Ministry Update
As the dust settles from the past school year, we pray for wisdom and a fresh approach to the next school year. Any rhythm or routine we had become accustomed to the past school year was interrupted. The inability to plan with so many unknowns brought frustration at times. The positive outcome however was the moment by moment reliance on seeking God’s plan and direction, in spite of the inability to predict what was next. The Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 1:9 when speaking of overwhelming hardships that he had faced in Asia, ”but this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead… “. The challenges the ministry has faced this past year are not truly comparable to Paul’s trials, but we still find peace in knowing God is able to carry us in difficult times. Please keep us in prayer as we continue the work of sharing the gospel with the teens of Wayne County.
Youth Center Updates
As summer has kicked in, the Marion Youth center numbers have decreased to about 20-30 kids when we gather. For the summer Marion Youth center is taking a slight break. We are gathering with youth once a month to grill, eat, and play games. We feel extremely blessed that the Second Reformed Church in Marion opens up its church to these kids. The church always is quick to give to the kids and provide whatever the kids may need that could create a fun and safe place to ultimately allow an opportunity to share the gospel. For our summer gatherings, the church has been lending us grills to use to make hotdogs for the kids. This has been a blessing to gather in more of an informal setting and further connect with the youth in the community.
For the first time ever, the Clyde Youth Center is able to operate two days per week throughout the summer. The ongoing partnership with the Clyde Savannah after school program has continued to facilitate outreach to an ever increasing number of students. Jacob, the pastor of the hosting church along with the school staff have not only facilitated the program for the school year, but will remain committed to the site for the summer! The site will operate Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1-4pm for the summer. The school has also planned a community wide celebration in the fall that will use the interactive bounce equipment STM provides for school and community outreach events. We are thankful for the momentum we all share in this community based partnership!
The last few months at the Newark Youth Center have been a lot of fun. We have had 50 different kids come at different times. We have a core group of 8-10 that come every week, and each time they come, they are reaching out to friends, saying that they have to come out to the center. One of the new favorite things at the center is Rock Band on the Xbox. They race into the game room to try and get to that game first. Last month we had generous donations of a Nintendo Switch with games and controllers, a new big screen tv, and some updated games for the PS4. Every week we have a free snack prepared by our volunteers and while they are eating we do a devotional with them. The week we spoke about the prodigal son, every teen had a personal experience to share that related to the message. As we continue to improve the center, we believe God is going to use it to reach more and more students and that we will see God work in them in mighty ways.
The North Rose Wolcott Youth center is anxious to get things rolling again! Several obstacles have prevented the center from opening this past school year. A recent call from one of the faithful volunteers helped us move forward on tackling the obstacles that had shut down the site. We are excited to begin planning for the new school year and to restart the collaborative partnership we have with the NRW school district. The Faith United Methodist church that hosts the center has a new pastor in place and will assist in gathering additional site staff. We are excited to restart this vibrant program in which Pastor Diane Walker and so many volunteers had invested so much time and energy.
The Williamson Youth center wrapped up the school year with a ton of excitement worth sharing. We celebrated the end of the school year with a party full of inflatable games, tournaments, and prizes, that resulted in 50 kids returning to the youth center the following week. Site director, Hannah Jamison, came back from her wedding and honeymoon to start the Williamson Summer schedule. The Williamson summer schedule consists of Tuesday breakfast with Hannah, Danette, and girls, Wednesday Bible Study for both boys and girls, and continuing Thursday Youth Center, with some fun events mixed in. The kids are spending the summer memorizing verses during our devotional time and seem to be enjoying it thus far. The exciting part is that they aren’t just memorizing verses, but they are learning what these verses mean and how they can apply them to their lives. Keep praying for energy and enthusiasm for our dedicated volunteers at this youth center and courage for the kids attending to continue to grow in their curiosity of the Lord.
Hello from the Mill Street Youth Center in Sodus. While you’re reading this, we are probably open for our summer hours (Monday and Friday, 12:00-5:30pm). Being open pretty much year-round and two days a week would not be possible without a major time commitment from our volunteers. Some of them teach, some clean, prepare snacks, run our front desk, play games inside and outside, run special activities like mini-tournaments. All of them help supervise (keep the place safe), talk to kids here, and show there are people in the church who care enough to sacrifice time for their benefit. I think, especially in Sodus, our youth center provides afterschool and free-time options kids wouldn’t have much of without it. This summer we’ll have some basketball tournaments and cookouts on the grill for our kids. If you think you might have time to volunteer or have a kid you think could benefit here, please come check us out.
Our ministry in Lyons continues to reach kids at the Lyons Community Center. We typically use the back gym at the Center and have been open on Thursdays since we re-opened this past school year. This is a blessing because many students know the Center as a place they already can go, and they have even more options for recreation when we run our program. We get a lot of students who are into sports and looking for a game or somewhere to shoot hoops. A number of students here have noticed and appreciated the fact there are people who will take the time to make the center’s facilities available to them and spend money to provide other rec options and snacks. This has gained some credibility for us when we talk about Jesus. More volunteers, especially some who don’t mind a gym environment, would be a great help. Please consider contacting Scarlet Thread if you live or work in Lyons and want to check us out and think about helping.
Please pray for wisdom as we navigate potential plans for the Walworth Youth Center. The site has been in hiatus for over a year now due to several obstacles outside of our control. We are hopeful following recent communication with the host church that there may be some new options for getting things going again. Please pray!
