Christian Teen Center open house is Sunday

The Well, a Christian Teen Drop-in Center, will hold a grand opening Sunday, April 29, from 12:30-4 p.m.

The Well is located at 1409 Main St. E, next to Gerold Bros. Construction. It was organized by Deb and Jim Bodensteiner as a place for young people grades 6 to 12 to gather. It is open five days a week, from 2:30-6:30 p.m.

The center features games, a snack bar, and a place for students to sit and study, there is free homework help and counseling. Youth support, group services and prayer are part of what is offered at The Well.

The Bodensteiners had run a similar teen center in Washington, IA, a community about the same size as New Prague, for nine years. "I thought I had retired when I moved here two years ago, but God had a different plan," Deb Bodensteiner said.

She and her husband began raising funds and looking for the right location last fall. One of the features of The Well is a large room with a pool table, ping pong, foosball table and a basketball hoop in a large garage. There are also two smaller rooms with tables, chairs, bean bag chairs and a TV. There is also free Wifi for students who need to do homework.

"Gerolds have been very accommodating to us. They’ve been very generous," Bodensteiner said.

In the month that The Well has been open, Bodensteiner said they have been getting between 15 to 20 people per week. She expects that number to grow as word spreads.

The Well also offers a....

To see more on this story pick up the April 26,, 2018 print edition of The New Prague Times.