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Racial Reconciliation Program Focuses On Youth
Bob Smietana
GARY, IN (March 24, 2000) - Racial reconciliation and diversity can be topics of heavy discussions. But, according to Willa Simmons, they can also be fun.
"Everything does not have to be a tearjerker," says Simmons, program director of Youth Family Community Renewal (YFCR), an educational ministry of Gary Covenant Church. "We need time for talking, laughing together, and getting to know each other without having people in a pressure situation."
With that in mind, YFCR hosted an inter-racial family day for Covenant churches at its campus in Gary. More than 100 youth and adults attended the event, co-sponsored by Covenant Ministries of Compassion, Mercy and Justice and Covenant Harbor.
Family Day was held in conjunction with the Saturday enrichment program operated by YFCR. Both children and adults learned about team-building, creative dance, African-American history, and even spent time in the inflated Jump Castle. The accompanying photograph shows Ferba Hines, who teaches sign language to children and adults each Saturday, leading a group in a version of the alphabet song
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Participating churches included Church of Gary (Gary, Illinois); North Park, Grace, and Edgewater Covenant churches (Chicago, Illinois); Naperville Covenant Church (Naperville, Illinois); and Evanston Covenant Church in Evanston, Illinois (Chris Carlson, pastor of Evanston Covenant, co-hosted the event with Simmons).
Carlson says his interest in the event was sparked by the shooting spree last summer involving white supremacist Benjamin Smith. Smith was accused of murdering Ricky Byrdsong, former head basketball coach at Northwestern University, which is located about two blocks from Carlson's home. Carlson's goal is to do something to expose young people to ethnic diversity.
"Racism begins often in early childhood," says Carlson, "and we know that racial attitudes are often set (established) by adolescence. We do lots of reconciliation events with adults. Why not start with kids."
Family day was a precursor to a cross-racial family camp to be held at Covenant Harbor July 2-8. Raleigh Washington, vice president of racial reconciliation for Promise Keepers, will be the featured camp speaker.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
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