MISSION MATTERS – Fall 2024
Providing Bibles and Inspiring Hope
Your kindness in supporting GEMS Girls’ Clubs is helping us reach girls with the love of Christ through our leaders who try to get a Bible into the hands of each girl in their club.
Girls are encouraged to bring their Bibles to club meetings so they can follow along with each lesson and become familiar with how to navigate the Bible. Each new GEMS season, the girls are always encouraged to invite friends to join their club, especially a friend who may have never heard about Jesus.
The result is that many of the girls who attend a GEMS Girls’ Club do not come from a home where faith is practiced or the Bible is read. Our clubs may be the only place where they hear about Jesus or receive a Bible.
This past year, one of our leaders created an activity to make Bible covers for their Bibles. Through this activity, she discovered 27 girls didn’t have Bibles and was able to give one to each girl. She is just one of many leaders who work hard to make sure each girl has a Bible.
Providing a girl with a Bible is not about just handing a girl a book. It’s about putting Truth in their hands and hope in their hearts. Because of your financial gifts and prayers, we are able to help make that happen.
Reaching Girls Through Relevant Bible Curriculum
Your decision to financially support GEMS Girls’ Clubs means we are able to create and produce our own curriculum that speaks to the specific age groups of the girls in our clubs, as well as to the culture our girls are living in.
This year we introduced the Bible curriculum, Transformed, because girls today are experiencing an overwhelming amount of pressure to conform to the whims of culture. According to a study conducted by ROX (rulingourexperiences.com), 79% of girls surveyed report they are under so much pressure they feel like they are going to “explode.” In their efforts to fit in, girls are conforming to the patterns of this world, not the Word of God.
Just like a caterpillar doesn’t transform into a butterfly overnight, our girls don’t instantly experience God’s transformation, but our curriculum will help girls:
• Learn who Jesus is and how to follow him
• Understand the gospel
• Develop a love for God’s Word
• Be equipped to memorize, study and apply scripture
And so much more!
Thank you again for all the ways you help us reach our mission of bringing girls into a living, dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ.
Letter from the Executive Director
Dear Friend,
As the new Executive Director of GEMS Global, I want to extend a heartfelt thank you for your generous financial support. Your partnership means the world to us, and we are deeply grateful for you!
Because of your faithful giving, GEMS has been able to share the hope and love of Jesus with even more girls this past year. The stories in this newsletter offer a glimpse of the life-changing transformation happening in the hearts of girls everywhere.
Having once been a Calvinette/GEM myself, I am incredibly excited to step into this role. It’s amazing to see how GEMS has grown and adapted over the years, staying true to the solid biblical foundation that has impacted countless lives since 1958.
Our mission remains the same: to equip churches and mentors to guide girls into a vibrant, dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ. We invite you to continue walking alongside us in this important work.
I’d love to connect with you if you have any questions or would like to learn more about how you can further partner with us. You can reach me at wendy@gemsgc.org. I look forward to journeying together with you to reach more girls for Christ.
With gratitude and joy,
Wendy Hammond
GEMS Executive Director
Equipping Leaders for Greater Impact
We are grateful to those of you who helped sponsor our recent Sisterhood Summit which took place this past July. We welcomed over 200 women both online and in person to help equip and renew them for the fall season of GEMS. Your financial gifts keep our registration costs low and help offset the airfare and hotel expenses our leaders incur as they travel from all over the United States.
GEMS Girls’ Clubs exist because of the over 3,000 volunteer mentors that lead girls in clubs on a regular basis. These women don’t necessarily come with a degree in children’s ministry, but they come with something even more important–a heart to serve girls and see them grow into a living, dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ. They are obeying the call to reach girls at young ages and help them to grow up confident, strong and secure in Christ.
Here’s what one attendee had to say:
Thanks to you, numerous women were impacted by your generosity and many girls will feel the effects of a leader who is equipped to lead.
GEMS Global Annual Fundraising Dinner
The annual fundraising dinner for GEMS Global is planned this year for Tuesday, October 15 at the Prince Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Anyone is invited to attend until we reach our maximum capacity.
Thanks to our presenting sponsors of the event, Detailed Metals, Inc. and Signet Private Wealth, tickets are available at no charge so that more people can come and learn more about GEMS and consider contributing time or resources to the ministry. We would love to have you join us!
During the program, guests will hear from Jenn Amo, founder of Warning Lights, an advocate who fights against Human Trafficking and sees how GEMS Girls’ Club provides solutions. Pastor Heather Dood will share about the positive effects of their church’s GEMS Club and GEMS Executive Director Wendy Hammond will wrap up the night by talking about why SHE NEEDS US.
For more details and to reserve your spot at the event, visit gemsgc.org/fundraising.
Your Impact Matters in Starting 22 New Clubs
Stephanie Brill and Frances Eskew approached their church, Payson Ponderosa Bible Church in Payson, Arizona, in early February 2024 to pursue starting a club of some kind for girls only. There were already two groups for kids in the church, but one was for boys and girls together and one for boys only. They wanted something just for girls. They understood the premise that girls might be more comfortable to share in a same gender ministry. They didn’t have the bandwidth to start from scratch and write their own materials so they searched online for an established program. Enter GEMS Girls’ Clubs.
Just two short months later, the club began with 25 girls on board and all the leaders they needed. Stephanie and Frances became co-coordinators because they each brought different skills and talents to the table that worked beautifully when shared together. And while 25 girls was a great start, these leaders yearned to reach more girls. They put posters up around their town and passed out fliers and this fall they are starting their new club season with 42 girls, almost doubling the original number.
They shared that nearly 75% of the girls do not have a faith background or a home church. So, because of your generosity, these girls will be introduced to Jesus Christ and our prayer is that they accept Him as their Savior.
This club is one of 22 new clubs that have started in the last 12 months. That’s more than one a month!
Thank you for all the ways you support GEMS Girls’ Clubs. We are approaching our 67th year and it seems as though the need for a safe place for girls to gather, be mentored by older women, and learn about Jesus is more critical than ever.
