2020 has been a year of unanticipated blessings and unexpected obstacles. Taking a moment to reflect gave us incredible joy as we reviewed how God moved in our ministry.
Let’s take a moment to recap & celebrate all you helped to accomplish this year!
OneMeal continues to be a strong element of our ministry both here and abroad. The increased need for food support across the globe, precipitated by COVID lockdowns and natural disasters has put a heightened priority on hunger relief efforts. In 2020, hundreds of families partnered with us to Serv@Home and pack over 1 million meals from their own homes. Between these and our sustaining relationships, we hosted 79 OneMeal events, packing a total of 3.75 million meals, and continue providing to our ministry partners in 13 different countries overseas. This included immediate and ongoing relief to our partners in Nicaragua after two devastating hurricanes. Along with expansion to launch OneMeal feeding programs in the Philippines, which are helping to expand the reach and impact of KIDStory.
Our international travel came to a halt last March, but we still had plenty going on stateside that kept our operations team busy. Even with all the pauses and lockdowns, we were still able to remove 48 playgrounds with help from our team of volunteers and reached the milestone of removing our 1,000th playground this spring.
We were able to ship 48 playgrounds to countries around the world. Our Rockford Park District partnered with us to bring two local playgrounds up to code, along with donating many others.
The welding program provided by a grant from the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois grew even larger. We had the opportunity to serve alongside 17 new students, with 13 getting their welding certificates and 4 who interned at our Rockford warehouse welding playgrounds.
KIDStory is dependent on people gathering to experience God’s Stories and build relationships with Jesus and one another. One would think with all the lockdowns and quarantines in 2020 that StoryClubs and workshops would come to a screeching halt…BUT that has not been the case. God has opened up more doors and opportunities than we could ever ask or imagine. Virtual StoryClubs are opening up across the globe where children hear God’s Word for the first time. Children are creatively sharing Bible stories and their unbelieving friends are joining the calls and participating in the discussions. KIDStory@Home now has 17 videos that families can use at home to jumpstart their KIDStory experience. Ministry leaders in over 35 countries have participated in virtual workshops and are using KIDStory resources to multiply their ministry impact. One ministry in Indonesia, where over 80% of the people are Muslim, are now using KIDStory to reach and disciple over 54,000 children in 4,000 churches. In total, we are impacting almost 3.5 million children on a regular basis. Children continue to encounter the love of Jesus through the telling of His Story and the working of His Spirit!
Thank you for your heart to impact children all over the world.
– Your Kids Around the World family