Event 2

New Life New Bedford Kids Ministry

This is my first time ever to be able to serve kids ministry at this level with God and teaching his children about faith and God himself.

Our goal is to help children love God and love church!
The team that I am part of for New Life Kids is called Kingdom Kids. The ages range from preschool-kindergarten. Being part of the team is a great experience and empower the little ones and teach them about God at such a young age and to able to help them understand once they get older. We engage these children with bible stories, fun activities and vibrant worship. Within these the preschoolers learn three truths: God made them , God loves them and He wants to be their forever friend. (An example being New Life) Teaching the young children about God and having a relationship with them also helps them with identity. This reminds me of the article by Nakkula and Toshalis   on Identity. 

As the children grow older, I want them to know that I am here for them. Me being part of a team and serving the children I have learned about using connections I have to reach a goal, and to know that fellowship is important for our youth. I am so blessed to have given the opportunity and get the  experience with such wonderful people and serving God and his children.

YDEV

Youth Development

YDEV is a program that focuses on the youth in a variety of context settings. It gives you the opportunity to expand your knowledge and career choices. The program has three different components and avenues: Education, Social Work and Non- Profit Studies. It allows you to work in settings such as administrative, face to face or both which helps to open different opportunities especially within your internship.

According to the article, Youth Development programs "are seeking to improve the lives of children and adolescents by meeting their social needs, physical development and helping them build their competences' to become successful adults." In your final year, you are required to complete 180 hours of your interest of choice. This is a great start especially because it will help you decide what you really want to get into for the future and making yourself mindful and aware of exactly what and where you see yourself as a youth worker.

Currently, Rhode Island College is the ONLY school that is offering Youth Development at the moment. If your the type of person who loves working with the youth but not in a traditional school setting then YDEV, is a program that you would absolutely enjoy and love especially if you love the youth.

Event 1

I attended the open house at Rhode Island College on Saturday, November 12th. It was an exciting event that I got to be apart of. I was representing the YDEV major with Dr.Bogad, and other students. Our responsibilities consumed of introducing ourselves and what was Youth Development and the different avenues that pertained to the major to the new students that may be choosing RIC as their college. When doing these few things it reminded me of the elevator speech when I practiced and learned it in Dr. McKamey's YDEV 250 class.

During the event, I was able to oversee one of my fellow classmates, Ilana which I think she did a wonderful job.  I learned pretty much how to explain how the major and just making it flow and not thinking about it as much just naturally letting it come out. A lot of the students that were coming up to our table seemed a bit confused and didn't really know what Youth Development was and unsure of what they wanted to major in which was normal. I remember being approached by a mother and her daughter, who she was a social worker. She stated that her daughter loved working with children but, didn't want to be a teacher or babysitter. The mother did think that Youth Development would be a good fit for her daughter.