Girl’s Enrichment Ministry
GEM’s—Girl’s Enrichment Ministry—A Ministry for grades 5 and up
What is G.E.M.s?
Let Sisterly Love Continue – Hebrews 13:1
Have you introduced your daughter, her friends or her classmates to the Living Jesus? What do I mean by the Living Jesus? Jesus, the One and Only, Living Savior. Too often our young people don’t see Him as tangible. He is just a story, something only talked about in church or Sunday School. I’ve had the privilege of sharing Him with hundreds of middle-school and high-school young ladies, in and out of the classroom. Today’s culture promotes wordly views rather than Kingdom Living. GEM’s shares that Kingdom Living, living for Jesus, is not outdated, it has no end. Living for Jesus has eternal rewards and blessings for our girls. Watch this inspirational video I made with my daughter when she was in middle school. We use it as a teaching tool for new leaders and for our GEM’s so they can see the reality of their participation.
As you continue to minister, heart’s are eventually cultivated to serve by the inner working of the Holy Spirit. We developed a partnership with a local agency and our high school girls served monthly through interactive clinics with the children the agency served like Ballet classes, Art class and Homework Buddy.
Tips for GEM's Leaders
GEMs= Girlʼs Enrichment Ministry
Itʼs an “extra” to what they are already learning and receiving.
Hebrews 13:1 - Let Sisterly Love Continue
Itʼs our ministry verse. All GEMʼs should know it!!!
Pass it On
We had a theme song and loved it!
Icebreakers
Always a great way to start a meeting especially in the beginning of the year to help everyone feel comfortable.
Choose 4 Godly women as leaders. Dontʼs ask your best friends. Ask Godʼs help.
Each woman will have a spiritual gift to bring to leadership.
Have a plan. You probably have a good feel for the class and the needs of the girls.
Ask God to reveal to you what you should teach.
Meetings should be once a month and use a set schedule, like the first Wednesday of every month. A GEMʼs meeting (if not held during lunchtime) should last approximately 1 1/2 hours. Drop off after carpool, pick up at 4:30. Full attendance generally arrives by 3:00 pm. Give them snack/water outside and have them fill out prayer requests in a box they make and let the box travel to each monthly meeting. Officially begin GEMʼs meeting by 3:15. GEMʼs love to talk and share and write on EXPO boards AND put on skits. Keep it simple with a basic theme of scripture if you can. You wonʼt believe how many GEMʼs can fit on a sofa, they also love to sit at your feet and get as close to you as they can. They FEEL Godʼs love coming from you. Make sure you hug each girl and tell them how precious they are. The rewards of that are EVERLASTING!
Each GEM Leader hosts and teaches 2x/year. Sept through April meetings. A leader teaches at her own home and provides a simple snack. Remember, this is not an elaborate party.(we began with bottle waters and individual pretzel bags, we sometimes do special snacks depending on what is going on) God designed it to be low stress!!
We have found that when we stick to His original plan, it works!
As this is my 5th year of GEMʼs, God has opened our eyes to these things:
Continue to pray together as leaders. We set up a monthly lunch date for leaders discussing GEMʼs business first, sharing their prayer requests and pass their prayer cards out evenly for additional prayer time and then continued with our personal fellowship. Allow yourselves an hour and a half for good discussion and fellowship and ofcourse, lunch. If that month was your month to teach, you were then also the one to arrange the lunch. When praying for the class, call out each individual name (include the boys!).
As we have now moved on to lunchtime GEMʼs, our time is very short - only 30 minutes. After GEMʼs, we use a vacant room in the middle school building to have at least a 30 minute prayer time for our grades (I teach 2) and then we have lunch following that prayer time at a nearby restaurant.
This meeting and lunch business may sound like a lot, but it is not. It is good, quality time with an eternal purpose. Months into it, you will crave this time with your fellow leaders. You will also fall in love with these girls like never before. It is important to note that if your daughter has a particular problem with anyone in the class or you with another mother, pray a protective covering over those relationships as you teach. God will allow you to love and treat everyone the same no matter what the current circumstances are.
Unfortunately, where Jesus is, people will be offended. You may have peers who make fun of the ministry, etc. Donʼt take offense, it alarmed me at first, but it is just the enemy. Build each other up.
Mailers
I have included several pieces I have done. We began with a letter and moved to postcards that I print at home. An office assistant may be willing to run labels for your grade. The first two years, we even got together at the end of the year and hand wrote notes (had exact same wording for each girl) and sent them to each girl who attended. Divide up duties with mailings as it does take some time and expense. Feel free to copy anything I have done and I am happy to lay out or design for you.
Mailer Sample #1 »
Mailer Sample #2 »
End of Year
As our girls have gotten older, we have had end of the year parties. This past May we had a very special time when our 7th graders had an ice cream social in the Fellowship Hall of our church. We played Praise and Worship music through the sound system and then let the girls give personal testimonies if they wished. Motherʼs were also invited. There were tears and laughter. It was invaluable to see the fruit GEMʼs has borne and to know the motherʼs saw it too was priceless.
Our younger GEMʼs have enjoyed pool parties and jumpies. These types of parties are up to each group.
In closing,
Know that you are doing His Kingdom work. You will be blessed. I am always happy to help in any way. I love to teach and share. Please contact me anytime.
MiMi Patrick
Format for GEM's
Explaining GEM's to Your Group
GEMʼs is not about Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist........itʼs not just one religion. It is one Jesus. Jesus is our common bond. We teach GEMʼs because we love Jesus and we are called to share the truth with you. We are not teaching from our own opinion or feeling, but from the Word. What is the Word? (show bible) You girls can share the bond of school, team sports, ballroom, but the bond of Jesus Christ is the strongest thing you can share.
At‐Home Girl’s Ministry
The at‐home ministry works well for younger girls who don’t have an incredible amount of after‐school activities. We chose initially to meet after school on the first Wednesday of every month at one of the leader’s homes. It worked very well. We began our lesson at 3:00 p.m. and ended by 4:30 p.m. This gave us a good amount of time to share as a group and enjoy the fellowship Christ provides when we gather in His name. The format looked something like this:
- Group Leaders pray together before we even start!
- Age-appropriate Ice-Breaker for group, they love to talk.
- Lesson and Application for their age
- Prayer Requests and Close in Prayer
- Snack
In-School Ministry—typically during Lunch
An on‐campus ministry is such a plus. Though lunchtime is short, it allows for more girls from each grade to attend. I suggest keeping it to one particular grade at a time as we have done. We began this format in 7th grade. God stretches the time, it is amazing. We were so worried when we went from after school to lunchtime, but I remember looking at the clock and God let the time stand still. I was able to verbalize the entire message He had for us that day and even had time left over. God is in control of the time. A typical lunch meeting looks like this. We had about 20 minutes by the time the girls came in and sat down with their lunch.
- Opening Prayer – led by a GEM
- Lesson – GEM Leader (15 minutes max)
- GEM testimony from previous months lesson (2minutes)
- Closing Prayer – led by a GEM
Please contact me for further details on the format for GEM’s meetings.
What does Saved or Born Again mean?
Name 1 thing you always bring with you (not cellphone) and 1 thing you usually forget.
Prayer Request Cards - Name, cell, prayer request
In my early 30‘s, one day my grandmother asked me if I was saved. I told her yes, I knew that I had accepted the saving love of our Lord, Jesus Christ. She felt it was her job to make sure her entire family was saved before she died.
Let me talk about what being saved means. The term “saved” is not against anyone’s religion, it doesn’t mean the snakes or kool aid come out. This is where I think many of us miss the boat. Within months after our birth, most of us are baptized. That is a parental decision to hand a child over to Christ and to the care of other Christians. In some churches, the person being baptized is of an age to make that decision for himself and is baptized or they might call it “saved.” or they might say that they have dedicated
their life to the Lord. Saved defined for a Christian means spared, preserved from evil, taken in time.
The Book of 1st Timothy teaches us that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
1 Timothy 1:15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.
See there, is nothing scary or intimidating about that.
The term “Born Again” is often as misunderstood. It simply means that you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior or that you have renewed your commitment to Christ. What is so scary about that? I believe this is the point where we stop at the Crucifixion. We stop at the end of the Gospels and don’t continue to follow the works of Jesus Christ through His disciples to the end of the New Testament.
John 3: 1-7 Do not marvel that I said you must be born again.
"The Sinners Prayer"
Heavenly Father:
I come to you in prayer asking for the forgiveness of my Sins.
I confess with my mouth and believe with my heart that Jesus is your Son,
And that he died on the Cross at Calvary that I might be forgiven and have
Eternal Life in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Father, I believe that Jesus rose from the dead and I ask you right now
to come in to my life and be my personal Lord and Savior.
I repent of my Sins and will Worship you all the day's of my Life!.
Because your word is truth, I confess with my mouth that I am Born Again
and Cleansed by the Blood of Jesus!
In Jesus Name, Amen.
What has Jesus saved you from or for this week?
If question. Tell me something about yourself, but sentence must begin with the word “If.”
What has Jesus saved you from or for this week?
We live in such a ME - Itʼs all about ME world. Letʼs begin everything with grateful hearts, your parents will notice, your friends will notice and most importantly God will notice.
Define Prayer - a form of thanks. Communication.
Praise & Worship as a form of prayer. Name some good p&w artists, music. God does care about what we listen to and what we sing. I am even going to suggest leaving your radio on a christian channel in your room while you are in school. Satan cannot be in the presence of the Lord in such a way.
Ways to praise Him in worship - open up Book of Psalms and use His Word.
Discuss repercussions or situations where there is no communication or a communication breakdown.
Quarrels, break ups, divorces
Dialing up Jesus wonʼt incur a roaming charge or purchase of more minutes. It is the most important relationship you have, also free, just the cost of your time which is precious to you.
Give me examples of Jesus attributes
(fruits of spirit Gal 5:22 - joy, peace, love, kindness, gentleness, patience, self control, mercy, long suffering.)
Pray for these to be developed in you or a situation you are dealing with.
What is important to you? Ask girls to name their talent or something about themselves that is important to them? Can you trust Him with a burden?
Lay it at the cross and donʼt pick it back up.
Can you lay it down for Jesus to work on it? Can you hand your talent over to Him and trust Him to make it better ---or do you think you are the one who can
administer it best?
Story of how he told me to stop teaching, I did and Chad called me to minister to Girls Youth which was such a better fit!!!!
It was so hard for me to let go. I was afraid I was going to let down our church leaders, not to mention all the women who had been coming to our study. I had to risk it all. I was obedient and God worked it for my good!
Situations in which we can pray on the spot - use a fruit of the spirit or .....
instead of spreading the bad news, intervene as an intercessor.
- Gossip
- forms of bullying - name some
- Overeating
- Undereating
- a Wreck
- crying friend
- 2 persons fighting
- homeless person
- sick people
- person in hospital
- boyfriend situation
When you pray for someone (itʼs great to pray with them if you can!) you are bringing them into the presence of our Living God. You are doing Kingdom on Earth work!!!!! Be bold. God will give you the words to say. You will be so surprised at the way you receive in the situation.
Life and death is in the power of the tongue
Get 2 girls and make a snide remark to each (explain we are just acting) and then ask them to take their seat.
1st thing I want to share with you today is........
Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. He says so in John 14:6.
Jesus says, I am the way, the truth and the life.
Jesus wants us to offer the way, the truth and the life to others. The way we speak to one another can be life-giving or life-taking. Itʼs like a fresh breath of air or punching someone in the stomach.
Proverbs 18:21 says - Death and life are in the power of the tongue.
What does that mean to you?
Think of the last conversation you had today before lunch. Or the last conversation you may have overheard before lunch.
Was it hurtful or healing? Was it positive or negative?
Did someone hurt you today with the way they spoke to you?
Did someone make you feel good with words today?
Comment on what I said to 2 girls.
You have a choice about whether your words bring life or death to people. You can be known for your kind words or for your painful words. Positive speech reflects a heart of love.
I want each of you to be my prayer partner this month and pray for me and for yourself that God will soften our hearts so that what we say brings His life to others.
How do I show love for God and others even when I don’t feel like it?
I am going to read from the Word the Truth to you today that God wants you to hear.
Matthew 22:37-39
So - part I is done...
On to part II...
Because of this love, I can love freely - I can love people I donʼt really like - Ha!! How about that? If thatʼs not a heavenly mystery I donʼt know what is.
Be my prayer partner this month and Iʼll be yours --letʼs pray this month for God to soften your heart and mine to someone you donʼt love. You may be holding resentment toward someone, a friend, mom, teacher or an acquaintance. Ask God to change your heart.
If time - talk about how much I love them!!!!! Not bc they are in school with my own children but bc God gives me an overwhelming love for them. This is fellowship!!!!!
Girls, just being nice and good mannered does not show love. The heart shows love.
One way you can show love to the Lord is by glorifying Him with your talents. Just some of the talents I know are in this room are, singing, tennis, dance, ballet, volleyball, bball, playing a musical instrument. When you are using your talent - donʼt do it for the cute boy or to show off to the school or teammates. Do it for God. Show Him what u have got, thank Him for it. Perform for Him, an audience of One.
Answer me - in your mind - are you devoted to God or yourself? Do you spend more time thinking about mememe????? The things you want to buy, clothes, all the stuff?
Jesus hides things in scripture and I love it when He makes something crystal clear to me.
Read John 19:6-7
His material garments were left in the tomb. He didnʼt take His favorite pair of Chacos or His designer sunglasses bc you know that Middle Eastern sun is pretty bright. He only took Himself.
Girls, Love the Lord with YOU and WHO He made you to BE -Exactly as YOU ARE, without all the stuff. Your personal bag of vanity items will not be in heaven waiting for you.
Close in Prayer
Love the Lord with everything
Love one another
Show Him your talents - He gave them to you anyway
Love how He made you!
Have you ever wondered if someone loved you enough to save you from a bad situation or even from death? When I was young, I lived on the river and spent most of my summer at the beach so I was always wondering what if I had to tackle a shark or an alligator? Would my sidekick brother save me? We were always together and I would always ask him what he would do if something came after me. He assured me that he would always do his best to save me and keep me alive even if that meant he got eaten by the shark or the alligator. Girls, someone already loves you that much and did give His life for you, a long time ago. And His name is........... I think one of the hardest jobs God has is to save us from ourselves and the person who we are TRYING to be, not who we really are in here (insides.) You can be the class who makes a difference - we all know that we hear “this class is a bad class or this class is a good class.“ Why can’t we be the class who LIVES for CHRIST? You are the class where GEM’s began, after all!!! Let me give you a fast fact........did you know that there are 10 GEM’s classes in Mobile which mulitiplied by an average of 40 girls per class =’s how many GEM’s? 400 every month!!!! And if each of the 400 GEMs tells 2 people some of the truths they learn about Jesus Christ, that means 800 people are affected by GEM’s? Do you see how God works? He loves math, especially addition...... He needs you to work for Him! You CAN be the class who makes a difference. You can be the girls who get out of their own way, girls who get outside of trying to be the most popular, the prettiest, the whatever and start really living for Christ. I bet in this classroom there are girls you haven’t talked to since 2nd grade. Is that a true statement? I challenge you to befriend, to speak, to share Christ’s love by being kind with words, with friendship to someone out of your “group.” Can you do that? School is for a time, and when you get out of high school, high school is over!! Whoever is “all that”, whoever you hold in the highest esteem, the cutest boy, the cutest girl, it’s over, sorry, beauty is fleeting. That cute boy probably won’t have any hair once he gets into his 20’s. The girl who was so pretty isn’t so pretty anymore. There will be another cute boy and another pretty girl. I don’t want you to look back and say, “why wasn’t I friends with her?” OR “I really need to apologize for the way I treated her!” Start now ladies and save yourself some misery and embarrassment. Start changing the world you may now be forming in what is important to you. As a christian, a believer in Christ, you have much responsibility. Each of you is a daughter of the King, His Pretty Pretty Princess. You should be living a life that sends a clear, distinct message to others about who you are in Christ. There should be NO gray area....do you know what I mean by that? Don’t give anyone room to think you are not a Christian. Real christians are mindful of what they say, how they act, what they read, what movies they see and TV shows they watch. Keep yourselves PURE so that Christ can use you to send his message. He needs carriers. One last thing- finding your self worth in boys at this age is useless. They are not capable of meeting your needs right now. And remember that anything you tell them or do with them will be tomorrow’s news around school and to their friends. They will not keep your secrets. We all want the princess story - God has yours planned out, you do not have to go looking for it, He will bring it to you. I promise!!!
Heaven is for Real
When we found out that Todd Burpo would be coming to our city to share his family’s story, we jumped in to help. We quickly gathered over 75 of our GEM’s, bought tickets to the event and because of our participation, we were rewarded in an incredible way. After Mr. Burpo finished the main event, we had our very own private event with him. We shared the description of heaven found in Revelation 21, broke into small groups with lots of markers and very large pieces of butcher paper, and the girls drew the passage to life. I had the greatest privilege of spending the day with Todd as his escort as we went to book signings and traveled from here to there. He also was gracious and answered my daughter, Lillian’s one-million questions. I wrote all the answers in a notebook and it is one of her most prized possessions.
What did this teaching experience have for me? It wasn’t just about meeting someone famous, but in the process our group contributed more than $5,000.00 to the Community Center which was the benefactor for the event and we united various aged girls and Mom’s and shared God’s Truth about the eternal life He has for us.
Do you know that our youth fear not going to heaven?
I have found it is one of their biggest fears. Use this passage to teach them about heaven.
A New Heaven and a New Earth
21 Then I saw "a new heaven and a new earth,"[a] for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 'He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death'[b] or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
5 He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
6 He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."
The New Jerusalem, the Bride of the Lamb
9 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. 14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15 The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. 16 The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia[c] in length, and as wide and high as it is long. 17 The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits[d] thick.[e] 18 The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. 19 The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.[f] 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.
22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.
Eden Restored
22 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
This is also a great opportunity to share with them that it is God’s plan that not one of them should perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16 | New International Version
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.