CABLE winter 2010
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the Counselors’ Newsletter Pull Cable out for easy reading!
A publication of
GEMS Girls’ Clubs
Executive Board
Shirley Batts – Portage, Michigan Cori Dykhouse – Port Lambton, Ontario Susan Kepley – Grand Rapids, Michigan Glennys Kuperus – Hudsonville, Michigan Lia Leenstra – Byron Center, Michigan Henrietta Reinders – Rockwood, Ontario Amy Schaaf – Grand Rapids, Michigan Lyn VanTol – Spring Lake, Michigan Mary Jo Vis – Riverside, California
GEMS Girls’ Clubss
Staff
Executive Director – Jan Boone Training Manager – Lenae Bulthuis Customer Relations Specialist – Michele DeHaan Managing Editor – Kelli Ponstein International Ministries Development Coordinator – Emily Thomas Conference Coordinator – Alecia VanHulzen Publications & Web Coordinator – Amy White Executive Secretary – Gert Wolfert Graphics & Web Designer – Nicole Zaagman
Reflections “I just have to tell you about the special way we celebrated Christmas in our club this year. Jan, we did just what you tell us to do in the Club Coordinator Guide. We implemented the Treasured Friends program. I simply sent a letter in early October to the mature women in our congregation inviting them to become treasured friends to our GEMS. I told them what they had to look forward to – a Saturday afternoon of crafting to bless others in November and our Victorian Christmas Tea in December. They would get to share both events with their sweet new friends. “And we were so surprised by the response! Here we are this tiny new club barely off the ground. And God blesses us with 30 girls from the community and five girls from our church! Then He brings an older woman, a Treasured Friend, into our program for every single girl! I did
not have to ask anyone! The women loved it and so did the girls! Bonds formed instantly – it was amazing! I’m telling you this is the best thing! The girls and older women just love each other! “At the crafting event in November, everyone decided they would make a gift for each other and give it at the Christmas Tea. I don’t think there were many dry eyes in the room after the exchange. It was so neat to see the older women in our congregation – a group that can be forgotten – receive and give so much love. I know for me just watching what God did was the best gift I could ever receive. He made the holiday season filled with such joy for both the women and the girls. Some of the women have been widows for years and have no children. Many of the girls come from difficult home situations. I think loneliness was an emotion Continued on page 2...
both groups shared. So watching these new relationships develop – hearing the laughter and seeing the joy, has been precious! “I just wanted you to know, Jan, how much we love GEMS. What a rich heritage of faith our counselors and our Treasured Friends are giving the girls in our club! Thanks for everything the staff and board does to make it all possible! And thanks to all the other counselors in GEMS who give so much and inspire me to do the same.”
president’s letter There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. Ecclesiastes 3:1
Krista
Time – it is a gift. Do we truly appreciate that? Do we truly accept that the Creator of time has allowed a time for everything? That He holds each of our moments in His hands? That He has a purpose for each of our moments? That He truly cares about each of our moments – our time?
Sometimes you get letters that are too good not to be shared. As you close out 2010 and usher in the New Year, my prayer is that your passion to serve Christ the King would just keep growing.
As women, we tend to take charge of those moments, filling them with things we think are important – and they are. But are they what God would have you do in that moment? Are they the most important? Dear women, as another calendar year begins, let’s remember that there is a time for everything – whether GEMS, work, family, friends, rest, play, or simply “being”– if we give our time to Him.
Executive Director
And as this is the issue with the 2011 Conference information, you are encouraged to take some time to sit with a Starbuck’s, Tim Horton’s, or home brewed tea, whether on your own or with fellow GEMS leaders, and determine whether you are called to give this special time to Him so that He may fill you and delight in you. It is a gift. Be blessed,
Sa
GEMS Board President
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. Be sure to include your name in the body of the email! 2
ve
a tree!
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To honor God by being responsible stewards of His creation, Cable is printed on post-consumer recycled paper and uses vegetable-based inks.
GEMS Executive board election results We would like to thank all of the women who let their names stand on the GEMS Executive Board election ballot. The women elected/appointed will play an active role in shaping the future of the GEMS ministry throughout their term. Please keep Shirley, Cheryl, Irene and Debbie and the rest of the GEB in your prayers as they use their respective gifts and skills to impact girls around the globe!
Shirley Batts
attends Grace Christian Reformed Church in Michigan. Shirley has been involved in GEMS for 20 years as a counselor and as a member of the GEB. “I want to be used as an instrument of God in His ministry…assisting girls to have a personal relationship with God at an early age is very important to me. “
Cheryl Boer attends Grace Church in Minnesota. Over the last 22 years Cheryl has served
GEMS as a Club Coordinator, Advanced Level counselor, Area Coordinator, Leadership Trainer, and as a member of the Local Conference Committee. “What is so exciting about a life in Christ is letting Him have control over your life. What I hope to see happen in the GEMS ministry is that Christian women will be the leaders/mentors they are called to be – sustaining a growing and loving relationship with Christ and His Word and then boldly sharing that passion with young women.”
Irene Vanderlaan attends Christ Community Church in Carmel, Indiana. Growing up as a Calvinette, Irene has a long history with the ministry and has been serving as the Club Coordinator in her GEMS Club since 2009. “GEMS has been such a blessing in my life, I look forward to the opportunity to grow and learn as I seek to serve Him through this appointment to the board. I’m excited to see God’s plan for the future of this ministry. God is good!”
Debbie Liccar attends Crete Reformed Church in Illinois where she has served as the Club Coordinator for the past 14 years. “God has laid a passion on my heart for young girls across the world…I want to answer God’s call in letting girls all around the world share in the understanding that God the Father has a plan and a purpose for them through His Son Jesus Christ.” (No photo available)
New Board Member Nominations
Your voice matters! Help decide the direction of the ministry by nominating a woman from your church, club, or area, to serve on the GEMS Executive Board. Two positions will be available on the GEB in 2011, and the nomination process is starting now. Once the nominations are in, The Nominations Committee will narrow the field to four candidates who will then be profiled in an upcoming issue of Cable along with a ballot for you to vote. The deadline for submitting names is April 15.
• • • • • • •
Do you know someone who has: Evidence of a mature faith, a genuine commitment to Christ, and a passion for building His kingdom Familiarity with and dedication to the GEMS ministry Proven communication skills Vision – and the ability to articulate it to others Sensitivity to constituents and supporters Ability to attend bi-monthly board meetings in Grand Rapids, Michigan Ability to travel to annual conference. If so, consider nominating her today! (The Nomination Form is on the back page.)
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Club News Club Coordinators – watch your mailboxes in January for information about GEMS Sunday. You, as well as your pastor, will be receiving a theme outline, a litany, a children’s bulletin, and a sample of the bulletin cover available through the GEMS Service Center. Don’t wait to meet with your pastor to start planning! The completely revised CIT (Counselor-in-Training) Handbook is now available. It has plenty of new tips and information for getting high-school aged girls involved in club as they learn to follow Christ’s example and become servant leaders. Contact the GEMS Service Center (servicecenter@gemsgc.org or 616.241.5615 ext. 3032) to order additional copies of “My Story – a look into the lives of the future children of The Esther School.” Use this book as a memento when you give a gift to The Brick Campaign in honor of someone you love. Visit the GEMS website (www. gemsgc.org) to learn more! Follow GEMS on Twitter! Stay up-to-date with the ministry by visiting www.twitter.com/ gemsgirlsclubs.
GEMS Worldwide As GEMS continues to find new ways to live out our name, we invite you to join us in prayer for a new facet of the ministry. GEMS Worldwide will seek to reach underprivileged communities around the world with curriculum that speaks to the lives of girls who have limited educational opportunities and fewer financial resources. Our hope is that the curriculum that is currently being developed will spread Christ’s grace and truth even further and bring women and girls around the world into a living, dynamic relationship with Him. As the curriculum progresses you will be able to get more information on the GEMS website (www.gemsgc.org).
Paint To Make a Point – Making a Difference In 2000, 189 nations gathered at the UN to discuss how to reduce extreme poverty around the world. Together, they created the Millennium Development Goals – eight essential objectives that each nation agreed could be achieved by 2015. In the September and October issues of SHINE brightly and Sparkle Magazines, readers were challenged to participate in The Big Hand-Over – a call to action for Christians. The Big Hand-Over involves creating handprints and submitting them to local politicians as a reminder that we only have five years left to meet these goals that address extreme poverty, hunger, and disease, while promoting gender equality, education, and sustainability. On their opening night of GEMS, girls from Guelph First Christian Reformed Church in Ontario dipped their hands in a pie plate of paint to make a point. The 24 girls and their counselors made a banner of handprints with the slogan “Together We Can Overcome Poverty,” written across the bottom. Then, they invited Frank Valeriote, their Member of Parliament, to come receive the banner. “He was delighted to receive the banner and asked the girls if he could first hang it in his Guelph office before taking it to Ottawa,” recalls Club Coordinator, Marg Elgersma. After they opened with singing and recited Micah 6:8, Mr. Valeriote spoke to the girls about his job and how important it is for woman and girls to reach out to communities around the globe. “The GEMS were surprised to hear that our Member of Parliament was a Christian, and that he was so pleased to be invited by a group of young women,” Marg added. “The girls also realized that something as simple as a banner can make a difference in our community and felt encouraged to continue to think globally!” How has your club reached out? How have your girls been inspired to make a difference? We want to hear your stories! Email amy@gemsgc.org and let us know what amazing things your girls are up to this season.
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CELEBRATE THE SEASON! How does your club celebrate Christmas and/or New Year’s? Popcorn balls and cookie exchanges can be fun, but check out some of these ideas if you’re looking for a change of pace this year. Then, join GEMS facebook group and add to the conversation – we want to hear your favorite ways to celebrate Christ’s birth and the New Year with your girls!
• Do a random-act-of-kindness exchange. Instead of having girls give gifts to each other, have everyone (counselors should be involved, too!) draw a name, and then instruct participants that before your next meeting they must secretly do a random-act-of -kindness for the person they drew.
• Visit a local nursing home and sing carols or host a New Year’s tea. Make festive cards ahead of time and hand deliver them to residents. If possible, get a list of names beforehand so you can personalize each card.
• Act out the Christmas story for someone who needs encouragement. Grab props, assign roles, and give girls a chance to make Christmas come alive! You can read Matthew 1-2 or Luke 2 and have girls act out the various parts, or check out the December issue of Sparkle Magazine for the perfect Christmas play to get you started.
• Find a local organization that gives gifts to children or families in need. Have each small group within your club “adopt” a child and then take girls shopping to purchase presents. Encourage girls to find creative ways to save their money so they can help someone who has less than them during this season of giving.
HAND ‘n HAND For the second year in a row, GEMS Hand ‘n Hand program has deepened the partnership between women and girls in North America and their sisters-inChrist in Zambia. This fall, girls throughout the U.S. and Canada sold handcrafts from Zambia paired with cookie, soup, and pretzel mix. A portion of every sale remained with the local club – providing funds for curriculum, magazines, or other events and programming. And, a portion of the proceeds were returned to the participating clubs in Zambia as part of the micro financing that is allowing these clubs to become self-sustaining. A very special thank you to the 165 North American clubs that participated this year! We pray that your efforts bless your local club and community and that you fully realize the extent of the impact you are having on the GEMS ministry throughout Zambia.
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Reach Out – Inspire Your Girls This season, clubs in Zambia will be learning about proper hair care as they work on their Creation Care badge. They will also be learning about how to care for God’s world as well as multiple other topics. To assist them, we are collecting 750 Hair/ Creation Care kits. Each kit should consist of a one gallon ziploc bag filled with: one extra-wide tooth comb, travel size shampoo, box of 10-12 colored pencils, extra large and heavy duty trash bag, $1.00 (US) for seed packets, and $1.00 (US) per bag for shipping. Kits are due to the GEMS Service Center by March 1, 2011. If you don’t have the resource to compile these bags, money for 750 Basket Making Kits is also needed. These kits are $3.50 (US) and the money is due to the GEMS Service Center by March 1, 2011. Visit the GEMS website (www.gemsgc.org) to get more information and download activities to do with your girls to help them learn more about Africa before you start this project. Inspire girls to reach out and touch the lives of girls in Zambia! You can also download a gift card to sign and include with your kit!
Adopt-a-Club: You Can Help Clubs in North America! Your financial support continually helps spread God’s grace to women and girls throughout Zambia. Whenever a need is vocalized, clubs around North America step up to meet it. These loving responses are paramount in helping GEMS achieve its mission to bring girls everywhere into a living, dynamic relationship with Jesus. But, as a ministry, we also fully understand the need of our sisters in Christ in Canada and the US. The Adopt-a-Club fund was set up to help North American clubs in a time of financial need receive curriculum they could otherwise not afford. Laura Blanco, Club Coordinator from Miami Great Commission Church, understands the unique blessing of this fund. In their third year as a club they continue to grow with 19 girls, five counselors, and one CIT. But, while their numbers climb, the current economic climate has left them with depleted funds. “Our girls come from low income families,” Laura explains. “A lot of our parents…have lost their jobs and have only enough to meet their immediate needs.” Unable to afford the curriculum she needed, Laura turned to the Adopt-a-Club fund. “[It] has helped us enormously, and it has been a tremendous blessing for our girls,” Laura said. “Without this help we would not have been able to start or maintain our club for the past two years.
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The curriculum and magazines have taught our girls so much and opened up a whole world for them! They are always excited to receive the magazines with the articles that encourage them to realize that God loves them and is with them no matter what. And, the Discovery Place Badge Book has shown them how practical it is to serve an awesome God who wants the best for “Without this help we their lives, and to have fun doing it! The counselors would not have been and I have benefited so able to start or maintain much from having these resources to help us meet our club for the past these young girls’ needs.”
two years”
As they expand this year and add more Advanced Level girls Laura says she is excited to see how God uses Esther – True Beauty for such a time as this to continue to shape, encourage, and bless the girls in her club. “We are very excited to see what our Lord will do with our girls’ hearts!” The needed resources for the Adopt-a-Fund club are currently very low. In order to continue to bless clubs like Laura’s we will need to raise more support. If your club is experiencing a season of financial blessing, would you consider making a donation to the Adopt-a-Club fund and blessing women and girls right here in North America?
WHY SHOULD WE SWEAT THE small stuff? Believing is Beautiful If you’ve ever believed a lie suggesting you weren’t good enough, smart enough, or pretty enough – you’re not alone. Bombarded with endless messages from culture about where our value lies, women face a constant battle to align the totality of our worth with the beauty of Christ’s grace.
Have you ever thought about the fact that what starts out being disrespectful can end up becoming violent? Experts agree that all behavior rests on a continuum. This means that a behavior can begin at one level of the continuum with something minor, but, if left unchecked, can escalate to more serious behaviors at the next level of the continuum.
And if you think it’s hard for you – try to remember what it was like to be a tween girl!
For example, if we allow young people to jokingly push one another in the hallway (a minor act of disrespect), then many students will think it is OK to move to the next level of behavior, perhaps even hitting one another.
Author Nancy Rue has made it her mission to reach out to these girls, and, through her Beauty of Believing Tour, to open honest dialogue about their bodies, their world, and their faith.
Ultimately, what started out as having fun could end up in something far more serious – like a fight. The same is true with inappropriate language. If we allow students to use mildly abrasive words like suck, many of them will feel free to use more vulgar language.
Partnering with Faithgirlz (a part of Zonderkids – the children’s group of Christian publisher, Zondervan), GEMS recently hosted a Beauty of Believing Tour in Lynden, Washington. Tween girls, along with their moms or other special women, enjoyed a day of worship, giveaways, crafts, gifts, and an encouraging message from Nancy about the beauty of believing.
This behavior continuum demonstrates the need for intervening on minor behaviors at the earliest possible moment.
Check out the GEMS website for more information about the tour and upcoming events in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Northern New Jersey in the spring of 2011!
This concept is not new. In 1982, an article by two social scientists introduced the concept of the Broken Windows Theory. Since then, the theory has motivated several reforms in criminal policy. The title comes from the following example: Consider a building with a few broken windows. If the windows are not repaired, the tendency is for vandals to break a few more windows. Eventually, they may even break into the building, and if it’s unoccupied, perhaps become squatters or light fires inside. The Broken Windows Theory was the basis for Malcolm Gladwell’s book, “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference.” Gladwell takes on the strangely rapid decline in violent crime rates that occurred in the 1990s in New York City. Although Gladwell acknowledges that a wide variety of complex factors sparked the decline, he argues that it was a few small but influential changes in the environment of the city that allowed these factors
to tip into a major reduction in crime. Specifically, a number of New York City agencies began to accept that unchecked signs of deterioration in a neighborhood or community could, over time, result in major declines in the quality of living. To reverse these trends, city authorities started focusing on seemingly small goals like painting over graffiti, cracking down on subway toll skippers, and dissuading public acts of degeneracy. Gladwell contends that these minor changes in the environment allowed other factors to gradually tip into a major decline in the crime rate in the city. This can be a hard concept to sell in an era that embraces the mantra “don’t sweat the small stuff.” In fact, it can be a major paradigm shift for adults trained not to intervene on the small stuff for fear of ruining a child’s self-esteem or hurting her feelings. But we now understand that most young people don’t self regulate very well, and in fact brain research indicates the need to outsource that responsibility to the adults around them. This concept applies to families, schools, and even your GEMS group. If an adult allows minor acts of disrespect to occur, it is likely that kids will move up the continuum to more serious behaviors. Simple teasing can become harassment or bullying. Therefore, intervening at the first possible place on this continuum is the best way to curb disrespectful and dangerous behaviors. In short, if you sweat the small stuff, the big stuff is less likely to happen. Shelley MacKay Freeman works as a state and national consultant, working with educators, youth leaders, and parents in the areas of group skills, teambuilding, and bullying/violence prevention. She is the author of “From Peer Pressure to Peer Support” and “Considering Others: Learning Social Skills Through Teamwork.” Visit the GEMS website (www.gemsgc.org) to view a continuum of behaviors or to learn how to contact Shelley. 7
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Board Member Nomination Form
Nominee Name
Reasons you believe this woman would make a valuable contribution to the GEMS Executive Board:
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Send your completed Nomination Form to the GEMS Service Center, PO Box 7259, Grand Rapids, MI 49510