Blog

The KiDs Beach Club® “Hang 10” Summer Reading Program is about to enter its final month! It’s designed mainly with the Beach Club kid in mind to continue reinforcing the habit of spending 10 minutes every day with God, reading His word or in prayer.

For the past nine weeks, we’ve explored a different character word each week, learning what the Bible says about them and how to apply them to our lives. During August, we will explore five additional character words: Dependability, Respect, Self-Control, Courage and Contentment.

Download the final five weeks of the plan.

The reading plan isn’t just for kids. It’s for everyone. We invite KBC volunteers as well as the siblings and parents of Beach Club kids to participate. We encourage you to forward it to anyone looking to spend more time immersed in God’s word.

The Summer Reading Program continues through August and you can always go back and see what you might have missed by visiting our website. God loves you and invites you to meet with Him by reading the Bible and praying.

Do you know Jesus personally? Has there ever been a time in your life when you asked Jesus to forgive you of your sins and place your faith in Him alone to save you? If you haven’t, it’s as simple as A-B-C! ADMIT you have sin. BELIEVE Jesus died on the cross to save you and forgive you of your sins. And make the choice to CHOOSE to follow Jesus by inviting Him into your life. You can read more about the A-B-C’s on the tip-in pages of your child’s KBC Explorer’s Study Bible between pages 626-627.

We want to encourage you to call KiDs Beach Club® and let us know if you have questions or if you have something we can pray about for you. Please share your story of how KiDs Beach Club® or your child’s KBC Explorer’s Study Bible has impacted your child, yourself or your family. You can even send us photos of you and your children reading their KBC Study Bible to news@kbcmail.org. We would love to hear from you.

In August 2015, Sarah Hensley was attending a back-to-school night with her then third- and fourth-graders at Peaks Mill Elementary in Frankfort, Ky., when they noticed a KiDs Beach Club® information table. At that table, she recognized the pastor of Peaks Mill Christian Church, who had performed her wedding ceremony the year before.

Peaks Mill Christian turned out to be a KBC partnering church, and as the pastor talked about Beach Club, the Hensleys became interested in what they were hearing. At the time, they did not have a church home, so they were excited about the kids being able to attend Beach Club and hear God’s word there.

Hensley enthusiastically told a KiDs Beach Club staff member recently about the way her kids would come home from Beach Club each week and share what they had learned. This continued throughout the year; then, as the school year came to a close, one of the Beach Club leaders invited them to the church’s Vacation Bible School.

The Hensleys responded to this outreach, and the kids attended VBS throughout the week. Then, Hensley and her husband joined them for the closing-night ceremony. Hensley recalled that, during dinner, her son’s VBS teacher came over to speak to them and asked why the family didn’t attend church there.

Hensley said, “She told us that the kids were hungry for the word of God.”

It was at that point that they made the decision to get their blended family into church. A week and a half later, the Hensleys attended a service at Peaks Mill Christian – and they’ve been going back ever since.

As a result, Hensley, who received Christ and was baptized as a youth, has seen the rest of her family join her during the past year. She teared up as she discussed it, explaining that her husband and three eldest children – Dustin (12), Tyler (10) and Montana (10) – were baptized in August 2016, while her youngest, Emily (6), was baptized this spring.

Moreover, Hensley is now a Beach Club volunteer herself, serving with her church in her children’s school. She just attended the Leadership Luau in Frankfort and is preparing to begin her second year with Beach Club.

This family’s journey exemplifies the impact that KiDs Beach Club® strives to make in its communities. By partnering with churches, KiDs Beach Club® is able to share Christ with children directly in their public school. This, in and of itself, is an awesome opportunity. However, the larger goal is to be able to reach these children’s families, ultimately connecting them to Christ by attending a partnering church, just as Peaks Mill Christian Church did with the Hensley family. 

If you would like to become a volunteer with KiDs Beach Club® and help make an impact in the lives of children and their families, go to kidsbeachclub.org/volunteering for more information.

Earlier this month, Hillcrest Baptist Church in Frankfort, Ky., hosted the first KBC Leadership Luau of the year, despite potential distractions.

“That church, to have opened their doors to us right now, was amazing,” Christy Hughes, the regional manager for KiDs Beach Club®, said.

Hillcrest pastor Tom Troth, and his wife, Karen, suffered a loss in the days leading up to the Leadership Luau when Karen’s father unexpectedly passed away. Both Tom and Karen are involved in Beach Club and were intending to participate in the Luau. At the same time, Hillcrest was heavily into preparations for Vacation Bible School, scheduled to begin the next evening.

However, Hillcrest members were not deterred. Hughes credits this to the value that Hillcrest places on KiDs Beach Club®. They carried on, allowing KBC staff to facilitate a successful day of training for the area’s three partnering churches – humorously, with a beach-themed luau taking place against a polar backdrop provided by Hillcrest’s “Operation Artic” VBS theme.

“Training was good,” Hughes said. “There was a sweet spirit in the room of people wanting to interact with each other about KiDs Beach Club® and learn from each other.”

Such connection and sharing ideas are two of the main reasons that Hughes believes it is so important for KBC volunteers to attend their area Leadership Luau.

“It builds an enthusiasm and energy for the new school year as you move into Club,” she said.

One of Hughes’ favorite parts of the day was when each church led a song that they sing at their Beach Club. She gives a shout-out to Chris Dove, the ministry’s independent area strategist for Kentucky, for this and other activities that made the day so enjoyable.

Hughes was not alone in her enjoyment. Volunteer Sara Hensley, who gives her time in support of the Beach Club at Peaks Mill Elementary, which is also in Frankfort, said that training was more than what she expected. “I expected it to be bookish, like sitting in class – but it was fun!”

KiDs Beach Club® encourages all volunteers – new and veteran alike – to attend a Leadership Luau in their area each year. As Hughes points out, an important part of networking at this event is volunteers sharing ideas that have been successful in their club; this cannot occur without veteran participation.

In addition to providing an opportunity for you to connect and share ideas with fellow volunteers, top-notch KBC leaders are eager to share three new promotion and registration tools designed to grow your club and streamline the registration process:

• New online registration
• Individual web pages for every Beach Club
• New tools to promote your Beach Club

If you have not yet registered for Leadership Luau, go to kidsbeachclub.org/luau to locate and register for an event near you. You won’t want to miss this time of worship and celebration!

KiDs Beach Club® would like to extend a sincere word of thanks to everyone who joined us at our Bibles for Beach Club Benefit Dinner July 14. The event, which was held at The Speedway Club at Texas Motor Speedway, raised enough money to purchase 14,000 Bibles to place in the hands of children.

The evening kicked off with pace car rides around the speedway’s mile and half oval. A meet-and-greet with keynote speaker Lee Strobel followed. During this time, Strobel and his wife, Leslie, spoke with guests, took pictures and signed copies of The Case for Christ, which he authored.

While both of these took place outside of the Grand Ballroom, inside the main room was an array of activity. Two popular activities were the Dine & Dash and the Pick & Play, in which guests purchased a decorative plate or a Bison tumbler for the chance to win a variety of gift cards to restaurants and experiences.

There were also three raffles to choose from, including a custom rifle and two vacations – one to Florida and the other to California. Finally, guests could stop by the photo booth to take a picture and commemorate the evening.

The official program began with Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage welcoming guests to the track before offering the prayer formally start the event. Chris Krok, a talk-show host on WBAP-AM Radio in Dallas-Fort Worth, took the stage and began his emcee duties for the evening.

Guests then had another opportunity to participate, this time in a live auction. Auctioneer Loyd Sawyers made this an exciting time, auctioning off such items as trips to the Rocky Mountains and Cabo San Lucas, buck and hog hunts, sports ticket packages, an autographed Dirk Nowitzki jersey and a custom Alamo precision rifle.

Strobel then took the stage, delivering an inspiring keynote address. He spoke about the importance of KiDs Beach Club® to a generation that is experiencing a crisis of faith. He encouraged donors, explaining that their gift would have a ripple effect through future generations, suggesting that people 100, even 200 years from now would be impacted by the child who received a KBC Explorer’s Study Bible and began down God’s path, rather than a path of sin and immorality.

Following was the story of Miley the Missionary and how, through her attendance, changed the course of a new Beach Club in Missouri. Jungs Station Baptist Church began sponsoring a club at Harris Elementary School in St. Charles, Mo., but for the first four weeks, no children showed up. It appeared the trend would continue into the fifth week until Miley and her mom showed up just before Beach Club was scheduled to conclude. These faithful volunteers learned a lesson in perseverance. Their reward came when Miley began inviting friends to join her in club. 

The emotional story led into a plea for attendees to support the worth-while cause of giving kids Bibles. Donations began pouring in and visibly moved Jack Terrell, the ministry’s founder and president.

All in all, it was an amazing evening.

“From the beginning of the night with pace car rides,” Sawyers said in summation. “We shared scripture and smiles with people, and everybody was just excited.”

Amazed, he added, “Nobody left tonight. That’s unusual… they want to be a part of God’s plan right here with KiDs Beach Club®.”

We know we’re coming right off a successful annual fundraiser, but we will again be participating in North Texas Giving Day. We want to get September 14 on your radar. That’s the day when thousands of people rally around various Dallas-Fort Worth area non-profit organizations to help financially support their mission.

If you were unable to support KiDs Beach Club® at the Bibles for Beach Club Benefit Dinner earlier this month, we hope you will be able to make a gift in support of our ministry that is connecting kids to Christ and putting Bibles in their hands. Together we’re making Jesus cool at school!

While we are thrilled with the 14,000 Bibles you helped us raise at the Benefit Dinner, that number signifies a year of significant growth for our ministry. The last two years, the Lord has provided us with the exact number of Bibles we have needed to ensure we’re able to give every child in every Beach Club a Bible of their very own. Based on the Bibles we’re purchasing for kids this year, we’re projecting to grow by more than 90 clubs, which amounts to roughly 6,300 kids.

In order to facilitate our rapid growth, we will have to act quickly to expand our ministry with the addition of strategic growth and field staff representatives and your gifts will greatly assist that process.

More details will follow, but know that this year you can schedule your North Texas Giving Day gifts starting September 7. Simply go to NorthTexasGivingDay.org any time between September 7-13, and you will be able to schedule gift in support of KIDs Beach Club®.

Amazing! That’s the only word that seems to describe the 2017 Bibles for Beach Club Benefit Dinner July 14 in the Grand Ballroom of the Speedway Club at Texas Motor Speedway. The night focused on the ministry’s continuing vision to provide every third to sixth grade child a Jesus experience within the culture of their public school.

“This is an audacious vision that God has given these people, and it excites me,” said keynote speaker Lee Strobel. Strobel is the author of The Case for Christ, and a teaching pastor at Woodlands Church in The Woodlands, Texas.

Strobel emphasized the importance of raising today’s young people to be strong in their faith, because they are the leaders of tomorrow. He also expressed concern in current trends.

“There’s no question,” Strobel said, “today we are facing a crisis of faith among young people.”

He gave these statistics:

• Only 56 percent of millennials consider themselves to be Christians.
• Only 62 percent of millennials are confident that God exists, compared to 82 percent of baby boomers.
• Overall, the number of atheists and agnostics has more than doubled in recent years.

Strobel cited one cause being that young people have tough questions about their faith, but no one who is willing to discuss them. Strobel talked about his own journey down this path, which ultimately led to atheism and immorality.

“That’s the path that some of these young kids are going to be taking unless somebody intersects with them at a young age and brings them hope through Jesus Christ,” Strobel said.

KiDs Beach Club® wants to make this intersection, and provide kids with tools to stand strong in their faith. One of the key pieces to this is providing each child a Bible, which we are able to do because of your continued support. 

“Hebrews 4:12 says that the word of God is active and it’s alive,” Strobel said. “We’re not putting something powerless and anemic in people’s hands; we’re putting the word of God in the hands of these young children who are at the perfect age.”

As a result of the Benefit Dinner, KiDs Beach Club® will be placing an order for another 14,000 Bibles to hand out to children in public elementary schools.

Strobel encouraged donors that by partnering with KiDs Beach Club®, “We can help turn the tide and reverse the current trend of millennials turning away from Christ. 

“Why can’t they be the greatest generation that has ever lived for Jesus Christ?” he said. ‘They can. With our encouragement, with our investment in their lives and their spiritual development, with the Bibles we can give them, who knows what they’re gonna bring to this world as they spread this message of hope and grace and love and forgiveness and eternal life through Jesus Christ.”

If you were unable to attend the Bibles for Beach Club Benefit Dinner and would like to support this cause, please visit kidsbeachclub.org/bibles.