Summer's End

Just like it's always hard to believe how quickly the school year flies by, it's always astonishing at how quickly the summer comes and goes. Bridges had a phenomenal summer. Our Summer Slam program, which lasted for 5 weeks, had an average of 32 6th-10th grade students every day. What growth from last year! This year's theme was "Exploration"-exploring various careers and hobbies. Our students had the opportunity to visit the Kokomo airport, Howard Regional Hospital, Shearer Printing, the Police Station, a local veterinarian hospital, and more. We were blessed to have many people come in and share about thier careers & hobbies as well. The students learned about water color, Zumba exercise, the art of writing and designing a comic book, the role of the county coroner, and much more. It was an extremely fun and educational summer! Here are some pictures from our weekly field trips:

Summer Slam 2010 from Casey Cline on Vimeo.

Vamos a la Guatemala ! :)

This summer going to Guatemala was honestly the best thing I've ever done in my life! The thought of going out of the country was amazing within itself. It was even more amazing getting to serve the children and staff at Casa Bernabe. For 2 whole weeks I got to be the hands and feet of God and do nothing but serve. Every morning we would get up and have breakfast at 7 am. From after breakfast until lunch there were different groups working on different work projects. There were some people working in the garden, working on the medical clinic, and doing other various projects. It was really whatever the orphanage needed done at the time. I, myself worked on painting one of the houses. We painted 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a living room, kitchen, laundry room, and even some furniture. Almost everyday from about 7:30 am to 1 pm was nothing but painting.

After lunch was my time to relax and shower. It was time to just hang out until about 3 when we would have "kid time". We spent time with kids, Addie would tell a story from the bible and along with the story we would do a craft and a game. On the first day of kid time the kids made bracelets and one of the older boys, Rudy made me a bracelet. It was just so thoughtful of him to make me one before himself. To this day I still wear it everyday. During kid time we got to really just spend one on one time with each of the kids.

My favorite part of the day was after kid time. Most days as long as it wasn't raining we would play soccer. ALL of the kids there were really good at soccer. I think thats where I connected the most with the kids. After that dinner was at 6 and a team meeting sometime after that. The team would just all sit around and just share our day with each other. Then it was a game of cards and off to bed.

One of the really cool things I got to do was going to church, just knowing that they worship the same God as we do. It makes me realize that God is so much bigger than we think. Both Fridays we were in Guatemala we got to get away from the orphanage. The first Friday we went to Antigua, Antigua is a market where we got to go shopping. The second Friday we took the whole orphanage to a water park. Seeing how happy taking them to the water park made them and buying the pizza after just really felt good. Another thing we got to do was go and buy each of the 9 houses snacks. Of course they are provided with food but they don't get snacks so again seeing how happy it made them felt good to know we were apart of it. There are at least 15 kids to each house, and it was kinda disappointing that they only had enough to maybe get 2 of each snack. It was still really great to see how thankful they were.

Connecting with the children was great but I also got to connect with my team. I got to bond with 25 other people who were there to serve along my side. The number one thing I've learned and that has stayed with me is that God will ALWAYS provide. He will always provide for us, and it's because he loves us. Right now my mom is going through a divorce and it seems like it's hard but I know that some way and somehow God will provide. Going to Guatemala has made me have a better understanding of that. Serving Casa Beranabe was truly one of the best things I've ever done! -Karyssa F. Pratt

Summer's Here!

It's hard to believe that summer is nearly upon us! We've had an awesome school year this year at Bridges this year! From the field trips to the time spent working on homework we've had an absolute blast this year. Check out this video to see some of our highlights:

2009-2010 Year-in-Review

Boy am I Hungry!

On April 30 Bridges participated with First Church of God in World Vision's 30 Hour Famine. The objective of the famine is to raise awareness and money to help eradicate world hunger. The key component of the Famine is students committing to giving up food for 30 hours to get a small glimpse of what it's like to be without food. Students also were tasked with retrieving water from the retention pond every hour if they wanted water or juice. We did some community service the next morning and after 30 hours broke our fast by engorging ourselves on nachos.

30 Hour Famine 2010 from Casey Cline on Vimeo.

Bridges New Travel/Shopping Site

Bridges has a new funding resource that can save you time and money and help out our ministry. "Travel by Bridges Outreach” is our new one stop shopping site that helps people save money on travel, shopping and much more. This site combines all the major sites until one and kicks back a portion (around 7%) of every purchase to Bridges Outreach. It is very similar to Kayak, Expedia or Travelocity, but many times has cheaper rates. Items that can be purchased include: airfare, hotels, cruises, rental cars, vacations, flowers, gift cards, concert/sporting tickets and all kinds of shopping items (technology, gifts, books, food, etc). Please check it out regularly and keep us in mind when you travel and shop.
Thank you! Here is our site that turns vacations into donations:

www.ytbtravel.com/bridgesoutreach

Thanks Again! Enjoy and pass it on to others if you wish.

Switchfoot in Concert

Our students have come to love Indiana Wesleyan University. IWU provides many unique experiences for our students, including their IGNITE conference. For the past couple years we have taken both middle school and high school students to this exciting one-night event at IWU. The conference has relevant speakers and stand-out bands. This year was no different. The highlight for our students was definitely hearing Switchfoot live in concert! They put on an amazing show and our students were able to be right up front in the mosh-pit. What teenager doesn't love that?!?! :)

Dare 2 Share

March 19th-21st BTC (the high school group) took 6 students to Chicago for the Dare 2 Share Blaze Conference (dare2share.org). The weekend rocked our students' lives as they were challenged to not only think about what they believe, but how to better live out their faith amongst their friends. The students were challenged by dynamic, engaging speakers like Zane Black and Greg Stier to go into their schools and share "The Cause" for Christ with their friends. The students had an opportunity to do this while we were at the conference by calling/texting friends. We also rocked out with the band Starfield (http://www.starfieldonline.com/). One of our favorite parts was the two-part skit about heaven and hell...helping us realize that hell is not this fairyland place where people are simply separated from God for eternity, but where people literally are in excruciating torment and pain, while being separated from God for eternity. After the conference was over we spent the day Sunday downtown Chicago attending 2nd Presbyterian Church, eating at Gino's East Pizza, and shopping on Michigan Ave! Here are just a few pics of our fun-filled weekend!!!

Girls Afternoon Out

What a blessing it has been to continue to pour into our students this year! We are always grateful for the opportunities we have to live life alongside the students with whom we work. One new opportunity the high school girls have had this year is to get to know each other during our "Girls Afternoon Out". Every couple weeks we get together to have fun and learn new things about each other. It's always low-key, but always a blast!

A dream is reached. . .

When Bridges began at Central Middle School in January of 2005 we knew after a semester there that it would be beneficial to offer this opportunity to all four Kokomo Middle schools. That next year, Casey and Travis split up and we were able to duplicate the program at Bon Air. We dreamed of having Bridges in all four middle schools. Last year, through a grant with the Mayor’s Community-Based Council of Substance Abuse Prevention, we were able to expand into Lafayette Park for 9 weeks in the spring of 2009. This past school year (09-10) our dream was fulfilled as we were at Lafayette Park in the fall and Maple Crest in the spring. It has been a huge blessing to have the opportunity to work with every middle school student in Kokomo. Now when the middle schools consolidate into two next year, we will know all the students in both schools!

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.

BTC GOES TO WEST VIRGINIA & WASHINGTON D.C!!!!!!!!!!

Last week Bridges went on its first ever Spring Break Trip! Casey & Michelle took 7 of the high school BTC students out to West Virginia and Washington D.C. for a week full of fun, laughter, team building, exploration, and excitement! Meanwhile, Travis held down the fort back in Kokomo and had a chance to spend some more time with Lisa, Caleb, and the newest Taflinger addition, Micah.


We drove the well-traveled Bridges van through the night on Sunday to arrive by early Monday morning at the FLOC Outdoors Center in West Virginia where we stayed in their lodge all week long. Monday, after some of us took a short nap, we headed over to Harper's Ferry, WV to hang out in the beautiful, historic, civil war town. Tuesday, we spent the day at FLOC where Todd led us in a variety of team building activities including the "A-Frame" and "Trust Fall". Then, in the afternoon, just in time for the wind and snow we ventured out to the high ropes course where the students had a chance to conquer fears and work in partners to complete the course 40' in the air! The best part was jumping off the platform and zipping down the zipline!


Wednesday our students had a chance to ride the Metro (train for you non-city people) :) into DC for the first time! We spent the first day in D.C. visiting the Supreme Court Building, US Capitol, Library of Congress, and all the monuments & memorials. Thursday we drove into the city, which ended up being more of a hassle than we realized...let's just say it is NOT easy to find parking downtown D.C! Fortunately we managed to find free parking and merrily went on our way!
We spent Thursday checking out Obama's house (a.k.a The White House), visiting the Holocaust Museum, & enjoying the beautiful view from the Jefferson Monument. In the afternoon we headed over to the National Zoo where we did not see any tigers, BUT saw some cool pandas, seals, sting rays, & monkeys. Whew-we were exhausted after two full days of walking around D.C.

Finally, on our last day Friday we had a chance to give back to FLOC through a service project. FLOC sits on many acres of woods with trails that have been built in. We had an opportunity to help maintain the trails by raking away the leaves, and shoveling/digging in to create level paths. The students all worked extremely hard and all their hard work allowed FLOC to open up the trail for visitors!

Overall we had a blast, took lots of pics, played lots of Dutch Blitz, ate lots of s'mores, respected Mr. Commissioner Sir, & listened to Arquan & Duakeen's amazing singing abilities (especially when it comes to Disney songs from "The Hunchback of Notre Dame"). We took tons of pictures, but here are just a few to give you an idea of what our week was like!