Meet a 2021 Scholarship Recipient: Sofia

BCM has impacted my life in so many quintessential ways. In my sophomore year, I went through a really difficult time due to family related challenges. Not only was I having a hard time balancing my academic life and personal life, but I began to doubt my abilities to be truly independent in my future academics as well as my future in adulthood.

However, I began to change my frame of mind and perspective by participating in the after-school program, LiT and connecting with the staff at BCM during my time on campus as well as in my down time waiting for my mom in the lobby, building my communication skills by engaging in friendly banter, small talk and the occasional deep conversation.

I've never been one to gravitate towards such a tight-knit community, now I could not possibly see myself moving forward without the BCM community backing me up and supporting me, now and in my future endeavors.

During my time at LiT, I was able to open up about the loss of my cousin Jessica who was extremely academically driven, before I hadn’t been able to relive the moments leading up to her death with anyone. The trust we had built in the LiT community helped guide me spiritually as well as to utilize her memory to fuel my academic journey and passion for medicine to make her proud and ensure that the health of others is the focus of my future career.

Being a student at Oxford Academy (the school that shares BCM’s building) has given me the opportunity to constantly be around the BCM building, gladly offering my help to anyone who needed it. During my freshman year, I volunteered to help Ed’s first-grade students practice their reading skills and support them with their homework. I have also volunteered for Waniya, translating for a student who didn't speak English and even work for her in the summer for Create Academy, which was an amazing opportunity and experience. I was able to really connect with the students and brighten up their Summer just a little bit more.

I have also been participating in LiT for about three years now and I have received so much support with my journey with my spirituality, my academics, and my life in general.

I will forever be indebted for the kindness shown to my mom and I as we both struggled with the sudden absence of my father. Living in a house of eight, each individually coping in their own way, my mom and I were able to reciprocate the kindness shown to us at LiT and at BCM in general and bring it home to help heal as a family, unifying us, and in turn them showing me immense support on my path to college. Now with the certainty of the path I'm taking to UC Berkeley, which I'm extremely excited to share with my BCM family, still lies my trepidation to our financial situation, the root being my mom's sudden shift to head of household and taking on the emotional and financial burden of the house.

With that being said, my emotional resilience and positive outlook I can accredit to BCM and the outstanding staff in their encouraging and loving environment. I thank the BCM team for the continuous love and support.

VBS in Heaven?

Boom Pop Park has managed to stay below the radar most of the time, and when the residents of Westside do notice it, it’s because of the occasional Zumba class held there. The park has become especially quiet since the pandemic started. However, in mid-June 2021, the grounds were vibrant with the sound of scuffling feet and excited shrieks. It’s Vacation Bible School season for Bayshore Christian Ministries!

On the far side of the park, tables were set for VBS attendees to have their meals at the end of the two hours. In the middle, an open space for maximum mobility during game time. And lastly, on the other end, a shaded spot under the trees where the students sit, facing the VBS volunteer this year — Dan — and his teaching doodad, the Preach-O-Matic.

Dan, with his cap and his tendency to lock eyes with the students as he strides across the front, looks like a sports coach prepping the team for their next game. Behind him, his Preach-O-Matic props up a board with circles and figures on it — the lines drawn in such a way that he could be explaining a field play-by-play. The Preach-O-Matic itself is as tall as he is; a wooden structure with big sturdy wheels on the back end, and two shelves to hold Dan’s visual aids.

With the distinct air of passion and intensity one expects from pre-game prep, Dan is introducing his attentive attendees to a fundamental aspect of the gospel, the fact that God forgives. He wraps up a point and invites questions. A hand shoots upwards. The question:

“How do you know you’re going to heaven?”

As he begins to answer, Dan eases himself down to sit on the step closest to the front row of his audience. He puts his elbows on his knees, laces his fingers, and leans forward: “You know if you trust in God. And you can use your own words, you don’t need to use my words… You can tell God you are sorry for your sins, you can ask Him to come into your life and come into your heart.”

Another hand goes up: “Are we still going to have this program in heaven?”

After his session has ended, Dan explains, “I have worked quite a lot with students. When it comes these topics, there is the serious side, and I try to be really careful in the way I express it. I can’t water it down, but I have to make it accessible for the students. I want to really impress on them that it is OKAY to ask questions, any question. Questions that they had, that maybe never got answered. One other group I teach is young adults, and a lot of them feel like they’ve tried church and it didn’t work because they didn’t get answers to many of their questions. It’s heartbreaking because there are good answers to all their questions! Ask, and you will get answers!”

On this front, Dan feels that the soft heartedness that makes people more willing to ask questions is characteristic of the students in East Palo Alto. “Folks in neighborhoods like East Palo Alto are more familiar with difficult times. Sometimes you get students in desperate situations; they feel like they have no hope, and they need hope! Children need to see hope. It's amazing — children who you think have a toughness, have a tremendous openness to the gospel.”

Carmen, another leader at VBS this year, can attest to this openness that she sees in the students. Carmen is an alumni of BCM’s VBS herself, and has done it all — from volunteering, to now serving on staff. She was part of the team who extended an open invite to the students in the Westside community, knocking on doors and introducing VBS. As a result, a lot of the students at Boom Pop Park knew each other beforehand. Some of them even grew up together.

Carmen talks about how God has been working in VBS, in the way these students are able to immediately apply the lessons they’ve learned to their own lives: “Sometimes children’s way of speaking to each other, the way they act around each other… especially if they grew up together in the same apartment… might not always be the nicest. One of our VBS themes this week is ‘How God Comforts’. It sticks to them. I was walking with them after, and I see one of the students say something not so nice to another. Then, one of them interrupted and said, God doesn’t like that. He comforts.”

She also talks about how after hearing about sharing the gospel, some of the students brought along two new friends to VBS the next day. She is amazed at how quick they’ve put what they learned into application. She is also enamored with how they engage with the material, and the questions they ask. “I love the way they think. They find solutions for everything, and they even suggest ideas to me when I talk about my day with them.”

Other staff and volunteers can attest to the particular perceptiveness that they appreciate in the students. As they packed up the food and the props at the end of the day, they traded their favorite quotes and questions from VBS that week. Here’s one for you to think on:

“When good things happen, does that mean we have good luck?”

If you want to find out the answer, maybe join the next VBS!

Meet a 2021 BCM Scholarship Recipient: Keilee

I started going to StreetWorkz at BCM when I was in the 5th grade with a cousin of mine, a year before I was even supposed to. I made such great connections with everyone that they allowed me to join the program a year early. I continued through the program up until my 8th grade year, participating in all events and activities and continuing to grow connections and learning more about the Lord's word.

When I started BCM, I had recently lost my brother to gun violence the next street over from BCM. I was going through a rough time and didn't have a support system, so joining BCM really helped me out a lot and made me feel like I had a home.

After StreetWorkz I joined BCM's high school program, LIT, my freshman year. Although I moved states for a little while I was still thankfully involved with the people and the program. I moved back to California and continued to be a student in the program, receiving help with my family and my mental health while still learning about the real world and learning God's word. Now I am a graduating senior and almost everyone knows me at BCM. I know the ins and outs of the building and how pretty much everything works and I have been more than grateful with the experiences and the opportunities I have gotten.

My mom has not always been wealthy or always been able to give me money for things or always have a meal on the table for me but BCM has ALWAYS been a backbone for me. Even when I moved to a different state, my mentors helped me raise money to go on a mission trip and experience something new and give back to other children.

Every goal I have set and accomplished has been because I have had people from BCM pushing me to become better and do better than what people’s ideas of me were.