"Gifts from God" Youth Store

One unique aspect of City Impact’s Bible Club & Impact Leadership Academy is our youth store. The youth store is a way for CI students to be rewarded for positive decisions they make. This year the store was revamped slightly to reflect our passion for authentic youth leadership and youth voice!

To start this renovation project, we had to figure out what our students wanted to call the store. Therefore, we had a program wide brainstorming process, where all students from 1st-12th grade submitted their ideas for a store name. Then, our Teen Directional Team narrowed all the ideas to their top 5, and made ballots for CI Students to vote! The Votes came in and overwhelming the CI Students decided to name their store, The GFG (Gifts from God.)

After deciding on a name, we had to find the right management team! Again, we thought, “Who better to run this store, than the young people themselves?!” We didn’t have to look far to find two teen girls, who have the perfect set of skills to run The GFG! GFG Managers Radious & Patty got to work right away; familiarizing themselves with the set up, clean-up, & cashier procedures for the store. They are even in charge of doing a brief orientation with each Bible Club class that shops; explaining the rules and expectations of the store and helping the younger kids pick out items they can afford.

It has been a big time highlight watching these two ILA girls take pride in their manager positions and seeing them run our awesome GFG Youth Store. Radious has really enjoyed taking over the casher and check-out routine during Bible Club and Patty does an excellent job assisting the kids with their shopping and making sure they follow the rules! Our GFG Managers have special strengths that really complement each other and make them a great fit for this project! Our Bible Club kids have loved the benefits of shopping too and seem to look up to their store managers. I’ve witness our BC kids take the GFG rules seriously when they see how important Patty and Radious take them!

The GFG Vision Statement

To provide, a positive and rewarding incentive program, where City Impact youth will be affirmed for attendance, personal bible study, and additional impact journals. The youth store will be managed by a group of ILA teens to promote ownership and an authentic leadership opportunity.

I often see the Lord through the prayers of Taylor. His ability to simplify the beauty of faith through his words never fail to strengthen my own beliefs. I see God in every aspect of City Impact. On Tuesday nights, the Church becomes this unexplainable energy…and one can sense the genuine love that each and every individual in this organization has for the Lord and the City Impact Family. We are all so blessed for each other.
Lindsay, 2nd Grade Bible Club Volunteer

Insight from Reroute

Perseverance. It is a necessity for anyone with a love for children. It is a trait that I have sought with eagerness. It would be simple to write about a small glimpse at a child’s growth, but instead I want to share my faith in the fact that children are long term investments.

I stared working with children under the expectation that a few hours a day with a child would yield immediate- all encompassing results. However, over and over I watched hours of my time working with children one-on-one evolve into nothing. One child in specific is still struggling with an obedience issue she has had for almost four years.

Don’t get me wrong- God has changed countless children at City Impact and through his grace I have seen passion ignite in young hearts. However, I have seen many children who never seem to progress – some which seem to fall away into themselves.
In this, God has challenged my distraught soul to see His works on this earth are more than my “instant gratification” eyes see. I have talked to life-long teachers, including my own mother. She reassures me that every second of investment in a child is time well spent. Children take perseverance and understanding, that God – not you - will work in His time and His time only in their lives.

I can only be a tool- I pray to be used by God to change lives. And as for those whom seem to remain stagnant – I pray for the faith that they will one day hear God’s call.
-John Keeney, Reroute Coordinator

Hebrews 11- Bible Club students ask about FAITH

It appears that the Lord lead two different small groups through Hebrews 11 in the last couple months at Bible Club. Read how our Bible Club students are learning and grasping the concept of having faith in things unseen

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commanded for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what is visible. By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commanded as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead. By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him far away. For before he was taken, he was commanded as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek Him. Hebrews 11:1-6

5th Grade Boys:

One night after prayer time we had a few extra minutes, so we did an object lesson about faith. We had one of the boys stand up, arms folded, and eyes closed. Then a second boy stood behind him. The first boy leaned backwards and the other one caught him. It was fun for the boys, so we repeated it a few times. Then I told them about Hebrews 11:1-6—how faith is believing in things unseen. For some weeks after the boys remembered the lesson and they kept wanting to practice “the faith exercise.” --Dick Countryman, 5th Grade Small Group Leader

3rd Grade Students:

About 4 weeks ago I was with my small group and we were coming to the end of our discussion when Madisyn asked a question about faith. The other girls wanted to know what the word meant and wanted some examples of faith. I took the girls to Hebrews 11 and read the first part of the chapter to them. I asked the girls if they knew why Abel showed faith, how Noah and Abraham trusted the Lord, and they didn’t really know the stories. So we went back to the Old Testament and read the stories of Cain and Abel, Noah, and Abraham. The girls were fascinated by the stories, but the best part was that the girls grasped the concept of faith in a realistic way. It was encouraging to see them grow and ask questions about faith and God. Since that week, every small group we’ve gone to the Bible to explore a concept from our lesson. It’s neat to see my group grow from week to week.

Importance of Relationships

One of City Impact’s Core Values is RELATIONSHIPS. Below, one of our ministry team members reflects on how getting to know students personally outside of program improves his ministry at Bible Club:

“The most memorable times for me have been in activities outside of Bible Club. I have taken two boys out for breakfast and attended a wrestling meet for a third boy. I have really seen a difference in how they relate to me after doing a one-on-one activity!”
--Del Wilmot, 5th grade Small Group Leader