Ember Curtis Bay

I love being around people that have started things from nothing and naturally, The Ember Cast has gravitated towards this as well. One thing that makes us unique is our ability to expose emerging global student leaders to the type of people that have done these kinds of things - creative, innovative and entrepreneurial to the core. Gospel centered missional leaders of the future will need to have the skill to find a way or make a way. Last Saturday, we had the privilege of seeing lots of this kind of thing.

DK [ProtoGuide 2013] and Wendy Usher [AZ 2013] have worked with us for a few years and we love the leadership they are providing at their respective colleges. On Saturday, they brought a bunch of their friends to serve at a service day hosted by Ember.

We worked with The Well in Curtis Bay and got to know Mandy Memmel, the founder and executive director. The Well is primarily a resource for women living in Curtis Bay but talk to Mandy and you'll find a catalytic leader that is hoping to change the very culture of their community by helping the women that live there first.

DK brought about 20 college students, which is no small feat. She's been making Ember proud by working on Towson Cru's service team, heading up community outreach initiatives for their community.

Wendy Usher has been working with an after school club of sorts with some kids from her community. Recently she has pivoted that into a mentorship type agreement and has found a small group of college students willing to serve and lead and tutor these kids. In a bold move, she brought 6 volunteers and 10 of these kids in her mentorship initiative to Curtis Bay this weekend. I know you might be thinking of the liability issues in this - trust me, I know. But besides that, exposing kids that are served every week to getting outside of themselves to serve others is a huge win and Wendy and her team pulled it off.

Getting high school kids involved in service projects is almost never a bad thing. But don't forget that somewhere in the past, God birthed a vision in someone. You really win when this person who found a way or made a way shares their passion with your students.

Absolutely loved every piece of this day including the fact that it was our first Prague team excursion. And The Well has one of the most organized clothing closet I have ever seen, accomplished by someone in their mentorship program.