The Armor of God – Providing our Youth with Spiritual Weapons

The Armor of God – Providing our Youth with Spiritual Weapons

We have just completed a spirit –filled and fun-filled week at the Joshua Enrichment Program, (JEP), held at Asbury UMC July 22 -26, 2013.  

First, we want to honor God and give Him all of the praise for allowing us to experience all that we could have hoped for during that week. The JEP Staff wants to thank everyone for their support and prayers that we received. We also want to thank all of the volunteers who dedicated their time and effort to making sure this a wonderful and blessed week. We are proud of our youth for having a willing spirit and a positive attitude. We love you all!!!

We began each day with prayer and devotion. The bible-study theme for the week was “The Armor of God.” This was taken from Ephesians 6:10-18. The youth were enthusiastic about learning the bible.  There are six pieces of the Armor of God. First, there is the Breastplate of Righteousness, which protects you.  Next, there’s the Belt of Truth that keeps you grounded in the Word.  Third, there is the Sandals of Peace, which guides us.  Fourth, the Shield of Faith that wards off evil.  Fifth, there is the Helmet of Salvation, which gives us a way to Heaven.  Lastly, there is the Sword of Spirit, which defends us.  Prayer is another piece of armor that makes the Armor of God all work. Our youth performed all of the prayers for breakfast and lunch; praise God!!!

Math and critical thinking/analogies was taught daily; the youth practiced basic and advanced math, and some algebra. Both math and critical thinking exercises sparked excitement within the youth.

For art and science, this year, the boys put together model airplanes. The airplanes were a challenge for the boys as there were some many small parts to glue together, but they stayed with the project and we are so proud of them for that.  Also, the youth made paper from recycled paper. They said that the pulp was messy looking, but most of them wanted to try out the process. They saw how paper was shredded, then placed in a blender and then put in water and made into pulp.

Ms. Denise Yearwood provided the girls with great guidance on how to design, measure, cut, and sew their bags.  The girls made bags with the sewing machines; they really had fun with the project.

We visited the Civil War Museum in downtown Frederick. We learned that there were African-American doctors that made significant contributions in the field of medicine during the war. Also, we learned that most of the people died from diseases and not from injuries from the war. The staff at the museum was very helpful in explaining the history during that time period.

The youth were given instructions on internet safety and security by Ms. Tia Hall-Brown. She also set up a secured web page site for the youth so they could blog about their experience at JEP. They had some interesting and honest comments. They actually wrote all of the blogs posted by Ms. Hall-Brown on the web site.

The youth were introduced to an on-line game about economics called “lemonade stand.” They learned about running a lemonade business and how to adjust the price based on the weather, the price to make the lemonade, and the cost to advertise to see if sales were affected. They made about $20 as a group, then they were each given $20 in “play money” and introduced to the 10-10-80 rule about tithing; tithe 10%, save/invest 10%, and the remaining 80% is yours.  This is a lesson the adults can benefit from.

God bless you all,

JEP Staff