The Good News

Welcome to our quarterly newsletter, The Good News, featuring stories of how God has been working through Kids Around The World. Enjoy!

Food

Million Meal Event
It has been an INCREDIBLE summer for our Food Program! We kicked off the summer with a Million Meal Event in southern California with the Diocese of San Diego. Over two days, nearly 3,400 volunteers gathered at Cathedral Catholic High School, joyfully serving those in need. Our staff was blessed with enthusiastic volunteers with hearts to serve. We had 115 meal packing lines filled with family and friends of all ages with one mission – to be the hands of Christ. Together volunteers packed 1 million meals that will deliver hope to children in Mexico, the Philippines, and Zambia.

50 Millionth Meal Packed
On July 15th, we celebrated an extraordinary milestone in our Food Program! Hundreds of campers from North Coast Calvary Chapel’s KidsGames shared the joy of packing our 50,000,000th meal!! Not only did these adorable little ones contribute to packing and boxing the meals, but they also fundraised in creative ways to provide the gift of nourishment to children in need!

Play

We’re halfway through the year and it is incredible to see a lot of activity returning to our warehouse and across the globe through playground projects! We have removed 33 playgrounds this year, and our teams are back in the field.  Our volunteer installers are back in action, along with new in-country installers. There are countries we cannot return to because of unrest and restrictions, but through Zoom meetings, we have been able to train partners from afar to install playgrounds. 

After two years of waiting, we completed a project in Uganda with New Hope, providing ADA-accessible playgrounds to children with special needs. Around the same time, we had volunteer installers leading a build in Barbuda with the Bonnie Floyd Ministry, and another was leading a team in Portugal with Word of Life. It is excellent to partner with so many Christian organizations around the globe, bringing the gift of play to their ministries.

Our welding program kicked off with a new student, Evan, working in the Rockford warehouse over the summer. He has had some trials in his life, and we are blessed to be able to help equip him for a more stable life.

Our program with the Rockford Rescue Mission started again as well. Terry from the Mission works in the warehouse three days a week, helping with playground removals. Before Terry entered the Mission, he used to install playgrounds. God’s care and provision is incredible, isn’t it?  What a good fit for both of us. Our team has enjoyed working with these two young men and seeing how God can change their lives. 

STORY

Pastor Cholo in the Philippines has gone through a life transformation. As a pastor for many years, he focused on evangelizing and discipling adults. He learned about KIDStory from our KIDStory Regional Directors, Rene and Lala, in Southeast Asia. God began working in Pastor Cholo’s heart, giving him a new passion for seeing children know Christ. Now he reaches children daily with the Word of God.

Since then, Pastor Cholo has created five StoryClubs in the surrounding communities where he lives. He has also partnered with Rene and Lala to reach a remote group of tribal children where the Bible stories are shared and translated into their native language. It’s amazing to hear Jesus’ stories shared in different languages, knowing He will work through any barrier.

People’s lives, young and old alike, are being transformed! Environments are being created where the hope and love of Jesus is encountered through telling His Story in ways children can hear and experience best.

God is transforming the lives of children through their time spent in StoryClubs. Kids are learning of Jesus’ love for them and building a relationship with them. They are growing in their faith and taking that same transformation to their homes!
We learned of one little boy named Juan who shares enthusiastically about his favorite activities in the StoryClub. He loves to color and looks forward to drawing pictures retelling the Bible story he learned. He proudly shows his beautiful drawings to his mom and anyone nearby while telling them all about Jesus’ Story.