To Save A Life

Some local youth pastors and Bridges Outreach did some work recently to bring a Christian movie to Kokomo. "To Save A Life" was the top movie in Kokomo the weekend it opened (it was in 7 cities throughout Indiana). It is a powerful movie that is extremely relevant to youth and adults. We highly recommend it to anybody 13 and older. Support this film as much as you can and encourage youth to see this positive movie.

Hangin' with Horses

This past Fall 2009 two of our freshmen Bridges students had an amazing opportunity to learn all about horses. Helping Hearts Horse Ranch spent 8 weeks teaching Maria and Samantha how to care for the horses, saddle the horses, walk the horses, and even trot with the horses! The first day the girls were a little timid by the horses, but they quickly gained confidence!!! The girls had a wonderful experience and we are all very thankful to Jay & Pam from Helping Hearts Horse Ranch for volunteering their time to teach our students about horses. We are also very thankful to Juanita who volunteered every week to drive the students to the outskirts of Kokomo to the horse ranch. Here are some pictures of the girls' time out at the horse arena.

Busy Fall for Bridges To College

Fall 2009 has been an extremely busy, yet fun semester for our high school students. We have outgrown our room at the YMCA and so we have added an extra session, with the freshmen meeting after school and the sophomores-seniors meeting in the evening. Here are some pictures of our students in our BTC room at the YMCA.


We started the semester off with a weekend retreat to Spring Hill Camp where the students had a chance to zipline, do the climbing wall, and other high ropes activities. The students were challenged with the theme of "Invent" to discover that God is the ultimate inventor of their lives and that they were also created to invent so they can more closely draw to God.

In October we took our Leadership Team to Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU) for a leadership retreat where the students gained leadership experience and skills through the high ropes course and paintball. They were also challenged by the speaker to live the "DoKnowBe" way. "DoKnowBe" is about Doing as God commands, Knowing God deeply, and grow deeper in relationship with God and others by Being a follower of Him.


We have also enjoyed many other fun activities such as bowling, eating delicious food at our Fall party, a college visit to Purdue University, and a visit to Christmas at the Indianapolis Zoo. We also helped volunteer for the Girls Night Out 5K Run/Walk Fundraiser by passing out water to all the runners/walkers.

Community Blesses Bridges

This fall, Bridges was extremely fortunate to have the community help our cause. A huge thank you to all who organized and participated in the following community events that helped support and provide awareness for Bridges: “Girls Night Out,” Bikers 4 Bridges, Beatles “Concert for a Cause” (Oakbrook Church) and the 1st Annual Joe Thatcher “Pitch in for Youth” Auction/Dinner.



Casey and Travis with Superstar Joe Thatcher



A Bridges student taking a ride at "Bikers 4 Bridges." Below is a picture of all 40 bikes that participated.





Casey & Travis racing at the "High Heel Shuffle" at Girls Night Out

Big Summer for Bridges

We started our summer in Missouri at "Kids Across America"- U Know! Through a partnership with a local pastor we took our largest group to KAA. Eighteen students and three adults enjoyed the best week of our year. Our youth learned how to "Walk It Out." We had several youth make commitments to follow Jesus and start living by the Truth.

The majority of our summer was spent at "Summer Slam." This was our fourth year of this 5-week program (includes community service) and our theme was money management. We had over 30 youth learn about Biblical principals of saving, budgeting, giving, investing and spending money wisely. The youth also got to enjoy a trip to lake Manitou, an overnighter to Oakbrook Vally and a day trip to the Indianapolis Zoo.

Bridges high school students participated in a nine week Bible Study on sex and relationships. They were able to learn what the Bible says about these key issues.

We wrapped up our summer at SpringHill Camp where we had nine youth spend a week in Southern Indiana. Three students gave their lives to Christ for the first time and one even got to share her testimony at the closing ceremonies.

KAA-YOU KNOW!

For the first time ever, Bridges left behind the van in Kokomo, Indiana and ventured out on a charter bus, where the kids (& staff) were able to sleep at least a little more than we would have on the van for the 12 hour ride to Missouri. What were we doing in Missouri? We were none other than heading back to one of our favorite places: Kids Across America Kamp! Our 8 days at kamp are some of our favorite days during the summer. We had a ton of new kids join us this year, and for the first time brought high school student to kamp as well!

2009 End of Year Awards

Without even realizing it, the end of the year passed us by, and now the summer is already half over. Time has been flying by as Bridges Outreach has been extremely busy these past couple months with our end of the year awards, taking kids to camp, hosting a successful golf outing, and beginning Summer Slam.

The 2008-2009 school year has been a great success as we have served over 70 elementary students, 250 middle school students, and 50 high school students. This past Spring we extended our ministry to the kids at Lafayette Park Middle School. Next year we hope to reach out to Maple Crest as well, putting us in all 4 middle schools!

Here are some pictures from our End of Year Awards banquet.