Dear BTCchurch family,
As you can imagine, I soaked in the words spoken this past Sunday and tried not to cheer out loud as the message of valuing children was given by Pastor Bret and Wes Stafford. I heard so many points that spoke to my passion to see kids come to and grow in Christ, as well as the message of embracing children to the standard that God decrees. Here are two quotes from this past Sunday’s message and a question that I will leave you with as you process what it means to value children here at BTCchurch.
"Terrible things can happen when children are regarded as second class citizens." Wes Stafford
"Today is the time to shape the future" Wes Stafford
Wes said that the "cement of his soul was wet and pliable" at that moment on the chair when his future was forged. We, at BTCchurch, can have that kind of impact on the kids in our ministry! It excites me to think that we are ripe to really work together as an entire church "for the children". Everyone can be engaged in valuing children, and there are lots of options to volunteer in kids’ ministry (time commitments from 1 x a month to serving weekly, during the week, on the weekends, serving in a support area, and serving directly with kids).
So I leave you with the question, "What does valuing children look like for you?" Are you a room helper? Do you help new families get connected? Will you form relationships with kids and parents? Will you guide kids in becoming who they’ve been created to be as you partner with parents? Will you help in technology and production? Will you help administratively? Check out the opportunities to value children the next two Sundays in the lobby or on-line at www.btcchurch.com.
This summer we’re having an ORANGE event where parents, leaders, and kids can hang out together. It’s called Terrific Tuesdays and Fantastic Fridays. Detailed information is on-line on our kids web page and flyers are available at your child’s room.
m & m
No, this isn’t about the candy. It’s about the mission of the month. We challenge the kids to find the hidden item that relates to each month’s mission. This month our mission of the month focus is the Evansville Christian Life Center. Look on the KidStuf stage for something about this mission—what it does and who it is and then comment on it Rebecca’s blog at http://btcchurch.com/blog/kids/ The first 10 kids to comment correctly will get a prize.
Camp KidJam
There’s still time to sign up for Camp. The dates for Camp KidJam in Marion, Indiana are July 5-8, 2010. This camp is for children entering grades 3-5th for the fall 2010 school year. Details and deposits are now online—click on the link from the kids’ web page. We will have a brief meeting during the Ice Cream Party on May 30th on the bleachers for you to receive information and/or register your kid for camp.
Parent Partners Sign Ups
Come experience church
with your child!
http://betheltemple.org/content.asp?article=594
It was a GREAT season finale yesterday! I hope you were able to be part of it with our kids and leaders. Thank you parents for making KidStuf a priority. I will post all the May news on a separate post, but want to share in this about our “take away” challenge for this month’s virtue.
Parents, you should have received a dessert dipper at the end of KidStuf. The dessert dipper is a reward for you to give your child upon them showing patience. Maybe they struggle waiting to use the computer or have a hard time waiting their turn to talk at dinner . . . whatever the patience situation your child struggles with, talk about it with them and challenge them to work on it this month. Give them ideas on what they could do while they are waiting and make the goals reachable for them so you can both celebrate their success. Once they’ve accomplished it, award them the dessert dipper. Then, there’s one more patience challenge. Ask them to wait to activate the glow part of it. You see, on May 30th, we are going to have a “Patience is a Virtue Ice Cream Party” to celebrate our 5th season of KidStuf and the accomplishments kids and families have made. The party will be between services at 10:10 in the gym (after the turn around from Edge 9 service) and once everyone is served, we’ll turn the lights down and give the dippers and snap and a shake and our party will glow! It will be awesome! Hope to see you there!
Oh, and we’d love to have you share your stories around any of the virtues from this past season. We’ll have a few families share their virtue moments at the ice cream party.
If your child spotted the m & m item, have them leave a reply on my blog or email me. This month’s mission of the month focus is Evansville Christian Life Center. We’re collecting peanut butter and canned fruit at the kids’ rooms on May 16th and May 23rd.