Kids Reaching Kids!

I have often wondered how to get and keep our kids interested in Outreach Projects.   This is something I am throwing out there and I am really open to suggestions on this also.

I have had it on my heart for the kids who will be left in hospital over the Christmas period, where their families’ festive period is then disrupted by going back and forth as well as the worrying about the well-being of their kids.

This is something I witnessed first-hand last year when two of our close friends were expecting their first child. It turned out that baby Tyler came two months early and was extremely ill during this period and kept in hospital for a long period with both parents spending days on end in the hospital. Even though we all got together for dinner, celebrations and the exchange of presents on Christmas day, our friends had to arrive late and leave early to get back to the hospital and their new baby boy.

This year I have decided to get all the kids in our church to pick one toy they no longer play with and bring it to church in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Our plan is to take one group of our kids to the hospital and give them out to the kids who will spend the Christmas period there ~ and this plan is already well set into motion.

I am full of confidence in this that our kids will look beyond the gifts and toys themselves and understand the heart behind it. Also the hospitalised kids will come to expect a gift from the staff perhaps, but to see someone their own age, who they’ve never met before and know nothing about, come and give them a present is the thing that will remain with them long after the gift itself has gone.

In chatting this through with the kids, they are all keen to also ask if they can pray with the children they see and ask God for their healing. This is something that I truly believe will show much fruit and can only build on the strong foundations already in place with our kids, so I am really encouraged through all of this ~ not so much in this specific event but rather future outreach projects and more importantly, their own day-to-day lives and walk with God.

I have to believe that as our kids take on more outreach projects, their hearts and attitudes are changed and transformed and the quote “Having an attitude of gratitude” begins to take root within them. I am also looking forward to many more outreach projects to come in the future and know that as a church, we will only benefit from our kids getting involved more and more. So keep those ideas coming!!