City (Teen) Night Wraps Up

Ro and Lourdes Roman have done a great job leading Aim Right's teen programs at the downtown campus. They are a couple that does a lot behind the scenes, too. They attend teens' soccer games and other school events, such as a recent 8th grade promotion. Youth are blessed to have them as role models and mentors who care about them.

 

Somewhere during the course of the year, teens renamed Teen Night and chose City Night. Below are photos of the last City Night before summer break. With some leftover hamburger patties languishing in the freezer since the auction, this was a great opportunity to use them.

 

The kitchen is the place to be, especially when you get to wear groovy blue gloves.

 

Mark! Always a friendly guy.

Community Night - May 2016

Guest post by Aleisha:

I can't believe summer is peeking right around the corner already!! The nice warm weather here, to me, has made it feel like summer has been here since February.  With summer coming around, that means school is coming to an end, and with school coming to an end...that means we are wrapping up our last Community Night.

 

Community Night is one of my favorite programs. I love the idea of providing a safe and fun place were the kids can come and hang out. We may not sit down and have a Bible study with them, but sometimes just hanging out with them can do a lot!

 

Last Friday when our evening started out, it looked like rain was heading our way. Now, you have to understand something....it NEVER rains in Phoenix, Arizona. (It does rain, just not very often). With Community Night, we are outside the whole time. With the rain coming, we weren't sure how everything was going to play out. The kids had volleyball, basketball, and four square games going on, and then came the rain. It was just a little bit of rain, and the kids couldn't have cared less. The games continued in the rain; a few minutes later, the rain stopped just in time for dinner!

 

When I look back to the very first Community Night and compare it to now, my four square talents might not have improved, but my relationship with the kids have! :) And the volunteers...I love our volunteers! I have enjoyed working with them and getting to know them.

 

I'm going to miss it. I am going to miss the craziness of it. I am going to miss the piano banging loudly in the other room when we are trying to do crafts. I am going to miss those smiling faces of our volunteers when I go through the line for my food. I am going to miss AJ and Jewel. 

 

I've gotten to know AJ and Jewel a little bit with working with them. They both have hearts that love to serve. I see the relationships and respect that the kids have with them. On Friday nights, Jewel is often helping the kids with craft and taking care of Max and little Lucy. AJ is always out playing something that involves a ball with the kids. If he isn't doing that, he is either fixing something or making sure everything is running smoothly with the cooks. And I know they also do a lot behind  doors to make Community Night happen. We are going to miss them next year, but we know they are listening to God, and because of that we are happy for them.

 

Community Night will continue again in August. Until then, this summer my goal is to stay in touch with the kids I have built relationships with. Something I have learned out of this is that you don't have to reach kids by always doing a Bible study; you can make a difference by just providing a safe and fun atmosphere were the kids know they are being cared for and loved.

Thank You!

We want to express our gratitude to all who attended Aim Right's Spaghetti Dinner on Saturday evening. Thank you! Proceeds from the dinner totaled nearly $1,500. That amount, combined with  funds previously raised and projected camper contributions, brings the total still needed to $5,900. Here are a few of the teens who served:

 

 

A local church blessed Aim Right by donating their 2007 15-passenger van. Since we have had to rent 15-passenger vans for various occasions in the past, it is so nice to have two large vans now. This one will be shared between our Downtown and North campuses.

 

Kids Club finished the story of Noah yesterday evening and made rainbow wind socks as a craft. With the swamp coolers providing the wind, these kiddos had fun seeing the streamers blow!

Kids Club - May 4

Here's a glimpse of yesterday's Kids Club. Yesterday also happened to be our first triple-digit day of the year (102 degrees). Summer is coming!

 

 

Aleisha went home for a week to celebrate her brother's graduation.  We are glad she is back in Phoenix!



 

The rope we had been using for a jump rope turned into a tug-of-war rope.

Kids love to help out with singing by coming on the stage.

Ro's game was quite a hit. Here he is, dressed up as Noah. The auditorium went dim for a while, and a "storm" came over the sound system as our stealthy staff made it "rain" via water guns. Then kids had a contest to see who could find several stuffed animals hidden around the church.

 

We finished the evening with a flannel graph lesson about Noah and a memory verse.  Instead of concluding the story yesterday, I decided to leave Noah's family and the animals in the ark in the middle of a rainstorm. The kids were challenged to find out how many days and nights it rained and report back next week.