Generosity is Contagious

W I N T E R
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Changing the World…
One Child At A Time…
Generosity is Contagious
This Christmas in New Jersey was unlike any other. It nipped
on the heels of a “Super Storm,” named “Sandy.” As the winds died
down, a sense of tension remained. All of us in the area hungered for
a little extra “TLC” as we continued to dig out of this difficult time.
The families of Aslan were no exception.
Save the Date!
NJ Marathon
May 5, 2013
We need you to
Volunteer or RUN!
(Relay, ½ or Full
Marathon)
It is a season when we celebrate, “Immanuel” or the reality that God
came from heaven to earth to be with us. Our goal in all we do in
our ministry is to make this truth evident. In our Aslan “Bible
Classes” we took the time to learn more about the birth of our
Savior. Beyond this the Lord is always with us. He showed our
families an extravagance this season.
Partners who have supported us for as many as 20 years provided
parties with food, festivity and fun. Area supporters came through
with Christmas presents. What was amazing though, was the body
of Christ showing it’s immense love through generosity, unlike ever
before. Youth groups and churches from New York, North
Carolina, Ohio, Florida and Kansas also made sure our families had
presents for Christmas. We are so grateful to so many who ensured
our families felt loved and cared for in a tragic time. It was an
example of those who love Jesus coming together and showing just
how contagious generosity really can be.
THE LOREM IPSUMS
WINTER 2016
Stories Of Aslan
Showing God’s love at work to affect permanent
change in the hearts and minds of our children.
It’s Too Hard!
This Fall when 2nd grader, Ricky started in our tutoring program, to be
honest, he hated it. It was not uncommon for Ricky to run and hide, even under tables
(literally), the moment he arrived with his tutor. He would tell us it wasn’t fair he had to learn
math and reading, when he would rather be playing! Truthfully, Ricky thought the work he
had to do was just too hard! In addition his family was in turmoil, after being evicted from
their apartment, they were sleeping on the floors of friends until they could find a new home.
Through it all his tutors remained constant, showing patience and love, going out of their way
to ensure Ricky made it to tutoring this week.
Last week we watched as Ricky bound into our program, sitting across from his tutor with
excitement. They faced each other as he tackled addition flash cards, reading and other
foundational academic skills.
Ricky’s problems haven’t been “fixed” overnight. However, as we continue to walk with him
and his family, we see him hide under that table less and less.
I’ve Never Understood
Part of our time with our students is to help them
understand who Christ is and how to have a relationship
with him. The reality is often times situations in their
neighborhoods and homes can create a wedge in grasping his love.
This was shown recently in one of our teen Bible studies. We were studying
what it means to be a child of God. The truth is we can’t totally know this fully until we
realize what it means to belong to him completely. Many times our Bible Classes are more
about wrestling through and idea than anything else. This was no different.
In talking about this topic it wasn’t as simple as one might think. None of our students had
both biological parents living at home with them. In discussing God being our father, they
compared him to their earthly disappointments. When we talked about being adopted, and
the need to enter into a right relationship with him, it turned to the reason this was broken.
One of our student declared, “I’ve never understood why we have to keep paying for one
bad decision made by Adam and Eve.” This is when we turned to the Bible and really
looked at the way innocence was lost for eternity. The need for Jesus started that day, and
our students are understanding that being HIS is what makes all the difference.
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THE LOREM IPSUMS
WINTER 2016
Craig’s Corner
Christmas In Haiti
already sitting quietly on rows of wooden
benches. After some singing and prayers and a
couple of short “speeches,” it was time for the
party to begin. First came a small bag of pep pep
(popcorn) for each child. Then our Haitian
teenagers passed out a piece of candy to
everyone. Next came a small sandwich, and
then a large container of juice that brought
“oohs and aahs” from the bright-eyed and
smiling faces. The grand finale was a balloon
for each one – from 3 years old to 21 – and that
was the icing on the cake! This was a
celebration like none you’d ever see in America,
with such thankfulness for so little. For most of
these little ones, it was the best Christmas they
had ever seen.
Christmas in Haiti is nothing like Christmas in
America. There are no presents, no trees
covered in bright lights, and no special dinner.
Basically, Christmas in Haiti feels like any other
day of the year, except for the genuine
realization that this is the day to celebrate the
birth of the Christ child.
However, Joseph, our Haitian director, knows
how to make the children of L’Acajou feel
special. Especially when a good friend sends us
$250 as a blessing for this holiday.
On Christmas morning, we hopped on the wellworn Aslan motorcycle and headed for
L’Acajou. As we drove through the gates of our
land, I could see a mass of 200 Aslan children
Getting The Word Out…
Invite Us Over…
This month Aslan met with several “Ambassadors” from local
churches and organizations. These liaisons take on the
responsibility of being a cheerleader for our organization to their
local area. Through their efforts our staff has been spending
much time speaking about the mission and exciting things going
on here. If you would be interested in becoming a Monmouth
County “Ambassador,” having us speak at your church,
organization or would like to have your friends come together
for a small coffee and informational dessert, we would love to!
Please just contact Janis Marlar to get things started!
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THE LOREM IPSUMS
WINTER 2016
What You Want to Know
NEW BOOK!
Everybody’s Urban: Understanding the Survival Mindset of the Next Generation
Aslan Program Development Director, Leneita Fix, just released her
latest book explaining and exploring who “urban youth” truly are. More
and more students are “stuck” in a survival mindset with an inability to
hope or beyond today. This is true of many of our Aslan students. If
you are looking to understand our families deeper, or would like to
learn strategies for working with them, this is a quick, practical read.
You can pick up the book at www.simplyyouthministry.com
We Come to You!
In the last several months we realized it has been much too long
since we have given updates at local churches who sponsor us. In
January, a wonderful group of our students visited Community
Baptist Church in Neptune. They inspired the congregation with
some songs and afterward were treated to an awesome pizza lunch!
Thanks to all those who have already had us in for an update or
missions moment! We appreciate you!
Thank You!
A special thanks to both New York Life and LBT&D
Foundation for their recent grant awards to help fund
our Aslan programming. We are blessed by their
partnership.
Have Some Island Fun
Island Nights is coming in July! We need your help with our
premiere fundraiser. This island themed dinner includes sail
boat rides, and a vacation give away! It takes many hands to
make a great event. Would you consider attending, inviting others
or helping out some way with the day? Even if you are available
for an hour or so we could use you to help us have a great evening!
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THE LOREM IPSUMS
WINTER 2016
Volunteer Spotlight
By: Yoshio Narita
as some of the computer software/hardware Aslan
received. On occasions I was able to build shelving
to help store supplies. I even hung up frames as well
as installed coat hangers in the staff offices. The
Aslan office even let me learn more about using
Excel and Word on their work computers. It is said
that not using the brain is detrimental for the post
retirement senior citizen. Well, the Aslan office did
not want that to happen so they allowed me to work
on some more challenging projects (with the hope of
slowing down this senior citizen problem.) The first
project was to keep track of the status of the
Volunteers who applied to Aslan. The second
project was to schedule the mailings of the periodic
(approximately every-other-month) newsletters.
This entailed developing a schedule with
Churches/volunteer groups to have them do the
work of “stuffing” the envelopes with the Aslan
newsletter, etc. and to fill out the USPS cost forms
to mail out the filled envelopes. Well, I cannot say
that this brain usage cures Alzheimer’s but at least it
slowed the degradation for 10 years.
Ten years or so later, I must say that
volunteering at Aslan was one of the most fulfilling
phases of my life. The energy, enthusiasm and
camaraderie of the Aslan group is inspirational.
Whenever I had contact with the people of Aslan I
felt that I was participating with people doing God’s
work. For people like me, the indirect service to the
disadvantage through organizations like Aslan, is
very satisfying. It is almost like letting others do the
work but still receiving part of the credit for the
work. The selfless work effort of the staff was
catching and I always wanted to do more to serve
them.
However, like most good things, this phase
of life must end, but it will not be forgotten by me. I
want to thank the Aslan team for allowing me to
participate in doing the work of God in a way
which was very comfortable to
me. I am
confident that
with a team like
that, Aslan will
continue to change
the world, one
child at a time.
My name is Yoshio Narita. Since my parents
both were born in Japan, I am considered to be a
Nisei by the Japanese (which means a second
generation person living in the USA [but first
generation American, because my parents were
NOT allowed to become naturalized Americans
until about 1954]). I was born in San Francisco (in
1933), lived in Arkansas during the war years, but
primarily raised up in NYC.
After graduating from CCNY college I was
employed as a civilian at Fort Monmouth and
stayed in Red Bank for several years commuting
between Fort Monmouth and Red Bank by bus or
by car pooling. After marriage my wife and 3
children settled down in Lincroft NJ where I have
lived for almost 50 years.
While at Fort Monmouth, I heard of an
organization, which was helping the “at-risk”
children of Red Bank by tutoring them after school.
I thought that this was a good way to help the young
people so I volunteered to help Aslan for about a
year or so. However, I was never too strong in
people skills, especially children, and so decided to
postpone working with them for a while. About 40
years later I retired from Fort Monmouth and was
looking around for a Christian organization, around
Red Bank, where I might help do volunteer work. I
knew that there was a Salvation Army group in Red
Bank. I drove all over Red Bank and could not find
where they were located. This was years before you
could just “Google” on the computer, so I was
going crazy looking for the organization that I knew
was in Red Bank. But in my quest, I passed a sign
on Maple Street that said “Aslan Youth Ministries.”
I felt that God was telling me that I should serve
THIS group. So, I went inside and applied to
volunteer for Aslan with the specific proviso that I
will work in the office and NOT do tutoring or
helping with Bible studies work dealing directly with
the children. I had no specific skills that I could
offer However, they graciously allowed me to help
in the office.
Working at the Aslan office was not
difficult. My main thought was that I needed to do
the minor, time consuming work that the staff could
not get to. So I emptied the wastepaper baskets,
cleared up the paper supplies, reorganized the
stockroom storage items, took inventory of items
donated to Aslan (like shoes, tee shirts, etc) as well
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THE LOREM IPSUMS
WINTER 2016
WHO WE ARE!
Aslan’s Mission: Through God’s love to affect permanent change in
the heart’s and minds of at-risk youth in America and Haiti.
Core Values Take the “Risk” out of an “at-risk” situation.
•
Relationally Driven
•
Integrity
•
Servant- Leaders
•
Christ- Centered
Changing the world,
One Child At A Time…
For Constant Updates Check Us Out:
www.aslanyouth.org
Key Contacts from this issue:
Janis Marlar, Volunteer Coordinator:
[email protected]
(Volunteering, Ambassador info, etc.)
John Fix, COO: [email protected]
(NJ Marathon, Island Nights)