Welcome to K.I.D

My name is Lone.  I´m one of the team from Denmark (Østervrå) and married to the Pastor, Flemming Pedersen.

I want to write to all of you about what happened, when we arrived home.  One thing you should know is, that we don´t have regular family worships - in periods it works fine and at other times it does not work.  But we always have family worship Friday and Saturday evening.

We were very tired when we arrived in the airport.  My father-in-law was there with our 2 youngest kids - a great family reunion.  We got into the car.  Almost at once our youngest, (Adrian age 7), said that they had a story to tell us, and that they wished it could be at the family worship that day.  Not one of our children has ever asked for something like that before - that we should have family worship, and that they wanted to tell a story - not only a story, but an experience they had on the Sabbath, when we were at KID training in England.  My husband Flemming and I looked amazed at each other.  I felt in my heart, that this was Gods answer to my prayers.
This was His way of telling us to continue with K.I.D and with family worship.

When we got home our children went outside for a while.  We unpacked some of our things and got something to eat.  When we were eating, Adrian asked “mom when is it time to tell our story - to tell about the ball that was lost?  I told him, we would have family worship after dinner.  He wasn´t supposed to tell me anything - should be a surprise, but when I understood a ball had been lost, I asked my husband to do the lost coin (Luke 15, 8-18 for worship.

After dinner Adrian told the story.  While they were with their grandparents they went out to play.  They borrowed a ball.  They lost the ball and could not find it.  They were very worried about it, because they thought, their grandparents would be sorry, or sad, that the ball was lost.  Then they decided to pray and ask God to help them find the ball.  After a while they found the ball.  At this point, I thought, Adrian had finished the story, but he continued.  Mom, then we again prayed and said thank you to God for helping us finding the ball.

After he finished the story, we read about the lost coin and then prayed together. 
Then we decided to buy a note book to write experiences like this in; a book where our children can also do a painting of what happened.

The Holy Spirit had already travelled ahead of us and prepared a family worship!

May God be with you all and bless you and your family.

Lone Fuglsang
 

After we came back from England, we planned a KID meeting to set up the KID ministry.
We started in February with the first KID sermon. Before each of the 4 sermons there was a sketch. We used all the ones we saw during our KID training.
It was a hard reality that hit the hearts of many church members as they realised how many of their children no longer attended church. Especially the elderly couples where touched by it. ‘This programme should have been in our church 30 years ago…’ was one of the most heard quotes the past months.
Before the participants would sign in for the programme, we had a meal together, like a family. There was a big variety of participants; grandparents (2 couples), 1 single (with small nephews), 3 young couples with 1 year olds and 3 families with KID ages.

The pilot KID team in The Hague, Holland, had translated the Bible studies so we could use them with the parents and children in Dordrecht.

 After the 12 Bible studies for the adults we had a special KID service where the parents/mentors  received their certificates, a group picture and a small present from the KID team. In the same service we also thanked all the volunteers for their time and support for looking after the children during their parent’s KID programme.

After a summer break we started the parents/mentor and children’s KID programme. We planned it two weeks in a row and one week off. The time frame of the programme is still one hour. Next year 2012, 1st of May, is our final KID Bible study when the children receive their certificate.

The effects of the KID programme were shown last week at the children’s service. All the child participants of KID had their role in the service: praying for the start of the service, for the gifts, the preaching, working with the computer. It was great to see children who are always so shy, say a prayer in front of the whole church as if they always do prayers during services. We see the friendship between the children grow, but especially their talents. We praise the Lord for the blessings we receive from Him and the families and couples who are joining the programme.

KID team Dordrecht, November 2011
 

Ireland was the choice for the BUC’s first Kids In Discipleship training held outside England. This spring, four churches from North and South Ireland came together for this 3-day training. In 2008, a group had come from Londonderry to the KID Training at Stanborough Park, and evidently did such a good job of spreading the word to other churches that the president, Pastor David Neal, asked the BUC Children’s Ministries director, Heather Haworth, and Anne-May Wollen, the TED Children’s Ministry Director, to organise this session.

It was an excellent weekend – the venue, the company, the food, and the weather!

The commitment of all the participants was clear from the beginning. They were enthusiastic and ready to find out as much as they could about this new Ministry.
They appreciated the practical nature of the course – it wasn’t all theory; there were fun team activities and opportunities to practise the skills needed to present the course to their churches.

They came expecting to learn a lot, but the reality exceeded their expectations: they were impressed with the depth and spirituality of the course. They found it to be an ‘inspirational, vibrant, practical and spiritual experience’. There was also the conviction that it would bring the church closer together.

One particularly important consideration was the statistics from Value Genesis on the number of young people who leave the church - 50% - which made us realise the urgency of doing something about it if we don’t want to lose them.

The KID ministry with its emphasis on Vision, Discipleship, Ministry and Mission aims to meet this need.

One thing the course does is to develop skills in relating to children, and developing relationships with each other in the small group discussions and the different activities, and, through them, the vertical relationship with God. We had the opportunity to see a live class put on by the Londonderry group. It was good to see a KID class in action, and to have the opportunity to try the materials out for ourselves.

It is also life-changing: one person said ‘It was hard work but worth it. It has been a life-transformation experience which I want to share. I think I won’t be the same again.’

At the end of the course, the participants felt empowered, well-equipped and confident to deliver this Ministry to their churches.

 And the trainers? We were inspired and moved by the reaction of our groups, joined in the fun of the team challenges and the activities in the small group studies for kids, and the skits they devised to take the message back to their churches.

The response of one of the poets among us summed it up:

‘I came, I saw, I heard, and I found the child in myself. I now long to take this wonderful ministry to my local church and see God change the lives of the young
people, so we can all be in that beautiful City of Gold.’

If you were walking past the British Union Conference office sometime between 19-22 May, you may have heard a group of 18 people loudly shouting “Now!” At the Kids in Discipleship training course everyone becomes familiar with this ministry’s vision statement: “Every child a disciple of Jesus Christ NOW. When repeating it, they show their commitment to guiding parents how to disciple their children by lifting up their voices to say emphatically “NOW.”

This year three churches attended the course, held for the first time in the new BUC training room.  The two teams from Holland were accompanied by the new Netherland’s Union Children’s Ministries Director, Madelon Comvalius and her husband, Machlon.  Pastor Steve Roberts accompanied Edmonton, London, church’s team.  Together they agreed their mission is “To equip parents and churches to empower their children to become disciples who joyfully trust, follow and share Jesus.”

On the first evening, 20, 12 children and 8 parents, from the Reading Central Church gave an example of a children’s and parents interactive Bible study. While the children received their goody bags, Pastor Leslie Ackie interviewed the parents to ascertain how this ministry had impacted their children, family life and church.  “It deepened my own faith.”  “My children feel comfortable at sharing their faith and bringing friends to church.”  “We are now closer as a family and do more things together.”

Michelle Sancho, the KID leader, shared how three quarters of the children are now baptised with 3 more about to have their baptism.  She also said the parents have supported one another in discipling each other’s children.

The children wanted to be interviewed too.  One of the boys, whose Mum is a recent SDA, when asked what he liked about this ministry said, “It is about us kids.  It is at our level and a part of church we understand, as it is for us kids.”  This was echoed by a 14 year-old, “We get a chance to learn things at our level.”  Another lad mentioned how it was good to have fun at church with their parents.

During the 4 days of training it became evident the spiritual maturity of the children, their ease in sharing their faith, had given a role model to be emulated in the Dutch and London churches.  As one of the attendees noted, “The demonstration from the Reading church KIDS ministry team showed that this is a good ministry and it can work in the church once we give it a try.”

Winnie Nsimbi’s thoughts may echo how you would feel having attending the training: “Sometimes we do courses and we intend to practice/implement what we learnt.  Our busy lives result in failure to do so.  I feel well-equipped to overcome these challenges, following KID, by GOD’S GRACE.  The Action Plan for carrying out this Ministry is great, and the foundation is PRAYER.”

You are welcome to attend the next training, 5-8 November 2011.

For more information: hhaworth@adventist.org.uk, dtompkins@adventist.org.uk, tel 01923 672251.

Thank you for your prayers.We had 11 adults and 3 children last week. We  ent 4 folders home for adults who said they would come - 2 gave  pologies and will be here this week , the other two I am not sure of  but we felt we prepared for them and maybe folders will be a little nudge.

We started a few minutes late but managed to end at 8:10 instead of 8pm   which is a huge achievement for us! People felt that we presented everything  professionally presented (folder, fridge magnets etc..) and that even though the Bible study looked simple at first it led to some  great insights when asked more questions.

The kids had their own fun and my daughter has been counting the days - she helped me prepare a craft for tonight - We felt 90min and Sabbath evening is too long to just let the Kids play so I have pulled resources together on the Narnia story - with verse activity, 30min video, craft and snack and then play time.
We’ll end our 12 weeks of doing Adult KID by going out together to celebrate enjoying KID, then we will do the 24 Parents and Children’s
KID.

I printed photos of the kids in the church under the banner of Kids and put that into picture frames in the Church. Some photos - have some up on facebook.

You can now see the training in photos.

[Anne-May Wollan/Children’s Ministries Director/TED; Church Planters in Focus]

Kids in Discipleship (KID) is a life transforming ministry that is making an impact upon children, families, churches and local communities and is taking root through the Trans-European Division (TED). KID is designed for families but has its focus on children. It is a ministry that helps parents become more committed disciples themselves empowering them to disciple their own children to Jesus. It is calling families back to the old tradition of having family worship every day. It is challenging each member of the family to also spend time alone with God, resulting in better relationships between children and parents and a growing connection with God.

KID also led to greater involvement in local life. Seven year-old Jón Steinar responded to one of the lessons by wanting to get involved as a deacon. One Sabbath after arriving home his mother apologised for not mentioning it to the church pastor. To her astonishment Jón responded by saying that he had already discussed the matter with the pastor and was due on duty the next week! When the time for church came around he was the one pushing his parents and brother out of the door saying, “I have to be there to greet the people.” 

The spiritual building blocks that the KID programme put into place are still going strong. Jón Steinar, who invited his school friend to church as part of the KID programme two years ago, still has the pleasure of seeing his friend at church every week, as well as her mother! 

I asked one of the KID teachers, Thóra Lilja, what legacy KID had left with the church. She replied, “The children still ask for KID – it’s still very active in their memory and their lives are showing the result of regular time alone with God – not just because their parents want them to do this but because they long for it too. It is just so wonderful to see children and families maturing together spiritually in front of your eyes. These children will soon be into their teenage years and KID has provided a foundation for the challenging times ahead.”

[Jani Virolainen/Orvo Miettinen/TEDNews Staff/TED News] 

Tampere, Finland - The first Kids In Discipleship (KID) training event in Finland was held on 25-27 September, in the Aitolahti Adventist Church and the Church School in Tampere. This training event was organised by a team from the Aitolahti Church, after having attended the KID training in 2007, this ministry was applied in their home church; and finally in April 2009 they attended the KID Coach training, equipping them to train other church teams.  Pastor Ansku Jaakkola from the Jyvaskyla team commented on the KID ministry, “KID provides the local church with the tools and mindset that we have yearned for, for a long time. It may well bring change to the spiritual dryness and apathy both of the adults and children. I can only imagine what effect the ministry has on our members, families, local churches and thus the whole Church in Finland, when the parents and children grow spiritually together and live out their faith.” “The KID ministry is designed for families and focused on children, but it touches the wellbeing of the whole congregation. The prayerful support for the parents by the church members and their willingness to help both the parents and children grow as disciples of Christ is immeasurably valuable. On the behalf of the KID team of the Aitolahti Church, I thank all who participated at the training event and the churches that send their teams to attend. It is good to walk in the footsteps of Jesus”, said Jani Virolainen, Director of the Children, Family and Youth Departments in the Finland Union Conference.

[Anne-May Muller/TED News]

Watford, England – Four new teams were able to attend the Kids In Discipleship (KID) training seminar held in Watford, 8-11 October. A group of 21 participants from Denmark, England, Israel and Scotland attended this seminar, which aims to equip parents to spiritually nurture their children to have a personal, meaningful, and fruitful relationship with Jesus Christ.

Following the seminar in Watford, one of the participants, Anne-May Muller, Family and Women Ministries Director of the Adventist Church in Denmark, expressed her experience of the KID seminar, saying, “I have attended quite a few seminars on parenting, family life and children in general. Even though I looked forward to develop my skills, I did not come prepared for the change KID was going to do to me.”

Anne-May Muller continues, “The first thing that I noticed on entering the seminar room was the warm atmosphere and the well-organized setting. The devotion was not just an inspiring sermon, or some nicely put words to soothe my soul, - it was a setting in which we could worship God together. When we talked about the importance of the parents’ and mentors’ spiritual life and their walk with God, we were given the opportunity to retreat and consider our own relationship with Him. When we prayed, it was our hearts that we turned over to God…Later, when we practiced conducting these seminars for parents and mentors, it was not just an educational exercise; it became a life-transforming bible study for all of us.

When the coaches gave us their vision for this ministry, they presented their personal vision, personal emotions and personal passion for making God’s dream for their own children come true. When we prayed for each team at the end of the weekend, it was genuine commitment and concern for each other.”

“I have read the research and books about children’s spiritual development and how to make them spiritual champions, but Kids In Discipleship actually gave me the tools and the skills to do it. I have read many statistics; some show that 3 in 4 of our young people leave the Church. I am a mother of four boys, age 4 to 9. I want all four of them in heaven with me! The fact that most people make their decision to become disciples of Jesus before the age of 13 made me again painfully aware, that I only have four more years to be their primary spiritual mentor.”

“The KID seminar was a life-changing experience for me – and my prayer and my vision is that it will be life-changing for my boys, for our family, and for the children of our Church, and that we all may become empowered disciples of Jesus. May God keep on blessing all the wonderful coaches, trainers and mentors, who made this ministry a reality and made it available to so many families. Please extend my thanks and appreciation to the prayer partners who prayed for us during the seminar – it could never have been so life-transforming for me, if not for the intervention of the Holy Spirit through prayer.”

The Trans-European Division Children Ministries Department, directed by Anne-May Wollan, organizes KID seminars regularly in various part of the TED, in cooperation with local churches.

For more info on the KID ministry, please visit:

http://www.ted-adventist.org/resources/cm.htm

We welcome your prayer requests on this post.