GirlPower

Along with several other SCYM programs, GirlPower kicked off this past week for Clark and Schaefer Middle School kids. This is the fifth session (summer or semester) we've run the program, which is a partnership with the YMCA and focuses on health, beauty, fitness and self-esteem. I remember when the idea for GirlPower first came about, and I sensed right away it was a "God thing," just a gut feeling that this was a program we needed to create. The previous school year, I had met so many kids from Clark who had suffered the loss of a parent or loved one, it was almost unthinkable. Only in middle school, these kids were already bearing pain from accidents, illnesses, sometimes just really bad decisions - drugs, alcohol, recklessness. The saddest part to me was how many of these situations were avoidable, if only the person involved had had a healthier lifestyle.

It's almost always on my mind that these kids are, statistically speaking, going to repeat the mistakes of their families, unless somebody helps them find something different. That's how GirlPower came about. The thought was, what if we help girls develop healthy lifestyles - not just learning how to exercise and eat right, but also make good decisions and have healthy relationships, all from the foundation that they are a person valued by God.

So, twice a week, a group of middle school girls gather with a bunch of volunteer leaders from Wittenberg University to exercise, cook, talk, journal, work out problems, have fun together, and a host of other great activities. Aubrey Herbst, who's our new GirlPower Director this fall, says "The pressures of middle school kind of just disappear when they're at GirlPower." Girls who have learned to deal with relational problems by arguing, fighting, and spreading rumors instead find a safe place to talk things out and bond with others that they normally wouldn't hang out with.

Can you tell this program has a special place in my heart? I hope we can bring some more good stories over the semester about cool things that are happening at GirlPower. This is the kind of stuff that we're all about, making a real difference in one life at a time. The impact happens little by little, over time, and it doesn't always work out the way you want it to. But I truly believe that we're in the right place and doing the right thing.

Faith Bosland
Executive Director

Ox Roast update

So, last Saturday was our infamous Ox Roast. It went really well. Over 340 people, great weather, and just an overall successful end-of-the-summer party (minus the OSU slaughter). This was my first Ox Roast and I am truly thankful for the many people who sacrificed their time to help out. In the end, the Ox Roast is not about the Mule Skinner band, or 30 ft. Moonwalkers, or even the delicious smoked beef. In the end, the Ox Roast is about communities coming together to support Kingdom work. There was a point in the evening when we began to run out of water bottles. With only a few water bottles left and a line stretching out to the parking lot we knew we needed to get some more. Thirsty people with no water. In a lot of ways that sums up the situation and life experiences of many of the kids we reach out to, thirsty and in need of water. Like Jesus said to the crowds that gathered around him, we know that physical thirst comes back only a short time after it is quenched. A spiritual quenching is different. Jesus says that he has spiritual water for these kids that will satisfy their souls forever. When we ran out of water at the Ox Roast a few people rallied together to take care of the situation. This is exactly what we are trying to do at SCYM, work together to see the love of God transform lives. It is not like selling merchandise and it takes more foundation than building a house but we believe that God can bring new life to the kids of our community and quench the spiritual thirst in their souls forever. Amen.

Chris LeMaster
Associate Director, SCYM

Ox Roast Images