New Beginnings Baptist Church is offering an active, upbeat event where participants can worship God with both spirit and body, and help support the church’s youth group.
Praize Kraze is a fitness class similar to Zumba, but it sets modest moves to Christian music. The ministry has instructors throughout the country, but Gina Napolitano offers classes in Plant City twice a week. She will be offering a class Nov. 1 at New Beginnings to benefit the youth group.
“People come in initially thinking they want to lose weight … and they don’t realize at the time that it’s so much more than that,” Napolitano said. “It goes beyond just being for your body — it’s for your spirit.”
The event is open to the public, and though it will benefit the church’s youth group, all ages are welcome. Ticket sales will help fund the group’s trip to Rock the Universe, Florida’s biggest Christian music festival, at Universal Orlando Resort. The two-day event is not until next September, but New Beginnings is already making preparations through fundraising.
At the Praize Kraze class, there also will be raffles and giveaways. Prizes include gift certificates for massages and car washes, and gift cards from Sassi’s Nails and Sonny’s BBQ.
Praize Kraze’s goal is to help people celebrate their faith with exercise and glorify Christ through physical health. Class members can expect to hear artists such as Lecrae, tobyMac, Kirk Franklin and Mandisa while they groove for God.
“Some people are skeptical at first,” Napolitano said. “It’s more of a ministry than anything I’ve ever known.”
Three other instructors will co-lead the New Beginnings event with Napolitano. Amanda Maynard and Willie Knighten are former Zumba instructors, like Napolitano. And Lucy Dominguez, one of Napolitano’s most dedicated students, is also one-half of the husband-and-wife youth group leadership team at New Beginnings.
“Our youth fund is used to do activities with them,” Dominguez said. “We give them an outlet.”
Contact Catherine Sinclair at csinclair@plantcityobserver.com