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A few years ago, Mike Heinz was invited to serve at the KiDs Beach Club® at Mohawk Elementary, which sponsored by Trinity Bible Church. The invitation made a lot of sense to Heinz, who has two boys who attend the school. A youth pastor at another church, he agreed to become the club’s Bible connection leader.

Heinz has been involved in ministry for a number of years, either in church or working with Christian summer camps. But, the fact that he can do ministry inside a pubic school astounded him and he jumped at the chance, even if it means giving up a part of his day off.

Heinz prepares the Bible story each week and enjoys not only teaching the kids, but also refreshing his memory of Bible stories he maybe has not heard recently, or has not studied in quite some time. The kids soak up whatever the story is that day. On some days, he can speak for 20 minutes and still hold the children’s attention with the scriptures.

During the first year of Beach Club at Mohawk, they started with 50 students. They had so many kids all at once and no real way of knowing where these kids stood spiritually. As they got going, the volunteers were able to see many of these kids in the club already knew Jesus, but some of these kids did not.

“Working with kids from the school was very unique versus working with kids from the church,” Heinz said, “because we didn’t know who was a believer and who was not. Each week presenting the gospel was exciting.”

That mindset from the club’s early days has remained with the volunteers and affects how they serve now. Volunteers know they are welcomed by the school administration and teachers, but there are still people working there and families of the students who don’t believe.

“It is really neat to be able to come into a place where you know that it might not be received well and we get to share Christ,” Heinz said. “It really gives you energy from week to week and year to year to do this because there are kids here who don’t know Jesus, and they have accepted him, and that’s very exciting.“ 

Aside from the ministry done at school, Heinz is delighted in the ways KiDs Beach Club® has impacted his family, especially his children who attend Beach Club.

They are able to pray together as a family for Beach Club and the impact it will have on their school. Additionally, a special connection is made at Beach Club between the students who do know Jesus. Heinz’s sons now have a support system of other children at school who know Jesus and they also know children they can love and be praying for to come to know Jesus.

Heinz passionately said, “Everyone should be a part of Beach Club!”

When Wildwood Baptist Church in Mesquite, Texas decided to partner with KiDs Beach Club® to start a club at Moss Elementary, they were like a lot of churches in America today. The church was very inward focused and didn’t offer many programs outside their church and in their community. 

As they started preparing for their first Beach Club in the fall of 2016, the church was nervous to go outside its walls. Church leaders were worried about how they were going to balance the ministry. They were also concerned about how they would serve so many kids in their club. 

But, Matthew 28:19 resonated in the hearts of the congregation. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” They knew KiDs Beach Club® was the push they needed to get up and go!

Wildwood Baptist’s Beach Club averages close to 100 students each week, and it hasn’t even finished its first year.

“Luckily we serve a big God and he had a reason for connecting us with KBC,” Kyle Stewart, the club leader at Moss Elementary, said.

The whole church has bonded together around KiDs Beach Club® and has embraced the children and teachers at Moss Elementary even beyond that of only serving with them for one hour one day a week. 

“Being a part of KiDs Beach Club® seemed to light a fire in our church,” Stewart said. “We are 100 percent more outwardly focused than before.” 

Most uniquely, Wildwood has a group of women who participate in a sewing ministry. 

For Great Treasure Day at Moss, the women decided to sew each child a cover and bookmark they would distribute with each of the KBC Explorer Study Bibles. Now, each of these women also serve in KiDs Beach Club® as surf team leaders.

Brown Missionary Baptist Church, sponsor of the KiDs Beach Club® at Southaven Intermediate School in Southaven, Mississippi, was recently recognized for its work in the community through its involvement with KiDs Beach Club®.

Brown Missionary Baptist was awarded two Humanitarian awards from the Desoto County Association of Educators and also the Mississippi Association of Educators at its recent representative assembly in Jackson, Miss. The associations wanted to recognize the hard work Brown Missionary Baptist is putting into its community as well as offer their thanks for being so successful with the students they serve.

Earlier this month, Jeffery Jackson, the pastor at Brown Missionary Baptist Church, and Vickie Sneed, a club relations specialist for KiDs Beach Club®, both were able to attend the recognition ceremonies. Nearly 100 educators attended the events with delegates representing school districts from across Mississippi.

When Robin Avant, who was presenting the award to Pastor Jackson, introduced herself to both Jackson and Sneed, she got very excited. She was not expecting to have such representation from the organization in attendance. Avant invited Sneed to speak about KiDs Beach Club®.

Jackson and Sneed were able to speak about KBC for roughly 10 minutes in front of all the attendees.

“KBC is a priceless jewel that positively impacts children's lives and builds character,” Jackson said. “KBC is a club that should be instituted in all public schools where possible.”

After the event, the National Education Association Director for Mississippi approached Sneed with his business card. “He was very interested in Beach Club,” Sneed said. “It was all very exciting. I'm glad I had the opportunity to go.”

“It really feels good to see a secular organization recognize the relevancy of the church in the local community,” Jackson said after being presented with the awards. 

Please pray for doors to continue to open for more Beach Clubs to start not only in Mississippi, but across the country.

Atheist-turned-Christian Lee Strobel will be the keynote speaker at the 2017 Bibles for Beach Club Benefit Dinner July 14 in the Speedway Club Grand Ballroom at Texas Motor Speedway.

Strobel, the former award-winning legal editor of The Chicago Tribune, is a best-selling author of more than 20 books, including his classic, The Case for Christ, which is a perennial favorite that details his conversion to Christianity. The book will be released as a major motion picture in select theaters on April 7 and will depict Strobel’s journey from atheism to faith. Check out the movie trailer.

His most recent book, The Case for Grace, won the 2016 Nonfiction Book of the Year from the EPCA. For the last 25 years, his life’s work has been to share the evidence that supports the truth and claims of Christianity and to equip believers to share their faith with the people they know and love.

As part of his speaking ministry, Strobel travels across the country sharing his testimony, encouraging believers and challenging skeptics. He regularly speaks at conferences, commencements, fundraisers and other major events. Strobel has been a featured guest on national networks including ABC, Fox, Discovery, PBS, and CNN.

Strobel is currently a teaching pastor at Woodlands Church in The Woodlands, Texas, where he speaks multiple times each year. He recently joined the faculty at Houston Baptist University as a professor of Christian thought. 

Tickets for the general public will go on sale April 5, but you can take advantage of a special pre-sale ticket opportunity today by visiting kidsbeachclub.org/benefit-dinner.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for special ticket offers for our Benefit Dinner.

On a Thursday in late January, volunteers from Shady Oaks Baptist Church were ready for another great day of KiDs Beach Club® at Shady Oaks Elementary School. 

But, as soon as the kids came in, the day felt off. All the children were rowdier than normal. For the majority of their time in Beach Club that day, the volunteers felt as if they were constantly reminding children how to behave appropriately.

Throughout snack time, worship, Surf Team and Memory Link time, several of the children would not settle down to focus on what was happening in Beach Club. When it came time to share the Bible story, Beach Club leader Christy Fritts was already disheartened. As the story began, most of the children were finally able to settle down and listen. However, a group of older children were still completely disengaged. They continued on, giggling and whispering to one another, more interested in telling jokes than what was being presented to them in the lesson.

Fritts then decided she was going to do a shorter presentation of the gospel. She was concerned the continued misbehavior of the older children and overall abnormal day of Beach Club would “muddy” the presentation of the gospel.

“Each week we aim to present the gospel clearly,” Fritts explained. “Some weeks we share the gospel, and then simply let the children know if they have questions they can seek us out. Other weeks, we go into greater detail and offer a longer time of questioning and a prayer time. What we do each week really depends on what we feel the Spirit leading us to do.”

That day in Beach Club, however, as soon as Fritts got to the part of the lesson that shared the gospel, she felt a nudge from God that instead of cutting it short, she should go ahead and take her time presenting the gospel and allow for questions and discussion.

Fritts listened to that nudge and moments later, children’s hands began flying into the air. The children had so many questions, and many of them came from the group of older children Fritts was convinced had not been listening. Some of the questions included: Is sin the reason people die? If you are saved, but sin again, what happens then? Why would Jesus do that for me? The volunteers were amazed at the depth of questions these third through sixth grade children were asking. 

The discussion went on for so long they completely missed game time. But no one seemed to be bothered. The rowdy children that entered club that day became quiet, engaged and captivated by the conversation they were having together.

As the discussion began winding down, Fritts felt led to reemphasize the gospel. During prayer time, the children were given the opportunity to respond and accept Jesus as their Savior making Him their Forever Friend. Four children, three in sixth grade and one in fifth grade, made Jesus their Forever Friend that day!

“I was reminded of something,” Fritts said. “When God is moving, so is Satan. That club started out so rough. The children seemed to be completely distracted. If I had gone with my frustrated and tired feelings and not taken the extra time on the gospel, then this wouldn’t have happened. It is a great reminder that God is always in charge and the Gospel is always worth the time.”

Interested in finding out how we present the gospel in Beach Club, click here to watch a video.

KiDs Beach Club® made changes to its curriculum this year to ensure the gospel message of Jesus is fully integrated into every part of Beach Club. The curriculum was redesigned to reflect the passion KiDs Beach Club® has to see children respond to the gospel.

With Beach Clubs facing more turnover from year to year with families moving and kids changing schools, aging out of club and schedules changing, the ministry decided it needed to be more intentional in sharing the gospel in every aspect of Beach Club. The window to reach a child is much smaller than the four years from third through sixth grades the ministry serves.

The ministry is still telling Bible stories, but now is even more focused on how these stories connect to the gospel and how children can start and develop a relationship with Jesus Christ.

KiDs Beach Club® asks children to remember A-B-C in helping them get to know God: ADMIT you’re a sinner; BELIEVE that Jesus is the son of God and He died for your sin; and, CHOOSE to follow Him.

At Northrich Elementary in Richardson, Texas, Beach Club volunteers from First Baptist Church Richardson are using the new curriculum that is focused on sharing the gospel using the A-B-C method. Last year, they had the kids memorize the steps and everyone could repeat them back effortlessly.

“We had three professions of faith and felt great about it,” said Kathy Porter, the club’s leader.

“While we use the terminology A-B-C, we try to share the gospel in a lot of different ways with a lot of different illustrations because you never know what it might be that helps a child understand,” Cindy Leach, executive director for KiDs Beach Club®, said of this increased focus.

“We start with our Bible content and then pick which character word goes with the story,” Leach continued. “Then we study how that story and character word tie to the gospel. Lastly, we pick which Bible verse will be the memory link. We want the verses to tie to the story and character word, but also stand alone so if kids only remember one thing it’s the Bible verse.” 

This year at Northrich, volunteers have embraced the enhanced curriculum. Instead of simply clinging to the A-B-C method to be the focus of sharing the gospel, they use the Bible story for that week to lead to specific gospel focus for that week. 

For example, when the Bible story was about Elijah (sample curriculum), the character word was “helpfulness.” After the story of Elijah they shared that the biggest way God helped people was by sending His son, Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins. Once you invite Jesus to become your Forever Friend, He gives you the Holy Spirit. God has a wonderful plan for your life and will guide you to follow this plan and also help others.

Each week, the character word changes and volunteers are able to share the gospel in a different way, which gives an opportunity for more children to understand.

“We’ve already seen a marked increase in professions of faith based on what our clubs have recorded so far this year,” Leach said. “While we know numbers aren’t the only indicator of spiritual effectiveness, it helps us know we are on the right track. Each time a child hears the gospel, seeds are planted. We trust the Holy Spirit to work in each child’s heart to make those seeds grow.”

This year at Northrich, volunteers have already seen 11 children make Jesus their Forever Friend!

“We are amazed at how God is moving within our club,” Porter said. “We love the new gospel-focused curriculum. There is a great harvest of new Christ followers at Northrich Elementary. God is on the move.”