Help a Kid Crush the Odds with the Love of God!

Fall is here, and for SCYM that means many Springfield children and youth coming to the doors of our programs. Most of them are looking for something fun to do and a safe place to be - but most of all they are looking for someone. Someone to remember their name, to ask them how their day was. Someone to play a game with them. Someone to make them a snack, or just sit down and eat with them. Someone who, through ordinary words and deeds, can show them a life that may be radically different than the one they know.

Do you have an hour a week you could give to a kid? Or does someone you know? Our city's kids need people just like you, from teenagers to grandparents! Consider one of these opportunities to make an eternal investment in an elementary or middle school student:

MONDAYS
STARS Drivers (2:30-3:15)
STARS Chapel leaders and helpers (3:15-4:15; every other week)
STARS Crafts and special projects teachers (3:15-4:15; every other week)
STARS Food preparers (3:00-4:00)
STARS Free time helpers (3:30-4:30)
STARS Mentors (4:30-5:30)

TUESDAYS
All STARS opportunities listed for MONDAYS
GirlPower Mentors (3:30-5:30)
Young Life leaders (6:00-8:00)

WEDNESDAYS
Young Life leaders (6:30-8:30)

THURSDAYS
All STARS opportunities listed for MONDAYS
GirlPower Fitness Mentors (3:30-5:30)

FLEXIBLE DAYS - Small group facilitators or assistants, 11:00-11:45, Perrin Woods 5th and 6th grade success groups

To get involved, just email us at SCYMinistries@gmail.com, or call our office: 937-325-6183.

Why we fundraise

I have a confession. There is a part of my job that I wish someone else would do. No matter how many times I do it, no matter the responses, no matter the need. I just wish I didn't have to do it.

Big surprise – it's fundraising. (The title kind of gave it away, didn't it?)

What's more, I'm not the only one. What I hear over and over from board members and others in the community, even from those who are gifted fundraisers, is that at best they tolerate it, at worst they dread it.

Personally, whenever I pick up the phone to make an ask or set up an appointment, whenever I send out appeal letters, the same anxious questions dog me: Will I offend? Will I annoy? Will this person run away the next time they see me?

And then those questions are followed by another one, one that I realize by my reluctance I am asking God: “Lord, couldn't you please just send someone else to do this?”

If you're familiar with the calling of Moses in Exodus chapter 4, you'll know what God thought when Moses asked him the same question. Let's just say that God did not, in fact, call someone else to lead his people out of Egypt.

We fundraise – we ask - because we are called by God. We are called to stand in the gap for vulnerable people. No matter how much I wish otherwise, he is not calling someone else, he is calling me. And here's what, at Springfield Christian Youth Ministries, we are standing in the gap for.

We ask on behalf of kids. Kids in our city who cannot ask for themselves. Kids who are highly vulnerable. Kids we meet daily, who – unless someone intervenes – will not graduate from high school, will not have a healthy marriage, will end up in the court system. Kids who may have a mom or dad or grandparent who desperately wants them to succeed, but lacks the tools or resources.

We ask on behalf of kids who don't know what a “trained, skilled professional” means, or what “benefits” or “payroll taxes” are, but who understand when there is someone dedicated who shows up to their program week in and week out, who knows how to handle difficult situations that come up, who takes time to talk to their teachers and parents. They fully understand that there are people who come every week without pay because they care, people who are supported, coordinated, and connected by our staff.

We ask on behalf of kids who have never heard of “liability insurance,” but who know when they're in a safe place. Kids who may not understand “mileage expense,” but understand the thrill of going somewhere they've never been before, with a group of people who love and enjoy them. We ask for 250 kids who could not make heads or tails of our operating budget, but who would feel the great void if we could no longer operate.

We ask on behalf of kids who, through the nurturing relationships they build through SCYM's programs, are finding their own voice. Who are learning what it means to be responsible, to value others, to know their Creator and to walk wisely with him. Who are connecting with local churches and finding a family there. Who are learning how to give back to their community.

So when I am tempted to give up on fundraising – something that happens almost daily – I remember why we ask. I remember the God who has, for this season in my life, called me to ask. I pray that I will not offend, annoy, or turn people away; but I remember that there are kids who need someone to ask for them.

And that is why we fundraise. That is why I pick up the phone, write the letter, make the appointment; and why our board does the same. If God is also calling you to be a fundraiser – take courage. Remember why you are asking. If you find yourself on the other end of our asking – just humor us. And if you can, maybe consider a gift – because it's not about the money, but about the people we, and everyone who partners with us, are standing in the gap for.

Faith Bosland, Executive Director

13th Annual Ox Roast - Saturday, September 18

Join us for a great night of food and music, and support Springfield city kids! SCYM's 13th annual Ox Roast is coming Saturday, September 18, from 5:00-7:00 pm at Faith in Christ Lutheran Church, on the corner of Moorefield Rd. and Ridgewood Rd. E. in Northridge (click for a map). This year's Ox Roast not only raises funds to support SCYM's year-round programs, it also features:

- Delicious roast beef, smoked and slow-roasted on site
- Sides from Rudy's Smokehouse Bar-B-Q
- Live music by local Christian artist Rick L. James
- The area's only Buckeye Hunt for kids, at 6:00 pm
- Inflatables and other activities for kids
- Silent auction featuring Cincinnati Reds tickets, 8x10 autographed photo of Peyton Manning, professional teeth whitening service, coffee lover's basket, professional cake gift certificate and gourmet cupcakes, and Christian books and CD's

Tickets are just $8 for adults, $4 for kids 4-10. Kids under 4 eat free.

You can also help support the 250 kids SCYM serves each year with a sponsorship of $250. Churches, individuals, families, and groups are all coming together to provides sponsorships - will you join us to help kids "crush the odds with the love of God" this school year?

Pulling Weeds of Apathy

On a hot, muggy evening on the west side of Springfield, six 13- to 15-year-olds arrive at the Hannah House, a home for single moms. As the sun is setting, people appear on their front porches, driven outside by the lack of air conditioning and stifling heat. Some eye the kids suspiciously, wondering what a group of teens is doing in the neighborhood.

The kids themselves have questions about what they're doing. They're here as part of SCYM's REACH Student Leadership program - a two-week intensive experience for kids who've shown leadership potential through our year-round programs. Tonight's focus is service, helping kids understand practically that Jesus' model of leadership isn't about bossing people around; it's about serving.

Liz and Kevin, recent Cedarville University graduates, facilitate the program. Tonight Liz helps explain to the kids what we'll be doing to clean up the grounds, and I tell a little about Hannah House, how it's a place for single moms who don't have a place to stay. The kids nod understandingly. No doubt many of their families have been in the same boat at one time or other - without a place of their own, most likely living in a relative's living room for a while.

I ask the kids if anyone would be comfortable mowing the lawn. An enthusiastic young man named Scott shoots up his hand. "Can I change my shoes first?" he asks.

"Where do you live?" I ask.

"Over there," he points. His house is across the street. I agree, and within a minute he's returned wearing different shoes.

While we wait for access to the lawnmower, we start with pulling weeds in Hannah House's community garden. It's fenced in and locked to prevent damage or theft. The kids laugh as we talk and pull weeds together - trying to determine what's a vegetable and what's a weed (a few beets inadvertantly get pulled), seeing who can find the most disgusting bug. By the time we're done, the garden is weeded, the lawn mostly mowed (gasoline shortage), and trash picked up.

As I weeded with city kids that night, I was moved by what God was doing in these kids spiritually through REACH - pulling weeds from their lives. Weeds of apathy, indifference to the problems rooted in their neighborhood, like drugs, crime, vandalism. Weeds of hopelessness. Weeds of worthlessness. In place of those weeds, God is using REACH to plant in these kids a deep sense of their value, their potential, their ability to change their own community and neighborhood.

REACH isn't over - this week brings more learning opportunities, especially as they head to a camp retreat this weekend where they'll participate in high ropes and outdoor learning. Most of all, they'll bond together with peers and leaders who model a godly example and teach them about Christ's leadership for their lives. Pray for these kids - God is cultivating growth in them and in Springfield!

Faith Bosland
Executive Director

Kids Can! Day Camp Photos - Week 4

Getting the word out about our sale!

Selling jewelry at City Hall!

Enjoying Popsicles on a hot day.

Day campers competing in Mini-World Cup!

The daughter of one of our volunteers models two of our hair clips.

Summer Day Camp--2nd and 3rd weeks

The second and third weeks of camp have been great! The campers were split into five different businesses (jewelry, hairclips, baking, photography, and candles) that are each making products to sell downtown July 13th and 14th. Last Friday the campers had a lot of fun on our field trips to the Heritage Center and the Rock Garden. There are a lot of fun activities planned for the rest of this week-tomorrow we are having a cookout from 12-2 at the church and Friday we have a field trip to the Children’s Discovery Garden.

Kelsey

Kids Can! - this week in photos

The Kids Can Candle Co., hard at work. (You can buy theirs and all the campers' items downtown on July 13 and 14.)























AmeriCorps*VISTA Tim Voltz and two campers show some of their produce grown at the community garden.


















Kids sing in chapel time


















On Thursday the campers learned where India is, and the conditions that some children face there. 10% of their business profits are going to a home for orphans in India.
























Playing with one of our campers at breakfast.

Stay tuned for two more weeks of updates and photos!