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The children who attend Beach Club have a vastly different childhood than any generation before them. The internet has been around their entire lives. Fifty-six percent of these kids have a cell phone, and 38 percent have social media accounts. Although so much information is at the fingertips of the kids who attend Beach Club these children still want someone to tell them what truth is. 

This was especially true for kids at the Beach Club at Lakeland Elementary in Lakeland, Tenn. The club is sponsored by First Baptist Church Lakeland. 

A fifth-grader came to club one day last year heavy with questions. Carter was confused about evolution and was bursting with questions that his surf team leader just did not know all the answers to.

The surf team leader recruited the help of church coordinator David Riggs, who took Carter into the hallway and listened to all of his questions. The two talked through a few of his questions until Beach Club was over for the day. Riggs says he left discouraged by the conversation, as he was not confident with how he answered the questions. Riggs wasn’t sure he provided answers in a way Carter could understand.

Riggs wanted another chance to explain the complicated information and hopefully answer the boy’s questions. He knew he could do a better job if given another chance. So, he prayed, “Dear Lord, please let me have another opportunity to speak with him.” 

And the Lord answered Riggs’ prayer.

Carter was back at Beach Club the next week with more questions, and again Riggs felt as if he answered those questions inadequately. He prayed again to be able to continue the discussion with the boy.

Carter returned for the third week. He came in and sought out Riggs saying, “I have some questions about micro evolution.” Riggs was taken aback. He didn’t even know what micro evolution was when he was in the fourth grade and here this little boy was asking intelligent questions about the subject.

They discussed it for about 15 minutes when Carter nodded his head and said, “You’ve answered everything I need to know. I am ready to become a Christian.” 

“It is the first time I’ve been involved with something like that and I can tell you, there’s nothing like that,” Riggs said.

Carter, who is now in sixth grade, and his family are members of another church in the community, but they invited about 10 Beach Club volunteers to witness his baptism.

Because of Riggs’ obedience as a Beach Club volunteer and being faithful to witness to these children, he saw a harvest.

“I know we’re teaching children, but God was teaching me before club ever began,” Riggs said. 

He felt the Lord was telling him, “It’s not what you do, it’s what I can be done through you if you’re just obedient.”

Bonnie Robertson is a volunteer for the Beach Club at Mabank Intermediate School in Mabank, Texas. In a club of all fifth- and sixth-grade students, one little girl stood out in her memory and prompted her to submit her story using the #MyKBCStory hashtag.

At Beach Club one afternoon, one of the talkative and outgoing fifth-grade girls came over to Robertson with a serious demeanor. The two of them went to the back of the room together to talk more privately about what was bothering her.

This little girl shared that she wasn’t sure if Jesus would accept her or that He would love her. Robertson asked, “Why would you think that?” The girl said because all of her family are wiccans. The little girl went on to say, “I want Him to be in my heart, but I don’t know if He will come in because of my family.”

Robertson was able to explain to her that it doesn’t have anything to do with the rest of her family, only her. And that little girl accepted Christ that day!

In the car pick-up line after club, Robertson was able to share with the girl’s family about her profession of faith. 

“Her mother, who was a wiccan was ecstatic that her daughter had accepted Christ,” Robertson said. “It was the best day ever. It was wonderful, and it was all because she came to Beach Club!”

Bonnie Robertson volunteers at Beach Club for the kids. “They are important. That’s what counts. They are the future,” she said. “I do it for Jesus, but I do it for the kids so that they aren’t left behind.” Robertson loves seeing the children being taught truth in club and taking it home to share with their families.

KiDs Beach Club® wants to hear YOUR story! Volunteers, what has been a stand-out moment for you in Beach Club? Was it a time like Bonnie Robertson’s when a child accepted Christ? Or a time a child received their first Bible? Have you had an extra special time of prayer with your surf team? Parents, what has been your child’s favorite part of Beach Club? Have you come to know Jesus through your child sharing what they learned in club?

We want to hear from you! Use the #MyKBCStory hashtag on social media or write us at news@kbcmail.org.

If you attended the Bibles for Beach Club Benefit Dinner in July, you likely saw the 20-ounce Bison Tumblers that were part of the popular Pick-and-Play game before the dinner.

Now, those same tumblers featuring the KBC logo etched in the side, are available in the KBC online store. They come in eight different colors including lime, pink, red, purple, light blue, sand, orange and black (not pictured). Be sure to place your order before they run out.

Since KiDs Beach Club® first began in 2003, teaching children about God’s word has been the focal point to giving each child a Jesus experience inside their public elementary school. From 2003 through the fall of 2014, only one Bible was given to a child in each club each week the club met.

Beginning in the spring of 2015, giving every single child in every Beach Club their very own copy of God’s word became a priority. This special day of Beach Club became known as Great Treasure Day. 

This month KiDs Beach Club® celebrated a very special Great Treasure Day as we handed out our 50,000th Bible since that very first Bible back in 2003. 

After weeks of anticipation and watching the tally of Bibles given to kids climb on the front page of the ministry’s new website, it was projected that the 50,000th Bible would be given away on October 10 at the new Beach Club at Gilbert Elementary, which is the second club to be sponsored by Christ Church Irving.

Gilbert Elementary had dozens of children in attendance for Great Treasure Day. All were giddy and excited to receive their new Bibles. What they didn’t know before they arrived that afternoon was one of them would be the 50,000th child in the history of KiDs Beach Club® to receive a KBC Explorer’s Study Bible. 

When it came time for the presentation, the room full of volunteers, kids and KBC corporate staff cheered as each child received their new Bible. After several were handed out, Beach Club leader Molly Greenlee announced the very next Bible would be the milestone 50,000th Bible, and that Bible was being presented to Jamie G.! Everyone erupted in celebration. 

Jamie was a little shy to have all the attention, but she was not shy to share that this was her first Bible, and the first Bible in her family. 

Once she sat down and removed the plastic, marking that this book had never belonged to anyone else, she was given a permanent marker to write her name in the front page.

Jack Terrell, the founder and president of KiDs Beach Club®, said, “It was amazing the intensity that she took, and the deliberateness that she took, in putting her name for the very first time, in her Bible.”

Jamie loves attending Beach Club with her friends because, “My friends and I can learn more about Jesus and we can spread the word to others that don’t come to Beach Club.”

Jamie was excited to receive a Bible, “So I can read it every night and tell my brother about Jesus.” Jamie has a 10-year-old brother who also attends Gilbert Elementary and does not attend Beach Club. Jamie hopes she can get her brother to come with her to Beach Club soon. But she is ready and excited to use her Bible to share Jesus with her family at home.

The milestone of 50,000 Bibles being given away to children is monumental. We are also celebrating you, our donors, as we rejoice in knowing that to purchase those 50,000 Bibles, it took your generosity to provide those Bibles to children in public schools! 

“God has blessed KiDs Beach Club® with some amazing, amazing donors who not only caught the vision of connecting kids to Christ by putting Bibles in their hands, but who actively participate in it with their generous gifts,” Terrell said. “Our donors have given $1 million since 2003 to purchase 50,000 KBC Explorers Study Bibles which will continue to impact not only the lives of the kids who receive them but also their entire families.

“So to our donors, from the bottom of our heart, we thank you!”

Be sure to watch the video above until the end for a special message from KBC President & Founder Jack Terrell.

KiDs Beach Club® is grateful for our kids, parents, volunteers, educators, churches and other friends of our ministry. We are excited to hear how the Lord is working in your child’s life, in your family, in your Beach Club, in your school and in your church.

Your KBC stories and experiences not only inspire us at the corporate office but they also encourage others who are part of our amazing team of more than 2,500 volunteers and more than 20,000 parents and supporters. 

As the Lord provides powerful moments in Beach Club, please take a moment to share them with us at stories@kbcmail.org or you can share them with us on social media by using the hashtag #MyKBCStory.

We want to not only showcase you and the kids at Beach Cub but to show our amazing donors and supporters how their prayers and financial gifts are resulting in life-changing experiences in communities and public schools across the country.

We have many avenues to share your great stories with thousands of our KBC friends:

• Surf Report E-News
• KBC "Beach Currents" Blog
• Bibles for Beach Club Monthly Newsletter
• Social Media Channels at @KiDsBeachClub

Great Treasure Day, the day every child in every Beach Club receives his or her own KBC Explorer’s Study Bible, began this week and for the first time will be celebrated in 11 states across the United States. We’ll celebrate another milestone early this fall when we hand out our 50,000 Bible since our ministry started in 2003. 

God’s word is the greatest treasure anyone could ever find and it is the foundation on which KiDs Beach Club® is built. We want every child to have their very own KiDs Beach Club® Bible to read, study, share and grow from, making a daily and eternal impact on their lives. This is a fun and exciting day for all involved.

Great Treasure Day is celebrated differently by every Beach Club and usually takes place during the fifth club meeting each year. Most of those will fall in the month of October though some Beach Clubs will celebrate their Great Treasure Day in November. 

Bibles are provided to our partnering churches at no additional cost to them. This is because of our many great Bibles for Beach Club donors, whether they give at the annual Bibles for Beach Club Benefit Dinner, on North Texas Giving Day or as a monthly Bible donor. 

We want to encourage everyone to take photos and videos during their Great Treasure Day and to share them with us at KiDs Beach Club®. And when those Bibles make it into your home, we want to hear what getting a Bible means to your kids and what giving a Bible to a child means to you!

Please share your pictures, videos and stories on social media by using the hashtags #KiDsBeachClub and #GreatTreasureDay. Please follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

If social media isn’t your thing, you can email us anytime at news@kbcmail.org so that we can communicate it on our blog and on the monthly Surf Report e-newsletter.

Pro Tip: When taking video with your smart phone, turn it on its side so that the long edge of the device is parallel to the floor for higher quality!