Fitness programs help youth shape up
Twenty-one years ago, Steve Klassen launched Samson's Gym in the basement of an old fire hall that at the time headquartered Youth for Christ Winnipeg.
For several years, everything went smoothly as youth learned bodybuilding in a safe and helpful environment. But then something changed.
"I was challenged, or convicted—maybe a combination of the two—to expand our impact. I realized there were a lot of youth that we weren't reaching," says Klassen, now the organization's senior ministry supervisor. "We weren't reaching girls, and we were only reaching guys interested in building muscle."
Klassen and the Samson's team started expanding its mandate, going into schools and offering volleyball and basketball coaching. Soon, they added Samson's Wilderness Adventure Team and a bike club. Eventually they transitioned from "Samson's Gym" to "Samson's Sports and Fitness Centre," changing the language to become more inclusive.
Since that time, Samson's has continued to grow exponentially, and now offers rock climbing, floor hockey, soccer and flag football to Winnipeg youth, both male and female.
Klassen says there are almost no limitations on the kinds of sports programs Samson's could offer, except availability of volunteers.
"We're constantly trying to add new opportunities. We hire people to be missionaries, to be directors of ministry program areas, and each one of them is responsible to recruit a team of volunteers who multiply their efforts to more and more teenagers," he says.
In the future, Klassen dreams of duplicating Samson's existing programs in all four quadrants of the city, extending its mission to attract young men and women city-wide.
Programs like Samson's are valuable in helping to increase self-confidence and self-esteem for teenagers from every walk of life, says Klassen.
"For teenagers, self-esteem is hard to find. Sometimes it leads to depression, but for everybody it's a struggle. Only Christ can give confidence," says Klassen. "We've seen incredible life change. I could tell you story after story after story."
Worship through dance
Figures on Youth for Christ Winnipeg's website notes that there are more than 60,000 young people in Winnipeg and surrounding areas. The organization aims to reach as many as possible through a wide range of programs, including its fitness and arts initiatives.
Key to this mandate is Masterworks Dance Studio, which began as Celebration Company in a church basement 20 years ago. Like Samson's, YFC's dance program has evolved through the years, and now offers an array of dance and art programs for every age group.
Masterworks' mission is "to make dance, art and faith accessible to everyone regardless of financial status or level of skill," and the studio offers everything from hip-hop to ballet to jazz dance classes, along with drama and musical theatre, at YFC's King Street headquarters. As with many of YFC's other programs, Masterworks offers work opportunities and mentoring alongside its classes and summer camps.
The studio's programs have grown to the extent that Masterworks is now sending teams beyond Winnipeg's borders. Two years ago, Masterworks sent a team to the Dominican Republic, and the studio has has plans to eventually send teams to the Pas and other areas closer to home.
"We want to equip other people through discipleship with this wonderful component of dance and art as a language," says director Kristie Sidwall.
The growing Masterworks team believes in maintaining a high standard of training as well as accessibility.
"People choose Masterworks because the calibre is high, and because they know we're helping the community," says Sidwall. "Another thing that's different about our studio is that we intentionally take time to build relationships. It's not just about coming and learning a skill, it's us walking along a road with you."
Sidwall believes Masterworks is enacting a unique response to the call to 'Go and love others.'
"How do you love others? You love them from what you know, from a place of commonality," she says. "You feel an original connection to us because we speak the same language, and whether it is dance or art or drama, it's spreading the love of Christ through the vehicle of our passions."
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