Passion - Hip Hop Happiness

What is your passion? And - how do you express it? Stephanie & Carly LOVE Hip-Hop. And so do the Buddies as we follow our fearless leaders! Our favorite passions range from art, to sports, to God, to dance, to spending time with families - and much more. We thank you, God, for giving us the desires of our hearts!

Annual Spaghetti Dinner at Char's!

Pink and pretty - hearts, candles, flowers and LOTS OF FOOD - both for our bellies and our brains! Our annual Big Buddy Valentine's dinner was another wonderful night - lots of fellowship and fun celebrating God's love for us and our love for each other.

All About Love! Valentine's Day at Buckingham

Most girls love hearts, flowers, ribbons and bows - and CHOCOLATE!!! After learning about God's unconditional love for us, we shared "love letters" (hearts) with each other. Maybe someday we will find this heart folded up in a drawer or notebook just when we need to be reassured about how special we are to Him, to our Buddies, and to each other!

Pefecting Potatoes!

This past week our ASB/MS students prepared "perfect potatoes " - using the baked skins to make delicious appetizers (that we ate!) and the main pototo to prepare a sensational potato casserole. Our casseroles were shared with a family recovering from chemotheraphy and another with family dealing with loss and grief.

During our sharing time this week our middle schoolers were introduced to the concept of "Humility". Our teen mentors shared a drama demonstrating what being humble means in today's world of a "me first" mentality. We know God calls us to love others and put their needs first before our own. We hope that this message is heard by those who participate in Buddies as well as those who are the recipeints of God's love through us.

There is so much pain and suffering in our midst. We are blessed to to be able to take a basic life skill such as food preparation and turn it into a way to bless families in need of love and encouragement. It is a humbling experience.

For those of you who are so generous in giving financial support to Buddies - please know that your gifts are shared in many ways. We need you, we are grateful to you and we love you!

Remembering Camp

Last summer we hosted our first ASB Dazzling Day Camp. There were 20 attendees throughout the week at our Evergreen Ranch in Bend. We learned about becoming everlasting encouragers while experiencing the great outdoors in Bend. From creating cool crafts, to a visit to the Caves and a field trip to Crystal Peak Youth Ranch in Tumalo, to our great games day and campfire, camp was a dream come true for many.

Here are some memories from Markayla, a 6th grader at Cascade Middle School... "At camp I remember all the activities that I did with games and making stuff. The end was very fun when we played Capture the Flag and when we all went around the camp fire. We made tie-dye shirts and cool binders and also cool crosses. It was fun to get to go in the water!"

Why Do You Serve as a Big Buddy?

This is my second year being a Big Buddy for the ASB program and I have LOVED every minute of it! It has definately taught me to open up and be more of a kid at heart, yet still be responsible with younger girls. I love meeting new people and the interaction that comes with it. I am so blessed to be in this amazing program and I encourage all girls who want to be in this growing experience to do it!!!

Kelli - Summit High School

First Meeting for 2007 - Buckingham

Today was our first ASB meeting for Buckingham Elementary school. Besides snack time, sharing and the homework session we discussed character virtues chosen by our teens to focus on this year... humility, patience, gentleness, passion, faith, and love.

We had just three Little Buddies attend this week but I am sure that next week the numbers will double! Four out of the six teen volunteers were able to make it today so we were well beyond our 1-to-1 ratio for the first get together. We started making our new name badge necklaces out of macrame yarn and beads - each bead symbolizing the virtues listed above as well as those we serve in ASB - God, youth, families, community and the world! Can't wait until next week! I love these girls!!!