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    14Mar, 2016
    Volleyball Event: Volley for At-Risk Youth

    volleyball charity event

    Volley for At-Risk Youth

    Breakaway’s volleyball charity event (Volley for At-Risk Youth) is coming up April 23, 2016. You don’t need to have your own team to participate, just come and we’ll sort some evenly-skilled teams. No previous volleyball experience needed, just a great attitude and a desire to empower the lives of needy youth in our community. The theme for the event will be FUNKY SOCKS!!! So get those spotted, striped, pink-bear-covered socks out of the closet! Prizes will be awarded for winning teams and those with the best socks.

    WHEN:

    Saturday, April 23, 2016 from 10:00 AM to 1:30 PM

    WHERE:

    Shepherd Recreation Center
    2124 Shepherd Rd
    Chattanooga, TN 37421 | MAP

    The door admission is $10 per person (players and spectators) with 100% of the proceeds going to scholarships that help send Chattanooga area at-risk youth and underprivileged children to summer camp. A free pizza lunch will be provided. Come out and play or be a spectator for this event and support kids in our community. Your participation helps get kids off the streets this summer and into a safe environment where they can increase resiliency characteristics, team-building aptitude, social skills, and spiritual development.

    Every person who pays the door admission of $10 (player or spectator) is eligible to win raffle prizes.

    Contact Cindy for more info: (423) 400-1358, cindy@breakawayoutreach.com

    If you aren’t planning on attending the volleyball event but would still like to sponsor a child for summer camp, you can make an online donation here, or download our summer camp brochure and mail in the response card with your gift.

    THANK YOU FOR PARTNERING WITH BREAKAWAY TO CHANGE THE GAME FOR CHATTANOOGA AREA AT-RISK YOUTH!!!

    Read more about our Kidz Camps here.

    Summer Camp: In Their Words

    “This is the funnest thing on earth.” – Breakaway Camper

    2Mar, 2016
    Easter Hope Outreach: Domestic Abuse Victims

    easter outreach domestic abuse

    Join us this Easter in bringing encouragement, hope, and healing to hundreds of kids in crisis. We are collecting Easter baskets for children in domestic abuse shelters and transitional living facilities throughout east Tennessee and north Georgia.

    For those who are interested in partnering with us to be the tender hands of Jesus to these precious little ones, there are ways you can contribute. Have your family/children, community group, Sunday School class, church youth, or office team build Easter baskets (contact us for specific details on assembly and delivery). If you cannot build the baskets but would like to donate supplies to help fill the baskets, that is also an option. You can sponsor a child to receive an Easter gift basket by donating online (we recommend $10 per basket).

    Most importantly, we need prayer warriors. Exposure to domestic violence can have long-term effects on children and teens. Your prayers are efficacious in opening spiritual doors, breaking down emotional strongholds, and reversing generational cycles of abuse, so that wounded young lives may find resiliency and healing.

    The shelters and facilities do have a few guidelines: no homemade food items, such as cookies/candies because food items require proper ingredient labels. However, homemade craft items are fine, as long as you try to avoid small items with choking hazards. It’s also helpful to not have to sort “girl” items from “boy” items, so it’s ideal if they are not gender-specific supplies.

    A few suggested items include:

    • Jesus/resurrection themed items
    • Easter books/Bible stories
    • Stuffed animals
    • Crayons/markers/pencils
    • Mini notebooks/coloring books
    • Stickers
    • Novelty items without choking hazard parts
    • Card games
    • Candy/gummies
    • Individual snacks such as cheese/crackers, dried fruit
    • Hygiene items
    • Anything you might put in your own child’s Easter basket
    • Notes from your children will be appreciated, as well, to make the baskets more personal

    Contact Cindy for more info (423) 400-1358.

    Thanks, Everyone!

    easter outreach domestic violence

    28Dec, 2015
    Breakaway Winter Youth Retreat in Pigeon Forge

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    The Breakaway winter youth retreat will be in Pigeon Forge, January 22-24. Our high school and middle school youth will attend the Resurrection Conference at the LeConte Center and experience fun adventures at Ober Gatlinburg.

    [divider]

    Resurrection Conference is an awesome annual event of worship and spiritual growth for youth and youth mentors. Each year over 12,000 come together in Gatlinburg, TN, to celebrate the God of The Resurrection. Through inspirational words and music led by nationally-known speakers and musicians, young people encounter the Lord in new and deeper ways.

    Resurrection 2016 is at a brand-new location in Pigeon Forge, TN. The LeConte Center in Pigeon Forge offers a larger facility which allows us to have everyone under one roof for one amazing weekend.

    What is Resurrection?

    For many, Resurrection is an opportunity for conversion, decision, and revival. For others, it becomes a moment of realization that their faith needs to grow deeper and more serious.

    Resurrection is hosted by the youth ministry of the Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church. Most of the youth and adults who attend Resurrection come from the geographical areas of northeast Georgia, eastern Tennessee, and southwestern Virginia. However, a significant and growing number of youth and adults come from churches outside of this region.

    Resurrection has become an interdenominational celebration, welcoming youth and adults from Baptist churches, Presbyterian churches, the Christian Church, Lutheran churches, and more, as well as non-denominational churches; and from states as far away as Florida, Mississippi, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Resurrection testifies to the common experience of Jesus Christ’s living Lordship that binds all believers into one, despite our divisions. We desire to make all welcome here.

    Although Resurrection has become a large gathering over its 30-year history, the focus of the event has remained constant: the individual young person and his or her response to Jesus Christ. We recognize the leadership of their parents, their peers, their leaders in their local churches, and youth groups to grow in radical discipleship that can change the world.

    We invite you to come and be with us and experience the life-changing power of Jesus Christ—the One who is The Resurrection and The Life.

    The Speaker

    Fred Lynch is a dynamic communicator whose heart desire is to take the expressions of this generation and use them to glorify God through relevant, relatable and radical truths. At the age of 18 he founded P.I.D. (Preachers in Disguise) one of the first gospel rap acts and went on to record 6 albums.

    Fred is the author of The Script (an artistic translation of the Gospel of John in rap), What’s a Fo’ Sheezy? (e-book on slang with discussion Q&A), and The Real (New Testament in Biblezene form).

    Fred lives in Dallas Texas with his wife of 24 years and their two children.

    fredlynch.org

    Worship Artist

    Resurrection is happy to have Bellarive for the first time. This band has a passion for worship that is immediately apparent.

    From the band, on their unique name and their passion for worship:

    Bellarive is a made up word, but it does mean something. Over the course of a summer we spent everyday at my house. For us, it was a gathering place. A place to seek and find God, to make sense of what He was stirring. The days were filled with prayers and songs. Soon, they became one in the same. It was hard to put to words, but encountering God tends to be that way. Looking back, I think God was beginning to teach us not only who He is, but who we are in Him. I lived off a street baring a strong resemblance to the word “Bellarive”. None of us knew how to say it or what it meant, but we kind of liked that… It took on this definition: It’s the conviction that God is actually moving. It’s the belief that music is by design, a powerful and tangible space for the creation to engage with the Creator. It’s the realization that we are fickle beings prone to wander and wade in the shallows, but God has designed us to swim in the deep. His grace makes it so. This is why we sing. And when we do so, it refines us, and it helps us to remember that His plan is for us, not against us.

    bellarive.com

    Concert

    Chris Tomlin will also be joining Resurrection 2016 for a special concert.

    For over a decade, Chris Tomlin has been providing the soundtrack for Sunday morning worship services around the world. His latest song, “Jesus Loves Me” continues to show Tomlin’s humble heart as one in awe of the love that God has for him.

    More people have heard singer/songwriter Chris Tomlin’s songs than Adele’s, Katy Perry’s, and Kelly Clarkson’s combined. Chris Tomlin is undoubtedly one of the most successful songwriters of our generation, as well as the most humble.

    christomlin.com

    27Aug, 2015
    My Story (Our Story): Breakaway’s 20 Years of Hope

    Breakaway Outreach was founded 20 years ago this fall. To commemorate two decades of bringing hope to at-risk youth, underprivileged children, and under-served communities, we have put together this slideshow of photos from over the years. There is a powerful story of God’s redeeming grace behind each and every person pictured here.

    The song is My Story by Big Daddy Weave

    (Lyrics below)

    If I told you my story
    You would hear hope that wouldn’t let go
    If I told you my story
    You would hear love that never gave up
    If I told you my story
    You would hear life but it wasn’t mine

    If I should speak then let it be

    Of the grace that is greater than all my sin
    Of when justice was served and where mercy wins
    Of the kindness of Jesus that draws me in
    To tell you my story is to tell of Him

    If I told you my story
    You would hear victory over the enemy
    If told you my story
    You would hear freedom that was won for me
    If I told you my story
    You would hear life overcome the grave

    If I should speak then let it be

    This is my story this is my song praising my Savior all the day long

    Publishing: © 2015 Word Music, LLC, Weave Country (ASCAP) / Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Open Hands Music (SESAC) (All rights on behalf of itself and Open Hands Music adm. by Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC)
    Writers: Mike Weaver / Jason Ingram

    5Aug, 2015
    Become a Birthday Angel for “Alyssa”

    Become a Birthday Angel!

    Join us in giving “Alyssa” an Ultimate Birthday Blessing. The UBB imitative seeks to bring heaven’s joy to under-served children through festive birthday celebrations.

    The kids we aim to serve wouldn’t typically have much of a birthday party otherwise. Many are children of prisoners, those in homeless and domestic abuse shelters, foster care, or transitional living facilities.

    “Alyssa” is one of our Breakaway kids whom we mentor. Both of her parents were in prison when she first came to our summer camp a few years back. One of them has since been released but has made no effort to contact her. You can imagine the abandonment issues she has had to wrestle with. She is being raised by her grandmother on meager means and has a birthday coming up in late September.

    Our goal is to give her an amazing birthday party and shower her with God’s abundance of love, joy, and gifts!

    You can be one of her “Birthday Angels” by getting her a gift (she is turning 15), donating party supplies, or bringing your enthusiasm out to the event to party with us.

    *Name changed to protect “Alyssa’s” identity.
    13Jul, 2015
    Backpacks and Chattanooga After-School Programs

    Backpacks and After School Programs for Chattanooga Underserved Children

    Partner with Breakaway Outreach in helping hundreds of Chattanooga area inner-city students and underserved children get off to a great start this school year with backpacks and after school programs!

    We will be distributing new backpacks throughout the month of August, and here are some basic school supplies needed:

    • #2 Pencils
    • Pens
    • Lined Notebook Paper
    • Rulers
    • Scissors
    • Spiral Notebooks
    • Colored Pencils
    • Glue Sticks
    • Pocket Folders
    • 3 Ring Binders

    Extra Items

    • Undergarments
    • Gloves and Mittens
    • Socks
    • Tissue Boxes
    • Wetwipes

    Call us at 423-400-1358 or email info@breakawayoutreach.com if you want information on where to drop off school supplies.

    [divider]

    Effective after school programs bring a wide range of benefits to youth, families and communities. After school programs can boost academic performance, reduce risky behaviors, promote physical health, and provide a safe, structured environment for the children of working parents.

    • Attending after school programs can improve students’ academic performance. A national evaluation found that over 40 percent of students attending 21st Century Community Learning Center programs improved their reading and math grades, and that those who attended more regularly were more likely to make gains (Naftzger et. al., 2007).
    • Effective after school programs can improve classroom behavior, school attendance, academic aspirations, and can reduce the likelihood that a student will drop out (Huang, Leon, La Torre, Mostafavi, 2008).
    • Participation in after school programs has been associated with reduced drug use (Investing in Our Young People, University of Chicago, 2006) and criminal behavior (UCLA National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing, 2007).
    • After school programs can play an important role in encouraging physical activity and good dietary habits. Participation in after school programs has been associated with positive health outcomes, including reduced obesity (Mahoney, J., Lord, H., & Carryl, 2005).
    • Working families and businesses also derive benefits from after school programs that ensure that youth have a safe place to go while parents are at work. Parents concerned about their children’s after school care miss an average of eight days of work per year, and this decreased worker productivity costs businesses up to $300 billion annually (Brandeis University, Community, Families and Work Program, 2004 and Catalyst & Brandeis University, 2006).
    15Jun, 2015
    Summer Camp Theme and Photos: “Fearless”

    Breakaway’s summer camp for children of prisoners, at-risk youth, and disadvantage kids. Our theme this year was “Fearless.” Kids learned five daily principles:

    1. Because of God’s presence, I can face anything. (Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego)
    2. Because of God’s purpose, I can risk boldly. (Esther)
    3. Because of God’s power, I live with a different perspective. (Lazarus)
    4. Because of God’s peace, I can overcome evil. (Stephen)
    5. Because of God’s perseverance, I can finish strong. (Paul)

    Photos below: Read More

    9Feb, 2015
    Lessons From a Super Bowl Hero

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    In Boston, they are calling Malcolm Butler the “patron saint of second chances.”  Butler is the undrafted rookie and unlikely hero of the Super Bowl.  His interception sealed the win for New England, but not too many people heard of Butler before the big game.

    After losing focus in community college he was kicked off the football team.  He left campus and worked at a Popeyes fast food restaurant.  Then Malcolm Butler had a “life changing” summer and came back a different person.  Butler was like a lot of kids… “They need a second chance, whether it’s academics or sports or whatever,” Gene Murphy, his former coach said.

    “Malcolm is a living testimony to the importance of second chances.”

    Gene Murphy had spent most of Super Bowl Sunday recruiting prospective players in Mississippi.  He told them about one of his players who experienced something called growing up.  He told them about Malcolm Butler.  He was so busy talking to prospective players that he didn’t make it home until the second half of the Super Bowl, which he watched with his wife, Dot.

    When Butler made the play that cemented his place in New England history, Gene and Dot Murphy were sitting in their living room, 1,432 miles away from Boston.  They just smiled at each other, knowing that life is about second chances, and that a young man they both believed in had come to embody all that and more.

    Breakaway Outreach exists to show at-risk youth and children that there is a God of second chances.  He sent His Son, Jesus Christ to give us the hope of another chance.  Thank you for partnering with us to make that hope a reality in so many kids’ lives.