As part of the Boys 2 Men mentoring ministry of Church on the Rock, 15 boys ages 8 – 12 and 5 adult chaperones headed off to the American Museum of Natural History last Friday for a real life “Night in a Museum.” Pictured: Michael Brooks Jr., Jacob Edmond, and Derrick Pommills, Jr. next to tiger with Derrick looking a bit imperiled!
(The church’s Todd Foster sent along this report and these photos. To send us photos and write-ups about events we missed, click here.)
They were part of a group of nearly 400 children who participated in this regularly scheduled overnight event at the museum. Apart from the thrill of “sleeping” (they reportedly didn’t do a lot of that) on cots under the 94-foot, hanging Blue Whale, the group was treated to a nighttime flashlight tour of the museum and a movie. This was the Museum’s last “Night” until the Fall. You can check
their
link as new dates become available.
Pictured: The group prepares for departure.
According to Michael Brooks, Director of the Boys 2 Men program, “One of our objectives is to provide our kids experiences in extraordinary slices of life beyond their neighborhoods and the warped perspectives of BET, MTV and the Sitcoms. As a church, we make it a point to bring young people along whenever we travel. We’ve taken them on Missions trips to Haiti, Trinidad, and Mexico, and this summer we’re sending two of our High Schoolers with a group to Peru.” Boys 2 Men is just one of 3 mentoring programs offered by the church.”
Pictured: The 94 ‑oot hanging blue whale, with some of the kids sleeping below.
p(clear). 
Less whale, more people sleeping on cots.
p(clear). Pastor Todd Foster, Senior Pastor of Church on the Rock adds, “We love to make life a positive adventure for our kids. Life was meant to be neither as mundane nor as treacherous as many find it to be here in the local community. It’s our “job” to add to everyone’s life experience as part of our godly mission. Despite the plethora of negative news concerning churches and kids, in my opinion the faith community should be the best postured entity within a community to make a real difference in the lives of children and families. We just have to make it our business to live up to that potential. There are many great Youth Service Providers here in the city and we are enjoying working with many of them through the bridge-building efforts of organizations such as Empower New Haven and The Family Alliance. There is an ascending thought in the city that it really does take a village to raise a child. I’m of the philosophy that the rightly-motivated, participating and active church needs to come back to the center of such a village; not as finger pointers and complainers, but as providers. It’s starting to happen all around the city.”
p(clear). 
The ride home: Proof that there wasn’t a lot of sleep happening the night before. Pictured is David Bamgboye (Saturday, June 23).