The Art and Mentorship Program

This August, we concluded the 8 week Youth Summer Art Program for 7-12 year olds in partnership with McDonald YMCA in southeast Fort Worth over the course of 16 classes. Our staff presented a small teaching from scripture and then distilled the topic down to a single word like Joy, Grace, and Mercy. This became the prompt for artistic interpretation, where students made amazing paintings. It also sparked conversation and appreciation of each other’s art. We helped the students overcome their fear of public speaking by having a live mic and having them share about their art with the entire class.

This summer program granted us an amazing insight to the power of art as a gateway into exploring personal and spiritual matters, and how it transforms the dynamic of the classroom. It also revealed how to effectively prepare for our next after school program starting this October!   

We will now be expanding the format for an older age group this Fall semester (ages 12-18) and will incorporate more training materials with mature teaching and conversation pieces across 10 weeks (2 classes per week). About 30 students total will be led by 2 teachers and 2 teacher assistants. 

This region of southeast Fort Worth tends to have at-risk students needing various forms of stability support. This class will facilitate conversations that instill self confidence, a sense of belonging, and an invitation to spiritual transformation through the presentation of the Gospel. Relationships will be established with students first and Christ will be introduced later in the program. We will also present approved churches in the region.

The class format will be expanded from the Summer program. A brief lesson and art will still be the first segments, but there will also be structured roundtable conversations about the art pieces, with self reflective questions and prompts for discussions of practical applications. Each lesson builds on each other, covering subjects of character development, emotional health, financial stewardship, relationships, and, ultimately, spiritual transformation through Jesus.

The roundtable format follows a model and curriculum inspired by the work of Global Priority Solutions (https://globalpriority.org/), which has been implemented in various settings, including corporate environments, youth programs, correctional facilities, and government offices internationally. While the staff serves as the facilitator and participates, each student has a time slot to share their answers. This ensures more engagement.

In partnership, the McDonald YMCA will graciously provide the class facilities and buses for our hired drivers to transport the students (most will be directly transported from three local schools). We will sponsor and facilitate the rest of the program, including supplies, class staffing, and a media team to help document the classes and create social media presence and evergreen marketing materials to further promote future classes.

This last summer session also revealed a couple other needs. New portable sound equipment is needed to replace that which was sadly destroyed by vandals at the YMCA earlier this year. This tech helps mitigate the acoustics of the large room from incidental noise during art, as well as serve as a tool for effectively controlling the room during conversations. We also discovered that many of the students who attend our summer class arrived hungry and their nourishment needs often became a distraction during class. We’ve created an additional food and beverage plan. 

Through our home delivery program, we’ve delivered thousands of furniture items, beds, and other home necessities across 1100+ at-risk families in DFW. We have given Bibles and many ministry team accompaniments for deliveries, but we have consistently seen the need for additional ongoing mentorship and discipleship for lasting change within the family unit. We realize that a large-scale support system needs to start somewhere. The relational, mental, and spiritual health needs of youth are the most pressing.

If you would like to help financially support the art and mentorship program, your gift makes a big difference. Also, if anyone has teens aged 12-17 in the region who would like to join this program, please register HERE. Classes start October 6th!

To read the full newsletter this story is featured in, go HERE.