Innovating Youth Ministry in Buchans, N.L.

As the corps officer in a small town in Newfoundland, Lieutenant April Ward was looking for ways The Salvation Army could better serve her community. Some brainstorming led her to a brilliant idea, and in this episode of the podcast, Lieutenant April shares how “family night theme bags” have transformed youth ministry at her corps—and sparked a new ministry to seniors, too.

Transcript

Kristin Ostensen  

This is the Salvationist podcast. I’m Kristin Ostensen. Lieutenant April Ward is the corps officer in Buchans, a small town in central Newfoundland. She was looking for ways The Salvation Army could better serve her community when she had a lightbulb moment. A simple idea with a big impact, made possible by an innovation grant from territorial headquarters. In this episode of the podcast, April shares how “family night theme bags” have transformed youth ministry at her corps—and sparked a new ministry to seniors, too.

Hi, April. Thanks for joining me on the podcast today.

April Ward  

Thanks for having me.

Kristin Ostensen  

So first off, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your corps?

April Ward  

Well, I'm sort of, well, I guess still new out of the Army in a sense. Be five years in June since I've come out, and this is my second appointment. And I'm in Buchans, Newfoundland. So, it's really central of the island there; we're not by the ocean. It was a mining community back in the day, and we have about 500, 600 people here in the community, a very closeknit community where everyone pretty much knows everyone. And we have a smaller size corps. We average about 30, 35 people a service, which is really good for a small community. And yeah, we seem to connect really well here.

Kristin Ostensen  

Yeah. Well, it sounds like it would make sense then to have the kind of program you have, which is this family night theme bag. So, can you tell me, how does this program work? And where did the idea come from?

April Ward  

Well, first, I guess I would start with where the idea come from. We heard about the innovation grant that was being offered through THQ. I said, OK, there's possibilities here and I racked my brain for a few months. And I talked with different people and with the ACs. And it's, what can we do for our community? We have a small school. There's about 65, 70 students, around there. But they attend the school from Buchans, Millertown and Buchans Junction, so three little communities together. And we noticed that a lot of families sometimes lack family time, or what to do when they're together. So, what about a family night theme bag every month? That's how that came about. So I said, This will gather families together, give them a space and a time where they could just be themselves with their family members, put work aside, put school aside, let's just have some fun, do something together, spend time together. And just to help families grow together better, more communication, getting to know each other really well. Because with social media, and with electronics now, it's like sometimes we don't even know who we're living with, in a sense, because we don't connect as much as what we normally did without those things. So, we decided to do that. So, every month, a random day of the month, we pick a theme, and we fill 40 family bags. Each family will get a bag. I will drive to the school, open up the hatch in my car, and when the school bell rings at the end of the day, the kids will line up by my car and get their family night bag. And then they would send us pictures, how that looked for them and what they done. And they seem to really enjoy it. 

Kristin Ostensen  

I love it. And you're so right—sometimes it is hard to come up with ideas for cool stuff to do with your family. So, what kind of themes did you do? I'm intrigued.

April Ward  

It was a little bit difficult at first because you don't want to redo a theme. We actually made a little committee in the corps, which is three other ladies and myself. And we meet and we have a chat online and we have ourselves called the bag ladies. Something a little bit fun. [laughs] You know, make this fun. Yeah, we message back and forth ideas. So, some of the themes that we've come up with are family night movies, a pumpkin-carving kit where we provide the pumpkins. I've driven to the nearest community and just filled my car full of pumpkins. People really wondered what was happening, but it's really fun. Really fun. We done game nights, provided them games and snacks. We've done smoothie night where we've given them their own personal blender with their fruit and their milk and their yogurt. We've done caramel apple kit recently. Newfoundland, the boil-up family theme bag—so you get your roasting stick and your wieners and your beans, so you can have—and a fire-starter, right, so they go and have their campfire in their own yard. We've done taco night, pizza night. We’ve done so many! Baking night. It's crazy, but they absolutely love it because they don't know what they're getting next. So, when they see me, they're like, When are we getting your next bag? I'm like, It's a surprise. 

Kristin Ostensen  

Yeah, that's amazing. How long has it been running now, then? What month did you start?

April Ward  

We started in September of last year.

Kristin Ostensen  

OK, of 2021.

April Ward  

Yes. We done one previously before that, before our innovation grant. And then we got our innovation grant, and we started in September. Now, by no means have we been holding back from them, which is the funny part. I'm like, I think God just keeps providing us extra funds because, I'm like, I don't know how we're still doing this without, you know. So, it's amazing. So, we're continuing this year, we still have funds to do it. And I mean, we've hosted other events with that money for youth. 

Kristin Ostensen  

Yeah, can you tell me about some of those youth events as well?

April Ward  

We done a winter scavenger hunt last year, where the kids’ families—not just kids, the families—gathered, teamed up at the school and I gave them their sheets. And they went in around the community and found what was on that list. It could have been a sled. It was a junk of wood. It was a set of skis. And when they found what was on their lists, or what they could find, they came back to the school to show us what they had. And they took pictures and each individual kid got to go and pop a balloon in their age range. And in that balloon was the prize which they won. So, it was toys, it was craft kits, it was sports equipment. For some of the older kids, we had some gift cards. But they all came and every kid got something worth a maximum of $30. So, it was a fair-sized gift. We also done a scavenger hunt for Easter eggs during Easter. I ordered a costume, I was the bunny rabbit going around town, hiding the Easter eggs, and they would find me. And they had fun doing that. Some of those had special prizes put in the eggs. And if you had a special prize, you would call the number, you would meet us at the church and you'd get your special prize. We've done even skating at the arena here, at the stadium we have, last winter as well. So, we're branching out and doing it for families in a whole—not just sometimes school families because we have some younger kids as well, right?

Kristin Ostensen  

Yeah, and it sounds like the response has been extremely positive. Can you tell me more about the kind of feedback you've had from the young people and their parents?

April Ward  

The kids absolutely adore it. They love it. It gives them something new to look forward to, stuff probably some may have never done before. And the parents are just, they're amazed at what we're able to do with this. And they're so thankful that, you know—"I can't believe you're doing this for us, this is amazing. We've really enjoyed it as a family. How are you able to do this?” And I enlighten them and I let them know, this is how we do it. And they're just so thankful, right? And they're feeling that joy that it brings, as you would say. So, they're just really grateful around for it.

Kristin Ostensen  

For sure. And how has this program led to the creation of other initiatives or built more connections with the corps?

April Ward  

It led to many initiatives, from simple gatherings in the backyard with the youth, you know. Send out a message: Kids, teens, I'm having a campfire in my backyard. Come on by. We're gonna have roasted wieners and marshmallows and some juice, some music, some fun. And the kids are responding to coming to that. They're feeling welcomed. They’re entering in a different space than what they were before. And it helped us initiate seniors’ programs through different tie-ins. And knowing that there's an interest in all of these things, it makes it easier to venture out in the community, to try new things, to do new things overall for the community. I know this week, we're having an EDS truck brought up. And we are doing hot chocolate for the Parade of Lights and tree lighting. And yesterday, we done a breakfast at the school for the kids with grilled cheese, bacon and fresh fruit. So, it just opens up new avenues to go out and minister.

Kristin Ostensen  

For sure. And you alluded to the seniors’ program—I understand that you ended up applying for another innovation grant for that. Can you tell me about that initiative and how that came about?

April Ward  

So, the email came out again, to apply for another grant. And I looked at one of my main volunteers, a member of the corps, and I said, What do you think? We can try? I said, Well, we got one last year, we might not get one this year. But you know, I said, What were you thinking? I said, Well, we've done something involving youth and family. I said, There are a lot of seniors in our community who are shut in, they're lonely. They don't get to go anywhere anymore to associate with other seniors. And that is very true. We have a senior community. What if we apply for this grant for seniors? And through that, we came up with the idea of bimonthly suppers for the seniors, partnered with the school so we could use their building to host the meals. And every other month is maybe a seniors’ tea in our church basement. It's much smaller scale, but we do along that lines where they come in and they have tea. So, we have a sign-up sheet. And the first meal, you know, getting off the ground, was a little, not as many people. We served about 40, 50 people maybe, with a spaghetti supper. The next meal we had was half a chicken dinner with creamy mashed potato and, you know, your veggies and your desserts, of course, and we served roughly 105 people. So, the word got out, people came, and they said, “I can't believe you're doing this for us. We enjoy it so much. I get to talk to other people. It's a night out. I'm not alone by myself in my house.” So, it gives them that feeling. But we knew we could do this because we had a relationship built with the youth. To serve all these people, we needed help. The youth, I reached out and I just talked to them and asked them about it. “We would totally help” was their response. And this is because of our connection with family bags. They come, they help prep the day before, the day before to set up tables. They prep the day of the supper. And they come and they serve the seniors their suppers. So, they go out, they’re talking with the seniors, they're getting to know each other, so it’s a multigenerational connection that's being made there. And now when they're in the community, it's not so awkward, as you would say, when you're bumping into one another. It's like, Oh, hi, how are you doing? You know, supper was great. Thanks for helping. And the kids are connecting with them, right? So, it's bringing everyone together. And it's amazing to see that grow. It's amazing to see the reactions of people and how that fits. It’s amazing. That's another word, but it's amazing. 

Kristin Ostensen  

It sounds so beautiful. That was the word that came to mind for me—this picture of true community being built through these programs. And obviously that, I imagine, is having an impact on the corps itself. And I'm wondering if you can talk a bit about how maybe the corps has changed because of these two innovation grant programs?

April Ward  

Well, I can definitely say the corps has become much busier. 

Kristin Ostensen  

That's good!

April Ward  

Much busier. But with initiating these grants, with the teaching of these initiatives to our corps members, and explaining and growing in that change, I think we've developed a more safer space for people to come. People feel more welcome in our building. They feel more welcome when they see us out and about, that they could come and approach us and talk to us and share what's on their mind; to say to us, you know, “Can you pray for me?” kind of thing. And we're learning that, you know, everyone is at different stages in life. So, what works for one person don't work for another. But with this multigenerational thing happening, it seems like people are starting to understand people more, if that makes any sense. People are feeling loved, they're feeling cared for. And people reach out in various situations, to talk to us or to come to a corps event, which is amazing. People signing up, wanting to volunteer with the corps, wanting to do things for the corps. And I mean, those connections are—it's amazing—those connections are what we need; the relationship building, to let people know that, you know what, we love you. Jesus loves you. And we're here for you. Right? We want to be an explosion in our community, as we would say. And that's one of our mottos we’ve come up with. We want to be an explosion in our community, for people to feel and know the love of Jesus through us and through our service. And it's happening. It's a process, of course. And I am ecstatic to just see where it leads, and how just the interactions change, and how that's gonna work out in, like, a year, two years, right. It's amazing.

Kristin Ostensen  

Yeah, because it's not just a meal, right? It's not just a bag. There's real, long-term connection and long-term spiritual impact happening.

April Ward  

Exactly. Yes. So, we having people come to me and feeling welcomed and comfortable enough to talk, share their concerns—it's a blessing. Right? You want people to feel that. And that's what's happening.

Kristin Ostensen  

That's amazing. It's amazing to hear that so much is happening just out of these two innovation grant programs. And as we're into 2023, what's next for Buchans Corps? Do you have any new things or continuing things on the horizon?

April Ward  

I want to say a nap is in the near future. [laughs]

Kristin Ostensen  

You have been very busy! [laughs]

April Ward  

No, in all seriousness though, we do have things that we are considering. I mean, other programming that we're considering to develop, to build the tighter relationships and hopefully more in-house activity in our corps. So, whether that be like youth groups, or another seniors’ program, but in corps, where people are coming in, and we're doing a bit more on that level. And I think it's a real opportunity to do that, through these grants, because these grants have opened up the doors to be able to build those relationships, to do the in-house programming, for people to feel that they can come to that, right? So, I don't think there'll be any more innovation grants quite yet. We're still working with what we have. But there will be more different programs and stuff, hopefully, offered through that. 

Kristin Ostensen  

Yeah. Well, that's wonderful. Well, I have found this to be a very inspiring conversation, and I hope our listeners do as well. So, thank you so much for joining me today. It's been a real pleasure to meet you and talk with you. 

April Ward  

Thanks for having me. It's been a pleasure to share with you guys what's happening here, in Buchans, in a small community on Newfoundland. It's amazing the ability that the Army has to be able to share these grants with us, to build our community and to build our connections.

Kristin Ostensen  

Thanks for joining us for another episode of the Salvationist podcast. For more episodes, visit Salvationist.ca/podcast.