Meet Ashley Larson-Read room grades 4-5

By Ashley Larson

My name is Ashley Larson. Although I was born and raised in Lincoln, NE my eyes have been opened to a different side of our city over the past three years. Recently, I graduated from Nebraska Wesleyan University with a bachelors degree in social work. Throughout my life I have had the opportunity to be exposed to numerous urban communities through short-term missions with Jr. high and high school students. In college I did a three month internship with Urban Impact in New Orleans and my heart for urban youth and families was transformed. It took an experience one thousand miles away for me to really question what I was doing in my own community. Therefore, I decided to do my final internship with City Impact, right here in my hometown. God blessed me to serve at City Impact this summer with the Teen Job Club and the Summer Program and I was able to get to know many of the youth, of all ages, quickly.

This fall I came on staff as the Impact Learning Center’s 4th-5th grade R.E.A.L Room and Reading with Meaning Coordinator, in addition to leading the Jr. High Girls Teen Bible Club Classroom. I feel very humbled and fortunate to be working under such a great staff and for all that I have learned since coming on board at CI. My amazing husband, Mark, is a reading teacher and basketball coach at Lincoln High School and together we have loved seeing how God has intertwined our ministries over the past six months. I look forward to watching God transform more kids and families here in Lincoln as CI continues to reach out and strengthen our community.

Becoming a Kingdom Kid

By Bethany Larson



What does a Kingdom Kid look and sound like? This is the question that City Impact students have been exploring in their Bible Club classes. We have learned that Kingdom Kids say encouraging words to one another like “Please” and “Thank you” and they forgive one another. They also listen when someone else is talking, perform random acts of kindness for one another and participate in all the activities we do.

Being a part of both Bible Club and the ILC programming, I get to observe a few students in two different atmospheres. Although the expectations for the students are the same for both Bible Club and ILC reading program, I am seeing the biblical, Christ-like behavior we are teaching in Bible Club carry over into the ILC. I am getting the chance, when talking about a student’s behavior, to ask the question, “Are you acting like a Kingdom Kid?”

A Kingdom Kid is a part of God’s heavenly family, and these students who understand that are not only worried about following the rules that are in place at Bible Club or ILC, but they are also concerned about acting in a way that would please their heavenly father. I find it much easier to explain the purpose of rules when that purpose is to represent Christ. I am glad to see the students are not only choosing to represent Christ at Bible Club, but the ILC and hopefully school and home as well. That helps motivate me to continue my purpose of glorifying God by teaching and encouraging these kids.

Meet Nathan Fries, Van Driver

By Nathan Fries


My name is Nathan Fries. My hometown is Dannebrog, NE (a little town 25 minutes Northwest of Grand Island). I am a student at UNL and majoring in Mechanical Engineering and plan to graduate in December 2009. I accepted Christ in March of 2004and have been on a wonderful ride ever since. I am the Van Driver for the ILC and Bible Club on Tuesday Nights.

Meet Jennifer Harrington, Program Coordinator

I was raised on a cattle ranch in Montana, where I lived until I left for college at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. I graduated from UNL in August 2007 with a degree in psychology and a minor in education. I plan to attend graduate school next fall to obtain a Ph.D in clinical psychology. I would like to work with children who have been abused and neglected.

In my spare time I like reading, painting, running, going to movies, and spending time with family and friends. I am currently involved in post-graduate research for the pyschology department at UNL. I am also actively involved at my church; I volunteer as a leader for the high school youth group and have had the opportunity to participate in a mission trip to Haiti over the summer as part of our missions team.

Hopes & Dreams-A Place At The Table

By Todd Bowman


In 2006, I was the featured speaker at City Impact’s annual Hopes & Dreams fundraising banquet. I spent over twenty minutes casting vision for the creation of a strengths-based after school program called the Impact Learning Center which we were hoping to unveil in early 2007. During my speech, I communicated a dream I had that City Impact students would be so engaged in their communities through the avenue of their strengths that they would one day both join me and even replace me at the podium. I didn’t want to just talk about the students in our programs; I wanted our students to speak for themselves.

This dream became a reality on Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007, when five City Impact students were the featured speakers for this year’s Hopes & Dreams banquet titled “A Place at The Table.” Over 400 people packed into the Cornhusker Hotel banquet hall to attend this wonderful event and they responded with a standing ovation at the conclusion of the student led presentation.

These students spoke about their experience this summer in City Impact’s Teen Job Club program developing a beautification painting project at Hartley Elementary School. The names of these students are—

Alejandro – 7th Grade
Takeela – 9th Grade
KaDijah – 8th Grade
Addison – 7th Grade
VaDoll – 8th Grade

As City Impact moves into the future, we remain committed to developing youth leadership in all of our activities in order to truly fulfill our calling of providing a place a table.

The Lord has BIG plans for the kids at Bible Club

By Anna Zach

Over the past few months we have been planning and planning for the new Bible Club year. There has been this deep desire in me to help make Bible Club a really amazing place; a place where these kids know that we see how amazing they are, how much they are capable of, how talented they are, and how much potential is inside of them just waiting to be unleashed. I just know these kids are wonderful and I want them to know it too.

In October I went to St. Louis for the Annual CCDA conference. As a first timer I didn’t really know what to expect, but I was expectant. I found myself encouraged and affirmed in all the planning and thought that we have been taking for Bible Club. I was encouraged to sit in on speakers who passionately shared about God’s expectation for our young people. God has been in the habit of using young people to do amazing things- David, Josiah, Esther, Jeremiah – they were all teenagers when the Lord called them to insanely huge tasks for His kingdom. Does God still have amazing and huge things for teenagers to do? Does He have heroic works for our teenagers at Teen Bible Club? Do I believe it? Absolutely, one hundred percent, you bet your bibby He does!!! I am incredibly excited and expectant to be a part of what He intends to do as He reaches into the lives of our young people. These kids and teens have so much in them that God has wonderfully placed there. They have a power that He has given them, and we, if we allow it, have the chance to see it come to life. I am so excited for Bible Club to be a place where young people have a place to learn and use all that God has gifted them with.