CABLE
fall 2015
the Counselors’ Newsletter
Director’s letter This is a large ministry. That was made even more apparent to me this summer at my first Leadership Conference. In an overwhelming sense of magnitude and feeling so underqualified, God gave me a huge blessing of undeniable peace when He said to me, “That is exactly what I hoped you would feel, because My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Later a friend said, “You can’t do it without God, and that’s right where He can use us the most.” God has plans to expand His ministry. That fact was again affirmed while I was reading Matthew 9:37-38, The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Those words came alive. And at the start of a new GEMS season, my hope is that you, too, are excited to be joining women all over the world in this plentiful harvest.
Inside: choose truth | 2 leadership training | 5 room to grow | 7
We are on our way to doubling our number of Sister Clubs—clubs in Canada and the US that partner with a club in a developing country— as GEMS expands all over the world. We are building new relationships in the Philippines, Uganda, and Kenya. Requests for information in areas of North America that do not currently have GEMS
clubs are also growing! And with the addition of more pages to SHINE brightly Magazine, this outreach tool will make an even bigger impact in girls’ lives. Because of God’s faithfulness in leading the ministry and your obedience to His call, GEMS is growing. Thank you for living out our name and helping girls everywhere comprehend the deep love of Jesus. Thank you for dedicating your time and talent to help girls live radically faithful lives! As you jump into your new season, I want to encourage you. You are essential to God’s international ministry! What you do is important. Even though sometimes you may feel underqualified (like me!), hold fast to God’s promise to equip you with everything you need! God has put you here for a reason, and you have a significant part in His vision for reaching more girls with His love. In HIs Service,
Kristine Palosaari GEMS Executive Director
GEMS Executive Board Shirley Batts – Portage, Michigan Cheryl Boer – Gilbert, Arizona
President’s Letter
Linda Hermen – Beecher, Illinois Judy Kapteyn – Sarnia, Ontario Mary Klingenberg – Hagersville, Ontario Debra Liccar – Crete, Illinois Andrea Mulder– Norwich, Ontario Amy VandenBerg – Grand Rapids, Michigan Mary Jo Vis – Riverside, California Cindy Visser – Zeeland, Michigan
GEMS Staff Training Manager - Lenae Bulthuis Operations Director - Michele DeHaan Managing Editor - Kelli Gilmore Graphic & Web Designer - Lisa Hunter Customer Relations - Hannah Noorman Executive Director - Kristine Palosaari International Ministries Director - Jill Postma Conference Coordinator - Alecia VanHulzen Senior Editor/Publications Director - Amy White To honor God by being responsible stewards of His creation, Cable is printed on post-consumer recycled paper and uses vegetable-based inks.
Canada Post Publication Sales Agreement #41124116, return undeliverable copies to Cable c/o GEMS Girls’ Clubs, PO Box 39, Norwich, ON N0J1P0
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If you would prefer to receive an electronic copy of Cable, send a note to cable@gemsgc.org to be added to our email list.
Dear Friends, A chipped, ceramic plaque with a Bible verse on it hangs on the wall of my bedroom. When I was a little girl, it hung on the wall in the kitchen next to our table. Our family was in the habit of reading the Bible after every meal and on occasion my mom would change things up and all eight of us kids would have to say a verse from memory. I dreaded those times because I didn’t trust my memorization skills so I would volunteer to be first so I could quote the verse on the plaque. Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15, KJV). That one was easy— we saw it every day. I also never forgot it. This year we get to encourage our girls to dig into God’s Word using our theme, Choose Truth. The Bible study skills we teach now can have a lifetime of impact. I didn’t always appreciate my parents’ emphasis on Bible study and
memorization, but I’m so thankful for it now. Our girls may or may not appreciate it now either, but God can bring it back to them later just when they need it. So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it (Isaiah 55:11). As we begin a new GEMS season, it is my prayer that all of us, girls and counselors alike, will experience the deep, deep love of Jesus in new and refreshing ways as we dig deeper into God’s Word both personally and with our girls. Love and prayers,
Mary Jo Vis Executive Board President
Choose Truth Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. Psalm 119:105
There are lots of books in the world. Volumes of encyclopedias line libraries from floor to ceiling and favorite storybooks are pulled out in stacks for little ones’ bedtimes. But there is one story that’s unlike any other—it’s God’s story. His story uncovers His heart for the world He created. His story is truth! And each page points to Jesus. As we learn more and more about God’s radical love and His rescue plan for rebels, His Word will help us choose the best way to live. God’s story lights the way for our story, helping us see what it means to live with Him! This season we will be challenging women and girls to be lifelong hearers and doers
of His Word. We are going to look at what it means to study it, cling to it, and be awed by it. We are going to read it as our rescue story and learn to walk in its light! Your Theme Headquarters The Theme Resource Book (available through the GEMS online store, Supply Catalog, or by contacting the Service Center) is your lifeline. Inside this great resource you will discover how to enhance your GEMS season with a theme night in the His Story Library (it’s not too late if you haven’t hosted one yet!), learn the theme song, get great theme-related icebreakers and crafts, and find tips and ideas as you help your girls understand what it means to Choose Truth! There are lots of free theme resources available on the GEMS website as well! You can download the theme logo, PowerPoints, signs, customizable parent newsletters, Jesus Storybook Bible Study Guide, theme nametags, and more!
Get Connected! in ontario While summer may have just ended, we are already dreaming of nights around campfires, afternoons swimming, and morning hikes around the grounds of Camp Brébeuf. That’s right! From August 14-19, 2016 Get Connected! Camp is coming to Rockwood, Ontario!
girls connect with new friends, mentors, and—most importantly—with God. Campers overcome fears and take on new challenges all while learning God’s truth that they are valued, loved, and made with a purpose. Here are a few reflections from past campers’ experiences:
So, spread the word! Get Connected! Camp is a weeklong camp designed for early teen girls. It’s a fun-filled experience where
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“My least favorite thing about camp was how short it was. I wish it was longer!”
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“Camp was amazing! I loved the campfires!”
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“The best thing about camp was meeting people and making new friends!”
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“I loved the chapel experiences!”
For more information, visit gemsgc.org!
Say Cheese! Is your club located within a two-hour radius of Grand Rapids, Michigan? If so, we are in need of girls to participate in photoshoots for SHINE brightly and Sparkle Magazines! For more information, email kelli@gemsgc.org! Fall 2015 | 3
Plugging Service into club Many clubs, like the club at Centerpoint Church in Kalamazoo, Michigan, are putting service into action. The counselors there, including Christy Schwartz, are reminding girls they don’t have to go far to show God’s love to others. “There are so many ways to help others,” Christy said. “We have made Christmas cards for a nursing home, we collected birthday party supplies for our local homeless shelter, we made stuffed animals for Easter baskets for a foster care agency, and we collected health and beauty items for a shelter. Nothing done in love is too small.”
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For their 2014/15 season, the Centerpoint GEMS decided to partner with a mission team from their church traveling to Haiti. While there, the group would repair damage caused by the 2010 earthquake at two orphanages. To help, the GEMS decided to collect school supplies for the children in the orphanage. “Schools in Haiti are private and cost anywhere from $25-$40 a month per student, depending on the school,” Christy
said. “This cost is a hardship for many parents. Unfortunately, this has led to many parents giving up their children because they can’t feed and take care of them and they believe the kids will be better off in an orphanage. This has overwhelmed the orphanages.” According to Christy, the children at one of the orphanages they served walk two hours each way to get to school. But if they don’t have the proper uniform or supplies they are sent home. So Centerpoint GEMS got to work! “The girls brought in so many items!” Christy said. Girls personally picked out notebooks, pencils, markers, colored pencils, sharpeners, as well as socks and undergarments. The supplies would be delivered in a suitcase Christy brought in for the girls to decorate with puff paint, stickers, and foam art. “Doing a project like this made it real for our girls. They saw pictures of the kids who would be receiving the supplies. They heard stories and saw pictures of the living conditions in Haiti. Knowing I was the one going, they were sure it was real and
“Doing a project like this made it real for our girls. They saw pictures of the kids who would be receiving the supplies.” they were really helping kids [we] would actually meet and play with,” Christy said. The girls at Centerpoint get service. They have mentors who encourage and model it, and they aren’t afraid to take action! How has your club incorporated service into your season? If this is something you’re struggling to make happen, Christy has some advice: Call a shelter or food bank and ask what they need, or ask a mission trip team how you can help. So, start there. No matter how you serve, know that your girls will feel the impact for years to come!
TRAINING CONFERENCE
Club News
GEMS LEADERSHIP TRAINING
Club Dues
A Time to grow GEMS LEADERSHIP TRAINING SPRING SEMINAR
Imagine a place where you belong. You are enfolded into a sisterhood of women who all desire the same thing— for girls everywhere to have a dynamic relationship with Jesus. You are free to worship and wave flags, learn from speakers and workshops, grow in your understanding of what it means to walk in the light of God’s Word, and laugh and cry until they start to blend together. This is just a small glimpse of what it looks like to attend the GEMS Leadership Conference. For over 40 years, it’s been a space designed to invest in one of the most vital parts of this ministry—you! You are important to us. And we desire to equip you with everything you need to thrive in your role as a GEMS counselor. That’s why Conference is a vital part of your GEMS training experience. It is a time to be filled, refreshed, and encouraged! Here’s what Club Coordinator Melanie Mendes from Ripon, California had to say about her time at the GEMS Leadership Conference this past July: “My experience at Conference was amazing again this year! After spending two days straight talking about getting into God’s Word and sharing it with others, I can’t wait to start the GEMS year and get the girls excited, too!
“After spending two days straight talking about getting into God’s Word and sharing it with others I can’t wait to start the GEMS year and get the girls excited, too!”
Please turn in your Club Dues ($3.00 USD/ CAD per girl) to the Service Center on or before November 15. Club Coordinators received a dues form in August. If you need a new one please contact the GEMS Service Center.
A New Look!
Have you visited the GEMS website lately? If so, you may have noticed we have a whole new look! This easy-to-navigate site has sections with club tools for you, theme resources, a revamped store, and a section just for girls! Let us know what you think! Direct your comments or concerns to amy@gemsgc.org.
Pinterest Theme Board
“I think Conference benefits me as a leader because I learn all sorts of strategies and ideas for working with girls and helping them see how much Jesus loves them. “But the bonus of Conference is that I myself come back filled up with excitement and spiritually recharged. Sometimes it’s easy to look at GEMS as just another thing we do at church, but it is so much more than that. This ministry is also a mission field gathering girls to love our Lord and Savior, and I feel so blessed to be involved with it!” #justSHOWup in Montana! Giddy up! Bring your entire team to our 2016 Conference in Bozeman, Montana! We will be hosted by Montana State University from July 21-24. Mark it on your calendars because you won’t want to miss it!
In addition to all of the great ideas and inspiration you will find in the Theme Resource Book as well as the GEMS website, this year we also have a Pinterest board devoted to decoration ideas, free printables, and other ways to incorporate Choose Truth into your club season! Check it out and start one for your club!
Awareness Level News
This year we have three new additions to the Awareness Level (grades 1-3) curriculum. The Kingdom Girl line of curriculum—designed for clubs whose girls have a diverse knowledge of Scripture—has expanded. The Stories of Jesus focuses on 12 of Jesus’ parables and will help girls understand what each story teaches us about who God is and how we should respond. You will also find brand new versions of both God’s Kids and Women of Faith. The revised content will help you as you build relationships with your girls and show them what it looks like to engage God’s truth.
New Merchandise
Visit the new GEMS store and check out some great new items including our new Choose Truth materials, magnetic bookmark, and stylin’ sunglasses!
Dime Drive Update
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In September 2014 we challenged SHINE brightly readers to collect change to create and establish a music program at The Esther School. And many of your clubs jumped on board! With your encouragement, SHINE readers have collected over $16,000! A big thank-you from the GEMS and Esther School staff for sharing this opportunity with your clubs!
Faithfulness
flashback
As a new GEMS season gets underway, we wanted to stop and take a look back at the ways God has grown the ministry around the world. From a few clubs in Zambia to an entire international curriculum and the opening of The Esther School—we couldn’t be more thankful for His faithful provision and guidance all along the way!
Sept 2005: GEMS is introduced to the idea of expanding to Zambia
July 2006: A team travels to Zambia to do the first counselor training; four clubs are started and GEMS partners with Every Orphan’s Hope to construct The House that GEMS Built for eight orphans and their mamma
May 2006: A team travels to Zambia and finds a staggering need for a girls’ ministry
December 2007: Sister clubs in the US and Canada are organized to help sustain and encourage Zambian clubs; over 250 girls are meeting in and around Lusaka each week
April 2008: Chief Bunda Bunda of Chongwe, Zambia has seen the growing impact of GEMS on his community and donates land for The Esther School for orphaned and under-resourced children July 2009: Construction on The Esther School begins Sept 2010: GEMS Zambian curriculum is adopted for use in all developing countries
July 2011: GEMS International is introduced as the newest facet of the overall ministry and clubs start operating in countries around the world
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Sept 2012: The Esther School opens
As more clubs start in developing countries and The Esther School continues to expand— adding a new classroom each year, we encourage you to get your club involved! Partnering with the international efforts of GEMS is a great way to help your girls grow bigger hearts for God and others!
New Opportunities in Uganda The presence of GEMS is growing around the globe! From China, Spain, and New Zealand, to Zambia and Nepal, the vision is catching on. Communities are seeing the benefit of belonging and the difference it makes when girls have access to the space, tools, and resources to develop a dynamic relationship with Jesus. And that’s what has inspired a new club to form in Uganda. A staff member of Sixty Feet—a justice organization working with imprisoned girls and boys— was exposed to GEMS after visiting a club in Kampala, Uganda and found the model and curriculum to be just what they were looking for. Being imprisoned for things such as homelessness, disability, abandonment, abuse, and sometimes crime, the children are in need of the mentorship and skill development the GEMS International curriculum offers. Women from Sixty Feet will be mentoring younger girls in the Ugandan prison system by using the GEMS International curriculum as their main tool. Girls will have the opportunities to learn skills such as sewing, horticulture, and cooking. The curriculum also contains lessons on health, hygiene, and abuse prevention. But overall, girls will learn how much God loves them. We can’t wait to see how God works through this ministry team!
Navigating friendships We desire good, solid friendships. The kind of friendships Solomon talked about in Ecclesiastes 4:9-10. We desire people who will support and encourage us. It’s these friends that help us grow while accepting us for who we are right now. But beyond desiring these kinds of friendships, we have a need for them— and so do your GEMS. So how do you teach them to be a good friend and surround themselves with positive relationships? Start by checking out these ideas from the September 2015 issue of SHINE brightly Magazine! What Did Morse Say? Page 6. Before there was email or Snapchat, people communicated with telegraphs. While offering a brief history of the telegraph, this article also talks about how the dot and dash system sometimes involved miscommunications. Ask girls in your club if they’ve ever had conversations with their friends where they didn’t understand each other or someone said something she didn’t mean. Share
a personal example here if you have one! Then read through Colossians 4:6a together. Talk about what it means to have conversations full of grace and what that would look like in your friendships. 9-1-1: My Friendship Is on Fire, Page 18. Unfortunately a long hose and high water pressure aren’t enough to put out the fires that escalate between friends. This is where neutral words come to the rescue! Have your girls complete this quiz
together or separately before club. Then ask them to give examples of some neutral phrases they could use with their friends when things get heated. Direct their attention to the After the Smoke Clears section on the bottom of the page and create a game plan of examples girls can use to show their friends they really care about them without using words. For more examples like these, check out our leaders’ blog (gemsgc.org/leaders-blog).
making room to grow Each year The Esther School continues to grow. That means more pencils, more desks, more notebooks, and more classrooms are needed. And because of the huge impact SHINE brightly readers made last year by collecting dimes for The Esther School music program, we are going to continue to collect change. But this year the change collected by SHINE brightly and Sparkle readers will be dedicated toward growth—adding a fourth grade classroom to be exact. With the money that’s collected, items will be purchased to fill the classroom with everything it needs so students can continue to learn and develop.
gemsgc.org. So, send us updates of how much you’ve collected!
And getting involved is easy: Just collect change and send it (or a check for its value) to GEMS Girls’ Clubs:
For more information, check out the September issue of SHINE brightly or the October issue of Sparkle. You can also find a link to a short video you can show your club or congregation to get them excited about this new opportunity!
In the US: Room to Grow Campaign 1333 Alger St. SE Grand Rapids, MI 49507 In Canada: Room to Grow Campaign PO Box 39 Norwich, ON N0J 1P0 We will be tracking the progress each month in the back of SHINE brightly and Sparkle Magazines as well as at
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To make this a successful campaign, we need your help! Please share this exciting
opportunity with your club, congregation, and community.
A ministry of Dynamic Youth Ministries
Non-Profit org. US Postage
1333 Alger St. SE Grand Rapids, MI 49507
Paid
Grand Rapids, MI Permit #931
Badgework spotlight For Club Coordinator Heather Peterson of New Life Christian Reformed Church in Highland, Indiana, public speaking has always come naturally. But, knowing some girls need additional encouragement to speak in front of a crowd, her club put their own spin on the public speaking badge from the Discovery Place Badgebook. After completing the written portion, Heather asked each girl in her club to choose her favorite verse. But what she didn’t initially share was that they would be asked to read their verse first for their club and then the entire congregation during their GEMS Sunday service. “[Having them read the verse in club first] helped them get over the initial fear of speaking in public,” Heather said. She then gave them some time to practice their verse at home before sharing it with the congregation. On the big day, each girl took her turn at the pulpit and shared her verse. “The girls enjoyed it!” Heather said. “You could tell they all felt proud to go up to the pulpit and read! The congregation also really enjoyed seeing each girl read.”
To add a special touch, Heather prepurchased the public speaking badges and handed one to each girl immediately following her time on stage. When asked if she will continue this activity with her girls, Heather said, “Absolutely!” She is confident this experience will help her girls in school and
future endeavors because they know they can speak in public! Share the spin your club has put on completing badge work with us! We would love to pass it on to your fellow counselors! Email your ideas, information, and pictures to kelli@gemsgc.org.