There are several children we have been working with in Modesto for the last three years. We found them living in a motel room with various members of an extended family. They were not in school, had little or no supervision, malnourished, and surrounded by violence, prostitution, and drugs.
We have been spending time with them for the last three years teaching them how to live. We have helped them to get back into school, and are teaching them basic communication and relational skills. We have seen dramatic change in behavior in some of the children, and others very gradual, but all the same, God is using us to affect change.
One vision we have is to take the four to six of the oldest boys (12 and 13 yrs. old) into the wilderness for a week of hiking, backpacking, swimming, and outdoor education.
We believe giving opportunity to these boys to experience something beyond hopeless- city-poverty life, can open their eyes to a brighter future. We believe a sense of leadership can be established in the hearts of these boys through having their strength tested against the wildness of nature. This will help them to understand the power they already have to cultivate change in their own lives and communities. We think in the truest sense, this is how we outsmart the often appealing competition of drugs and gangs.
Our goals for this trip would be to teach basic outdoor skills, communicate/teach about our relationship with the earth, and how this relates to our relationship with God. Also, it would be great to equip them at the beginning of the week for releasing them to map out a day-hike and reach their own destination near the end of the week. We hope to have great times throughout the trip of team-building games and exercises, and personal achievement. We want them returning to Modesto with a greater sense of strength, leadership, and responsibility to each other and their community.
We need to raise $3,000.00 for this trip. Please help us if you can. We are also going to put the boys to work with fund-raisers so they can play a part in planning this activity.
Thank you.
