GEMS--Girls Empowered for Ministry & Service

GEMS is the junior arm of the Women's Ministries Department of the South Bahamas Conference designed for girls and young women ages 13 to 25.

PURPOSE: GEMS was formed to encourage girls to get excited about Jesus Christ and being of service in his church and the community.   A goal of GEMS is to get young ladies to develop personally and spiritually and to discover their gifts and talents and see where they fit in ministry.

GEMS COUNCIL:  The GEMS Council consist of the GEMS Ministries coordinator of each local churches in the Conference.

GOAL:  To goal of GEMS is to encouragement girls and young women see Women's Ministries and an attractive ministry and to develop the desire to be a part of Women's Ministries

THEME:
Grow: To become larger or greater over a period of time.
Glow: to shine with or as if with an intense heat.
Go: to move from one place to another.


On Sunday February 24, the South Bahamas Conference of Seventh-day Adventists held a relaunch event for the GEMS - Girls Empowered for Ministry and Service. The invigorating affair was held at the Sybil Blyden Hall at Stapleton School and reinforced the GEMS theme of 2019: Grow, Glow, Go!

The hall was completely transformed with an eclectic arrangement of pink and purple balloons, boards, and pictures from past GEMS events. As the young ladies entered, they all received a specially made name tag, complete with a gem embellishment. While waiting for everyone to arrive, the adult GEMS coordinators snapped photos of the gorgeous gems posing behind a creatively crafted selfie square. Furthermore, uplifting, upbeat music complemented the lively ambience while the girls greeted each other and found a seat.

   The first item on the program was an interactive one. The young ladies had to find a person they didn’t know and to introduce themselves. After everyone had been acquainted, a video by Evin Musgrove, a GEM of the Centerville church, was played. Evin is a YouTuber attending Andrew’s University who ensures to use her platform to spread the Word of God. In the video shared at the event, Evin describes five ways she keeps close to God. Despite a few technical difficulties regarding sound, Evin’s captivating personality kept the girls enraptured, and they listened attentively to the video. Following this, a GEM of the Ephesus Church, Mahlia Neely, shared a presentation on her community service experiences. Mahlia is the founding president of an organization called Uniforms for All. This is a uniform recycling project that elicits the public to donated gentle used uniforms, then redistributes the uniforms to those in need. This past year, the organization successfully distributed over 600 pieces of uniforms!

These two presentations showed the other young gems the possibilities that exist for them to pursue and left them inspired to make their own marks in terms of their personal and outreach ministries.  Following this, the girls filled out commitment cards in which they declared how they plan to grow, glow, and go for and with God this year.

 The program concluded on an awesome note as everyone sang the popular song “This Little Light of Mine”, swaying to the beat with the flashlight setting of their phones on.
Many gems left with goodies because, throughout the afternoon, prizes were given out to the participants who answered questions or shared their ministries.

The coordinators accommodated the meat-eating, vegetarian, and vegan young ladies with walking tacos, cake, and lemonade - pink lemonade, of course. So, the gems were able to eat, mingle, and tac-o-bout (talk about) the upcoming GEMS events, which include volunteering at the Children’s Emergency Hostel and hosting sessions at the Elizabeth Estates Home. 

Mahlia Neely, GEMS Writer

 














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