I love children’s ministry! I am not sure why . . . maybe it is because I can be my crazy, zany self and people think that I am “just trying to relate to my audience”. Because of my love for children’s ministry, VBS is my favorite week of the year and I think Kids 4 Truth is the greatest thing since sliced-bread!

Here at the KOA campground, we host a Friday-night children’s ministry. The kids that come are mainly evacuees from other parts of the state living here until they can get a trailer from FEMA or find some other place to go. Because of the transience of these kids, the attendance is sometimes sporadic.

What has amazed Anouk and me is the fact that a lot of these kids have never heard the Bible accounts that most of us take for granted. Anouk began to teach the story of David and Goliath and none of the kids had ever heard it before! You can imagine the joy that Anouk and I share as we tell these kids things truths from God’s Word for the first time in their lives. We have given them Bibles and it is exciting to see them bring them back to follow along in a passage.

But something else has been amazing to us: the individual stories of these kids themselves. I am not referring to the fact that they are evacuees, I am referring to the situation that these kids were in BEFORE the hurricanes came. Let me share some of their stories:

Meet Isaiah.
Isaiah is going to be eleven in January. He has twelve siblings - two are step-siblings, nine are half-siblings and only one other child has the same father. Isaiah’s thirteen year old half sister is now five months pregnant and will not tell who the father is. The mother is thrilled that her child is pregnant and is making plans to take care of the newborn while her daughter goes back to school.

Meet Brady.
Brady is a fifteen year old who was chewing tobacco when I first met him. (He said he doesn’t chew too often and when I told him what they put in it, he spit it out. I have never seen him chew since.) Brady is one of those kids that you immediately like. He is respectful, helpful and he listens during the lesson. Unfortunately, Brady cannot read (and Anouk would LOVE to teach him how to read).
Brady’s family lived next door to Isaiah’s before Rita came. He keeps telling Isaiah’s sister to let him help her raise the child. He said that they could always let the child know (when she’s old enough) that he is not her real father.

Meet Christina.
Christina (I call her Cassie to drive her nuts!) is Isaiah’s only true biological sibling. Christina is going to be ten next month and is inseparable friends with Summer.

Meet Summer.
Summer is Brady’s eleven year-old sister. She is also twelve year-old Gabe’s girlfriend.

The opportunity to minister to these kids is overwhelming and humbling. Tonight we had the lowest turnout – 6 (last week we had 14). But it was the best night so far. Halfway through my lesson on Daniel and the Lion’s Den, they started asking questions. “Where did God come from?” “Is there really a place down there?” “How could God die?” “Why are we here, what is the purpose for us being here on earth?”

Praise God for the open door! I was able to answer these questions and others from God’s Word. Isaiah and Brady seemed the most interested. I believe God is drawing them to Himself. Please be praying for these kids and their home situations. Be praying for Anouk and I as we seek to teach them and show them Christ’s love.