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News From the Field December 10, 2007 Kiln, Mississippi Build We have completed our 98th playground 1 day early! I credit the great work by the volunteers on this project- the KIDS volunteers that flew in, Samaritan's Purse volunteers, and especially, the local volunteers from the Bayou Talla Community Church, the group we built this playground for. View pictures of this project.....
December 6, 2007 Buenas Noches! We have just completed our last two days of ministry here in Guatemala. Yesterday, Dr. Al and part of the ministry team went and held a a pedicatric clinic with a Guatemalen doctor by the name of Dr. Calderon. He is a pastor as well and originally opened his practice to help the families of other pastors who could not afford medical care. Then he began to reach out to the people who live near his office. They, with the help of Laurie King (she is a medical missionary here who has been a big help in organizing our clinics this week) were able to see around 25 children in all. Meanwhile, the rest of the team was doing flannelgraph training at the Campus Crusade for Christ office. Twenty-six children's workers were able to participate and were so excited to be there. One young man in the class shared how, before he became a christian, he had gone to the United States illegally to find work. While there, he became a believer and accepted Christ as his Savior. He said he realized then that it was wrong for him to stay in the U.S., so he returned to Guatemala to share Christ with others here. Once again, when Marty taught the lesson about the birth of Christ, two of the students made decisions to accept Christ as their Savior! That is a total of seven more people in all that we know we will be fellowshipping with in heaven one day as a result of God working through our team - Yay! Holding the training proved to be a bit of a challenge because, when the team arrived at the CCC office, they discovered they had the WRONG flannelgraph sets. They were sets from another flannelgraph producer ordered by someone else here in Guatemala City - ugh! Our Jesus Film flannelgraph was still waiting to be picked up from the customs office! Normally, a situation like that could be a real mess to get worked out, but we have an awesome God! In answer to our prayer, they were able to get the right boxes today and arrived back at the CCC office about 10 minutes before the end of the training. That meant we were able to make sure each student had a set when they left that they could start using in their ministries right away. Thank you Lord! We have seen God answer prayer in so many ways while we have been here. I cannot thank you enough for your faithfulness in praying for us and for God's work here. Because of you, the lives of many children, parents, trainees (and even van drivers) have been impacted for Christ. Melanie Derr
December 3 , 2007 Wow! The past few days have been full - and a wonderful blessing! Thursday morning we had the privilege of meeting with the children's workers at the Rey de las Nationes church. Imagine our surprise when half of those who came turned out to be children themselves! They made up the ministry team who served for their Tuesday evening kids program. Boy, were they a sharp group of kids! We had a great time teaching all of the workers a little about how to use the puppets and flannelgraph, as well as some new songs. Marty gave a great challenge on the Spiritual Life of a Children's Worker. We were only with them a short time, but grew to love and appreciate them very quickly. The evening was definitely one we will never forget! Some of the students from the flannelgraph class decided we needed to experience a traditional Guatemalen meal, so we were all invited to one of their houses for a wonderful dinner of Pulique (a soup with chicken and potatoes), home-made tamales, chili caliente! The best way to describe our time together is Fun and laughter! They were so gracious and really made us feel like very special friends. Of course, Marty HAD to pass them on their final exams after that! Once we got to the training, the festive spirit continued. Both the puppet ministry teams and the flannelgraph students put a lot of preparation into their skits/lessons and it showed in the their final presentatrions. After we awarded their certificates, it was truly difficult to say good-bye. It never fails. Though we came to bless them, we were the ones who were blessed! To top it all off, the rest of our team, Dr. Al HuYoung, Carol and Cindy Bates, arrived last night! Yay! That meant we were able to kick off the medical ministry portion of our trip. Today we went to Casa Shalom orphanage in San Lucas where our medical team were able to give all of the children Wellness checks, and the rest of us got to play with the kids! I sat down with a spanish children's Bible story book to read to some of the little ones and ends up with five children sitting on my lap pointing at the pictures and telling me the stories instead! Though it was clear these children were well taken care of, it was clear they craved the attention we could give them. More clinics tomorrow in the town of Patezia. Please pray for our medical team as they see the children and discern how they can be helped, and the rest of us as we minister to the children as they wait their turn to see the Doctor. Continue to pray for our team as we seek opportunities to be used. God is answering in amazing ways! Melanie Derr, Puppet Coordinator
November 28, 2007 Hello! Another great day of ministry here in Guatemala! We saw some wonderful creativity coming from the teachers we are training here in Antigua. It will really be a treat to see how they do tomorrow on their "Final exams." We saw God work wonderfully in Chimaltenango tonight. One of the Bible stories we use as part of our Jesus Film flannelgraph training is about the Birth of Jesus (especially fitting now at Christmas time). When our trainer, Marty DeRoche, presented this lesson this evening, he shared the Gospel at the end of the lesson. Guess what? Two of the women in the class told him afterward that they prayed then to accept God's gift of salvation. Praise the Lord with us! You are making an impact on the ministry here in Guatemala through your support and even more so through your prayers. Please continue to pray for opportunities for us to be a witness here and for God's leading as we serve each day. On behalf of the children of Guatemala, Melanie Derr Kids Around the World
November 27, 2007 Greetings from Guatemala! Do I dare tell you how beautiful it is here? We are surrounded by mountains (even 3 volcanoes!), the temperature has been perfect and the sun has been shining. A definite improvement over the 27 degree weather I left in Rockofrd yesterday. The team all arrived yesterday with no problems. (Thank you Lord!) and we have really been enjoying the chance to get to know each other. Once Dr. HuYoung arrives on Thurday, our group will be complete! We started our training here in Antigua this morning at the "King of the Nations" school Our students are actually all of the teachers from the school! How fun! They are a great group and we look forward to spending more time with them over the next few days. Their school year offically ends on Wednesday, so we will not be meeting with them on Thursday as we originally had planned. Instead, we will have the opportunity to meet with a group of sunday school teachers from a local church. Please pray that God would use us to be an encouragement to them in their ministry to the children here in Antiqua, ok? This afternoon we had a few hours to walk around Antigua. What an neat place! The city itself is considered a historical preservation site, so you see the ruins of old convents, cathedrals, etc, scattered throughout the city. It was so unique to see a group of kids playing basketball on a courtt built right alongside the ruins of an old church building! Tonight our team went to the Guatemala Seminary in Chimaltenango for more training classes. Another great group! We had so much fun - I can't wait to go back tomorrow and do it all again. Please pray for this group in particular. Several of those who are in the training are public school teachers from the nearby villages and they are not christians. We are excited, yet humbled by the opportunity we have to get to know them this week and hopefully share our faith with them in the process. Well, I am tired and a little sore (over 4 hours of holding a puppet in the air will do that I guess! Thank you for your continued prayers. God is at work! God Bless, Melanie Derr, Puppet Coordinator
November 13, 2007 2nd Annual California Fundraising Banquet On Novemer 8th we held our second annual banquet in San Juan Capistrano, CA. This banquet was designed to continue to cultivate relationships and partnerships in the Southern California region as well as raise funds to finance our ongoing presence in there.. It was a great night as 178 people attended from all parts of Southern California. Our guest speaker was Bill Hoyt from Unireach International, a group that we have partnered with to build two playrounds in Vietnam. Bill spoke of the unique way a child's smile shows us a glimpse of God and how a playground can impact a community in a special way other projects can't. We also had one of our key volunteers, Debbie Perez, talk about her experience on one two of our trips and how that experience led her to continue to raise funds for a playground at another school in St. Bernard's Parish, New Orleans. Thank you for your prayers and support for us and for this great night. If you were not able to attend, we hope you can next year.... For the kids, Chris Marshall
October 24, 2007 Good Morning, We started construction of the SW Park playground on Monday of this week with warm weather. However, the temperature has dropped daily (36 degrees this morning!), but we are blessed with lots of sun. Click here to view pictures of the project..........
October 10, 2007 This year’s 11th Annual Fundraising Banquet was another success! Over 680 people attended Highlighted by: Barry Hall speaking from Samaritan’s Purse on how KIDS has partnered with them Up next: California Banquet – November 8, 2008 at El Abode de Capistrano located in San Juan Capistrano
September 28, 2007 Very warm greetings from the Solomon Islands! After four days of travel by car, bus, plane and boat I finally arrived at the first training location - a remote village on the island of Choiseul in the South Pacific - not far from Papua New Guinea. Joining me on the last leg of the journey were Joshua and Annie, the JESUS Film coordinators for the Solomon Islands. As we arrived at the village we were greeted by three men dressed as traditional (head-hunting!) warriors brandishing spears and shields! As we walked up to the village, they danced around me talking about how they had made a big oven in the ground and were looking forward to cooking me in it so that they could taste my sweet American blood!! I must admit, they would have been very intimidating if I hadn't known it was all in fun. As it was, they had the villagers laughing and cheering at their antics. When we reached the village, we were greeted by leis, a welcoming song and the first of many speeches. That evening the people began to arrive from the neighboring villages. In the end, there were 133 people who came from 7 villages - some of them traveling three hours by boat, in the rain, to get there. The training went all day and late into the evening for two days. They wanted to learn as much as possible in the limited time we were with them. After I had gone to bed in the evenings, the local church and village leaders visited Joshua and Annie and talked with them about how much they appreciated the training and asking for more in the future. Please be praying that they will be able to take advantage of these open doors to do more training and ministry in the future. The local churches have no resources and the lay pastors have had no training. The need is huge. As I left the village, I took with me some wonderful memories - the beautiful four-part harmony singing, the joyful antics of the children, the close family bonds, their resiliency after disaster (they are still recovering from the tsunami in April) and their laughter - I have never had so much laughter in my training before!! I thank God for this opportunity. I am now in Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands. Last night I began some Advanced training for those whom Chris Marshall and I trained here last year. It was great to see these people again and hear the stories of how they have been using the flannelgraph. One church has completely re-arranged its Sunday morning schedule to give the Sunday School more time and so that more people can attend. Everyone wants to hear the lessons being taught and see the flannelgraph - even the adults! Often the Sunday School teachers we have trained are the only ones in their church who have received any training at all and so they have become the leaders and teachers of the whole congregation - a huge responsibility! Becky Douglass
September 19, 2007 Today we finished up the last two playgrounds in Ecuador which we built in Quito. Even though we were technically in Quito, it was still far out of town. The first spot was unlike we had ever seen. As we wound thru the mountains and on the curvy, cobblestone roads, we came up to the edge of a cliff. Down below were several small villages and a soccer field. We were building right next to the soccer field. If you kicked the soccer ball out of bounds, it was time to get a new ball. Here the people were so involved in helping us put the playground together. The men dug the holes while the women carried rocks from the cliff above. It was such hard work for those women. One woman went back and forth bringing bags of rocks down to us with a two year old baby strapped to her back! As the playground came together you could see the gratitude in the people's eyes. They were so thankful that we came for their children. We have set up an ongoing ministry here with our in country coordinator to make sure these people get training to continue teaching their childen about Jesus. The last location and our 5th playgournd built in two weeks was also in Quito, sort of. We had to drive an hour from our hotel thru the city and then around a mountain up a windy cobblestone road. When we finally came to the spot we asked ourselves, "Where are we?" The location of this village makes it virtually impossible for the kids to go to school. So a local man opened up a school in their town and started teaching them. He is the only teacher and has his work cut out with over 180 kids in the village. Our in country coordinator works with this village twice a month, training them in the flannelgraph and encouraging their continuing education of their children When we arrived at the spot one of the villagers told us the ground there was called "cemento duro", hard cement. It wasn't cement of course but it was extremely hard. Fortunately we had some strong women who stepped in to help us dig the holes. The playground looked beautiful in the small school's play yard. The children came out and looked at it and loved it. They had a sign that said, "Gracias Kids Around the World." After a long tow weeks, it was great to see that sign from the kids. As we head back home there is a lot to process from these last two weeks. We have met so many wonderful people who will continue to use the playgrounds to minister to their children. We have also seen so many kids, thousands of them, who have almost nothing but continue to smile and enjoy life. We hope that this small gift will continue to give them joy for the years to come. We want to thank you for all your prayers and support. We truly felt them while we were down there. Please continue to pray for us as we prepare for the remaining builds this year, and the future build in Ecuador in March. God Bless, Chris Marshall Click here to see more pictures of this trip....
September 17, 2007 Today we had a long day. We traveled from the coast back to the mountains by plane and car. When we finally stopped, we were in a town called Otavalo. This town is 11,000 feet high and beautiful. The people in the town are known for having long hair, both men and women, and they are also all Quechua Indians and know very little Spanish. The location we were building was in a small, very poor section of the city located on the outskirts. There is a man there named Segundo that has taken a call from God and produced great results. God told him that he needed to help children finish school and learn more of the Bible. So he started offering after school programs that were aimed at Bible teaching, tutoring, games and activities, and a hot meal. Most people in this town make less than $3/day so there is not alot for Segundo to work with. But now, after we left, he had a beautiful playground to strengthen his ministry amongst the community. The playground is small and situated among a few trees and between some houses. There are hundred of kids around and they are so full of joy and very respectful of each other. One of the things that amazed me was how nice they were to each other. Once we opened the playground to them, they all rushed to it. But when the unit became overcrowded, they formed a line in front of the stairs and waited patiently for their turn. This is in contrast to the playground in Manta where there were 50 kids fighting for position on the main unit. While the kids were enjoying their new playground, we were thinking how amazing this project was. The location of the playground in the community along with the people living there made us feel like we really made a great impact in their lives. There was so much potential now that the playground was there and Segundo was recharged to continue his ministry. He will also get a great lift in two weeks when he and his other leaders are trained in flannelgraph by our Ecuador country coordinator. Thank you for your prayers and support of this project. Next we travel back to Quito for another build. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. Chris Marshall Click here for the latest pictures... September 15, 2007 We have just finished our second playground in Ecuador. This was a small unit that took only 3 hrs to complete. After seeing the playground in the ground, most of us thought it would be too small to have a great impact on this community. We were wrong. At the dedication, there were 250 kids and lots of adults that were so excited to have us there. They couldn't believe that we came from the United States to build this park for their children. The playground was built in a small, very poor community in Manta, Ecuador, which is on the coast. The city here is a desert and it is desolate. The houses are made up of cardboard and bamboo and the people are very poor and struggle to survive. This town used to be a thriving agricultural area that produced lots of the cities' vegetables. But 23 years ago it stopped raining and the town turned into a deserted wasteland. Since then, the economy here has hit rock bottom and the residents have turned to crime and drugs to survive. But things are changing here. A local pastor has taken a keen interest in these people and will be building a church near the park in the near future. Many of the residents attend the pastor's church and the are very strong Christians now. There is also a police station that is being built next to the playground that will offer more protection for the playground and for the people. And then there is their new playground. Its located in a well manicured corner lot of the community and has one small tower and two swings. So simple. Yet, to see the kids play on it you would think it was much bigger. Each part of the playground had tons of kids that were screaming and laughing and playing with each other. They had never seen something so amazing. I have never seen so many kids on one unit in all of the projects we have done. It was a great sight to see. As we were leaving, we were talking amongst the team about this project and the people we had met We were just amazed again at the way the playground opens doors into communities This small playground has given the local pastor a great resource to evangelize the children and introduce more people to the love that Christ has to offer. We are now off to our third city and we hope this project will have a similar impact. Please continue to pray for us as we travel around the country building playgrounds for the kids of Ecuador. God Bless, Chris Marshall Click here to view more pictures...
September 13, 2007 We finished early this afternoon- I think this playground will go down in the record books as the quickest ever assembled playground in the history of KATW thanks to all of the fantastic volunteers! A playground built in 2 days- we couldn't have done it without the guys from the States and the Samaritan's Purse staff as well as some very hard working local people. Thank you for all of your prayers! Click here to view new pictures...
September 12, 2007 Good Evening, We are doing well down here in Ecuador. Thanks for all your prayers this week for us and for the release of our container. Today at about 8 am, the container rolled up to our playground site. We were so thrilled to know that we could finally work As soon as the container door opened we started working. By the end of the day, we had almost the whole playground finished. Our volunteers worked so hard along with a few of Samaritan’s Purse staff and local help. Towards the end of the day, some of the local children came up to the site and just wanted to touch the playground, to see if it was real. One little girl asked us who it was for. We said, “It’s only for children like you, no adults!” She was so excited. Tomorrow we will finish up this project with Samaritan’s Purse and then move on to our other four projects around the country. We have enjoyed our time here with SP and the locals in Penipe. The work that they are doing here is extraordinary and we hope this playground will be a great addition to their community. We are excited to see what God will do in Penipe through this playground and the work that Samaritan’s Purse has been doing here. Please continue to pray for us as we finish up this playground tomorrow and then head to Manta to start work on our next project. For the kids, Chris Marshall Click here for pictures of the trip.
August 24, 2007 Mexico Puppet Training Danielle Berg & I just returned from a great time of ministering in Mexico City! Bernardo and Blanca Sierra did a great job of getting everything organized for our Puppet Ministry workshop. The workshop was held in a small auditorium complete with theater-style seating and a wooden platform that was perfect for setting up our stage. Overall, we had 29 children’s workers participate, representing five different churches from all over Mexico City. It was fun to laugh together as we worked through learning the basics of puppet ministry. Near the end of the first day we divided the class into small groups and assigned them each either a puppet skit or song to do for our outreach Saturday afternoon. They were so excited and worked very hard preparing for their parts. The next day, a little before the program was to start, we gathered together for a time of prayer. What a blessing to hear their hearts as they asked God to use them to share His love for the children who would come! Around 30 neighborhood children came for the program and responded with enthusiasm to everything the puppets did! I was so proud of how well each group did with their skits/songs. An invitation for salvation was given at the end and many of the children responded. Please pray as members of the church that hosted the workshop will be following up with the kids this week. After the program, we gathered again for a time of dedication/graduation. The Pastor challenged them to boldly use what they had learned in reaching the children in their communities for Christ, and then fervently prayed for each ministry and church that was represented there. It was a very special, blessed time. In the few short days we were there, we made some wonderful new friends and enjoyed a sweet time of fellowship with our brothers & sisters in Christ. Thank you again. God does answer prayer! Melanie Derr
August 17, 2007 Today we received the following report from the Campus Crusade Leaders who joined us for the Trainer’s Conference in Sierra Leone. This is the first training they have led. Greetings in the name of our soon coming King. Thank you (THE ENTIRE KIDS AROUND THE WORLD FAMILY) for your prayer and materials support for our just ended KATW Children’s training. It was a hundred percent successful. Like we told you that this training was slated for the 4&5 of July, 07. That was not the case; due to some problems we encountered on ground. However, Wednesday & Thursday (11-12 July, 07) we did the training with 12 churches in attendance. From these churches, there were 26 persons who took part in the training; with Rev. A. Watson and I being the facilitators. Just for your information, see below the list of churches that took part in this training:
After our instruction on the first day, they started cutting their materials to start teaching the second day. Every one of them was very exited about the whole idea, for it was very new to them. By the end of August, 07, they will start their monthly reporting. We designed a reporting sheet for that. They all extended their thanks and appreciation to you all for the materials and are expecting you in Liberia soon. However, they were told that what will facilitate your coming is their regular monthly reporting from August to December 2007. Pray that they will be prompt on reporting. We will send you some photos of the training on the internet soon. Thanks for your prayers and continue same. God bless you and keep you praying and serving the kids around the world. Thanks, Learn more about our flannelgraph ministry.
Friday, July 27th, Metairie, LA Yesterday was a day of dedication for the work of the last 3 weeks. First, at 2 PM, we dedicated the playground at Joy Fellowship Church in Slidell, Lousiana. We built this playground last week. Despite the pouring rain, the dedication was held with enthusiasm and fun as kids ran to play on the equipment. After all these playgrounds (Slidell was our 90th!), the blessings still come when we see the children play on them for the first time. At 4 PM we dedicated this week's playground, our 91st, at Metairie Grammar School in Metairie, Lousiana. The principal, teachers, and many of the students were there as we dedicated the only playground in the neighborhood after Hurricane Katrina. Again, I would like to thank the youth group and their sponsors from Grace Place Community Church in Stuart, Florida for all of the hard work they did on this project. We are loading up our 40' tool container today to be shipped back to Rockford as we are finished here in the New Orleans area for a while. Thank you for your continued prayers! We couldn't do what we do without your support. Jerry Flaming Playground Director
Tuesday, July 24th, Metairie Grammar School, Metairie, Louisiana For our 3rd week in the New Orleans area, we are building a medium sized playground for a grammar school with a great group of volunteers from Grace Place Community Church all the way from Stuart, Florida. This group includes high school students and their group leaders, as well as the leaders' families, complete with smaller children who will join the local kids on Dedication Day to play on the new playground. They have been fantastic- working in high heat and humidity faithfully to get it all done. We started out behind this week as the site wasn't prepared the way it needed to be. So we moved our tool container from last week's build in Slidell here and unloaded the bobcat and spent Monday grading the site. With the great group we have, we have gotten about 80% of the structure up and 75% of the perimeter done already! We will finish those up Wednesday as well as run cement and start spreading the 100 yards of mulch we have coming. Thursday will bring another 100 yards of mulch and the finishing touches on the playground, including building a water retention burm with the excavated dirt from the site. Dedication is scheduled for 4 PM Thursday, July 26th with the school principal, school board members, and the local news media all planning to attend. Again, I ask for your continued prayers for the health and safety for all of the workers here, and that God use this playground to win the hearts of the children in Metairie, Louisiana. Jerry W. Flaming
July 13, 2007 J.F. Gauthier School, New Orleans Dedication Day is always a day we look forward to. The kids, the speeches, the excitement, and the sense of accomplishment are overwhelming. There are alot of people that make these projects work and we all come together on this day to celebrate the work that was accomplished for the children in this community. The team developed special relationships with school district employees and we were looking forward to sharing this day with them, and then sadly saying goodbye. When we arrived at the playground, we noticed how nice it looked. The school district had cleaned up the area after months of neglect, and it looked beautiful. With the playground in the center, the schoolyard looked like a beacon of hope in an area where the rebuilding process is going slow. The neighborhood surrounding the playground was badly hit during Katrina and most of the houses are slowly being rebuilt, if at all. The school and the playground are the first completely rebuilt structures in the neighborhood, and we hope that this will help bring this community back to its feet. Children were bussed in from their Summer school programs to be the official testers of the playground. As they walked up, they were each carrying large signs that said "Thanks You" on them. That was so special to see. Some of them you could tell thought this playground was the coolest thing they had ever seen, and it showed when they played on it. They really enjoyed themselves. I think they were all surprised at how fast the slides really were as most of them ended up on their bottoms laughing at the end of the slides. The dedication speeches were so touching. Their graciousness was easy to see. They even made us honorary citizens of St. Bernard's Parish, which we were happy to be since we already felt like family. It was so hard to say goodbye but we know one day we will be back. The parish will reopen four new schools next year and we hope we can raise the funds to build playgrounds at them as well. Thanks to all who made this project so special: St. Bernard School District, Shoreline Church, The Perez Family, as well as all of our wonderful volunteers. We hope to work with you all again sometime soon. Chris Marshall Click here to see updated picture page.
July 12, 2007 J.F. Gauthier School, New Orleans Good Evening, The playground is now finished! We spent Wednesday installing the last slides and gates and pouring the concrete. We waited for the mulch truck to come but it never did so we took the afternoon off. The next morning we woke up and arrived at the site staring at two giant mounds of mulch. The piles had about 100 yards each of mulch. It was a site to see. But after the team worked harder and harder, the mulch pile slowly started disappearing until it was gone. With the surface laid out, the playgorund could now be called complete. And it looks so beautiful. It is a large unit with several slides down the slides and a bridge connecting two towers. The neighborhood surrounding the school is pretty bleak with almost no sign of life, but when you see the colorful playground you realize that things are starting to change, for the better. The school plans reopen in two weeks and hundreds of kids will be able to learn again, and play. With the playground complete and our work done, we decided to head to a local church and help them rebuild and clean their church and gymnasium. The pastor we worked with was the only pastor in the parish following Katrina that returned for the first year. Needless to say he was busy. He has on old grocery store that he has turned into a church and has greaet plans for the building. We cut the grass, hung and taped drywall and cleaned the gym for next week's VBS program. One of the neatest parts was to hear his stories about Katrina and the aftermath. It gave us a real feeling and understanding of what the people here really went through, and a bigger heart to find ways to help more. As the day ended we were all exhausted and ready for bed knowing that tomorrow will be payday. We will see kids playing at the playground we built for them, and understand more about how this will help them recover from Katrina. Thank you for your prayers and support for us down here in New Orleans. Chris Marshall Click here to see updated picture page.
July 10, 2007 J.F. Gauthier School, New Orleans Good Evening, After a slow start on Monday because the site wasn't prepared, we more than made up for it today. You can see it in the pictures below. The day started with only the holes half dug, and ended with all the main poles and gates installed, some of the slides, and all of the timber perimeter. It was a great day of work for sure with great teamwork and focus. There haven't been any major problems with the installation and the volunteers are doing great. It has also been a treat at lunch to eat with the St. Bernard School District staff at their cafeteria nearby. They have been serving great food and have been a pleasure to work with. Today, they even served a local favorite, alligator, which was eaten by most of the team. Tomorrow we will finish the unit and then pour concrete. We look forward to another great day of work and service here in New Orleans. Thank you for your prayers and support, Chris Marshall Click here to view pictures of this project.
July 9, 2007 J.F. Gauthier School, New Orleans Good Evening, The first day is complete at our current build in St. Bernard's Parish at J.F. Gauthier School. We have 28 volunteers from Shoreline Church in San Clemente, California building a playground for this school that will open in August. This school has about 400 kids ages 3 to 9. The school was heavily damaged during Katrina and has taken almost two years to rebuild. The last time we were in New Orleans, in February, we built a playground at the overcrowded elementary school down the street, Andrew Jackson. When Gauthier reopens it will relieve a lot of the pressure on Andrew Jackson's classrooms. We look forward to a great week on this project with our volunteers from California. Please pray for us as we continue to serve the School District of St. Bernard's Parish. Chris Marshall Click here to view pictures of this project.
June 22, 2006 Vietnam Playground Build We have now had the dedication and the kids of Phu Ly, Vietnam have their playground. It was a great day filled with a little work, alot of cleaning and decorating, and even more playing. City officials from Hanoi, Phu Ly, and Quang Ngai were present at the ceremonies and talked about the committment that we (Unireach International and KIDS) showed in giving them their playground. They also wanted to make sure we knew that they would care for the playground and make increased efforts to further invest time and money into their children. They also felt the impact this playground would have on their community would last for a long time. We appreciate the partnerships between Unireach International, St. John's Lutheran Church, and the organizations in Vietnam that helped make this project a success. We also couldn't leave without expressing our gratitude to the 42 volunteers that spent their time and energy producing a wonderful playground, Thank You! Throughout this project we have seen the doors slightly opening in this country and we hope that in the future they will be totally opened. But for now, we take back many small, positive experiences that show us this may happen sooner than we think. Thanks again for your prayers and support for this project. Let us know if you would like to join us on our next project down here later this year. God Bless, Chris Marshall View Pictures of this trip.
June 21, 2007 Vietnam Playground Build Good Morning, Today we essentially finished the playground. The main unit is now finished and level and the other toys have been filled with concrete. It wasn’t easy though. The heat and humidity was the worst its been all week. We were all taking breaks every 15-30 minutes because of it. Since this was the third day of work, fatigue and exhaustion were setting in. At midday we had lunch and it was really hard to keep going afterwards. But we did it, and it looks beautiful. We can’t wait for the kids to be able to play on it. Today, the rest of the concrete will be poured and tomorrow we will load up the truck with the next playground. We will be building again with Unireach down in Quang Ngai, which is near Danang, sometime in the next 6 months. Tomorrow at the dedication we expect several key leaders. Please pray that this goes well. Thanks for your prayers and support. Chris Marshall Get Involved!
June 19, 2007 Vietnam Playground Build Good Evening, Our second work day in Vietnam went well. There was still the struggle with the heat and humidity, but many things were accomplished today. The main unit is almost assembled and the smaller toys are set it place. We also had the sand surface brought in and spread. Tomorrow we will level and plumb the main unit and swings and start running concrete in the afternoon. As we started working on Monday we felt that it would be a struggle to complete the playground quickly. But those thoughts have quickly passed as our volunteers from California and Rockford have been up to the task. We have had great teamwork in getting the playground completed with such efficiency. Most of the volunteers have found roles in the construction they are good at and they stick to it. We have several of the ladies on "water patrol" as it is so important to stay hydrated. We also have had several who did very well spreading the sand and digging holes. It has been a team effort. We even have had a few locals join in and help us. One lady was covered from head to toe, you could barely see her eyes. When we went to take a break, she stayed and shoveled sand into place. It was so good for us to see her work ethic and inspired us to work harder. We tried several times to communicate with her but she knew no English, but you could tell she was happy to help. We appreciate your prayers for us during the week. We are getting excited for the dedication which should be fun. The kids are really neat here and they can't wait to get a chance to play on their new playground, God Bless, Chris Marshall View more pictures of the trip. June 18, 2007 Vietnam Playground Build Good Evening, We have just completed out first day of work here in Vietnam. We have brought 47 volunteers from California and Rockford to build a playground for the children of Phu Ly, which is south of Hanoi. We are working with a group called Unireach International, operated by Bill and Gwyn Hoyt, who has also built a playground with us in Danang, Vietnam. The conditions down here are less than ideal but our team of volunteers persevered today. The heat and humidity has been very high for the last 5 days, but today we had a little break. There was cloud cover most of the day which made the work day a little more bearable. We hope tomorrow will have this same cloud cover to give us a break. The site is located next to a large youth center. During the day there weren’t many kids because they were in school. But in the afternoon, they came out to see what was happening and they were very excited. The kids have been seeing Jerry and his crew preparing the site all week, and didn’t understand what we were doing. Well, today they found out when they saw the poles go up and saw the slides getting prepared. They will be very excited on Friday when we dedicate the playground and let the kids enjoy it. Tomorrow we will continue putting up the main structure. Please pray for the health of the team as the heat has been affecting all of us. For the kids, Chris Marshall View pictures of the first day.
June 15, 2007 Cambodian Training Event We saw great improvement today from the students. Yesterday, you could tell they were excited, but didn't fully understand how the material and training could be used. Today, they started to realize it and they became more involved. That's a key step in this process, because now, they can let go and let their creativity takeover. This was evident in the final exams, where they show us what they learned. One of the students showed her remarkably quiet approach to storytelling and ended it with a great lesson. Another used a song to get the message across to the children that God is love. As they get more experience, their lessons will have an even greater impact on their children. As we were wrapping up our seminar, we were talking to the Vietnamese people about how they could use this material. All of them were really excited and grateful for the opportunity to learn and receive this new material. Some would take the flannelgraph to the mountains of South Vietnam, while others would take it to the city of Hanoi and North Vietnam. But most understood that this material needed to be given to more people like them in Vietnam so a greater impact could be felt. Before we leave here we will decide how we can further reach the children of Vietnam and Cambodia. We know the impact these 50 teachers will have, but know that more can and will be done. We hope that some of you could be involved in our next project down here. With our contacts and experience here, we are confident we can continue to train leaders and teachers in Cambodia, and then send them back to Vietnam where they can teach their children about God's love. Thank you for all of your prayers and support. We would ask that you would continue to pray for us as we head to Hanoi to construct a playground for the children of Phu ly, Vietnam. Chris Marshall Get Involved
June 13, 2007 Cambodian Training Event Good Evening, The training in Cambodia went very well today. We had 25 leaders from around Cambodia as well as 25 leaders from Vietnam at the seminar. It’s so exciting to have this Vietnamese contingency here at this seminar. These Christians have to go through so much to just live their normal life. And now, they will have a greater understanding for children’s ministry and will be able to help a whole new generation of underground Christians grow in their faith. You can tell by just watching them, that these Vietnamese Christians feel very safe in Cambodia. Here they are able to be themselves and act the way they want to. In the class they are vibrant and full of life, so thankful for the opportunity to learn new ways to teach children. We feel blessed to have them in our class. The day ended up being really hot, at one point the electricity went out and the fans turned off, and I didn’t think we would make it. But the winds came and the time flew by. With one day of training in the books, the students have so much to look forward to. Tomorrow we will continue the training. Please pray for our day as the extreme heat and humidity can really drain us of our energy. God Bless, Chris Marshall
June 7, 2007 Groves, TX Playground Build We are starting our 3rd day here in hot and humid Groves, Texas. The temperature has been in the 90's and the humidity is around 90% as well! We have been blessed with some great volunteers and support people down here. We get the help of 6-10 convict volunteers working 2-3 hour shifts from the local jail every day. They have been laying the perimeter for us. The city of Groves has been one of the most hospitible hosts we have ever had. They are providing everything we need in terms of labor (the workers), machinery (bobcats, endloaders and posthole diggers), and anything else we have needed. With all of this help, things are moving very quickly. The main structure is done- the cement will be poured today. We will finish the perimeter today and the mulch will be delivered tomorrow. Dedication is set for 2 p.m. on Friday. Please pray that our group can have a postive effect on the young men we are meeting from the jail. Thanks for your continued support! Jerry W. Flaming Get Involved!
May 8, 2007 Chile Training This is a note from Neptali Chacha, our Ecuador affiliate, on his recent training in Chile: I am back in Ecuador after 12 days in Chile enjoying a time of much blessing as I trained more than 100 leaders who received the materials and training with much enthusiasm. In Santiago I trained 74 people. Then I traveled 600 kilometers by car to Temuco. There were 49 people at this training. This is one of the best groups that I have ever trained. The majority of them are professionals and they work in schools or colleges with children. They were very excited to share the flannelgraph with their students! Check out our training schedule for this year.
April 26, 2007 Pass Christian Playground Build It is Thursday morning, and the rain is finally clearing out. We were getting approximately 2 inches an hour falling early this morning and the playground is very wet! Thankfully, we are almost finished. The main structure is completed. Yesterday, concrete was poured for the strucure as well as 3 park benches, 2 picnic tables, and the dedication sign, and we had 1 truckload of mulch (100 yards!) spread with the help of volunteers from the church and city as well as some volunteers from an Amish church in Pennsylvania who are down here doing Katrina Relief.
Today, all we have left is adding little things like the swing seats, putting the whirl on its base, and spreading another LARGE truckload of mulch.
I also want to recognize how blessed I am with the crew we have here this week. A couple of us had to leave early on Tuesday and KIDS staff members Paul Swanson and David Headley did a great job with the volunteers in keeping on task while we were gone.
Dedication is set for 3:30 PM tomorrow (Friday) and should be attended by the church family, a local school group, as well as the local media. This location has been one of the most beautiful sites we have been blessed to be at.
Thank you for your continued prayers- without them, we would never get to see God work in our ministry!
Jerry Flaming
Playground Director
Kids Around the World
April 23, 2007 Pass Christian Playground Build It is a sunny Monday, the first day of our build at Trinity Episcopal Church here in Pass Christian, Mississippi. The playground is located approximatley 150 yards from the beach on the Gulf. We unloaded the semi truckload of play equipment and 1 load of timbers. All holes have been dug and we are in the process of assembling the main structure wiith a goal of having it half way completed by the end of today. It is about 85 and sunny- gorgeous playground building weather! Please continue to pray for safety and good weather, Jerry Flaming, Playground Director April 19, 2007 Sierra Leone Training Sierra Leone TrainingOur mission in Sierra Leone is to train regional leaders who in turn will train Sunday School teachers and children’s workers in their own regions. As the team gathered on Monday morning, our first full day, we had a chance to start to get to know these gifted young people and their commitment to children. The first day consisted of a seminar on Bible Study methods taught by Moses Lincoln, Campus Crusade Sierra Leone and then Becky Douglass did a seminar on “The Way Children Learn.” In the afternoon I took the team through the first two lessons of The JESUS Film Flannelgraph training. It was exciting to watch them share the lesson in small groups, much energy and excitement! In the evening we challenged them on their personal lives and their daily walk with God. One of the young men shared with us he was from the diamond area of Sierra Leone, where much of the war was focused. He told us of the rough times they had and some of the struggles they faced during this 10 year war. When the war ended, his father was given back the rights he had to some of the land in the area, diamond mines. We asked him if he was going to go into the mining business. He smiled back at us and said, “Yes, I have decided to mine the young lives of children and share the wonderful news of Jesus with them.” It is our joy to partner with these young men and women and you….in Sierra Leone. Jim Rosene, President
April 17, 2007 Sierra Leone Training We have finally arrived in Sierra Leone, Greetings!! It has been a great experience already just getting here, and we have seen God’s hand at work from the very beginning of the trip. Everything from getting my visa for Mali, departing O’hare in the midst of a snowstorm, missing our connection in Atlanta because of a 2 hour delay at the airport and then arriving in Dakar, Senegal ready to go! God has shown us that He is preparing our path. Becky and Vickee stayed in Dakar and conducted JESUS Film flannelgraph training to 42 children workers representing several churches, plus young people from other countries who were attending the University in Dakar…they all wanted flannelgraph to bring to their country. I left the same day I arrived in Senegal and flew to Mali…walked off the plane and went directly to training where the 30 children workers representing 18 Churches were waiting for me. Both of the training teams continued training all day on Saturday from early morning until after 6:00pm. On Saturday evening I flew back to Dakar and joined the other team for our flight to Sierra Leone. When we arrived in Sierra Leone we were greeted by a young lady, just inside the door, she was holding a sign with our names on it. She led us to the VIP room and helped us with all the documents and forms we needed, and helped with our luggage. She was truly a surprise blessing. We found out later that Usman, one of our leaders here, met her on the ferry to the airport. As they talked she asked if she could have a ride to the airport, where she worked, Usman said absolutely. When they arrived at the airport, she asked Usman if there was anything she could do to help him, since she worked there. He told her about us, our work and what we were doing there, so…a special blessing from God. We ask that you continue to pray for the team, Becky Douglass, Vickee Johnson, Reverend Usman Fornah, Moses “Abraham” Lincoln and myself as we begin one week of intensive training. Each morning we will share basic children ministry insights, plus personal Bible study tools. The afternoons will be the JESUS Film Flannelgraph training and then in the evenings we will share the importance of the Teachers Personal Life. Thanks!! For the team!! And the kids of Sierra Leone who will hear the wonderful message of Jesus soon….
Jim Rosene President, Kids Around the World
March 26, 2007 Swaziland Training Update This weekend we traveled to the Kingdom of Swaziland to conduct our last training in Southern Africa. Swaziland is located in the eastern corner of South Africa and the country borders both South Africa and Mozambique. Its a very mountainous country that is beautiful in many ways. It does however face many challenges that are becoming increasingly worse. The average lifespan of a Swazi woman is just 37 years while almost 50% of the country has the HIV virus. That leaves much of the countries' children without a complete set of parents or orphans. One way the country has been trying to combat this epidemic is AIDS education and contraception. This hasn't worked so far. In a country where there is almost no hope, decisions about ones life and their future doesn't seem to matter much. That is why we were there. To help change the future we feel we need to educate the ones that will carry Swaziland into the future, with the hope and love of Jesus Christ. We were there to train today's Sunday School teachers and chidlren's workers, on how to teach the Bible to children and give them the resources to do this. The students we had in our class were from every part of Swaziland and from all sorts of churches. Swaziland has a committed core group of Sunday School Teachers that meet once a month to discuss their curriculum and talk about different strategies to reach children. When they saw and heard about our material, they traveled long hours to see and hear what we had to say. They weren't disappointed. From the opening prayer to the dedication of the materials, this group was as excited as it gets. They couldn't believe the bright, colorful flannelgraph and were amazed at how it was used. Immediately, they knew that this material would reach the children in a new and exciting way. But as great as the material is, without proper lesson planning, it could be wasted. That's why we instruct them in the basics of planning lessons that children will both understand and actually sit and listen to. The class understood. To get kids to listen to what you have to say, you need to plan and prepare an effective message and give it in a purposeful and simple way. By the end of the class, they were professional Sunday School teachers. They were now equipped to reach their children in a new way, that would hopefully lead them into a better relationship with Jesus Christ. With this new understanding and relationship, we hope the children of Swaziland will then be able to make educated decisions about their future and about AIDS. Thank you for all your prayers and support for us during these last two weeks. We hope you will continue to pray for the children of Swaziland and South Africa. For more information on how you can help us reach more children in Africa for Christ, please contact us. For the kids,
March 21, 2007 South Africa Training Update Greetings from South Africa, After three days of travel we arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa tired but ready to work. We were down there with ALD Africa, an organization that mentors and disciples pastors in the region, to provide training to their Sunday School teachers, who would then go into the townships and teach the children about Jesus. The towship we were teaching at was called Mamalote, one of the biggest, poorest communties in South Africa, besides Soweto. Despite the financial issues many of the people have here, they are hungry for Jesus. There are many churches popping up all over the city and few have enough resources to effectively teach the people. We were there for them. The day of the training came and the students were excited to see what we were going to teach them. Some drove 5 hours to reach the training site and others just walked down the street. The hosting church was the Powerhouse Church located in a large residential area. The church was perfect for the training and we were set. As the people came, they were so appreciative of our visit and so excited to be taught how to teach the Bible to children. While they were coming in the outside temperature started to rise from a warm 80 degrees to over 100 degrees. At some points during the training I had to ask, "Are any of you too hot and need a break?" The answer was always "No": they were hungry for more. These 80 people were committed to the training and nothing was going to get in their way. The training went great as everyone was excited to see the material and how it was to be used effectively. The said immediately that this is exactly what they needed to teach their children. Some said their favorite part of the training was the session on how to write a lesson plan. They said with that structure, they can reach the children much easier and more effectively. Others noted how ineffective their own children's program is and how they have longed for the right material to teach the kids with. During the final exam, it was amazing to see how much the class learned. I was so excited to see the students take what they had learned, and filter it through their own culture. One of the biggest problems here and in all of Africa is AIDS. In this township almost half of the people are infected with the disease. They are always looking for relevant ways to teach about it and during one of the student's lesson, they found a way to incorporate the subject into the lesson with the flannelgraph. It was great to see the potential of this material and training on a community that is devastated with AIDS. We thank God for this opportunity to teach the people of Mamalote, South Africa and pray they will be able to make a difference in their community. Our next stop is this Saturday in Swaziland, a kingdom east of Pretoria. Please pray for an effective training and a safe journey there. Also, please pray for the people of Zimbabwe. We travelled there this week and the country is in a severe crisis right now with President Mugabe at the center of the problems. God Bless, Chris Marshall, KIDS West Coordinator
March 16, 2007 Bahamas Playground Update When we arrived at the sight this morning, Jerry told us it was Wednesday…everybody looked at each another and said, no it’s Thursday! Jerry told the team we had so much work to do and we needed to work extra hard…in other words, he wanted 2 days of work from the team…and he got it! This was the day the cement would arrive, nearly 10 cubic meters of cement and we had to be ready for it. The last pieces for the small toddler playground went together and a few spring cars in place, the single pole swings went up as well. Most of the team continued the moving and raking of sand while a few worked hard to get the last few climbers in place for the large unit. When lunch time came it appeared we were ready for the cement. Then we waited……and waited…..and waited. We were told we were on the list for delivery, but our cement was being donated, so the “paying” customers came first. Finally after 3:00 the truck came and everyone went to work, it was like an active beehive, everyone found a job to do. By 5:00 the “first” truck was emptied of cement and the majority of the team returned to the hotel exhausted! The bus was quiet during the ride home but yet everyone was dreaming what it will be like when the children swarmed the playground tomorrow….it will be a great day! Jim Rosene, President Bahamas Ministry Update Last night we completed day 3 of our Puppet Ministry workshop. Overall, we had 12 children and adults who went through the training. We had a great time learning basic puppets skills, and practicing songs & skits together. There was a lot of laughter the first time they picked up a puppet and tried to put what they had been learning into practice! Their excitement over how they could begin using their new skills to minister to the children in their classrooms was palpable. One of the couples in our class has a cake decorating business and brought in a cake to help celebrate their "graduation" from the class - complete with the Kids Around the World logo on the top! Tonight and tomorrow is the Bible Teaching Workshop here in Freeport, Bahamas. We are anticipating a great time of fellowship as we train these teachers and children's workers how to take a Bible passage and plan their lesson, using flannelgraph to illustrate. Melanie Derr, KIDS Ministry Team View pictures of the trip.
March 15, 2007 Bahamas Playground Build Update At the end of the day, one of the local people came up to several of us and shared his story. He told us for the past 2 ½ years he and others had been praying for their community, Sea Grape, in the 8 Mile Rock Region. They would walk around the area and always meet across the street from their community center, in a large empty park. As they concluded their prayer walk, they would always ask God to bless this park area and at some time bless them with a new park with a playground for the children and give them an opportunity to share with the children God’s love and message of hope. He is very involved with the playground, he is there every day working hard because God is answering the prayer of faithful people in the Bahamas! Speaking of faithful people, some of you became aware of an accident when one of our playground staff, Paul Swanson, injured his finger and you began to pray. Today Paul went back to the hospital to have the doctors look at his finger, they unwrapped the large bandages, inspected his finger and told him it looked great. The injury broke off a small part of the bone, at the tip of his finger, he will probably lose his fingernail, but other than that it appears to fine. Thank you for your prayers! Tomorrow the team will try to finish the project. Please pray for two more large loads of sand and the delivery of all the concrete. It will be a busy day!! View pictures of the trip.
March 14, 2007 Bahamas Playground Report Greetings once again from the Bahamas!! We were blessed with another beautiful day and everyone is doing great! Once we discovered how 8 Mile Rock got its name, there was some discussion on whether it is 8 miles long of rock or 8 miles deep? The answer…Deep! We only had a few holes left to dig today and fortunately the local power company came to our rescue and finished the job for us. For lunch, one of the local ladies prepared a wonderful feast for us in the Methodist Church across the street from the site. Today’s lunch was cold cut sandwiches, chips, soft drinks and dessert….yum! At the end of the day the children came by; school was finished for the day and they sat on the walls looking with excitement, trying to figure out everything that is going on with the playground. Jim Rosene, President View article from the Freeport News Reporter about this trip. Bahamas Ministry Report Our team arrived last Thursday, in anticipation of holding a Bible Teaching workshop at 8 Mile Rock on Friday and Saturday. However, the workshop was canceled at the last minnute and those who had signed up were re-scheduled to attend our workshop this coming weekend here in Freeport. Though we were disappointed, soon we saw God's hand in this, as two of our 3 member team ended up fighting illness over the weekend. On Sunday, we attended a local church and had the privilege of taking part in teaching their children's Sunday School classes. We had a great time and very much enjoyed getting to know each of the children. Monday evening, we spent a few hours with a small group of Sunday School teachers from the area. We discussed subjects ranging from how to have family devotions to object lessons to the importance God places on children's ministry. One of the ladies told me afterward she was "inspired by our talk" and could not wait to start using some of the ideas we had shared. Praise the Lord! Six students attended night one of our Puppet Ministry Workshop last night, with more expected to come tonight. What a great night! We all spent a lot of time laughing as we worked together to learn the basic puppetry skills and how to use them as an effective Please continue to pray as the Puppet Ministry Workshop meets tonight and tomorrow evening, and for the Bible Teaching Workshop this Friday and Saturday. Melanie Derr, KIDS Ministry Staff View pictures of the trip.
March 13, 2007 Greetings from 8 Mile Rock Bahamas!! The team began working early this morning and quickly realized how this small village along the coast of Grand Bahamas got its name. As they dug the holes they discovered that not all islands are made of sand. The playground site is rock, but it didn’t stop the team! Jerry and his crew arrived early to begin the hard work of digging the holes. When the volunteers arrived, most from the Million Dollar Round Table Foundation, they unloaded the equipment container and got to work! It was a beautiful day with just a short sprinkle to cool the workers off in the middle of the day. The team was able to begin laying the timber borders, move some sand and start assembling some of the platforms for the playground. A lot of work accomplished in one day! Please continue to pray for the team! Jim Rosene, President View pictures of the trip.
February 27, 2007 Health for KIDS Dr. Al HuYoung, a Pediatric Cardiologist in Rockford, Illinois and the Health for KIDS Director, is in Ghana right now teaching a medical program to local doctors. He will be teaching them new approaches that doctors are using in the States and give them encouragement, support and supplies for their current practices. While Dr. HuYoung is doing this, Caleb and the Ghana Kids Around the World Affiliate team led an evangelistic outreach on the playground we just built in Accra, Ghana. Over 230 children attended this event and they plan on taking the event's program to the local schools tomorrow. Please pray for the succes or Dr. HuYoung and the Ghana KIDS team. Contact us to learn more about Health for KIDS.
February 21, 2006 New Orleans Day 5 Well, the dedication of the playground is done and we have all flown home. As I think about the week I am reminded of how God works mysteriously. We always have plans and agendas for the build weeks. Sometimes they go perfectly as planned, sometimes they don't ... but maybe those projects that don't go as we planned really do go as planned. I think that was the case here. The way "we" had dreamed of this project going wasn't really how God had dreamed of it. He had other things in store for us. It seems as though he really wanted to teach us the true meaning of the word servant. To be a servant means you are sacrificing your own agenda, plans and ideas for the agenda of another, in this case God's agenda. Through various circumstances, rain, tornados, and time, we had to conform to the path that God had set before us, which was not our own, and we were certainly blessed for it. I am reminded of the verse "in his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps", Proverbs 16:9. We were able to pray for some of the victims of the tornados that ripped through a city which was still recovering from Hurricane Katrina. With that, we were also able to help them clean up the mess that the tornado left. One family we helped, had no men in their family. I wondered how they would have cleaned up their backyard that used to have a laundry room and a shed, but now only had rubble. Even as we were praying for her, you could tell she was strengthened by it. Afterward she had a sense of hope that many of us would not have, considering her circumstances. One family we helped had a story that made it on the cover of the New York Times. We didn't know that at the time, we were just there to help and serve. After we left we felt their life would soon get better as FEMA and their insurance agency were already making plans for immediate financial help for them. We were able to help out a school system that is overpopulated and undersupplied. Their library is empty and they are understaffed. We helped them transfer books, label and organize the shelves, and listened to their stories of how Katrina has changed them. We also heard a heartbreaking story of a principal, who lost everything in the storm and floods. Most importantly though, were the pictures of her late husband. She will never have another picture of him again, she will only have to remember what he looks like. Then at last we were able to help the children. Over 2,025 children were packed into a school that usually has half that amount. For them, we can only imagine the images they have stuck in their minds from the last 18 months. For 18 months they have had to grow up, take on more responsibility in the family, maybe care for a loved one or do without most things kids love. At their school, they have no place to play: no field to run on, no goals or nets or hoops. Right now they play on the dirt and they certainly don't have a playground. They have had a rough year and a half. But we were able to help. The playground was beautiful and as the dedication approached, we could see the excitement of the kids growing. As they walked in their lines to the cafeteria, they would stop and point towards the playground, like it was something they couldn't wait to play on. One class was invited to the dedication. I'm not sure if this was a coincidence or not but one boy wore a tuxedo to school that day. These kids were ready. As they played on the playground you could see the worries lifted off of their shoulders, they were playing again. They weren't worried about anything except to see how many times they could go down the big slide in a row. One of the most touching moments came as the kids were leaving to go back to class. A young boy that had down syndrome ran over to Jim Birdsell, who had the vision for this project, and gave him a big hug and said 'thank you.' I can tell you there weren't many dry eyes after that moment. After this happened, I thought, that's why we do this! Being a servant can be hard and uncomfortable at times. Sometimes we think we have the answers or know the better way. But when events happen the way they did this week, you can't help but know they are from God. His divine intervention played out this week, and we were all greatly blessed by it. I want to say thanks to all who participated in this project. We hope you are able to help us again in the future as we continue to minister to the kids ... around the world. Chris Marshall Click here to see new pictures of the trip.
February 15, 2007 New Orleans Day 4 Today we finished the playground! It was hard work this last day but the team pulled together and got it done. One of the harder things we hads to endure the last few days was the unusually cold weather. Temperatures were hovering in the mid thirties all day with a brisk wind that made tightening screws and putting metal pieces together more of a challenge. As the project got closer to completion, the news media started to find out. We had interviews with the local Times-Picayune as well as a photographer from the Orange County Register show up to cover this build. The story in the Times should be out this morning with pictures of the group working. We will share that with you tomorrow. We also had the pleasure of welcoming Jim Birdsell to New Orleans. Jim was part of a special Swift Water Rescue unit in New Orleans after the floods came. Jim's goal was to do more for the people here after he left over 15 months ago. And here is the fruit of his work: a beautiful playground, to a school of 2000 kids, who have no place to play. Jim certainly succeeded in fulfilling his goal. Tomorrow we have the dedication. This is payday where we get to see the kids enjoy our hard work. To me its kind of like Christmas morning. The kids have been anticipating this all week and now they get to play with their present. Please continue to pray for our team down here in New Orleans. God Bless, Click here to see new pictures of the trip.
February 14, 2007 New Orleans Day 3 We've had so many great experiences with local New Orleans people this week. We've learned what their life has been like post Katrina and how they have coped with the losses they've had. We've also heard how grateful they are that we are here to help. Every single person we meet is eager to share their stories and express their thanks to teams like us. Today we had the opportunity to minister to the people affected by the tornados this week. We had two teams of twelve, armed with shovels and rakes and brooms, ready to help anyone in need. We knocked door to door offering our services and willingness to help, any way we could. We ended up helping a family who had an amazing story. Their house was totaled by Katrina and they were forced to live in a trailer in their driveway. When the tornado came, the father put his children on the floor and covered them with his body. The tornado hit their trailer and house hard, with the trailer being totaled, but the family survived. Their story was on the cover of the New York Times today and showed a picture of their house and trailer. Our team was there helping that family by "chance" today. While we were there, FEMA and their insurance agency offered a guarantee of a brand new trailer and monetary relief to the family this week. They have been waiting for this since Katrina. We hope you will pray for the people here who have endured alot this past year, and has now seen a tornado bring back memories that they'd rather not remember. The playground project is also going very well. Today in the afternoon, we put up most of the main structure and hope to have the concrete poured tomorrow. 2000 kids are eager to see this project complete and today was the first real sign of an actual playground at their school. Please continue to pray for the safety of the team during this busy week in New Orleans. Chris Marshall Click here to see new pictures of the trip.
February 13, 2007 New Orleans Playground Build Trip Last night we had a serious storm roll through the city bringing torrential rain and tornados. Some estimates say 10 inches fell in the area where our playground is at. Needless to say, the playground was flooded. There was 8-10 inches of water sitting on the site and nowhere to move. As a team we were very disappointed to see that there would be minimal work done today and we could only hope for the area to be dry in the morning. So flexibility became our calling for the day. We took a nice hike through the bayou and saw crocodiles and snakes on the walk. We then made our way back to the school and helped them rearrange their library. All the school libraries in the area were destroyed and even now they only have a few books. Donations of books have been coming in by the box load so we helped them arrange these. One of the biggest needs at all the schools in the Parish is books. FEMA matches any donation to the school's library 9 times. So a donation of $5 is really a donation of $50, once FEMA steps in. Tomorrow we hope will bring a new, drier day. Please pray for the weather and safety of the team. Also pray for the teachers and leaders of the school. They have had to endure a tumultuous 18 month period in which they have had to rebuild the school and its programs, as well as their own lives. They sincerely enjoy the volunteers and their commitment to serve the school. God Bless, Click here to see new pictures of the trip. February 12, 2007 New Orleans Playground Build Trip We just finished our first day in New Orleans. A group from Shoreline Church in California has sent 26 volunteers to St. Bernard's Parish to build a playground for the children at Andrew Jackson Elementary School. This school was instrumental in the recovery of the area. Whereas most of the area is completely ruined, the school is in great shape. When we went into the school we understood why. The building is made of bricks and the inside had no wood or sheetrock. When the floods came, the water poured into the school, but only destroyed the doors and windows. When the water subsided, only a little work was needed to bring it back to normal. Now the school is thriving with over 2000 students ages 3-12. The school is in great shape but has one major flaw: it has no playground. That will soon change this week. We have the perimeter laid out and the holes dug and by the end of the week, the children of St. Bernard Parish will able to be kids again. Thank you for your prayers and support, check out pictures of this trip from the link below. Chris Marshall View pictures of this project.
February 4, 2007 Dominican Playground Update It is Friday, 6PM. The customs office closes at 5. They stayed and worked with me to get the parts out and- thanks to all of your prayers, we have them!!! We will be able to finish the playgrounds tomorrow and see the kids playing on them before we leave- the best part of every playground build! It is always amazing to see the hand of God in what we do- a constant reminder that it is His work we are doing and we need to give Him the glory when He gets it done through us. It has been a great witness to both the local people who have seen God work in this and to the young people we have with us as well. One last prayer request: Pray for the transition of all the volunteers as they go from sunny and 85 degrees back to Northern Illinois and COLD. Thanks again for all your prayers! Jerry Flaming Dominican Ministry Update The trip to Dominican has definitely ended on a high note for the ministry team as we have spent the past 24 hours focusing on training 107 people from 22 churches and schools. It has been hard work and we are all exhausted, but the smiles and hugs as people left makes it all worth while. This time we trained two groups of people. Twenty people returned who had participated in the training we ran two years ago. These studied the lesson planning process in more detail, were introduced to the new Beginnings Flannelgraph, explored the possibilities of puppets and generally benefited from the expertise of Brodie and Shelbie – both on the Children’s Ministry staff at Elmbrook Church in Milwaukie. The rest of those attending were coming for the first time. Our training staff of Vickee, Tina and Dottie led these people through the basics of lesson planning and flannelgraph use. They were so enthusiastic!! Those who shared their lessons with the whole group as part of the “final exam” were excellent. It is thrilling to know that so many children will be benefiting from these teachers in the future. Thanks for your prayers! Becky Douglass View the latest pictures on the top of the Ministry Picture page. View Dominican Republic Ministry Pictures Get Involved or Donate Today!
February 2, 2007 Playground update It is Friday, 6PM. The customs office closes at 5. They stayed and worked with me to get the parts out and- thanks to all of your prayers, we have them!!! We will be able to finish the playgrounds tomorrow and see the kids playing on them before we leave- the best part of every playground build! It is always amazing to see the hand of God in what we do- a constant reminder that it is His work we are doing and we need to give Him the glory when He gets it done through us. It has been a great witness to both the local people who have seen God work in this and to the young people we have with us as well. One last prayer request: Pray for the transition of all the volunteers as they go from sunny and 85 degrees back to Northern Illinois and COLD. Thanks again for all your prayers! Jerry Flaming Ministry Update Balloons, stuffed animals, puppets, stickers, water guns, Goldfish crackers and a parachute – all tools to share the Gospel! Last night we lead the Children’s Church program for about 100 lively children. The water gun was used to bring the storm to life in the story of Jesus calming the sea. The Goldfish crackers illustrated the way that Jesus feed the crowd from just five loaves and two fish. Today we ran another program for 3 groups in another one of the mission schools – about 200 children in all. We played games with the parachute, sang songs with the puppets and put stickers on a frame around a picture of Jesus and the children – all to teach them that Jesus loves them very much even though they are just children. As they left, each child was given a stuffed animal – one of about 800 generously given by the Mom’s Day Out program at Rockford First Free Church. And the balloons? Well, I just wish you could have seen Jerry Sletten mobbed by children as he sat in the street outside Mission Emanuel. He was making balloon animals and demonstrating God’s love as he made sure that each child received something special, something that made them feel important. Thank you for praying for us. Please remember myself, Brodie, Vickee and Tina as we prepare for the Bible Teaching workshops which begin tomorrow night. We are expecting about 100 participants! Becky Douglass View Dominican Republic Ministry Pictures Get Involved or Donate Today!
February 1, 2007 Dominican Republic - Ministry update What would keep a puppet team with their arms in the air, operating their puppets until their arms threatened to drop off and their knees turned black and blue? What would motivate someone to teach the same lesson 7 times in one day? What would keep three translators talking until they almost go hoarse? The chance to share God’s love with almost 800 children!! Today we ran 20 minute programs with seven groups in two different schools – one public and one affiliated with Mission Emanuel. The children were so enthusiastic that somehow nothing else mattered. We pray that many seed were sown which will one day result in many children accepting God’s salvation and becoming members of His family. This evening we will lead the Children’s Church for Mission Emanuel’s mid-week service – a chance to minister to 100-200 more children! Becky Douglass View Dominican Republic Ministry Pictures Get Involved or Donate Today!
January 31, 2007 Dominican Republic Ministry Update We are so excited to see God working in the DR! We have a great team there doing ministry and building 3 playgrounds! Our ministry team visited the Children’s Hospital yesterday and did puppets and flannelgraph for the children. They also handed out stuffed animals, visited the children and prayed and encouraged them. Jerry Sletten and Boomer did balloon animals and the kids were thrilled! The playgrounds at the hospital, school and church are coming along beautifully! Please remember to pray for the teams as they touch the lives of so many down in the DR! Becky Douglass - Interim Director of Ministry Playground Update It is Wednesday and we have 2 playgrounds as complete as we can get them- one at a hospital and one at a school. But they are each missing the climbers that go on both sides. We ask your continued prayers for the replacement of the 6 large climbers (2 for each playground!) that disappeared in customs. We are working with many people in order to ship the replacements- please pray they get here and through customs in a timely manner so we can complete the playgrounds. This afternoon we will build the last one located at a church. The weather is fantastic- no snow here! We have a 6 junior high and high school students with us this trip- coming with their dads or grandparents. We are having fun training the next generation of KIDS volunteers! Also, please keep the health of the team members in your prayers. As the week goes on, fatigue sets in and muscles get really sore. Pray for stamina and all the little aches and pains. Thank you for your continued prayers! Jerry Flaming - Playground Director View all 32 pictures from this project so far.
January 30, 2007 Dominican Republic - Ministry Report When we arrived here close to midnight last night we found out that plans had changed and instead of working at the hospital with the playground team the next day, we were going to be running a Kids Club for the children in the neighborhood of Mission Emanuel. We hadn’t really planned for anything like this! So … this morning the ministry team (nine of us) me |
