The Country Fair

By Wanda Parker

The kids at Novaland, La Palma, CA spent the summer creating a Country Fair.  The fair was a one day event held last Friday.

It is important for kids to work for a period of time (delayed gratification), and then have the satisfaction of presenting to their community what they have accomplished.  What a sense of pride and excitement.  I got to be one of the judges.

Flower Arranging, but only two of the kids remembered to bring their flowers. Another lesson.Clay Art Project - there was also mask making, water colors, vegetable stamping, body drawing, baking and more.

 

Oh No!  The goldfish are dying!  Can we save them?

The Carnival is about to begin

I guess the day of the Penny Carnival is gone - it is now the day of the Nickle Carnival

A clown is created

The cake walk was a favorite

I love seeing older kids helping younger kids

The kids had created many games to be played at the carnival

Mobilize the Church to Serve The Poor

By Wanda Parker

KidTrek’s vision is to mobilize the Church to serve families-in-crisis in America. 

 

Within each family-in-crisis there is at least one at-risk child.  A child who is not receiving the spiritual nurturing that God commanded in Deuteronomy 6:7  for us to provide.

 

“You shall teach them diligently to your sons and

shall talk of them when you sit in your house and

when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.“ 

 

In other words “walking through life with kids.”  To adequately walk through life with children you must also do so with their primary nurturers and siblings. Recent research is showing that only working with children does not produce lasting transformation.

 

In each community there will be:

•  Six (6) Local Churches. 
  • A Local Church is a church that is in a community where there is a prevalence of families-in-crisis. 
• Four (4) Resource Churches. 
  • A Resource Church is a church in a middle-class to upper-class neighborhood that wants to serve the poor who live in close proximity to them. 

Congregants in both types of churches can choose at what level of involvement they are able to serve.  It might be someone giving an hour a week to tutor or a medical doctor saying s/he will provide pro-bono medical care for a family without insurance or a family in the church adopting a family-in-crisis.  These are just three examples of hundreds.  The key is for Christians to find where God wants them to serve and/or give.

 

KidTrek is placing two (2) Front Line Staff into each local church. 

 

Frontline staff are employees of KidTrek, they report to KidTrek not the church.  They will become members of the church, but are not on staff of the church. 

The ultimate goal for the frontline staff is to model, for the church congregation how to serve the poor, how to bring them to a place of life transformation in Jesus Christ.  We believe, contrary to the belief of many, that Christians want to serve the poor but they don’t know how.  As this vision is lived out in churches across America Christians will be taught and given the opportunity to “serve the least of these.”  The Frontline Staff works with both local and resource churches.

 

Because adults will trust you with their children before they will trust you with themselves the frontline staff begins by setting up an after-school ministry.  The after-school ministry is run on the local church campus.  Through being faithful in ministry to the children the church wins the trust of the primary nurturers and the community. This opens doors throughout the community for Christians to connect to those who would otherwise hold them at a distance.

 

In doing so the Church will once again become the center of the community rather than the government being the center.

 

KidTrek will continue to provide training for Associate Ministries – those who need training but wish to run their own ministry to the poor.

 

After School Programs – Change Without Substance

by Wanda Parker

“They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially; saying peace, peace, but there is no peace.”  Jeremiah 6:14

This is what we do with children at-risk when we give them homework help, we have a Bible time, we buy them toys and gadgets BUT we don’t deal with the brokenness of their families of origin. 

Substance is taking the effort, the time to build a relationship with each kid’s primary nurturer. 

• Become a trusted friend. 
• Model living a righteous life
• Model a strong work ethic
• Model parenting – even if you yourself don’t have your own child, model through nurturing his/her child
• Model dealing with life’s unexpected circumstances
• Model healthy relationships
• Model handling of emotions
• Be vulnerable, transparent, share your life

Don’t only throw Jesus or money at families in crisis and tell them that all will be well. Breaking generations of family brokenness demands so much more than that. 

Depending on your worldview, doing one or the other may make you feel good but it won’t bring lasting transformation to the family nor to the child.  You may do more harm than good.  You may walk away with a puffed up ego but the family may sink lower than they were before. 

What is your motivation?  Who do you truly care for – the family or yourself?

For more on this topic click here

For a living example click here

Les Miserables

By Wanda

Our vacation included seeing “Les Miserables” at Tuacahn, Utah which is a grand amphitheater that seats 2,000 and is surrounded by 1,500 ft. red-rock cliffs – it was amazing.  I especially loved the live animals, the real cannon and the sound was awesome.

However, as I watched the street scene where the poor are struggling I couldn’t help but think of the families in crisis across America.  Families who need help to pull themselves out of generations of brokenness.  As I watched this scene my heart ached for those today who are in need of help.

The problem is that it isn’t just about money – the brokenness involves so much more.  It would be so much easier if all we needed to do was give them money and their lives would be turned around. 

The majority of the families in crisis across America need others to get involved in their lives, to care enough about them to become their friends.  Families in crisis require the time, energy, wisdom and strength of individuals who aren’t in crisis if they are to escape the crisis. 

This is why the government can’t do it.  There isn’t enough money to support enough people to provide this type of intense involvement.  Plus the government isn’t able to address the foundation of their problem – poverty of the soul.  But the Church can do it – followers of the Triune God.  Not only can we do it, we are commanded to do it. 

The consequences of not doing so are quite huge!

An excerpt from Matthew 25:31-46

“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you Me nothing to eat …’

‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger …’     ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’” 

Click here to read the entire passage

If you want to read more about how The Church can make a difference click here and here