Kids Club - halfway point

Kids club – June 27 – July 8

We’re half way through the two weeks of Kids Club. For those of you who have done at least one Kids Club, you know how we are doing … tired, but so thankful to have another week with the kids and with each other. It is in this week that we traditionally see so many breakthroughs. Let me give you a glimpse of what God is doing here. Thanks for praying for us.

* What we call warfare, broke out early, especially with the work crew. First, we unraveled a big fight, then a few others who struggled from the first day, left the team, which is always heartbreaking. Next day there was a small car (van) accident, not our drivers fault, but scary anyway. The van is resilient and still on the road, not worse for wear, which gives you a mental image of our vans, possibly. The work crew in that van threw out her back in the accident, amazingly it snapped into place when she stepped out the next day because she twisted her ankle … which is now in a cast. She hobbles beautifully alongside her kids on her new crutches. Another work crew was racing to catch a football, playing a little after the kids had gone, stretched out to catch the ball, landed funny and fell on his back and neck, enduring a bit of a concussion which was diagnosed in the emergency room, where the other work crew was that same night. The next day we had a work crew affected by heat stroke. All work crew are back and seem to be doing well, which we credit to prayer and significant protection from the Lord and all he must set up for us during Kids Club. We know warfare; it seems to identify itself when troubles don’t seem to end.

These young people have endured with joy. Today at church they shared glimpses of their first week together. You could see what the fire of these pressures and heartaches has created. They testified to the deep love they have for each other. And you can see it! The things they are learning take some of us years to grasp.

Ephesians 6:10 ff
God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.
Be prepared. You're up against far more than you can handle on your own … Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other's spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out. And don't forget to pray for [them].

* Every day we have had the largest numbers we have ever had at Kids Club. The children come running off buses and vans every morning, so ready for another day. And you can see why …

One local church brought their youth group, dressed them up in all sorts of costumes (especially popular were the gorilla and banana) and located themselves all over a local mall for our Kinder through 3rd graders to find and then receive candy. That was mall crawl day. This week, our fifth grade boys were treated to an amazing hands on learning experience with engines. Three extraordinary centers were set up in our skills building, after these rotations the boys left for an on site visit with CAT trucks, most the size of buildings. That day our sixth grade boys visited with The Lost Boys of the Sudan, hearing their story and making clay cows. Slide pools, basketball clinic, soccer, crafts, art, writing, odyssey of the mind, ice cream, visits to a beauty college, police station, Krispy Creme, the Phoenix Art Museum, a fire station, GameWorks, Lazar tag, and Friday was an all campus Carnival for 500. Believe me we are having an amazing time.

* This environment of love, creates a space to share God’s Word with children. Every day, they are hearing that they can be heroes for God. And many are believing God for their lives. Pray for them, and for the teachers who contextualize these stories for the children every day. Friday, each child visited a Daniel’s lion den created for each classroom where they could go inside and place their fears inside a rock. Each child was told that this represented their decision to leave that fear in the hands of God. That night the work crew took those papier-mâché rocks filled with the holy prayers of children to their dinner, to burn in a fire. They were burned to protect the children’s private prayers to God, but also to symbolically believe with them that God desires to help them with the terrors they know.

Isaiah 63:1
Who is this coming … Who is this hero marching in his glorious uniform? "It's me, the LORD! I have won the battle, and I can save you!"

Please pray for us this next week!