2016: A GREAT start to Parents as Teachers program!

Parents as Teachers is capturing the hearts of young moms throughout the Greene County community. ATLAS is proud to have two parent educators leading this initiative, Mrs. Alicia Evans and Mrs. Tameika Miller.  The kick-off for this program began in September of 2015 and is well on its way to becoming the “talk of the town” for many supporters.

This “Members Only” Club is for moms with children, zero-5 years of age. Moms are admitted with a seal of love, joy, protection and commitment.

 

Parent Educators have begun to establish relationships with twenty-five (25+) families and just recently added two more moms with strong commitments.  They have been very busy making presentations and telling the PAT story to the Nelson Circle, First United Methodist Church and New Springfield Baptist Church.

Parents are welcoming the Parent Educators into their home once or twice monthly for instruction to pass on to their child/children.  They go an extra mile by engaging in educational and enrichment activities once a month in whole group sessions.  Activities for January, February and March included the following:  creating healthy meals, participating in story time, making valentine crafts, touring the library and discovering what the library has to offer families. It has been gratifying to watch these families embrace the program’s goal of having their child outstandingly ready for his or her Pre-K experience.

Parent Education Alicia Evans, Board Member Joan Antone and Parent Educator Tameika Miller

PAT’s Advisory Board Members are Karen Mitchell, Joan Antone, Linda McGhee, Cindy Helms and Sherry Shutze.

A Valentine's Celebration for our Moms

What a beautiful set of events our youth ministry put on the evening of Friday, February 19th for our moms! First, the moms joined their boys at Man Up for appetizers then headed over to A Place for Girls for a beautiful dinner complete with hand painted gifts and flowers! This was the perfect Valentine's celebration for all!

Family Services Christmas Gathering

On Friday, December 18th ATLAS Ministry’s Family Services Division held its annual Christmas Celebration. Families and friends gathered to celebrate Christ as the children from A Place for Girls & Man-Up Youth Programs displayed their gifts through greetings, poetry, music and many others.  There was food, fun, fellowship, gift giving and spirited Praise and Worship! This was an exceptional fun filled evening. 

This year included the return of our ever popular Christmas Store!  The Christmas Store is our Parent’s Gift Shop where our youth have the opportunity to shop for a gift for their parents. This is an exciting opportunity for youth to learn about spending money, making financial choices and giving a gift from the heart.   It is such a special surprise for each of our parents who get these treasures just in time for Christmas morning!

We are so grateful for the many volunteers who served as decorators, sound-man, gift wrappers, servers, greeters, secret shoppers and more.  The evening would not have been possible without the help of so many.

Thanks to all who were there and those who participated in this event.

Please visit our Facebook page to see pictures of the Christmas party and learn how you can get involved in this joyous affair.  

 

 

 

Parents as Teachers Celebrates Christmas!

Our first Christmas gathering with the parents was an evening filled with joy, entertainment, food and laughter. It was highlighted by the wonderful presentation given by Mrs. Chris Leach. She shared the true meaning of Christmas and the kids were all dialed into her message. 

We were also blessed with an awesome group of volunteers. They pitched in and made the evening the best it could be. 

Train bookends were donated to each family by the Ferst Books Foundation. 

Also, we were especially pleased with the number of parents and children who attended. We had     80 % of the participating parents and children. Hooray to the parents! Finally, the evening was capped off by sharing gifts with all of the children. A great event enjoyed by all.

  

Join Us Fall 2015 !

The Leader in Me Youth Camp

LOPC – ATLAS Summer Camp

“The Leader in Me”

In the first event of its kind, ATLAS Ministry, Inc. partnered with Lake Oconee Presbyterian Church for a 3-day camp, July 8-10^th.

Everyone possesses God given gifts and has what it takes to be a leader.  Oftentimes, however, we do not tap into our God given potential. “The Leader in Me” Summer Camp was an opportunity for boys and girls to discover the leader within themselves.  Through a series of Bible studies, programs and events, 27 kids ages 6-17 from ATLAS’ Man-Up boys youth group and A place for Girls youth group, were off to an amazing start of leadership discovery.  

Lake Oconee Presbyterian Church inquired of ATLAS several months ago how the church might get more involved in its ministry to youth.  Over the intervening weeks, representatives from LOPC and ATLAS Family Services Division worked together to develop the summer camp, which LOPC hosted and led.  Approximately thirty volunteers from LOPC participated along with the ATLAS team.

The Personal Development Program at the Summer Camp focused on:  Kindness, Teamwork, Leadership, Serving Others and Dining Etiquette.  The camp also included fun and exciting outdoor activities such as Three Legged Race, Obstacle Course, Tug of War, Basketball and a Real Men Cook Grilling Team and Cooking with the Best Teams for the Girls. To foster leadership, the children were also introduced to the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Kids and Teens by Sean Covey. 

At dinner on Friday night the children were joined by their Parents, Volunteers and ATLAS Staff to reflect upon what they had learned within the past three days.  Look out Greene County, some amazing young leaders are coming your way!

For more information, please go to www.atlasministry.org or www.lopc-pca.org/outreach/AtlasMinistryInc to view the slideshow of the Summer Camp.

A Life Long Walk ... The Journey of a Mentor

"Every child is one caring adult away from being a success story."    Josh Shipp

Video of Kalen with Mentor Mike Daniel

                                         

Kalen's Graduation from Youth Challenge Academy
Mike, Kalen and Detective Raleigh Callaway (co-mentor)

Through ATLAS I became aware of Kalen and his family and asked if I could be Kalen’s mentor. Kalen was 11 years old at the time. Today he is seventeen. Because his father was not involved in his life, I wanted Kalen to know that I was making a commitment to him. I expressed to him that I would be there to see him graduate from high school, to one day get married and to see him have his first child...all in that order. I told him that I expected there would be times that he may try to push me away, but that it would not work. I would be there regardless. At the time I felt it was important for Kalen to know that a “father figure” loved him enough to stay the course.

Staying the course has not always been easy. As an eleven and twelve year old, Kalen was full of bitterness that presented itself by fighting, showing disrespect to his teachers and disconnecting from his school work. I learned about “tribunals” and meetings with probation officers in the juvenile system. Yet I never wavered in my belief that God had placed special gifts within Kalen and that the persevering love of Christ would one day unleash them.

Through Nick Rucker at ATLAS, Kalen discovered a relationship with Christ and things began to improve. A few months later true change occurred when Kalen made a decision to forgive his father. I still marvel at the attitudinal and behavioral change that we witnessed. Within two months of his decision to forgive every one of his teachers wrote glowing letters of support for him. Receiving our Lord’s forgiveness and passing it along to others is truly transformational.

Kalen's Baptism

Academically Kalen is behind, way behind. Over many years he has been passed along in school without being prepared for the next level. He was so far behind that we needed to find another route to his education. He has recently completed six months in the Youth Challenge Academy at Fort Stewart, Georgia followed by enrolling in St. Andrews School in Sevierville, Tn. This is where we, three weeks ago, filmed the short video linked to this article.

Just this week Kalen made an impulsive decision to leave St. Andrews to come back and help his mom through a particularly tough period of her life. We all, including his mom, are disappointed in both Kalen and the school for this rash decision. However, our love for Kalen and commitment to him remain strong. As I write this I am running a little late to pick Kalen up to discuss and discover what he sees as the next step in his growth, for there is always a next step, there is always opportunity to dream, always a possibility of a better future.

I am convinced God has destined Kalen to be a man of peace, a man that lives out His love, grace and forgiveness and touches the lives of his friends, family and community in positive ways. God has called me and others to be His hands in molding Kalen into the man He has designed. I love Kalen and thank God for the opportunity to be in his life.

                                                                         Mike Daniel is Kalen's mentor and ATLAS Board Chair

Kalen's 12th Birthday