Burks Youth- June 2021

Welcome to the Burks Youth Newsletter! Your one-stop shop for all things Burks Youth and the only place that we give you a prize just for reading! (Yes, the prizes are for YOU, not your youth! Because you are awesome, and you deserve some swag, too!) Just text or email the secret phrase to Casandra before May 10 to win a personalized olivewood pocket cross!

During the 1800s, many settlers traveled west from the East Coast in covered, horse-drawn wagons. At night, or when threatened during the day, the wagons would stop moving and form a closed circle with the most vulnerable people and animals at the center. This created a better defense against attacks, predators, and other threats.

Sounds like what most families have been doing for the past year, doesn’t it? When we perceive a threat to our families, we turn inward so that we can better protect those we love. We circle the wagons. 

But… by definition, a circle of wagons is stationary. It creates a bubble of safety, but it doesn’t get anyone closer to the destination. Once the danger of this pandemic is passed (and that timing will vary from family to family), how do we begin to move forward again? 

I encourage you to be intentional about how you choose to spend your summer. A break from school is a great time to evaluate and refine family goals and start taking steps toward achieving them again. This article has excellent information and tips for doing just that: https://empoweredhomes.org/resource/five-tips-for-pursuing-family-goals/ 

This summer, Burks Youth will be partnering with Mission Guatemala and La Paz Chattanooga for a hybrid virtual/ in-person service week! Each day will begin with devotions and a brief project meeting after which we will "go forth" to work with La Paz or one of their partner organizations to serve in a hands-on way. Projects may include construction/landscaping, helping in the food pantry, or working directly with recipients of La Paz's services. Each day will conclude back at Burks with a virtual presentation from Mission Guatemala about Central American culture and the challenges the people of Guatemala face in their home country.

It is our hope that this experience will give our youth a taste of what a trip to Guatemala would be like as well as a better understanding of the needs we can meet right now in our own community.

More information and registration link can be found at burks.org/special-events-for-youth

This newsletter is pretty comprehensive, but there will still be a few things that are exclusive to Social Media, such as:

- Nightly Devotions on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

- Saturday Devotion and ICYMI videos on YouTube

- Fun stuff like games, puzzles, and challenges on Snapchat and TikTok

I will try my best to cross-link all of this, but the best way to be sure you don't miss anything is to like/suscribe to burksyouth on any social media platform you use. If your kid uses social media, have them suscribe, too! (I'm going to guess that they're on social media more than you are.) This month's secret phrase is "circle the wagons".

Here are the links*:

* for some reason, there's no button for TikTok, but the link is:

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMJv5ny11/