Dear friends:

Would you believe Aslan now has a gourmet cooking class on Tuesday evenings? Eight pre-teens from our afternoon Right Choices program hop on the van each week to go to Traci’s house. When they arrive, the girls don chef’s aprons and begin their weekly adventure in cooking. And an adventure it is! We aren’t talking about thawing things from the freezer. Traci and the Aslan girls start from scratch and end up with the real thing! One night when I visited the class the young ladies were making the sauce for lasagna, beginning with fresh plum tomatoes, traditional ingredients and seasonings. An hour or so later they layered the pasta, sauce and cheese they grated by hand, and a short time after this they sat down to a delicious Italian feast.

Why, you might ask, am I so excited about an Aslan cooking class? My excitement really has more to do with opportunity than my deep interest in cooking! Here are eight girls – each from a very difficult home situation. Each child has a story to tell, and each story is filled with a great deal of sadness. Only one of the girls lives with her father and mother, and two of the girls do not live with either their father or their mother. One girl’s dad has spent most of his life since high school in and out of New Jersey prisons. One girl’s mother is addicted to drugs and abandoned her to be raised by her grandmother. Another girl lives with a grandmother and an aunt.

Aslan is so important to each of these dear hearts. With God’s help, every child that walks through the doors of Aslan sees opportunity, hope and a lot of love. In this case, cooking is the vehicle to offer this opportunity, hope and love. A caring woman named Traci opens her home, her time and her life to encourage and mentor a group of girls that see little in life to be encouraged about. Each girl is learning new skills. More importantly, these young ladies are experiencing a tangible love – something they will carry with them for the rest of their lives!

Please remember that it is through your giving and prayers that Aslan Youth Ministries can offer so many opportunities to young people. We appreciate your help for these wonderful children more than we can say!

Craig

Craig Bogard