What a SUPER Summer!
Each summer at The Root Cellar, everything get’s bigger, better and - in a word - super! Over 250 youth participated over the course of 8 FULL weeks in Lewiston and Portland. That includes more than 40 teens working with us each week in various opportunities, including entrepreneurship, peer mentoring, lawn care, coffee roasting and so much more!
I had a chance to catch-up with Alyssa McKay in Lewiston and Dieudonne Karawanga in Portland. They each shared some beautiful insights of how God has been at work in our children and teens - and through so many volunteers! This is all possible because of generous donations from individuals and families - just like you and yours!
Make sure to read all of it and check out some great photos at the end!
Q&A WITH ALYSSA AND DIEUDONNE
How did you see God at work in the lives of the kids?
AM: I am seeing so much maturity from our kids! The life of a Christian is a journey -- and I am seeing so much growth from them in their understanding and embracing the power and love of God in their lives, their choosing peaceful responses in times of frustration or conflict, and the ways they are taking their emotions to God and putting their faith and hope in Him.
DK: I saw God working in their lives for how in general they listened to the Bible stories attentively and they were eager to answer questions from the stories even adding other stories they know from the bible.
Is there something - that's happened, was said, or some growth observed that was unexpected?
AM: One of our teens recently interviewed some of the kids for his Lew Crew Videography Elective project, asking them what their favorite part of Super Summer is... an answer that didn't surprise me was: swimming field trips. And answer that was a little more surprising that I heard over and over again was: learning about Jesus' miracles! And memorizing verses!
DK: I was surprised to see how our kids developed so much love for each other through the summer. Matter of fact, yesterday when the teens were saying goodbye, they cried together.
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What was the highlight for you?
AM: We go on a different "quest" every week - some kind of adventure or challenge for the kids. These have been the highlights for me -- last week the kids went on an archaeological dig to tell the story of a lost civilization from Biblical times. Not only did they find the artifacts we buried for them -- but several other true gems as well! They were so creative in their "dig notes" describing what they found. Less adventurous, but I also really enjoyed watching them present their book reports that they worked on for a couple weeks on a book of their choosing. It was fun to watch them overcome their fears and present in front of their entire group.
DK: I saw God working in their lives for how in general they listened to the Bible stories attentively and they were eager to answer questions from the stories even adding other stories they know from the bible.
