Uniquely Fashioned Woodworking
“Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being...” (Genesis 2:7) From the onset of Creation we see God’s intimate love and specific care for humanity. God spoke the universe into existence but fashioned and molded man out of the ground. God got His hands dirty making the pinnacle of His creation: us!
We’ve been exploring with a group of middle school kids that come to our after school programming, how we have been “fearfully and wonderfully made” by God (Psalm 139:14) and create, invent, and produce with a purpose because we are made in the image of the great Creator. Through woodworking, we’ve been able to imitate the Creator and “get our hands dirty” by fashioning our own creations. Currently: ping pong paddles!
Each paddle carries the unique and personal design and marks of the middle schoolers.
Join us as we show the world how we are #uniquelyfashioned and become a supporter to receive your very own, personally crafted and limited edition ping pong paddle. During this week only, a one-time donation of $70 or more towards our Give Hope campaign will automatically get you a ping pong paddle of your choice in design, as well as private link to a ping pong tournament with the youth and staff.
The tournament will take place at 5pm (CST) on November 22 if you want to catch it live!
Follow us today at #UniquelyFashioned and go to give.weraise.org/givehope to give
Youth Ambassador "Blossoming" at GEMS Program
New Life Centers GEMS program has been blossoming in so many areas. Some of the ladies from the program have started their first year of high school or their first jobs; while others have been the first to attend college in their families. Lots of big WINS!
During the fall and summer, the girls at GEMS were consistently taken out of their comfort zone by participating in new activities like rock climbing, kayaking, white water rafting, Bulls games, school plays and getting to know their community in a different lens. It's been a great experience to see them extending a helpful hand and coming back to help lead and serve at New Life Centers.
Steph is always ready to help and support the GEMS girls, other youth, and families from the community. In order to serve others, she stayed with GEMS as a volunteer for a year after graduating high school while working another job and keeping her education options open for college. It's been an encouragement to see how God has been working in Steph's life as a GEMS youth ambassador and how she has been growing into more opportunities. She brings great suggestions and strategies to help heal her hood of Little Village. Steph is a game changer for GEMS with all her love and kindnesses that she has shared!
[fusion_gallery layout="" picture_size="" columns="" column_spacing="" gallery_masonry_grid_ratio="" gallery_masonry_width_double="" s2id_autogen12="" s2id_autogen12_search="" hover_type="" lightbox="yes" s2id_autogen13="" s2id_autogen13_search="" lightbox_content="" bordersize="" bordercolor="" border_radius="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id=""][fusion_gallery_image image="https://newlifecenters.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/gems5.jpg" image_id="5962" link="" linktarget="_self" /][fusion_gallery_image image="https://newlifecenters.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/gems3.jpg" image_id="5960" link="" linktarget="_self" /][fusion_gallery_image image="https://newlifecenters.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/GEMS2.jpg" image_id="5959" link="" linktarget="_self" /][/fusion_gallery]
Running Forward Runs Little Village
Running Forward is a group for young men and women who are striving to meet their goals on and off the track. They meet 2-3 times a week to train together and empower one another.
This year, Running Forward has had 10 young men regularly running together. Ru
"One of my favorite things that I’ve witness was that youth took up the challenge to run across the bridge by the neighborhood… some did it one week, and took up the challenge to do it again the very next week. I like to see that kids create their own challenges out there and face them."
Our hope for Running Forward is that young men and women can utilize running as a tool to combat stress. We are also hoping that Running Forward can become a charity-partner for the Bank of America Marathon next year.
Epi and three of the young men are currently training for the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon this Saturday, November 9! To support them as they run, click here to sponsor a mile and help us reveal their picture.
for updates on the marathon this weekend!
'Hope Squad' Bringing Light to Incarcerated Young People
This past year, New Life Centers has had the privilege of serving youth at another Juvenile Detention Center located in St Charles, IL. This project is a collaborative of the Restorative Justice Hubs (www.rjhubs.org) with partners who are located in the neighborhoods with the highest rates of violence, and are committed to hyper-local programming, restorative justice practices, trauma-informed approaches, and principles of nonviolence.
This Juvenile Justice team calls themselves the ‘Hope Squad.’ They are trying to create safe spaces for young people to see their worth and value while they temporarily reside in a place that constantly reminds them of their shame and decisions/mistakes.
Some of the programming provided by the Hope Squad include:
- Freestyle Hip Hop Peace Circles provided by Circles and Ciphers, which culminates with an Open Mic performance
- Restorative Justice Peace Circles provided by Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation
- Afro-Caribbean Drumming Classes provided by Segundo Revis Belvis Cultural Center, which concludes with a concert performance by students
- Art and Sports programming provided by Alliance of Local Services, which produced a mural created and painted by the youth in the Teen Center
- Equine Therapy provided by Adler University and An Arena for Change for youth with more trauma history and requiring additional mental health services
New Life Centers also sponsored the following special events:
- Summer Family Fun Fest, which included games, food, inflatable slip and slide, dunk tank and drumming circle. Many families attended and participated in the corn hole games, the water slide and more. The facility has never held an event like this on the facility grounds and with such success!
- An obstacle course event
- Fall Family Fun Fest with parent-teacher conferences. The 2nd Family Fun Fest included an inflatable obstacle course, life size Connect Four, Jumbo Jenga, food and more. Youth participated in a peace circle with teachers, families and staff.
- An Xbox NBA2k Tournament
New Life Centers is excited to continue working with local partners for Year 2 of the project, bringing hope and life to young people in desperate need.
Arise Jewelry Piece Inspired By ROOTED Series
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent="no" equal_height_columns="no" menu_anchor="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" background_color="" background_image="" background_position="center center" background_repeat="no-repeat" fade="no" background_parallax="none" parallax_speed="0.3" video_mp4="" video_webm="" video_ogv="" video_url="" video_aspect_ratio="16:9" video_loop="yes" video_mute="yes" overlay_color="" video_preview_image="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" padding_top="" padding_bottom="" padding_left="" padding_right=""][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" layout="1_1" background_position="left top" background_color="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" border_position="all" spacing="yes" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="" padding_left="" margin_top="0px" margin_bottom="0px" class="" id="" animation_type="" animation_speed="0.3" animation_direction="left" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" center_content="no" last="no" min_height="" hover_type="none" link=""][fusion_text columns="" column_min_width="" column_spacing="" s2id_autogen12="" s2id_autogen12_search="" rule_style="default" rule_size="" rule_color="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" s2id_autogen13="" s2id_autogen13_search="" animation_type="" animation_direction="left" animation_speed="0.3" s2id_autogen14="" s2id_autogen14_search="" animation_offset=""]
At Arise Creations, we are reviewing the Rooted lesson series which was the inspiration for the ROOTED Genuine Leather Tassel Keychain. This piece reminds both students and customers to be deeply rooted in Christ and His Word. We will continue to build on the theme of being rooted as we transition into what it looks like to faithfully walk with Christ through the highs and lows of life. Each lesson series that is taught directly connects to the jewelry pieces that we create. This semester we will be expanding the Rooted jewelry line by adding a necklace and earrings to the tassel keychain!
If you would like to support Arise Creations by purchasing a jewelry piece please visit the Etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/AriseCreations
Arise has had some exciting events happen this month! Early in the month we had a booth at the New Life Community Church Spanish Women's Retreat and the Moody Mission Conference. On October 19th we are having a professional photoshoot of our products, where our high school youth will be modeling our Arise Jewelry pieces. We have the pleasure of partnering with the retail store, Altar’d State, for the attire featured in the shoot!
[fusion_gallery layout="masonry" picture_size="" columns="2" column_spacing="" gallery_masonry_grid_ratio="" gallery_masonry_width_double="" s2id_autogen15="" s2id_autogen15_search="" hover_type="" lightbox="yes" s2id_autogen16="" s2id_autogen16_search="" lightbox_content="" bordersize="" bordercolor="" border_radius="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id=""][fusion_gallery_image image="https://newlifecenters.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_3238.jpg" image_id="5888" link="" linktarget="_self" /][fusion_gallery_image image="https://newlifecenters.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_3502.jpg" image_id="5894" link="" linktarget="_self" /][fusion_gallery_image image="https://newlifecenters.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_3499.jpg" image_id="5891" link="" linktarget="_self" /][fusion_gallery_image image="https://newlifecenters.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_3497.jpg" image_id="5889" link="" linktarget="_self" /][fusion_gallery_image image="https://newlifecenters.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Enlight52.jpg" image_id="5887" link="" linktarget="_self" /][fusion_gallery_image image="https://newlifecenters.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_3500.jpg" image_id="5892" link="" linktarget="_self" /][fusion_gallery_image image="https://newlifecenters.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_3498.jpg" image_id="5890" link="" linktarget="_self" /][fusion_gallery_image image="https://newlifecenters.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_3501.jpg" image_id="5893" link="" linktarget="_self" /][/fusion_gallery]
[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
Honoring Jorque Roque's 26 Years of Mentoring
We Are Looking For Volunteers!
We are looking for volunteers to help with tutoring and programming at the Little Village location. See the below opportunities and contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Laura Willis, at lauraw@newlifecenters.org if you would like to help! If you are unable, please think about who you can forward this to who might be interested. Thanks!
One on One Tutoring: 7th Grade Girl/Math and Reading
She’s available weekdays starting at 3pm. Meet with youth for at least 1 hour once a week for one semester.
One on One Tutoring: 11th Grade Boy/Geometry and Civics
He’s available Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays starting at 3:45pm. Meet with youth for at least 1 hour once a week for one semester.
La Semilla Program Support
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday; 3:30-5:30pm
La Semilla is an after school program for K-8th graders that includes homework help, gym time, Bible lessons, and other extracurricular activities. Join the volunteer team one day a week to help the program run smoothly and build relationships with the children and families!
Hoops In the Hood Uniting Neighborhoods
"Hoops in the Hood is a sports-based, community safety initiative that creates safe spaces for youth to interact and build positive relationships with peers and caring adults while making visible use of public spaces and fostering a sense of community." This year, more than 400 young people participated at the city wide basketball tournament that took place in downtown Chicago.
The players came from 22 different neighborhoods to compete for tournament prizes and to claim the title as 2019 champion. Due to the heavy rain, the tournament was shut down half way through the event and eventually finished at the Attack Athletics Center. The New Life Centers basketball program, La Villita Basketball, brought two teams to compete this year. All of the players showed exceptional teamwork, communication and great defense. The team that was competing in the older age bracket made it to the finals and was able to claim the title of Hoops in the Hood Champions!
Volunteer Mentors Learning About Trauma-Informed Mentoring
All of the NLC volunteer mentors from Midway, Little Village and Humboldt Park gathered together for dinner and a trauma training. The goal of the training, which was led by one of our RJ Hubs partners from Adler University, was to help the mentors effectively care for and walk alongside their mentees who may be struggling with trauma. The evening ended after we brainstormed how we could put this material into practice. We all left feeling encouraged to mentor with renewed compassion and perspective!
Learning More About God in the Woods
This was the third year we were able to take The Vine students to Pine Trail Camp in Saugatuck, MI. It’s a 3-day event that the kids look forward to all year. Throughout our time there, the students were encouraged to try every activity we planned which were swimming, kayaking, ziplining, hiking and racing up a huge sand dune. The most challenging activity was the ziplining but the students faced their fears and took literal leaps of faith off the zipline. Each of them walked away proud of their accomplishment.
During the chapel time, NLC staff members taught about God’s healing, love, forgiveness and call on our lives, and how He has that same call on the students' lives. One evening we asked the students to write down on a piece of paper any negative things that they believed about themselves and one by one they threw them into the fire and proclaimed the truth of God over their lives. We pray that moments like these are ones that our students will cling to as they enter into a new year.
[fusion_gallery layout="grid" picture_size="fixed" columns="" column_spacing="" gallery_masonry_grid_ratio="" gallery_masonry_width_double="" hover_type="" lightbox="yes" lightbox_content="" bordersize="" bordercolor="" border_radius="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id=""][fusion_gallery_image image="https://newlifecenters.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/IMG_2439.jpg" image_id="5635" link="" linktarget="_self" /][fusion_gallery_image image="https://newlifecenters.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/IMG_2315.jpg" image_id="5633" link="" linktarget="_self" /][fusion_gallery_image image="https://newlifecenters.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/IMG_2377.jpg" image_id="5634" link="" linktarget="_self" /][/fusion_gallery]