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“We’re not keeping this to ourselves, we’re passing it along to the next generation-God’s fame and fortune, the marvelous things he has done!” - Psalm 78:4, from The Message.

We are proud to announce the launch of GEMS.  Some of you may or may not have been aware of the National Youth Council that has met over the previous few years, but it is no more and in it’s place is GEMS, which stands for Girls Empowering Mighty Servants.   There is a lot of information here this week, but we encourage you to read through and feedback to us your opinions.  What do you think of our funky new logo?

Every girl between 16-25 years of age in GBNI is a GEM, but there will also be a core group of GEMS who will, on your behalf, look at issues that affect you, and influence the decision making of the whole of GBNI.

The GEMS Dream is:

“To see a generation girls who have had a real encounter with their Saviour which empowers them to become mighty women of God.  We want our girls to use their voice and opinions to make a contribution in the decision making within GB leadership in order to make the organisation grow so it will last for generations.”
So what does this mean for you?  There are two ways to get involved. 

Girls’ Brigade GEMS are committed to:

• Reaching out to the girls with the gospel.
• The motto of Girls’ Brigade to ‘Seek, Serve and Follow Christ’ in EVERY thing we do.
• Listening to the voice and opinions of our girls in order to empower mighty servants.
• Actively assisting the leadership of Girls’ Brigade as  they seek to extend His Kingdom.
• Creating opportunities to meet new sisters in Christ for fun and fellowship.

There are two ways that you can get involved:

Firstly you can sign up to receive the GEMS e-newsletter which will include news of what we are doing, and will be written by girls in GB.  Your Captain will have received a note about this in her mailing this week.  If you are under 18 we need to get your parent’s permission to contact you by email, so get the form off your Captain and send it back to us via our new Freepost address.  If you are over 18 just send us an email directly.

Secondly, if you would like to be involved in the Core Team of GEMS, contact Sarah or Lesley and we will send you more details.  To be on this team there are certain things that we will expect from you:

• To attend 2 meetings a year (the next is in February.)
• Conduct a survey with your own girls and at least one other local Company.
• Assist at one competition, promoting GEMS and conducting surveys.
• Contribute to 2 e-newsletters.
• Continue to collect email addresses for the e-newsletters.
• Participate in some training to be arranged.
• Attend a BBQ next summer where, if you have participated in all the above, you will receive a certificate to acknowledge your contribution. (You will only receive this certificate if you have tried your best to participate fully in GEMS, missing no more than one of the criteria.)

We think that the responsibilities are manageable even within your already busy schedules.  However, it will never be too late to get involved with GEMS, and even if you can not take part in many of the events, there is nothing stopping you helping out in one or two ways.  GEMS is here to stay and we hope will grow and develop as more girls get involved and influence what GEMS itself will become.

If you have any questions or comments at all please contact Lesley or Sarah in GBHQ on 028 9454 8054 or email us at lesley@gbni.co.uk or sarah@gbni.co.uk.

Well done for getting through this very long blog, and we look forward  to hearing from you during the week,

Lesley and Sarah