Young Leaders
by Carla Flores, Kids Ministry Director
Recently, I have been working with Patrique Harris, our Youth Ministries Director, more closely as a bunch of our older kids began transitioning into Adelante Youth Club. It has been awesome to see students that grew up in Kids Adelante and Leaders in Training begin to dip their toes into Youth Club,make new friends, and begin going deeper into their relationship with Jesus. Many of the students that began attending Youth Club are also continuing to attend Kids Adelante, which leaves them in this spot where our curriculum is a little young for them. To solve this problem, I have been creating small leadership roles for them. These students are coleading classes, decorating our classrooms, and even helped bring our nursery back to life. These roles have even extended into Arts Community as well.
These new student roles are already bearing fruit and seeing my kids in action has been amazing! They are excited to lead other kids as they were led, teach them as they were taught, and the love of Jesus is extremely visible through this. Some of the younger kids at Kids Adelante are now beginning to ask, “Ms. Carla, at what age can I become a junior volunteer?” One of our students Dylan is 8 years old and each Thursday night at Kids Adelante, he cheerfully exclaims, “In 4 years, I’m going to be a junior volunteer!” Followed by a, “Right, Ms. Carla?” It is hilarious each time he does it but it fills my heart with joy to think that he is excited to lead and help other students grow, even if it is years from now.
The students that are now leading were once inspired by our older teens that serve in our programs like Lucy Meek, Flor Herrera, Anisha Pokwal, and Amelia Phiakeo. It is a beautiful cycle of young people inspiring other young people to serve and have a soft heart for their community. It has been a joy to see this grow throughout this past year and I can’t wait to see how else this will bear fruit in the future!
