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And So it Be
gins!
Fall - school starts, days shorten, the temperature drops and all our Youth Unlimited programs get in to gear again. This fall looks a little different for Youth Unlimited here in Langley, with some changes being exciting and new, and others a bit of a challenge.
First of all, we welcomed three new Lifeteams students to our team this year. Lifeteams, for those of you who don’t know, is a year long youth ministry training program with Greater Vancouver YFC, which I did five and a half years ago. The students get hands on training through class time, assignments, adventure/outreach components, as well as their ministry placement. Our three students, Jessie-Marie, August and Charlotte, are a welcome addition to our team, and I’m excited to work with them throughout the year.
Another exciting change is Momentum, Langley Youth Unlimited’s student leadership team. The student leadership team was started last year by our Lifeteams students, and is being further developed this year by Danny. Momentum’s six high school students meet regularly and have assignments and placements within existing Youth Unlimited programs. Danielle and Dan, two of the 2007/2008 Momentum participants will be helping out at Art: After School this year.
One not so happy thing this fall is our lack of a double decker bus to run our Friday night program with. The bus that Langley Youth Unlimited purchased has had numerous issues in it’s refurbishment and repair, including mulitple breakdowns and vandalization.
We still hope to get the Bus program up and running as soon as possible, but in the mean time we are helping out with a program called Night’s Alive at Langley Meadows Elementary. It’s been a good way to stay involved and lots of fun to hang out with the kids, but we are definitely looking forward to getting that Bus up and running!
Another interesting change has been my switch out of Communications with YFC. Right now I am only working one day a week with YFC, and with that comes a lot of adjustment - I’m definitely learning to manage my time more effectively! I’d like to be able to increase my time with YFC, but right now lack the funds to do so. For more information on this, please read the note entitles "Changes" below.
Art: After School
My weekly art club started up this year on October 4th. For those of you who remember, last year we started the year with only two students involved. That number quickly grew and rounded off to approximately 12-15 students each week.I expected a bit of a slow start again this year, but was almost overwhelmed on the first day when over TWENTY students showed up!! Our tiny kindergarten room is bursting at the seams, forcing me to rethink and restrategize how Art: After School is run; it’s a good problem to have, but a challenge none the less.
It’s an interesting mix of kids this year, spanning grade four to grade seven, with approximately seven boys and thirteen girls. Some of the students from last year came back, there are a couple from art camp this summer, and a few who are brand new.
We are looking forward to an exciting year full of good discussion, drawing, painting, and trying new things!
Here are some of the themes we are exploring this year:
• Working Together
• Self Image
• Giving
• New Beginnings
Please keep Art: After School in your prayers as we delve in to these topics and try to think creatively.
Changes
Recently I resigned from Communications at Youth Unlimited and am focusing on youth work in Langley. In my role as Communications Officer, part of my salary was covered by the organization, but as a Youth Worker I am required to fund raise my entire salary, plus benefits as well as any ministry expenses. As you probably know from reading my updates, I’ve been working on this for a long time, but I still have a long way to go. Thanks to current supporters I currently have enough in monthly funding to work one day a week, but I’d like to increase my time. I’ve included an Information Package with this letter that outlines my funding needs, as well as the options for giving. Please have a look at it and consider getting involved in my work with Youth Unlimited. If you already support me, THANK YOU!!!! and would you prayerfully consider someone else who might be interested in partnering with us in this work. I’m honoured to be a part of the lives of youth in Langley, and value your involvement.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
If you want to help financially with my work in Langley,
please click here.
A Less
on in Letting Go
“God is in control. God loves these kids more than I ever could.” These are phrases that I found myself saying over and over in my head as I boarded the bus that was to take me away from Kemnay, the village where my team was working in Scotland. Of course those are things that I know, but sometimes a certain kid crosses your path that causes you to turn to those truths a little bit more for reassurance. Devin was one of those kids.
When our team first arrived in Kemnay, some local church kids took us on a tour of the village. As we approached the skate park, one of the church kids saw a group of bikers and roller bladers and said, “Oh, you won’t want to talk to those kids.” Immediately my interest was piqued, so I asked why. “They’re bad news. We don’t really hang out with them.”
“Why don’t we go down anyway and see what’s going on,” I responded.
As we approached I saw a group of about seven or eight boys, and two girls. We watched for a bit, listening to them shout crude words and profanities at each other, and when a few of them skated by I asked them to show me a trick. I think they were surprised by my interest, but excited to show off their skills, so off they went.
After a few minutes of trying their best to impress me, one of the smaller boys came up to me and we started chatting. I asked his name and how old he was - Devin, and nine - and chatted to him about how long he’d been biking for, and what he’d been doing for the summer. He explained that he had been hanging out in Aberdeen a lot, you know, just stealing cars and bikes and things, but had decided to stop getting into trouble. So now he spent most of his days at the skate park biking around, and in the evening he would return there, along with approximately 15 to 20 others, to drink and do drugs. He assured me that if I came back later that evening, he would personally procure at least two glasses of vodka for me - interesting offer from a nine year old! I turned him down and told him we were having a drop-in with our team that evening, and for the rest of the week, and he was more than welcome to come by and see us.He didn’t show up that evening, but the next evening Devin and a few friends came by the drop-in.
“How old are you?” He asked me. When I told him that I was 26, he laughed and told me to prove it.
So I did, and informed him that I would not lie to him. I said that I believe honesty is very important, and proposed to him a “truth agreement” - neither of us had to tell the other anything, but if we did decide to say something, it must be the truth. He agreed, and not long after told me he had lied about his age earlier, to see how I would respond. Devin was actually 11.
We continued our conversations that night and throughout the week and I learned more about this rough eleven year old that was “bad news.” Suffice it to say, Devin has not had an easy life. He has no father figure to speak of, is often left in charge of his four year old cousin all day and evening, and seemingly has never known love with no strings attached, which is what we tried to offer him that week.
By the end of the week, we’d formed a tight bond and he came to the ceilidh (a traditional Scottish get-together) that the church hosted and, along with a few friends, presented our team with a thank you card that they had all signed. On the last day, as we packed up to go, his eyes started to water. He shuffled his feet a little and told me his little cousin was crying and it was making him cry (meanwhile, she was skipping around humming!) I felt compelled to tell Devin again that the reason we had been there that week was because we wanted him to know that he was loved - that we loved him, but more than that, God did. I told him that the church folk loved him as well, and he was always welcome at the church centre. He looked at me and told me with big eyes, “I know.” I hugged him and he started sniffling and broke down even more.
As I left, my heart was breaking for that little boy, who might have been just beginning to feel lovable as we had to leave. I felt completely powerless, and didn’t want to let go, but as we drove
away, I realized I had to. Devin wasn’t mine. I was not there to “save” him. I had to leave him in God’s hands, where he had been sitting all along. I had just been given the privilege of sitting there beside him for a little while. It was still hard to let go, but it was reassuring to remember that yes, God is in control, and yes, God does love Devin more than I ever could.
If you want to help financially with my work in Langley,
please click here.
Summer
Summer is always a bit of a shift from the norm - schedules change along with the weather as weekly clubs and meetings are replaced by bigger events and longer trips.
This summer is no different. Both of Langley Youth Unlimited’s weekly programs - the Bus and Art: After School - have already wrapped up for the year.
The Bus closed out it’s year with a few big events, including: our last Bus night where we hung out with the kids and built in to relationships that we hope will continue over the summer and in to the fall; a fund raiser for our new bus, generously hosted by Jericho Ridge Church; and two bus work parties, one of which was hosted by another local church, Murrayville Community.
Art: After School finished up it’s first year on April 25th with a party in which we tried our hand at some “culinary arts,” namely making our own pizzas and decorating cookies! We also had a fun night at our Open House/Fund Raiser at Langley Meadows on June 13th, where we raised some much needed funds for next year.
With those programs on hiatus for the summer, you may wonder what I’m going to be filling my days with for the next couple of months. Well, from June 23-27 I’ll be at our National Ministry Conference in Toronto where I’ll be officially credentialed, as well as helping to lead a workshop on working with elementary aged students.
Then from July 12-30 I’ll be in Scotland co-leading a team of 20 youth from the Lower Mainland as we partner with YFC in Inverness for the Plunge.
And when I arrive back in Canada, I’ll be coordinating an art day camp from August 7-10 at the Langley Municipal Building.
And after that I will be busy training the new Communications Officer before my official transition out of that role in September.
Phew - so that is my summer! It is definitely busy, but like they say, a change is as good as a break!
Stories
I would like to share with you 2 stories about 2 different girls. Both these girls hold a special place in my heart, but one story grieves me and the other makes me smile.
Dianna is 14 and in grade 7. I see her almost every time I go to the school - she runs up and gives me big a hug! The first time I met her I knew that she was something special.
Dianna has had a difficult life, of which I don’t know all the details. She has incredible leadership potential, but unfortunately often uses her natural leadership abilities in a negative way. Since I’ve known her (just over a year), she has lived in 2 different foster homes, and is now living with her mom.
As negative as her last foster home experience was, I’m not sure that it is much better for her to be living with her mom again, as there are alcoholism and anger issues, as well as a history of rejection.
Please pray for Dianna as she navigates a world where no one seems to want her.
Elisabeth is 11 and attended Art: After School from day one. She is full of energy, does nice, thoughtful things for others of her own volition, and volunteers to help almost before asked. I’ve met her mother, and her home environment seems to be a positive, loving one.
Elisabeth recently spoke at our Art: After School Open House, and did an AMAZING job. I was so proud seeing her up there sharing about her experience throughout the year.
Please pray for Elisabeth as she works out how to interact with the world in her own unique way.
Plunge Update
As you read this, the Plunge team is preparing, physically and spiritually, for our trip to Scotland July 12-30th. We've been meeting over the past few months, ironing out details, sorting out fund raising, and getting to know each other.
Pleas continue to pray for us as we head out.
If you want to help financially with my work in Langley,
please click here.
Integration
The past month has been a really exciting time at Art: After School. We’ve been talking about Self Image— always a hot topic among youth— and we’ve had some guest leaders helping with our screen printing project.
Our guest leaders are three teens from our Bus Student Leadership team. The Student Leadership team at the Bus have been working with Hannah and Carmen (our Lifeteams’ students) for the past few months, learning about leadership and discipleship, and helping out at the Bus. 
Hannah and Carmen were away for part of March, so I roped a few of the Student Leaders in to helping me out, and they have been more than willing to go the extra mile and invest in the younger students lives.
The three Student Leaders have taken charge of the T-shirt screen printing, freeing me up to chat a little more with the kids— something I don’t often get to do as I’m usually the one running around trying to get everyone on track with their project!
It has been so fun to watch these young leaders take initiative in working 
with the Art Club kids, whether it is helping with some homework, or taking some extra work home to help us finish off our project on time, they have been a great to have around.
I hope to be able to include more of these integration opportunities in the future.
Moving from elementary school to high school can be a scary transition, and I think that having older teens working with the younger students can help make that transition an easier one.
As well, it gives the older teens an opportunity to put into practice some of the leadership skills they are learning on the Student Leadership team.
It has been a good experience all around, and I’m excited to see more of this type of integration in the future!
New Beginnings
April is “New Beginnings” month at Art: After School. We chatted about Easter, why we celebrate, and some of the symbols and traditions of Easter. It was a great opportunity to talk about Jesus 
and the new beginning that He has offered.
We’ve also talked about spring and how it is a good time to take some of the negative situations in our lives and turn them around. We tackled everything from bad habits, like nail biting, to difficult issues such as anger management and family relationships.
After talking about all these new beginnings, we decided to give some of our trash a new beginning as well! Each of the students brought in something that would normally go in the garbage, and our mission was to make it into art.
It was great to see the creative juices get flowing as the students tried to tackle their trash and turn it into something beautiful.
Plunge Update
Planning for the Plunge trip to Scotland is coming along. Many of the students (and staff!) are working hard on raising money for their trip. We had one fund raiser in March where we were able to spend a good chunk of time with some of this year’s Plunge participants. It was great to get to know them a bit better and see how we work as a team. Please pray for us to grow closer to God as we prepare for this big adventure!
If you want to help financially with my work in Langley,
please click here.
Time slipped away too quickly and before I knew it, I'd missed February's letter. So, here is a DOUBLE ISSUE... no extra reading, just a bunch of pictures for your viewing pleasure.
Click HERE to view the photos.
Hungry?
That’s what we at Art: After School asked the people of Langley as we invited them to take part in our fund raiser for the Langley Food Bank.In December we talked about “giving” at Art: After School, and our project was painting soup bowls.
I had the bowls and firing donated by Joanette and the lovely staff at Totally Ceramic, and the idea was to sell the bowls and give the money to the Food Bank. Hikmat at the Wired Monk in the Langley Municipal Building was kind enough to let us use the coffee shop to host our fund raiser, and Lipton (Wired Monk’s soup provider) donated soup for us to fill the bowls.
The kids had taken a lot of time and put a lot of effort into making their bowls look nice.
I was worried that after putting so much time into this project that a few of them may have a difficult time giving their bowl away, but they were all quite excited about helping the Food Bank. In fact, I had to schedule the fund raiser on a day that they didn’t have school because so many of them expressed interest in being there to help sell the bowls!
So Monday, February 26, we all met at the Municipal Building to sell our works of art.
I was a bit unsure of the response we were going to get and wondered if we would be able to sell all the bowls.As I met the kids at the Wired Monk, I could feel them buzzing with excitement. A few parents and staff from the school came out as well, to show 
their support. I’m often amazed and impressed by my Art: After School kids and the amount of initiative they show, always offering to help with snack, etc, and the fund raiser was no exception. They spent the whole time coming up with new ways to advertise and promote their bowls and encourage people to come and support the Food Bank. They coloured up a poster, ran around the building and invited people to come down, and even sold one bowl on the spot to a police officer! What a great bunch of students! In the end we sold all the bowls, met a bunch of new people in the community, and raise $295 for the Food Bank— quite an exciting accomplishment for these 10-12 year olds who weren’t sure what they could do that would make any difference.
One Year!
The Bus in Langley celebrated its one year anniversary by hosting an open house on March 2, at Langley Meadows Community School. We set up our Youth for Christ display, had cookies and hot chocolate, tentative drafts of the remodeled new bus, and... THE NEW BUS!! This was actually the second time the new bus has been out on a Friday night, and it is far from the finished product, but it was great to have it there to show the community what we
are doing.
It was a great night of connecting with parents, donors, volunteers, and kids. I spent my evening in the cold (no heat yet!) bus hanging out with some of the kids from art club and their friends. A couple of girls who attended the Bus
regularly last year, but haven’t been around much this year (they’ve started high school) stopped in to say hi and see the new bus.It’s really quite funny to see some of the kids reactions to the new bus. They are used to the fully renovated bus that we’ve been borrowing from Abbotsford, and are generally less than excited about the not-yet remodeled new one!
We’ve been doing our best to communicate that the finished product will look much different than it does now, and slowly they are getting more excited about seeing the transformation of the double decker transit bus, into our new Langely Party Bus.
Plunge 2007
Many of you know that I was involved in the Plunge trip to Scotland 2 years ago, and the Plunge work in the Lower Mainland last year. This summer I will be heading to Scotland again, only this time I am co-leading the Canadian team! I am very excited about this opportunity, but along with it comes some added responsibility. Please pray for me as I help organize this trip, lead the team, and prepare myself to go to Scotland.
Photos from past Plunges (2005 in Scotland & 2006 in Langley)
Goals
It’s a new year, and as I look into it, I see a year full of exciting changes and opportunities. One of these changes is my transition out of communications completely and into full-time youth work in Langley. I’ve mentioned this a few times since last summer, and now that some of the plans have been finalized, I’d like to share them with you and ask for your help in this exciting transition.
In the fall, I sat down with my various supervisors and came up with a transition plan, and now that plan is underway. Part of this process included setting out monthly support goals. As many of you know, as a missionary with Youth for Christ, I am required to raise my own support. Basically what that means is that, similar to many overseas missionaries, part of my job is to share what I’m doing and my vision with others and give them the opportunity to get involved by supporting my work financially. The money that is raised goes into my staff account at Youth for Christ, and out of that comes my salary, ministry expenses, benefits, and other related staff costs. My salary is set by the organization, so if I raise more than I need, I don’t get more, and if I don’t raise enough, I don’t get a full pay cheque.
In my position as Communications Officer I work three days a week and am responsible to raise 50% of my salary— the other 50% is subsidized by the organization because my work in communications serves to benefit the whole organization. As a full-time youth worker, I will be responsible to raise 100% of my salary for five days a week, plus ministry expenses, benefits, and other staff costs. This means a substantial increase in the amount of money that I am responsible for raising— a daunting task for someone who finds this part of my job difficult already! But with the help of my supervisors, I’ve come up with a few goal dates that I’d like to share with you.
February 1, 2007:
One full day in Langley= $760/mo.
June 1, 2007:
Two full days in Langley= $1500/mo.
September 1, 2007:
Three full days in Langley= $2300/mo.
As you can see, that first goal date is coming up pretty fast. The good news is that I only need another $175/mo. to reach my goal! That means just 7 peoplegiving $25/mo. would cover it.
I’m very excited about my work in Langley and I’m encouraged that I’m so close to reaching my goal. Please join with me in praying that I am able to follow through on these proposed dates.
As always, if you have any questions, or would like to chat with me more about this letter or my work, please contact me.If you want to help me meet these goals, please click here to donate online, or email me at laura_solberg@telus.net for other methods of giving.
A Package
After Art Club this week, I was sorting through the permission forms that had been turned in that week, a discovered a little package tucked in between the sheets. It was a plain sheet of lined paper, folded and taped into a little packet, addressed “To: The Art Club and Bus Staff.” I carefully opened the package and found inside a note, and four other sheets of paper. I would like to share the note and other contents with you, in hopes that it will encourage you as it did me. It read:
“Dear Bus Crew and Art Club Staff,
Thank you so much for teaching me all the different types of being respectful. With this note I have attached four other papers all talking about the ways of being respectful. Thank you.”
One of the other sheets of paper had an essay that the young girl had written on respect. Imagine-- an eleven year old, writing an essay that no one had asked her too! In it she spoke about the importance of respecting yourself and others; how you don’t have to dress provocatively to be pretty or get noticed; that you shouldn’t talk down about yourself or others, in order to make people think about you in a certain way; and how everyone is different and special in their own way.
She also included three pictures that she had drawn, each representing respect in some way.
I’ve also heard from two other parents since we started up again for 2007 that the art club is the highlight of their child’s week. It was so great to hear that! And what an encouragement that little present amongst the permission forms was to the whole team. It’s things like that package that let us know despite how sometimes the kids are a bit unruly and it’s hard to tell if they are hearing anything that we are saying, something is getting through!
gins!
