Duval County has started it's 2018-2019 school year which means our elementary, middle, and high school programs are in full swing. One of our biggest goals in 2nd Mile Ministries is to build into and strengthen relationships with students and their families through our leadership pathway. Students in our two:fiftytwo After School Program (2nd-5th grade) will transition to our Connect Middle School Program (6th-8th grade), who will eventually transition to our LEAD High School Program (9th-12th grade). This year, we have four girls entering high school, three of which have been in every one of our programs. They are also planning on volunteering at the after school program from which they once attended.
We are very excited to see our students spending lots of their childhood learning, growing, and leading. This year, I have the unique opportunity to attend every one of our programs in hopes to help kids graduate more smoothly from one program to the next. It's crazy to look at some of our kids now, knowing that they were once tiny elementary school students and in many cases, unfamiliar with the gospel.
two:fiftytwo After School Program: We have the most students that have been in our program for three years or more with six. We also have four brand new students and a returning student signed up. Last Friday, we learned about chemical reactions and mixed baking soda and vinegar to make a gas. We are excited to continue to build up these leaders in wisdom, stature, and in favor with God and men (Luke 2:52).
Connect Middle School Program: Since the middle of the summer, we've started a new Bible series called "Fundamentals of the Faith," where we teach the main points of the Bible, how to read it, how it's put together, and who God is and what that means for their lives. Last week, we talked about the attributes of God. We have a very solid group of students. They are very committed to staying connected with us as much as we are to them and their families. Pray that they would be able to relate the gospel message and what they learn at our program with their own lives. Jovan, who gave his life to Christ at KAA, has been excited to memorize scripture and learn all the books of the Bible. Good things are happening here.
LEAD High School Program: I attended my first ever LEAD program day last week. There were about 15 students, most of which were very vocal and familiar with each other. Neek does a great job leading those kids. He himself is a rapper and very culturally relevant. About once a month, he plays a popular song (not necessarily Christian), and has the kids read the lyrics and dissect it. He has in the past focused a lot on having healthy emotional responses to different things in life. The program will occasionally watch a movie together and answer questions about the characters' emotions and whether or not they were healthy or unhealthy.
Ways you can help: At the beginning of the school year, we put new items on our Amazon Wishlist that you can purchase and send to us. You can send things either to my house (3646 Brentwood Blvd., Jacksonville, FL 32206) or directly to North Pearl Baptists Church (4003 N. Pearl St., Jacksonville, FL 32206). Another thing the kids would love is new basketballs and basketball nets. We get a lot of use out of our hoops and the nets usually break every year or so. If you wanted to get some heavy duty chain nets, that'd be awesome too! Another way our ministry continues to work in the Brentwood neighborhood year after year is from financial donations. If you'd like to give monthly to help sustain God's work, you can go to 2ndmilejax.com and give online.
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