Inspirational, Educational, and Informative
TELL YOUR NEIGHBOR
“What’s on the inside manifests itself on the outside.”
a letter from the editor
O
ur first annual youth edition is immersed with a wealth of information relative to issues which affect today’s youth. We are absolutely delighted to feature Selena Mitchell who (I’m sure you will agree while becoming engrossed in our exclusive interview.) epitomizes dedication, ambition and heartfelt enthusiasm for what matters most—helping others. Whether traveling abroad on a self-imposed missionary trip, serving at her church, preparing to win another beauty pageant or engaging in various community initiatives, her leadership skills are undeniably on display. Selena lives life to the fullest while making a positive impact in the lives of others along the way. Committed to her faith, family, and community, this young entrepreneur is a role model in her own right. Selena Mitchell is making it happen! And just in case you’ve not committed to being a mentor to a young person who desperately needs your positive influence in their life, we’ve included an article just for you (page 8). What’s on the inside manifests itself on the outside. Image Consultant Kimberly Small doesn’t hesitate to remind the young without excluding the more mature that you are made in the image and likeness of God. May your spirit be ignited as you own the fact that you are precious in God’s sight. It is our sincere hope that after reading the excerpt from this month’s featured FAITHBOOK, Fulfilling Your God Given Dreams, that you will immediately give yourself permission to be dismissed from the company of the Dream Killers in your life who continuously bombard you with their unsolicited negative opinions about how they want you to live your life. Release them and move on! Our FAITH Magazine team is forever dedicated to inspiring young people to strive for excellence and utilize their God given gifts and maximize their talents. One of the ways we seek to accomplish this is by providing an avenue for their voices to be heard. In addition to the articles on health, finance, education and a plethora of other quality content, we are intentional about including article submissions written by our youth. We believe wholeheartedly that rather than excusing the knowledge and wisdom in the hearts and minds of our children that we must hear and value their perspectives—even when contrary to our own. I sincerely hope that you will commit to becoming actively involved in the life of a young person within your sphere of influence. Now, as you turn the pages of this month’s issue may you be enlightened and inspired to take your living and giving of your time, support, counsel and friendship to the next level.
Diane Hannah Editor-in-Chief
dhannah@faithmagazineonline.com
CONTENTS Volume 5 • Issue 2
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SELENA MITCHELL Miss Black Texas Talented Teen USA 2011 Destined For Success
FEATURES
14 | CHRISTIAN ATHLETE Quintin Demps Talks Faith, Family and Football By Jeremy Jones 20 | ON THE COVER SELENA MITCHELL Miss Black Texas Talented Teen USA 2011 Destined For Success By Diane Hannah
November 2011
38 | CHRISTIAN TO CHRISTIAN Taming The Tongue A Soft Answer Turns Away Wrath By Christian Jones
IN HIS IMAGE 17 | STOP SHOWING ALL YOUR BUSINESS The Clothes You Wear And The God You Represent By Angelica Gray
24 | REACHING THE NATIONS Equipping, Empowering And Engaging Our Youth Through Cultural Diversity By Rev. Lakeshia Barnett
36 | MADE IN HIS IMAGE Improve Your Self-Image Now! By Kimberly Small
26 | FAITHBOOK Dream Killers An Excerpt from the Book Fulfilling Your God Given Dreams By Patrick Okabe
10 | HEALTHY CHOICES You Are What You Eat By Linda Howelton, MD
DEPARTMENTS SPIRITUAL INSIGHT 8 | MAKE AN IMPACT Be a Mentor By Thuli Baker 16 | REAL TALK God’s Will Follow God’s Plan For Your Life By Taylore Gills 30 | WHEN IS ENOUGH, ENOUGH? Set Boundaries And Keep Them By Anne Williams (continued from our June 2011 edition) 34 | PREACH PREACHER! Check Your Gear A Sermon Excerpt By Rev. Douglas Randle
HEALTH
MONEY MINDSET 11 | WORK-PAY When Children Work, Children Get Paid By Kimberly Phillips 12 | MONEY SMARTS Financial Wisdom for Parents Of College-Bound Students By Steve Arnold
ALL THINGS EDUCATIONAL 18 | ALL GIRLS VS. ALL BOYS Do Single-Gender Classrooms Really Make A Difference? By Mateen Diop, Ed.D.
IN EVERY ISSUE 3 Tell Your Neighbor 6 Faith to Faith 35 Poetic Perspective
FAITH PUBLISHER/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Diane Hannah MANAGING EDITOR Nancy Gray EDITORIAL ASSISTANT DeAndrea Reese MARKETING & SPECIAL EVENTS DIRECTOR Christy Staples/GetLaunched! GRAPHIC DESIGN Victor H. Mata – Victory Studios SAT COVER DESIGN Earl Duncan – Regal Standard Web & Graphic Design Co. PHOTOGRAPHY Frank Baker, Gary Lott COVER PHOTO Gary Lott CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Steve Arnold, Thuli Baker, Rev. Lekesha Barnett, Mateen Diop, Ed.D., Angelica Gray, Linda Howelton M.D., Patrick Okabe, Kimberly Phillips, Rev. Douglas Randle, Kimberly Small, Anne Williams FOR LETTERS-TO-THE EDITOR & SUBMISSION OF MATERIALS FOR REVIEW OR PRINT send to: editorial@faithmagazineonline.com TO ADVERTISE Call FAITH Magazine at 210.284.4624 or email advertising@faithmagazineonline.com
FAITH
Magazine is seeking account executives for print and online advertising sales. If interested, call 210.284.4624
Published by CJT Communications 5150 Broadway, #439 San Antonio, TX 78209 www.faithmagazineonline.com ©2011 FAITH Magazine is published bi-monthly. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher is prohibited. Articles and letters will be edited due to space limitations when necessary. The views expressed in any story or column in this publication are those of the individual writers and do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher or advertisers. The publisher is not responsible for errors in advertising copy. FAITH Magazine reserves the right to reject any advertisement. FAITH Magazine will not be held liable for services or products advertised in FAITH. All product names, brand names, and trademarks may belong to their respective holders. Printed in the U.S.A. FAITH Magazine is committed to encouraging, enlightening, and influencing our readers toward a standard of excellence in living through faith in the Gospel of Jesus the Christ.
FAITHMAGAZINEONLINE.COM • NOVEMBER 2011
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FAITH TO FAITH
Nancy (left) served as Volunteer Coordinator for World Refugee Day 2011 in San Antonio, TX. She is pictured with Dr. Ria Baker (center), Founder and Executive Director for the Center for Refugee Services and Khadijat Quadri (right), one of the center’s founding members and volunteers.
W
orld Refugee Day (WRD) is a day when cities celebrate and welcome displaced persons from around the world into their communities. As I listened to the testimonies of men and women from Iraq, Africa, Bhutan and other countries at the San Antonio WRD celebration this year, I was reminded of the charge that God gave the children of Israel in Exodus–not to mistreat or oppress foreigners since they were once foreigners living in Egypt. Ignoring the needs around you is a blatant form of mistreatment and oppression, particularly for the believer. As my own heritage reminds me, my ancestors were once foreigners in this land also (and so were yours, except the part that we all claim as American Indian). Also, a training video prompted me to think of how God walked with many of our heroes and heroines of faith who were refugees in a strange land–Abraham and Sarah, Ruth and Naomi, Isaac, Moses, all of Israel; Jesus and the early church. God constantly commands us throughout the scriptures to take care of the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow in our land since they are in dire need of our support. Not just to check off a box on a form for your job to say, “I did my community service.” Rather, to take one person, sincerely give and make a difference. Whether it’s through mentoring, education, or however the Lord leads you, it’s time to walk out your faith. I encourage you to be intentional about meeting the needs of those around you who are less fortunate. Get beyond those four walls and into the community. The community beyond your church building, beyond your neighborhood, and possibly beyond your city, your state, even your nation. God doesn’t expect you to do everything, but He does expect you to do something. If we say, “Be warm and well fed,” and do nothing about people’s physical needs, our faith is dead. Keep the faith and walk it out! Nancy Gray Managing Editor
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INSTEAD OF JUST HANGING OUT ON SATURDAYS
I HELP KIDS HANG IN THERE
AT SCHOOL BECAUSE I DON’T JUST WEAR THE SHIRT, I LIVE IT.
GIVE. ADVOCATE. VOLUNTEER. LIVE UNITED ®
Michael Cleveland is part of United Way’s ongoing work to improve the education, income, and health of our communities. To find out how you can help create opportunities for a better life for all, visit LIVEUNITED.ORG . ®
T
hink back to your childhood, your teen years or even your young adult years. Who influenced you? Who helped you down the right path to becoming a successful, functioning adult? Most would say a parent, sibling, teacher, distant family member or friend. Yet many young people are without a positive adult figure in their lives to provide guidance. Statistics show that about 40% of children do not live with their biological fathers and have not seen them throughout the past 12 months. by Thuli Baker More than half of these young children have never lived with him. African American children are 9 times more likely than white children to have an incarcerated parent. Society must respond to the need to mentor the youth of our future who lack consistent role models in their lives and to follow God’s call to help others. “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.“ –1 John 4:7 Mentoring is a way to reciprocate God’s love for us. It is a way of sharing personal life experiences, knowledge, and examples of good character and sound judgment with a young person. It is the process of leaving a lifelong impact on him or her that will hopefully spur them on to becoming a successful adult, who in turn, may help another young person. The most common form of mentoring is a oneon-one relationship between an adult and a young person that has the potential to result in a lasting friendship. If you are interested in mentoring a youth there are opportunities available at local non-profit organizations that provide services to the youth in
The Art of Making an
IMPACT
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NOVEMBER 2011 • FAITHMAGAZINEONLINE.COM
the community. The Boys and Girls Club, Mentoring Matters, KidStart, Communities In Schools, Youth Advocacy Services, and Girl Scouts, Inc., are a few to choose from. Researchers have found that after 18 months of spending time with a mentor, 46% of adolescents are less likely to use illegal drugs, 52% are less likely to skip school, and 59% are more likely to get better grades. In the words of Bill Milliken, the founder of Communities In Schools,
Be there. You should strive to show up for every meeting with your mentee. When you are consistent in your communication and appointments, you send your mentee a strong message that you genuinely care and that he or she is worth caring about. A phone call or email is a great way to stay in touch when traveling or if schedules become busy. Also make sure that all forms of communication are appropriate and ethical.
“The best you can do is
lead by example.
By becoming a mentor, you’ve already modeled the most important thing;
caring about another.” “It’s relationships, not programs, that change children. A great program simply creates the environment for healthy relationships to form between adults and children. Young people thrive when adults care about them on a one-to-one level, and when they also have a sense of belonging to a caring community.” Communities In Schools is one of many non-profit organizations in the United States that focuses on at-risk students and their families and gives many caring adults an avenue to mentor youth all over the nation and in their local communities. If you are interested in mentoring a young person, here are some helpful tips:
Be honest with your mentee. Follow through with your promises and don’t be afraid to admit when you are wrong. By showing your mentee that you can be trusted and are honest with them, they too will be encouraged to open up, trust you and be honest with you. Be a friend, not an all-knowing authority. Be the adult in your mentee’s life who is just there without having to fix him or her. Young people learn more conversing with adults than they do just listening to them. • Be aware of your mentee’s strengths and weaknesses. Acknowledge them in order to boost their self-esteem and
to help them grow. • If you suspect that they are struggling with something, be their shoulder to lean on and work with them to help solve the problem. • Be prepared for setbacks. Your mentee may have never had a relationship with someone who will stick with him or her no matter what happens. Be sensitive and patient. Trust takes time. Be a role model. The best you can do is lead by example. By becoming a mentor, you’ve already modeled the most important thing; caring about another. • Be a good listener. Listen to how your mentee feels and thinks. Show your mentee how to be a good communicator and how to take interest in others’ lives. • Have a positive outlook. • If you enter a competitive activity with your mentee, keep it in perspective and by all means do not cheat to help your mentee win. Most importantly, have fun! Don’t be afraid to laugh and enjoy the time spent with your mentee. Find various activities to do with them. This will broaden your relationship and encourage more closeness and trust!
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