End of the year details!

Hi GEMS moms!!

If your daughter came home last Monday night talking about all sorts of GEMS activities coming up in the month of April & May, you're probably wondering what it's all about! Well, here is your email of explanation! :)

1. Mother/Daughter Book Exchange on April 11: Our Mother/Daughter night will be on April 11 at 7:00 p.m. at Bethel Church. You don't need to wear anything in particular - just come as you are! But, as the invitation says, please bring a favorite book (or more!) for a book exchange. You will go home with a different book! We'll play games and eat food and have a great evening together!

2. Widow/Widower Dinner: Each year the deacons and their wives host a dinner for the widows & widowers of Bethel Church. This year the GEMS have been asked to provide the dinner, serve, and help with entertainment. This is a fundraiser for us as the deacons pay us (quite a lot!) to put on this meal. We will use this money to help pay for GEMS Camp registration costs. (GEMS Camp is June 10-12 and registrations will be out soon). This year the meal will be on April 27 and we have several areas of need in order to put this on well. First, we need 7th/8th grade girls to help serve & clean up the meal. They should wear black bottoms and white tops. They will need to be at church by 5:30 p.m. and should be ready to be picked up by no later than 8:00 p.m. We are also looking for any 4th - 8th grade girls who might have a piano or other instrumental piece they could play (think of it like an extra recital), a song to sing (either alone or in a group), etc. We do not want this to be a burden or cause stress, so we will have sign-ups for this at our Mother/Daughter Night and we want both of you to agree that it is something your daughter can participate in. These girls will need to arrive at 6:30 p.m. and will be ready to be picked up by 7:30/8:00 p.m. They should wear nice recital-appropriate clothing.

3. GEMS Sunday: GEMS Sunday will be on May 1! Please mark your calendars to attend this service at Bethel Church. The service begins at 10:30 and we ask our girls to arrive by 10:10. The girls participate in ushering, greeting, taking offering, singing, speaking, and possibly reciting Scripture. We would like 6th graders to share something about our year and other girls to recite the Scripture verses we have learned over the course of this year. Sign-ups for this will also be at the Mother/Daughter evening on April 11. Girls are also invited to create bulletin covers (if they would like) and papers for this will be available at the Mother/Daughter as well. Your daughter can take the paper home, illustrate a cover, and bring it back to GEMS on April 25. Girls should wear their white GEMS shirts and nice jeans, dark pants, or skirt.

4. Taco Dinner Fundraiser: On May 5 we will have our 2nd annual taco dinner fundraiser for The Esther School and our student there, Betha. We would love for you to join us for dinner, invite your family & friends and neighbors for a meal and fellowship together! All proceeds go towards the Esther School and it is by donation. We will need some girls to help serve and clear tables. And, you guessed it, sign-ups will be at the Mother/Daughter night on April 11! ;)

5. Our last regular GEMS meeting will be on April 25 - no sign-ups needed. :) Just bring your girls as usual!

Thanks for reading all the way through this email and thank you for allowing us to serve your daughters in our GEMS ministry at Bethel.
God bless,
Julie Ball & Bethel GEMS Counselors