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In this episode of You Can Mentor, host Zach sits down with Annie and Dennis from Club Christ Ministries in Las Vegas, an organization dedicated to mentoring kids and transforming communities. Annie, the Program Director, and Dennis, the Henderson Center Director, share powerful stories of how their work provides hope and support to kids facing challenges like violence and poverty.
Through tutoring, leadership development, and spiritual guidance, Club Christ Ministries is creating a safe space for kids to grow academically, emotionally, and spiritually. You’ll hear inspiring accounts of kids discovering their potential, breaking cycles of hardship, and embracing their faith—all thanks to the consistency and love of mentors.
This episode is a moving reminder of how one mentor can make a lasting impact, not just on a child’s life but on future generations. Don’t miss this conversation, and find out how you can be part of the mission to transform lives through mentorship.
Listen now, and visit youcanmentor.com for resources and ways to get involved! Give us that 5 star rating and share this episode with your friends. Thanks!
Creators & Guests
What is You Can Mentor: A Christian Youth Mentoring Podcast?
You Can Mentor is a network that equips and encourages mentors and mentoring leaders through resources and relationships to love God, love others, and make disciples in their own community.
We want to hear from you! Send any mentoring questions to hello@youcanmentor.com, and we'll answer them on our podcast. We want to help you become the best possible mentor you can be. Also, if you are a mentoring organization, church, or non-profit, connect with us to join our mentoring network or to be spotlighted on our show.
Please find out more at www.youcanmentor.com or find us on social media. You will find more resources on our website to help equip and encourage mentors. We have downloadable resources, cohort opportunities, and an opportunity to build relationships with other Christian mentoring leaders.
Welcome to the you can mentor podcast. We help Christian mentoring leaders thrive. Share our podcast with your team. Sign up for our monthly learning lab cohorts for mentoring leaders and come to the National Christian Mentoring Gathering. Help us serve more mentors by giving us a 5 star rating where you listen to your podcasts.
Speaker 1:Find out more by following us on social media or going to our website at youcanmentor.com. You can mentor.
Speaker 2:Alright. Welcome to the You Can Mentor podcast. This is your host, Zach, and I am here with Annie and Dennis from Clubchrist. You guys say hello. Hello.
Speaker 2:How's it going? Perfect. Love it. Okay. So, Eddie and I met over, a Zoom call a couple months ago, and she introduced me to her main man, mister Dennis.
Speaker 2:And they are out in Las Vegas, doing some awesome things with some kiddos. And so I'm excited to, learn more about them and what they do. And so, Annie, can you just introduce yourself and tell people all about you?
Speaker 3:Yeah. For sure. So my name is Annie. I am the program director here in Las Vegas at the Club Christ Ministries, and we currently have, 3 learning centers across the Las Vegas Valley. We have one in Henderson, which is where DJ is our center director, and then we have 2 other locations, in Las Vegas, like, more on the north side.
Speaker 3:And I've been here with Clubchrist for about a year and a half, and, we love providing a safe space for students in their apartment complexes after school. And we provide tutoring and bible study and leadership development. Those are our three main, aspects of our program. And then we do a number of other initiatives to just help kids engage, with Jesus and get to know Jesus, and also, provide discipleship opportunities for them if they, are open and and want to learn more. So that's the main thing that we do here.
Speaker 3:And, I'm so honored to work with an organization like this where we have the freedom and are encouraged to share our faith.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. Yeah. For sure. So tell me how you, came to Las Vegas, Annie?
Speaker 3:I moved here to Las Vegas about, let's see. It was in 2019. It was about 6 months before the pandemic, and I, accepted a job, with a different nonprofit at that time and worked with them for about 4 years. And then last year, I spent a few months overseas in Israel. And, shortly after I came back, I was offered this position with Clubchrist, and I'm so thankful for it.
Speaker 3:It's been an amazing experience working with this organization.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So Andy and I were talking, and I was just kinda sharing my story, sharing, like, kinda my testimony. And it turns out that the guy who discipled me, my mentor, has a book out, and Annie, was able to pick up that book. He's like, oh, oh, man. You know Don Finto?
Speaker 2:I'm like, oh, yeah. So Small world. Yep. Sure. Where are you from, Anne?
Speaker 3:Well, that is the question. I've lived, quite a few places. Most recently before Nevada, I lived in Michigan for about 15 years. And before that, I lived in Kansas, in Colorado, and Arizona. So, I've moved around quite a bit.
Speaker 2:Okay. Okay. That's awesome. Yeah. And then Dennis Yee, you're from Hawaii?
Speaker 2:Isn't that right, Dennis?
Speaker 4:I am originally from Hawaii.
Speaker 2:That's correct. What's it like out there?
Speaker 4:Beautiful. Lots of traffic. Lots of, just people. And but great food, great people, great beaches. You know?
Speaker 4:It people say it's paradise. You know, it really is. So
Speaker 2:That's awesome. And then, you and, your wife moved to Las Vegas in 2021. Is that right?
Speaker 4:That's correct. Yeah. We, we moved here originally to help well, I moved here in in the beginning of 2021 February, to help my dad recover from he had COVID, and he also had a stroke while he had COVID. And so when he got out, long story short, he was supposed to pass away. God spared him.
Speaker 4:And when he got out of the hospital, God put on my heart, hey, to be there for my family. So he got out around Feb February, like, 5th or 6th or something, and, I moved up 2 days later. I left behind my job. In my time, my who my current wife, who was my girlfriend then, said, hey. I think you should be with your family.
Speaker 4:And that was just confirmation for me that, you know, that's where God wanted me. You know, it was here. And, I left a lot of certainty for uncertainty, but I knew that God, you know, wanted me here. And I've been with Clubchrist since that year, end of that year, December 2021. So going on going on 3 years, and it's it's just been great.
Speaker 4:I've been at the Henderson Learning Center for that that whole time. And just seeing that center grow, the kids grow, the families, the community, cut like, do a whole 180, you know, where almost all of them were not all of them, but a vast majority of them weren't open to the gospel. They would come to bible study, the bible study classes, but it was really for the snacks, to where now, like, I have stories of kids and families, you know, coming, having a real encounter, genuine encounter with the living Christ, you know, and and seeing their their transformation, not just to the you know, on the inside, but to the people around them as well. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. That's awesome, man. So tell me why you 2 are passionate about mentor.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Do you wanna go fresh?
Speaker 3:Go for it.
Speaker 4:Okay. Well, so I I I grew up in, you know, I in Hawaii. It's beautiful. I had a great support system, family system. But I put I put myself in do my own choices in situations that weren't the best.
Speaker 4:You know? I I got kicked out of high school in 9th grade surrounding myself with friends who were doing, you know, not the best things. And so I know just by choice that it's really easy to go off off path. It's really easy to be swayed and to want to be accepted by people and letting that influence your decisions. Right?
Speaker 4:And so from a young age, you know, my my dad really taught me, you know, things like integrity because of because of my actions. Right? Things like integrity. Things like, holding true to your faith. Things like, you know, being confident in yourself.
Speaker 4:And, you know, just just as I got into college and through high school even, I saw just not just my generation, but the generations after me, you know, going through the same things that I was going through as a kid, as a high schooler, as a college kid, and not having the same kind of guidance. You know? And knowing how easy it is just to be influenced by the world, to be influenced by your friends, by your peers, all for the some most of the time for the sake of just wanting to fit in, you know, wanting to be accepted, wanting to discover who you were, you kinda sometimes you lose yourself. You give you give a part of yourself to get, you know, that to fill that void. And so I wanted to be able to, point kids to the truth.
Speaker 4:You know, point kids to the purpose that that God put in them, and help them discover that for themselves. You know? So that's that's really why I'm passionate about it. I don't wanna see kids go down the same road that I have when there's way better choices. There's way better decisions that they can make.
Speaker 4:And so that's why I'm I'm I'm really passionate about not just, mentoring, but the whole the next generation as a whole. You know? They're at such a age right now where their spirits, their, emotions, their mental state is so malleable, and there's so many things that want to form their thoughts and their emotions and their spirit into something other than the image of god. And if I could help form that even just a little bit back into the image of god, that's that's a that's a win for me.
Speaker 2:And I think it's so crazy how just, like, we ask this often, you know, if a boy grows up at home and they don't have a father figure around, if a girl grows up at home where it's just not positive, they don't have anyone to encourage them or to show them how much worth they have. If a kid doesn't have a positive, godly adult investing into them, then how are they going to fulfill their potential? Like how are they going to change paths? And, it's just like, it's so crazy to me how there's so many kids out there who don't have one adult
Speaker 4:Mhmm. Yeah.
Speaker 2:To invest them. And, I think that creates kind of, for me, just like a sense of like urgency, but also a sense of, like, honor. Like, oh, man. How how cool is it that I get to invest into into this kid and see what the lord does. So Definitely.
Speaker 2:Kinda cool, man. What about you, Annie?
Speaker 3:Well, I remember a moment, early in my social work career when I was in Michigan, and I just I had gotten to know some of the families in the neighborhood where, the community center was that I was the director of. And, I just remember thinking, like, I have never experienced any of these things that these students are facing. And I was just like it was just this moment of, like, wow. Like, so grateful for the experience that I had growing up, but also wanting to be a person that shows these students that there are so many other options, that they don't have to stay, you know, stuck in the cycles that maybe they've had for generations in their family or, whether it be, you know, drugs or poverty or, a number of things. But those are very prominent in most of the areas where I've, worked for my career.
Speaker 3:And so I've just I just have a passion of showing students that they have options and, that it's empowering them to choose, right, who they want to become and, obviously, love that they if they would want to follow Jesus. And so I wanna love them where they're at and help them to see that they have the possibility and the potential, to become whoever they, you know, to pursue their dreams and to become who God created them to be. So
Speaker 2:Yeah. Like, I think it's so interesting how if a kid doesn't know what's out there. Right? And then how in the world can they pursue that option? You know, like I, I always wonder just like how, how many kids out there could be the next amazing artist or the next amazing, you know, piano player, but they don't have anyone to introduce them to, you know, the arts or how to play music.
Speaker 2:And so what an awesome, like, joy we have to, hey, like here, here are the 15 things that I think that you might, you know, be able to excel at. And so, Tom, cool deal. Hey. Tell me how, like, moving around from spot to spot to spot, how how did that impact you as a mentor?
Speaker 3:Well, I would say, I think I've been able to the Lord's, like, really connected me with people in each of the communities where I've lived. As an adult, I've only lived in three of those locations, so it hasn't been a lot of transition. I transitioned a lot more as a child, which I think made me more resilient and open to change. But now as an adult, I would say I've been able to put down roots in the communities where I've been for at least 5 to 10 years, and, that's been really great. One thing I will say about Clubchrist as a whole is that we've been here in these apartment complexes for a long time.
Speaker 3:And so the fact that we have the longevity, Dennis is, working, we've been there for 16 years, which is fantastic, that we're able to serve the families in that same neighborhood consistently for that long. So
Speaker 2:Yeah. So, like, one one thing that I love about what you guys are doing, you know, you guys have been around since 2,004. And so you've been investing inside of the apartment complexes for 20 years now. Yeah. And so before our podcast, we talked about just like your heart to really go inside of their homes and to not ask the mentees to come to you, but you go to them and you get to really know the families and you get to know the kids and y'all, they'll take a.
Speaker 2:A holistic approach to where, like, you're not just here to focus on academics or you're not just here to focus on this or that. You're here to truly support the whole kid. And so you guys just kinda tell me about, just tell me what it's like to go into those apartment complexes.
Speaker 4:Yeah. I'm there 5 days a week, Monday through Friday. I like to say this is I'm there 5 days a week, Monday through Friday from I usually get there about 11:30, sometimes a little later depending if we have a meeting earlier that day. But 11:30 all the way till 6, that's when I'm there. But these students, they don't get to leave.
Speaker 4:You know? They don't have a choice of, like, I get to go somewhere else or I get to live somewhere else. You know? It's it's not it wasn't by their they didn't get to choose where they live. You know?
Speaker 4:And so to enter into their reality, right, it's it's a, it's a grounding moment every time I go to the center because, you know, I see this it's it's not like like I said, we're in the car apartment complex. And so I see every day what's if there is something going on in the neighborhood, I'm right there. I see it. We see it. You know?
Speaker 4:But the difference is, like I said, I get to leave. You know? I get to go home. They don't. And so that really breaks my heart, in a way that that in a good way that makes me wanna, help them break these these chains.
Speaker 4:Right? Help help them break these these cycles, in their families. And, you know, I I speak especially with my teens a lot and, especially when when I first started, working. I did this kind of thought exercise with a little of my older teens, and I said, hey. How many of you like living here?
Speaker 4:None of them raised their hand. How many of you wanna own a house with, you know, a 2 car garage or a pool or some everyone's hands go up. Everyone everyone every single one of them dream for more. Right? And in this world where there's so many voices telling them, you know, it's not possible or, you know, the there's this roadblock in the way.
Speaker 4:Help you being able to break down those perspectives of being like, hey. I can make these decisions to put myself in the best situation possible, not just for me or my family, but for my future family. A lot of my kids, they're they're still hopeful. They wanna have they wanna have families. I'm like, wow.
Speaker 4:Like, these are these are the kinds of things we talk about, you know, aside from, of course, the, the life skills things, the, leadership skills, the workforce development, all that stuff is great stuff. But my favorite thing about being in the community, being in their reality is that I get to have conversations about that. Yeah. About their reality, about what's going on at home, you know, about what's going on at school, about what's going on between their friends. You know?
Speaker 4:And and it's not like they they, you know, find an escape from that when they come to the center, but they know that it's a safe place for them to talk about those things. So it's not they're they're not just pushing it off to the side, but they're facing those things head on. And that's what I love about being there. You know? Is that even if just for a few hours a week that we get to step into their what their what they're facing and help them work through those things, it's it's a huge thing.
Speaker 4:You know?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So, like, try to paint the picture of what your what does your program look like? Like, do you go from apartment to apartment? Do y'all have, like, a center? Like Yeah.
Speaker 2:Kinda a tad bit more
Speaker 4:about that. So within the apartment complexes, it it kinda varies actually from center to center. Yeah. For example, our Las Vegas center, we actually rent out an actual apartment, you know, unit, and the kids come there. Right?
Speaker 4:At my center, at the Henderson Center and at our Summerhill Center, the apartment complex actually gives us a space on their property to use. Right? And which in and of itself is a huge win because, both mine and the Summerhill Centers are run by the Southern Nevada Housing Association. So it's a government association that's allowing a Christian organization to be within their complexes, which is amazing.
Speaker 3:It's massive.
Speaker 2:You know,
Speaker 4:it's it's huge that God gives us favor in that. And so that's just that's just confirmation that God wants us there, and that there's still a lot of work to do. Because if not, that door will be closed, and he's opened that door wide open for us. So, yeah. And like I said, it varies from center to center.
Speaker 4:I believe that's our our first center that opened was an actual apartment unit as well in back in 2004. So that's that's how it started. That's that's the bread and butter, is just being there Yep. Within their community. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. Andy, so, like, tell me what, like, tell me what you focus on from, like, a day to day perspective.
Speaker 3:Sure. So day to day perspective for me as a program director would be just, like, overall at all of our locations, like, making sure that the center directors have what they need to, run the program smoothly. And so I support our center directors as much as possible. I also visit each of the locations each week. So I know all of the kids at all of the centers for the most part, and also all of the volunteers at all of the centers.
Speaker 3:So I manage a lot of the volunteer, coordination, and then I also provide admin support to our executive director and, development, coordinator. So I am here at our office, but I'm also in the community. I'm kind of all over the place. But, yeah, that's kinda what I do. Just overseeing it all.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. So so so tell me what, like being in the apartment complex, have you guys ever seen something that's kinda crazy or what?
Speaker 4:Yes. On the regular. On on pretty regularly. I think since I've worked the 3 years I've worked been working here, at being at the Henderson Center, I I think I need 2 hands to count how many times things have happened. Most recently, I think it is, you you know, there was a SWAT team that raided a house kinda right next to the center.
Speaker 4:There was a shootout that happened within one of the cul de sacs, and I had to shut down center for that day because a couple of those guys were still on the loose, and the police were set up a perimeter around the center and, you know, things like that. And then even just, you know, things are not that big, but still, you know, are, I would say, important to to mention is just the violence in general. You know, kids getting into fights outside the center, you know, parents getting into arguments, yelling. You know, you can hear it, you know, from my center. And so the it's it's Yes.
Speaker 4:Any and all things have happened there. So
Speaker 3:Yeah. I
Speaker 2:mean so, like, whenever you experience something like that, like, people fighting, you know, people raising their voices. Like, I think it's so cool that y'all do mentoring. You do after school stuff. You focus in on education and, job training skills and developing all of these leaders and everything. But but what do you feel like you, like, what do you try to give the people in those apartment complex from, like, a spiritual standpoint?
Speaker 4:Right. Well, initially, at least in for my students, and I'll tell this story. 1 of my students, their house got shot up, and this was maybe 3 weeks ago. And they their their house wasn't involved. It was their neighbors, and another, I guess, rival people had were waiting for them to come home.
Speaker 4:When they saw them come home, they drove by and shot up the place. And, one of my students actually showed the bullet hole in her car. She showed it to me, and I was like, wow. You know? And so what what comes to mind when I what I want them to know is that this is not normal.
Speaker 4:That they don't they don't have to get used to this. You know, that they shouldn't just be, desensitized to it. You know? And and because when you get you know, there's a saying that familiarity breeds or unfamiliarity breeds familiarity or opposite. I forget which one.
Speaker 4:Basically, meaning, the more you're around something, the more you become numb to it. Yeah. You know? And, the fact is a lot of my students and these families that this is their this is their norm. Right?
Speaker 4:And that, you know, Jesus in the Bible that it it's when you compare it to their reality that there's a stark contrast that this is not the way that God intended. Yeah. You know, bringing the focus not onto the people, but to the sin. You know? That sin is what caused this.
Speaker 4:Right? The sin is what is making this cycle go around. And when they realize that, they they can help they can break that cycle. You know what I mean? And and bringing it to the fact that it's not that you know, the Bible says we're not battling against flesh and blood, but against spirits and principalities.
Speaker 4:Right? And so bringing their attention to that, especially the parents, because the parents are like, you know, this is normal. Is this happens, like, every other week kinda thing. And I'm like, well, it it doesn't. It shouldn't.
Speaker 4:Even if it does, it shouldn't. You know? And and, being able to pray with them, that's one of the biggest things. Being able to pray with my our families at their doorsteps, in their living rooms, you know, at our center, even just walking down the sidewalk. You know?
Speaker 4:Being able to pray with them is just a huge exposing them to the love of Christ. You know? It's it's, not something that happens overnight where they just, oh, I believe in Jesus, and I love Jesus. But the more that we can, you know, expose them to the love of Christ, you know, it just brings them that much closer, you know, to God. And, it's it's tough because the odds are stacked against them.
Speaker 4:You know, that's the harsh reality of this neighborhood that we the neighborhoods that we serve is Yeah. The odds are stacked against them. That's a reality. But Yeah. The Bible is so much more real.
Speaker 4:You know? Christ is so much more real, so much more powerful, and he can and he wants to break those those things in their lives. So yeah.
Speaker 2:Like, I think it's so cool how you guys truly have the opportunity. You're almost like a pastor, like, within the apartment complexes. And I would assume if there's people there who don't go to church or who they don't know Jesus, if the Lord stirs up their hearts or if they have something that they're having a hard time with and they're trying to seek out someone to kinda help them out. Mhmm. What a great opportunity they have to be like, oh, I know Dennis.
Speaker 2:And I don't know much about Jesus, but I do know that I see him every day. And I do know that he's talking about Jesus. And I see him, you know, having joy. I see him having peace. And I would assume that it's just a when the Lord stirs up people's hearts, perhaps the first person that they think of is you.
Speaker 2:So, any, like, give me some success stories. Like, tell me one of your, one of the ways that you've seen god truly move, in what you guys are up to?
Speaker 3:Yeah. I would say the best success for us is when the the students are connecting the truth of the gospel with their own experience, and when they are able to personalize that Jesus died for them, and that he wants to give them new life and abundant life. Just last month, we had a a 6th grade student at one of our locations who was in tears at just identifying that, wow, Jesus did that for me. And this is sometimes the first time they've ever even heard about Jesus when they come to the learning centers, which is mind boggling to me because I grew up in the church. But a lot of these students have never even stepped foot in a church and, don't know the name of Jesus.
Speaker 3:And so it's such a privilege and an honor to be able to represent him in these communities and to see the life change, right in front of us, and to also be present with them. Not just for that one prayer that they pray or one, you know, little experience, but also just, like, walking it out with them, and helping them to see that Jesus cares about every aspect of their lives, every decision they make, all the details, and, also ministering to the parents. I would say, specifically with Club Christ that we have, access to the parents in a way that maybe people in schools or community centers or churches might not have as much access because we're right in the communities where they live. Even just next week, we have moms' nights and dads' nights happening in our center where we Yeah. We celebrate the parents and we connect with them, and we're able to pour into them just as much, as the students at least once a semester.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So that's one of our goals is just, really being the hands and feet and representing Jesus well in these communities.
Speaker 2:So how important is it to build that relationship with the parents? And how do you guys go about trying to, trying trying to get to know them, trying to build up, like, a bunch of trust with them?
Speaker 3:Mhmm. I would say it's very organic. Yeah. Honestly, we don't have a formula. We just try to show up and be present.
Speaker 3:And, usually, the kids coming to the learning centers is the first step. But then as the students are engaging and connecting and going home and sharing what they've been learning, or maybe the parents are seeing their progress and they're reading at home, or maybe, they're talking about the new friends that they've made, or whatever. Maybe they're talking about a field trip that we took, on a day that there wasn't at school. And the parents at that point are able to see, wow, this this community is really investing in my child. And we really have an access point then with the parents where we're able to sometimes pray with them if they're open to it, minister to them with what they need, maybe meet basic needs and provide clothing or food or whatever else they might need at the time, maybe paying their electric bill.
Speaker 3:We don't do that on the regular, but, you know, sometimes there's circumstances where we can step in and just show them that, hey. The church and the people of God really do love you and care about you, and, we want to help you. So sometimes it's very practical, but a lot of times it leads to those conversations where we can introduce them to the Lord and pray for them. I remember one situation over the summer where there is a mom, a single parent, and she had 8 kids at home, and she was trying to move out of one of our apartment complexes. And, our executive director and I had an opportunity to pray with her because she was just so overloaded and stressed about the whole process.
Speaker 3:And just that she was willing to just receive prayer at that time, you could see, like, the anxiety and the depression and the the stress just kinda leave as soon as we were able to pray with her. So those are those are the moments that we're really grateful for to connect with the parents. Do you have any about specifically the pairings, DJ?
Speaker 4:No. Let's like I said, it's very, very organic. At least the way I approached it as well. We do have, you know, these scheduled community events where we invite new students and new families and get to know them. But what I've found is that the best way to do it is just just to, you know, be human.
Speaker 4:Mhmm. When you see someone walking in the neighborhood, say hi. Yeah. You know? And and, you know, I became known as, hey.
Speaker 4:You're that center guy. You know? And and once I became known as that, I it became very easy for me to just be like, yeah. I am. You know, that and let's let's talk about it.
Speaker 4:You know, do you have any kids? Do you have any, you know, high schoolers that that, you know, may need, you know, help in their classes or maybe you wanna send them for we've got a life skills class coming up once you come check it out. You know, we've got this event coming. Come check it in. And just just, you know, being being a human.
Speaker 4:Being there, not you know, because we're we're there. I'm there, not just to go there and do my job. You know? That's it's actually part of my job is to connect with the community, connect with the families. Another thing I do is I connect with the property manager.
Speaker 4:I I ask I print out a bunch of flyers, say, hey. When you do your welcome packages for families that move and throw this in there, you know, and, you know, I I go around this the the complex maybe once or twice a semester, and and just knock on doors. And I was like, hey. I noticed that's a new new car. Maybe that's a new family.
Speaker 4:I'll go knock on that door and introduce myself. You know, just yesterday, actually was it yesterday? Wednesday. A new family moved in right behind my center, and they came and knocked on my door. And they're like, hey.
Speaker 4:What is what's going on? What is this? You know? Yeah. What what my mom wanted me to come check over come over here and check it out, and I was able to explain the program to them, give them a enrollment form.
Speaker 4:And then aside from that, another thing that helps out is just word-of-mouth Yeah. From the from the kids. You know, we when the kids enjoy it, they want their friends to come. Right? When when they love what we're doing, they want their friends to be a part of it, and they go and tell their friends, and their friends tell their parents, and then their parents cut you know, it's just a a chain of events that leads to, you know, more people coming into the centers and and experiencing, right, what we have, what god has for them.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Like, the best way to get more kids into your program is to have an excellent program. Exactly. And the best way to earn earn a bunch of favor with the parents is to invest into their kiddos, is to make sure that those kids have an amazing, experience with you all. So, everything that you guys, provide, does it cost money or what?
Speaker 3:It's completely free.
Speaker 2:Okay. So, tell us what, like, tell us your thought process behind that.
Speaker 3:We wanna remove as many barriers as possible for not only kids to receive the help that they needed for school, but also, receiving the gospel. So we don't want there to be any type of obstacle for them, to hear about Jesus and to make a decision to give their hearts to the Lord. So, yeah, we provide free snacks and, the tutoring and Bible study is all free. The bible study is totally optional. They're not forced to come and listen to the bible, but we do provide that as part of our program, to each age group once a week.
Speaker 3:Yeah. The tutoring, it happens twice a week and then bible studies once a week, and that's for all three age groups. So we're we're managing, a pretty tight ship with our scheduling and, you know, right after school hours because we try to keep the kids as busy as possible in that 3 to 6 range, when our statistics here in Las Vegas are that, you know, that's when most crime happens, for that especially for juveniles. So we want to provide the opportunities for them to be engaging in positive activities after school.
Speaker 2:That's awesome, Manny. Whenever I think of Las Vegas, you know, I don't think of good thoughts. Yeah. Right? But, but it sounds like you guys have have a bunch of church partners or, like, who who in the city kinda helps you guys serve?
Speaker 3:Yeah. We currently have 15, different churches that are partnering with us on a monthly basis, and, then lots of individual donors. And then we also do partner with a few grants, and the yeah. We're mostly privately funded, through donors. So it's amazing.
Speaker 2:Yeah. It's awesome. And I just love you guys. Like, anytime that you invest into kids, it's a good thing. Right?
Speaker 2:But to go to them and to go on their turf and to not ask them to come to you guys, but you, you know, get to know the families, you get to see their houses, you, you put yourself at a disadvantage and you inconvenience yourself to to make it easier on them. Mhmm. And guys, that just sounds a whole lot like Jesus. And so, just super grateful for y'all and for all of the people that you guys serve. And, man, I just hope that you guys continue to be light, wherever, you know, wherever y'all serve.
Speaker 2:But Mhmm. Super quick. Tell me about that kid. All of us have that kid. Who is it, for y'all?
Speaker 4:Well, for me, you know, that that kid, though those are my favorite. You know, those are our favorite because I was that kid. You know, the ones that intentionally try to push the boundary. They try to, you know, see how far they can go, push your buttons. You know?
Speaker 4:For me, I'm a pretty calm guy. I'm a pretty patient guy. You know? And so I I like think, hey. I could be more annoying than you.
Speaker 4:You know? So for me for me, that kid for me is like it it's a fun I I don't wanna say challenge, but opportunity. I I'll even say responsibility. You know? Because that kid is the one that is actually desiring, you know, more.
Speaker 4:They just don't know it. You know? They want the structure. They they need the structure. They need someone to come alongside them and say, hey.
Speaker 4:Here's the boundary. You know, when we're here, don't cross it. Yeah. You know, when you're here, this is what we do. And and whether they know it or not, it's it's very, it's a positive thing for them.
Speaker 4:Excuse me. Because they learn, you know, where they where outside of the center, they can get away with things. Here, they can't. You know? And that's a it's a positive thing for their structure, for their for their development or, you know, respecting authority, for respecting other people.
Speaker 4:And so for me, that that kid is my favorite. Yeah. And and I I'll say this. I like to throw this out there kinda going back to the last point of, how do we do our program and how we're able to do it. It's not just people donating
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 4:And church partners praying with us, but our volunteer bait. Yep. You know, we have volunteers who come weekly Yeah. At, you know, every week so faithfully to invest, build relationship with these kids. You know, they're there for about an hour and a half, but they you know, the days that they come Yeah.
Speaker 4:But they're they're working face to face with the students. You know, I do too, but I can't work with all 15 kids at once.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 4:You know? And so just being able to see our volunteers, you know, go and break down walls that I couldn't do myself, you know, that that's where it really makes our our our program run. Like, I I I like to say that, like, the center directors, like, us as a staff, we're we're the face of of the of the organization, of course, but the heartbeat and the hands and the feet are our volunteers for sure. So
Speaker 2:That's awesome. How about you, Annie?
Speaker 3:I would say one of that catch for me, with Club Christ has been, I'll just relate to one of the students at the Henderson Center. She was in 3rd grade last year, and now she's at 4th grade. She has a twin sister.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:And, she thinks that she can do whatever she wants. And her her her twin sister is not that way. But she, really struggles with following directions and, you know, respecting the guidelines that we have in place. But she and I have, have evolved in her relationship, I'll say. And, we're I feel like we're in a much better place now than we were even a year ago.
Speaker 3:And she knows that we love and care for her, and that's really the foundation of of where the respect and the trust is established. So
Speaker 4:No. I was just gonna say, like because for that kid, you know, they when they're there, they they it seems if someone were to if someone who did not know what we did Yeah. Were to come in and just be a fly on the wall, they'll be like, wow. That kid hates it here. They won't they won't wanna be here, like but they keep coming back.
Speaker 4:And they bumped it. I truly think it's because, you know, that it what they desire, like, that structure, even though they're completely defiant in it, and, you know, they desire it because deep down, they know that that's what's missing. You know? And I love, you know, with that with, you know, her and and
Speaker 3:Do you wanna talk at all about your student interns and that mentoring? Oh, yeah.
Speaker 4:Yeah. I mean,
Speaker 3:If you have time Yeah. Know what our time frame
Speaker 2:Please. Go ahead.
Speaker 4:Oh, so our student interns, like, we hire a few of our our, 11th 12th graders. Oh. At there's 2 at my center, 1 at 1 or 2? 1. Yeah.
Speaker 4:1 at the Las Vegas Center. And, what we do with that is we provide them a safe space to get some work experience. Yeah. You know, I actually just I was just walking through this with, one of my interns, and I'll share share it at our, CD meeting. But you'll hear about it.
Speaker 4:Or we don't have a meeting on Monday.
Speaker 3:No. But any Veterans in Veterans Day.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Veterans Day. At our next CE meeting. Yep. But, he basically said that I can't make it today as I have something.
Speaker 4:Come to find out, he made up lied to me. And so he went he went to do something else, with his with his girlfriend or something because they had, like, a 6 month. Long story. Mom mom told me. And her her his mom told me.
Speaker 4:And, you know, in a normal work environment, workspace, you know, your employer might say, hey. I'm sorry. Hang on. You know? And so this is a safe place for them to, like, hey.
Speaker 4:If I was a mean work guy if I was a mean boss, you'd be fired. Right. You know? But this is a learning experience, you know, giving them that that safe, you know, environment to make those mistakes.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 4:But then not just to be a doormat for us, for them to walk over, but to teach them the right way to do it. You know? I was like, hey. It's okay to to miss work and have legitimate excuses, and reasons for that if they're legitimate reasons. You know?
Speaker 4:And what and what I loved about that whole you know, this whole situation is that I was able to come alongside his mom. Mom. Right? Because what I found out through conversation with the mom was that, there's a lot more going on behind the scenes than even I knew. You know, that they were having a little bit of, you know, push and pull, you know, because of, you know, his choices and stuff.
Speaker 4:And so I was able to hey. Hey. Let's use this as a learning experience
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 4:For him, not just to be responsible at his workplace, you know, where we hire them and they're have to be there because they have obligation to, but also a learning experience for him to become a better son. You know? I taught him you know, I I went straight to the the 10 commandments. I was like, you gotta honor your mom. You gotta do it.
Speaker 4:You may not like it. You but you live under her roof. And, these are the rules she set, and you gotta do that. You know? And it's not about, you know, you're what you think is right or wrong, but the Bible says we gotta honor our parents.
Speaker 4:You know?
Speaker 2:One of my favorite things, especially with a mom, you know, who's single, is when a mom starts to trust you Oh, yeah. I mean, it's like something turns and, like, mom's calling you, like, multiple times a week and she's like, someone says not, you know, he ain't making his bed. He's not doing the dishes. And, I mean, mom becomes, like, one of your best friends. It's awesome.
Speaker 2:Well, great. Well, Annie and Dennis, thank you all so much. Tell tell people how they can, how they could find out more about y'all.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So you can go check out our website. It's clubchrist.org. So clubchrast.org. And we're also on social media, under Club Christ LV for Las Vegas.
Speaker 3:Yeah. We're we're always, thrilled to connect with people all over. We have some great, support from across the nation. Honestly, our network is expanding, and, we're even open we're opening, some new locations here pretty soon. So even just last night, we had an open house at one of our locations with law enforcement and, councilwoman.
Speaker 3:But, yeah, things are exciting. We're expanding, and, we're looking forward to, impacting more lives and more communities here in Las Vegas. Yeah. So thanks for joining us.
Speaker 2:Of course. Thank you all so much for sharing. You guys are awesome. So super thankful for y'all. And thank y'all so much for tuning in.
Speaker 2:Please be sure to share this episode with your staff and with your volunteers and with all of your mentoring friends. Follow us on social media. Check out our website at youcanmentor.com. And remember this, you can mentor.
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