature. We are excited to share two FIRSTS that happened this Spring.
Teen Career Night
Career Expos have been going on for over two years now. Miller Electric was the company that helped us develop this program and led the way as the first partner to present. It seems only right they would be the first to introduce Phase Two of this program.
We narrowed the age range to slightly older teens and Miller intensified the project. With nineteen kids - well, young adults aged 14-18 - this Expo night was once again resoundingly popular with our teens. This time the “fun” included building an electric circuit on a large piece of plywood which required cutting and bending conduit, and running electrical wire. We even had the adult child of a tenant at Valencia, who we discovered works for Miller, with the Miller team. Thank you to Miller Electric and Tim Hinson for developing and leading Phase II!
Teen Bible Study
We also initiated our first attempt at establishing a teen version of Sidewalk Ministries legacy program, Sidewalk Funday School. As many of you have heard us say, as the kids near their teens, or tweens, they are no longer comfortable with the traditional SFS program. The teens need a different format and setting limited to their age range. We have Board approval to hire a part-time minister to lead at Valencia Way, but have not found that person yet. However, with an all-volunteer effort headed by Fred and Sandra Maner, we held the first teen bible study event. Looking forward over the next several years, we are asking the Lord to help this grow into a weekly ministry at many, if not all, of our sites.
Nine teens joined us for dinner, cup games, and a Bible lesson led by Fred Maner. We were very encouraged with interest and participation in the Valencia Way Community. We are inviting churches, and let us use this blog post to invite any additional churches, who might be interested in adopting a site for this Teen “Extra” (we don’t have any other name for it right now).
The kids were excited to pit Mr. Richard and Mrs. Kimberly against each other - you can see the celebration as Mrs. Kimberly's team won, with Mrs. Teresa Myers being the fierce last competitor to bring home the win!!
Summer Camp
We will be sending a handful of teens to summer camp later this month. Please pray the kids will be greatly impacted by these five days where they can be away from their daily environments and truly focus on the Lord. We ask for Him to do a great work in their lives!
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