Aim Right Ministries Spring Newsletter - 2015

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How did you initially become connected with Aim Right? Delia: I came to know Aim Right through my husband, who was my boyfriend at the time. We came to Teen Night and also church on Sundays. Eileen: Information was provided at the end of the movie “Unconditional” of various out- reach programs across the country. I stumbled across Aim Right’s website and contacted Amy, who graciously invited me to teen Bible study. Ro: My wife attended Teen Night as a teen. When we met, she introduced me to Darrell Bacher , and I started helping with Kids Club. What has God taught you through your connection with Aim Right? Delia: God has taught me so many things through Aim Right. One of the most important is to love God because He loves me in ways unimaginable. My walk with Him has had many strug- gles and tests; He has helped me every step of the way. Eileen: God has opened many opportunities to share the gospel with teenagers of different walks of life in the Phoenix area. Aim Right has fostered opportunities to build relationships with the teens who consistently attend. Ro: God showed me how a conversation, a basketball game, or just hanging out can really impact someone’s life. Describe your role now at Aim Right. Delia: I teach 5-6th grade at Kids Club. I have been volunteering off and on for the past 7 years. Eileen: I volunteer at events that Aim Right hosts such as the auction and Teen Camp. I also lead the girls Impact group. Ro: I help with opening and games at Kids Club and also help with Teen Camp. It is __________ to connect with today’s youth. Delia: SOUL FILLING. It is soul filling to see them get to know their Savior. It is soul filling to see how much they learn in the time you’ve known them. It is soul filling to see them be in a positive place rather than out getting in trouble. It is soul filling to have good, God-centered role models who care for them. And it is soul filling to see God’s work in progress. Eileen: A BLESSING. It’s a blessing because God can use ordinary people to transform young lives. God is bigger than any circumstance. Ro: IMPORTANT. Being able to reach them and show God’s love will help them to reach others over time. We are connected. To Noah, God’s boat-building man. To Abraham, ”as good as dead,” when he became father of the Israelite nation. To Moses, who left palace wealth to wander in wilder- ness. To Rahab, a prostitute acknowledged for her faith. Surrounded by these great witnesses, these faithful ones, we run the race set before us in 2015, looking to Jesus. Un- likely connections? Perhaps, but there is always connection when shared faith in Him causes lives to intersect. The faithful ones you will hear from in this edition have varied connections to Aim Right, but share a common vision: help- ing youth find direction in life. Delia Cabrillas, Eileen Gewargis, and Ro Rouvan, dedicated Aim Right volunteers, answered a few questions for us recently. You’ll discover how they first became connected with Aim Right and what motivates them to keep connecting with youth.

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Update on Aim Right Ministries' work with youth in Phoenix, AZ

Transcript of Aim Right Ministries Spring Newsletter - 2015

  • How did you initially become connected with Aim Right?

    Delia: I came to know Aim Right through my husband, who was my boyfriend at the time.

    We came to Teen Night and also church on Sundays.

    Eileen: Information was provided at the end of the movie Unconditional of various out-

    reach programs across the country. I stumbled across Aim Rights website and contacted Amy,

    who graciously invited me to teen Bible study.

    Ro: My wife attended Teen Night as a teen. When we met, she introduced me to Darrell

    Bacher , and I started helping with Kids Club.

    What has God taught you through your connection with Aim Right?

    Delia: God has taught me so many things through Aim Right. One of the most important is

    to love God because He loves me in ways unimaginable. My walk with Him has had many strug-

    gles and tests; He has helped me every step of the way.

    Eileen: God has opened many opportunities to share the gospel with teenagers of different

    walks of life in the Phoenix area. Aim Right has fostered opportunities to build relationships with

    the teens who consistently attend.

    Ro: God showed me how a conversation, a basketball game, or just hanging out can really

    impact someones life.

    Describe your role now at Aim Right.

    Delia: I teach 5-6th grade at Kids Club. I have been volunteering off and on for the past 7 years.

    Eileen: I volunteer at events that Aim Right hosts such as the auction and Teen Camp. I

    also lead the girls Impact group.

    Ro: I help with opening and games at Kids Club and also help with Teen Camp.

    It is __________ to connect with todays youth.

    Delia: SOUL FILLING. It is soul filling to see them get to know their Savior. It is soul filling

    to see how much they learn in the time youve known them. It is soul filling to see them be in a

    positive place rather than out getting in trouble. It is soul filling to have good, God-centered role

    models who care for them. And it is soul filling to see Gods work in progress.

    Eileen: A BLESSING. Its a blessing because God can use ordinary people to transform

    young lives. God is bigger than any circumstance.

    Ro: IMPORTANT. Being able to reach them and show Gods love will help them to reach

    others over time.

    We are connected.

    To Noah, Gods boat-building

    man. To Abraham, as good

    as dead, when he became

    father of the Israelite nation.

    To Moses, who left palace

    wealth to wander in wilder-

    ness. To Rahab, a prostitute

    acknowledged for her faith.

    Surrounded by these great

    witnesses, these faithful ones,

    we run the race set before us

    in 2015, looking to Jesus. Un-

    likely connections? Perhaps,

    but there is always connection

    when shared faith in Him

    causes lives to intersect.

    The faithful ones you will hear

    from in this edition have varied

    connections to Aim Right, but

    share a common vision: help-

    ing youth find direction in life.

    Delia Cabrillas, Eileen Gewargis, and Ro Rouvan, dedicated Aim Right volunteers,

    answered a few questions for us recently. Youll discover how they first became

    connected with Aim Right and what motivates them to keep connecting with

    youth.

  • Connection. What a powerful word! By Caleb Reed

    When you step back and think of what comes to your mind, it can be a bit overwhelming. My mind is immedi-

    ately drawn to a car battery and its connection. The battery sitting in the engine bay of a car is useless unless

    connected to the car through the terminal. Once that connection is made, life is brought to the car. You begin

    to see the car come alive as the dash light comes on, the radio begins to play, and most importantly, the en-

    gine begins to purror rumbledepending on what kind of car you have!

    Over the past few years, our family has had the opportunity to connect with many

    young people. Some are quiet, and some are loud; you can hear them coming

    before you see them. Our family has become attached to one particular young

    man. He has shared many meals with us, played with our children, and even tak-

    en our oldest to the corner store to get a soda. This young mans name is Brian.

    He is full of energy, likes to joke around with people, loves food, but most im-

    portantly, he loves God. Underneath the tough guy that most people see is a

    compassionate young man who does not like to see others hurting.

    Out ultimate goal at Aim Right is to connect young people to Jesus because

    its through Him that we find meaning and purpose in life. At Aim Right, we

    dont always get to see that connection being made; we have seen so many

    young people so close and ready to connect with Jesus, but unwilling to give

    up their current life situation and allow Jesus to have complete authority. It

    excites me to see those young people, though, who have become connected

    with Jesus and are now in leadership at Aim Rightteaching Kids Club,

    leading worship, counseling campers, and even making plans to go to South Africa on a missions trip.

    But back to Brian, the young man I mentioned earlier...he had so many opportunities to connect with God on a

    personal level; actually, last summer at Teen Camp, I had the opportunity to help baptize Brian. He publicly

    committed his life to God and wanted to make some pretty big changes. I wish I

    could say that after that, his life did a complete turnaround, but that is not the case.

    A few months later, Brian got in some pretty serious trouble. Since mid-October

    2014, he has been sitting in jail awaiting sentencing for two crimes he committed.

    After Brian was in jail, I was able to visit him, face to face. The first time I sat down

    with him, I was so nervous. I had no clue what to say or ask. The whole way

    there, I was asking God, What do I say? When I sat down, the only thing I knew

    to talk about was making sure that knew he could still connect with God. We had

    an amazing conversation. He acknowledged his mistakes, realized that God was

    still in control, and said that he still wanted to be connected with God. Talk about a

    moment of pure excitement and joy! Thats what I felt as I left the jail that day.

    Since then, I have had quite a few opportunities to sit down with Brian and continue

    encouraging him in his walk with God. He has used his jail time to worship in the

    chapel, read his Bible, and even memorize Scripture. God has His way of connect-

    ing people to Him, and it just so happens that Brians jail cell is where he is connecting with God right now.

    Caleb is Aim Rights Intern and

    Teen Ministry Director. Serving

    with him are wife Stephanie

    and children Madison and

    Carter.

    Pray for Brian

  • Connecting with kids is what Aim Right is all about. So when our Kids Club

    at Aim Right North seemed to be falling short of that goal with sporadic at-

    tendance from both kids and volunteers, we knew we needed a change.

    Change can be good!

    First we switched it up a bit

    by creating separate Boys

    and Girls Clubs instead of

    one Kids Club night. Next,

    we personally invited only a

    handful of kids and visited

    them regularly. It has

    made all the difference!

    Not only have we had regu-

    lar attendance, but we have

    also been able to connect

    more closely with these kids.

    Our original connection with our Boys and Girls Clubs was generally seeing

    them briefly on Friday nights (Community Night) as they went through the

    food line for dinner, or maybe for a few minutes as they participated in the

    craft for the evening, or perhaps as they snuck in at the end for a game.

    While this allowed us an introduction into their lives, Boys and Girls Club

    has broadened that tremendously. On top of being in a more one-on-one

    atmosphere, we also get to connect with them two or three times a week

    instead of just Friday nights. We now get to hear about their daily interac-

    tions with friends or

    sometimes lamentations

    about how they have no

    friends. Regardless of

    the topic, the interaction

    is so valuable.

    I have asked adults that

    grew up going to Aim

    Right Kids Club, What

    made you want to

    come? Usually, it was

    the knowledge that

    someone cared about them.

    Maybe they didnt think about it in that way at the time, but as they grew up

    and matured, they realized that what Aim Right offered was what they

    wouldnt have received anywhere else: acceptance, a listening ear, essen-

    tially, connection.

    Our prayer for this years Boys and Girls Clubs is that it would be just that

    a connection that they dont have otherwise. And perhaps in the future, that

    connection will lead to a connection with our Heavenly Father.

    Krystal & Jewel with the Girls Club

    Opportunities to Give

    BUS NEED: $10,000 This 2007 International bus has a new

    home at Aim Right and will take its first

    lengthy journey (for us) to Colorado to

    camp this summer.

    A/C NEED: $4,000

    Our goal is to replace the not-so-

    reliable basement swamp cooler in our

    1920s building with a more efficient air

    conditioning unit.

    CAMP NEED: $14,000

    You can sponsor a teen for $200. Aim

    Rights Teen Camp will take place at

    the Circle K Ranch in Delores, Colora-

    do, July 12-17.

    Connecting with Kids in a New Way By Jewel Miller

    AJ & Tim with the Boys Club

  • Contact Us Mailing Address: Phone: (602) 462-1987

    1013 North 13th Street E-mail: [email protected]

    Phoenix, AZ 85006

    Follow Us Website: aimright.org Facebook: Aim Right Ministries

    Blog: aimright.blogspot.com

    Ministry Locations Downtown: 1013 N. 13th Street, Phoenix

    North: 1613 W. Mountain View Rd, Phoenix

    Personnel President/Founder: Darrell Bacher

    Board: Arlen Godshall, Mike Kienzlen, Chris King, James Miller

    Aim Right North Directors: AJ & Jewel Miller

    Teen Ministry & Intern Director: Caleb Reed

    Office Administrator: Amy Unrau

    Mission Statement

    Established in 1991, Aim

    Right Ministries provides

    after-school recreational

    activities, educational tutor-

    ing, and moral and spiritual

    training for at-risk youth and

    children living in central

    Phoenix.

    Working in cooperation with

    local churches, we desire

    these youth to be evange-

    lized and discipled for

    Christ.