--student overheard upon leaving the After Prom Event in 2004
Our Projects/History:
1995-2008
The South Iredell Youth Ministry Network was founded in 1995 to network youth ministries together to positively affect teens and our community.
* Bible Clubs
The SIYMN has been involved in student led Bible clubs in the public schools since 1996. Through Youth Commission International (YCI) we partner with schools and strive to have a SIYMN representative in every middle and high school club in the South Iredell region.
*Sunday Nitro
The SIYMN networked local churches together for six events from 1995 thru 1999. These events were called Sunday Nitro and were designed to network teens of all denominational backgrounds. Sunday Nitro was hosted at First Baptist Church of Mooresville and averaged 300 teens in attendance.
*See You At The Pole Rallies
From 1995 to 2004 SIYMN held See You at the Pole rallies to aid and encourage teens as they geared up for this internationally known student led event.
*After Prom Events
Several years ago, SIYMN noticed a need for an after prom alternative. We began small, renting the Catawba Queen for a night cruise on Lake Norman, where food and fun were readily available. From there we doubled our efforts, moving to the Lowes YMCA in 2006 and 2007 and to Club FX in 2008. We have had as many as 125 students participate in this event which is well over 25% of all students attending the Mooresville prom.
Our Partners in these events have included:
Participating area network churches
Lowes YMCA
Mooresville High School
Mooresville Community Pregnancy Center
2003-2005 Catawba Queen
2006-2007 Lowes YMCA
2008 Club FX
*Xtreme Community Makeovers
As a network SIYMN has done three Xtreme Community Makeovers in Mooresville.
On April 11 of 2005 after a great deal of planning and collaboration with the Town of Mooresville, the SIYMN set their sights on the Mill Hill in downtown Mooresville. Thirteen churches came together for this event bringing in well over 300 teens. Porches were built, houses painted, and trash hauled off for a combined total of 54 houses in one day.
Then on November 26, 2006 the SIYMN went back into the Mill Village. This time teens raked leaves for residents who could not do it for themselves. The teens were able to rake 46 yards in just a half day of work. Finally on April 14, 2007 the teens of the SIYMN again revisited residents of the mill village to wash windows and haul off trash. We were able to clean the windows of 27 houses.
*SIYMN Office
Over the past year we have opened and operated an office in downtown Mooresville. This office housed our conference room for networking and planning as well as a resource library for youth pastors and volunteers. We also had work space available for youth ministers to use as a get away from the routine.
Teen Center
We are seeking to open a teen center in Mooresville. Check out FUZION for more information.
Xtreme Community Makeover II
April 14th 2007 the network visited the Mill Village from 8:30 AM to 1:30 PM to clean windows, haul off junk and make contact with the community to seek out other needs that homeowners and renters may have.
Xtreme Community Makeover I "05 report This event was the springboard for our network involvment in the community.
- Charlotte Observer, The (NC) April 13, 2005 Section: IREDELL NEIGHBORS Edition: TWO Page: 6J
HOMES GET X-TREME MAKEOVER YOUTH GROUPS JOIN TO PAINT, REPAIR, MOW GRASS AT HOMES IN MILL VILLAGE ERICA BESHEARS, STAFF WRITER
No, Ty Pennington of ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" didn't show up with his loudspeaker to rouse people to action.
But the 300 or so youth group volunteers who came to the Mooresville Mill Village on Saturday were inspired to help nonetheless. The youth groups of 13 south Iredell churches joined forces for what they called X-treme Community Makeover. They scraped and painted the outside of houses, mowed lawns, repaired porches and planted flowers in the spring sun, as the adults rushed around delivering paint and brushes and other supplies to the 54 job sites. "We expected big, but it's turned out to be huge," said the Rev. Daniel Dye, minister to students at Peninsula Baptist Church and chairman of the South Iredell Youth Ministry Network. Dye spent much of Saturday whizzing around the mill village on a golf cart.
The network of youth groups wanted to take part in an event that would help the community, and town officials pointed it toward the mill village because it has a lot of homes needing repair in close proximity to each other, Dye said.
And many of the kids watch Pennington on "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," said James Meacham, a youth advisor at Williamson's Chapel United Methodist Church. "It was kind of inspired by the extreme makeover they do on the homes," he said.
On the ABC program, the show selects a down-on-its-luck family and spares no expense creating the home of family members' dreams in a short time.
"It's my favorite show," said Elizabeth Sanford, 11. In fact, she said, when she told other kids at school about Saturday's event, they asked if Ty would be there. Elizabeth said she told them, "Yeah, I'm going to be on TV."
The show's emotional climax comes at the end, when family members see their new digs. Caroline Schuerger, 12, was already imagining that moment as she painted a house on Doster Avenue a Cape Cod gray.
"I really want to see the look on her face," Caroline said. "I just want to see how much this changes for them and all."
Illustration:Photo
MARTY PRICE - SPECIAL TO THE OBSERVER. Thirteen-year-old D.J. Cloaninger, with the Triplett United Methodist youth group, takes a hammer to the outside of 322 Doster Ave. during the X-treme Community Makeover.
Copyright (c) 2005 The Charlotte Observer