GEMS
We are having a great GEMS season. This year is the 50th anniversary of the GEMS program (formerly called Calvinettes), so we are using the theme verse that so many participants have memorized throughout the years from Micah 6:8: He has showed you, O man (O daughter), what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
This year our theme for GEMS is Prayer, No Worries and our theme verse is from Philippians 4:6 – Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. We know that young girls have lots of issues in their lives to deal with and we want them to learn to turn their concerns into a prayer to God who hears and responds to them.
We have 7 GEMS and our counselors are again the same – April Nieuwsma, Mary Brouwer and Mary Van Haaften. For our kickoff, we made and decorated stepping-stones out of cement and decorative items and we went to Happy Joes for ice cream treats. The younger girls have worked on the missions badge and wrote letters to a daughter of a missionary. The older girls are working on the cooking badge.
We are encouraging the girls to read their “Shine” magazines. “Shine” is produced by the GEMS organization and it is an excellent resource for young girls. We are hoping the girls spend more time reading the magazine and are sending home quizzes for them to complete and return. We have promised them a fabulous prize if they complete all their quizzes.