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Great Treasure Day is a day of celebration at every KiDs Beach Club®. It is the day everyone who is new to Beach Club receives their very own KBC Explorer’s Study Bible. Some clubs have a handful of new clubbers receiving Bibles on Great Treasure Day and others may have around 30.

Floyd Elementary in Mesquite (Texas) Independent School District, which started a Beach Club last Spring and handed out about 150 Bibles last year, had more than 200 children receive Bibles when it celebrated Great Treasure Day October 26.

The club, one of two sponsored by Hickory Tree Baptist Church in Balch Springs, Texas, normally splits into two groups with half of the Surf Teams meeting in the cafeteria and the other half meeting in the gym. On Great Treasure Day everyone met in the cafeteria so they could all celebrate together.

With so many children receiving a Bible during one club meeting, there was not time for much else after the Bibles were given out. One might be discouraged that the children missed out on everything else that goes on during a Beach Club meeting or that the kids didn’t really get to dig into their Bibles as a group since volunteers spent the entire Beach Club passing out Bibles.

However, a few days after Great Treasure Day, the school’s physical education coach, Rachel Thompson, who is also a Beach Club volunteer, received this letter from a sixth-grade boy: 

“Kids Beach Club for me is such a good club. The first day that I (joined) the beach club I was all happy to see all the little kids learning new stuff about God and the bible. Treasure Day was a great day. I never though(t) Treasure Day it was going to be like that. I love my group and looking (at) all my friends talking about God is so adorable. Thank you coach Thompson for all the hard work that (you) have done for all Floyd campus and I appreciate your love to each of us and people thank you, thank you Coach Thompson!

The Lord is always with you!

Sincerely,
Aaron Mendez

Every one is thrilled to learn about God at the Kids Beach Club!”
 

Receiving a note like this is encouraging to the volunteers in the club, which include several teachers.

“Coach Thompson is an important part of our staff,” Dr. Tonya Mamantov, the principal at Floyd Elementary, said. “She brings an unwavering positivity that is contagious throughout our building.”

The way coach Thompson loves on her students by teaching them about health and fitness in the classroom and teaching them about Jesus in Beach Club is making a difference beyond Bible stories alone.

“We are fortunate to have such an amazing role model for the students here at Floyd,” Mamantov added.

Jack Terrell, the founder and president of KiDs Beach Club®, was surprised a child would take the time to write something like this. When the letter was forward to his attention, he thought it was should be encouraging not only for the volunteers at Floyd Elementary, but also for all Beach Club volunteers.

“Children becoming excited about reading the Bible and then thrilled to see their friends getting into the word. Yes, that is what it’s all about!” 

If you have a great story like this at your Beach Club, we encourage you to share it with us by emailing it to news@beachclubs.org.

When will you start your Christmas shopping? Perhaps you already have. Maybe you’re already done. If you haven’t finished yet, let us introduce you to AmazonSmile. When you select KiDs Beach Club® with your Amazon account, a small percentage of your eligible purchase is donated directly to our non-profit ministry at no additional cost to you.

AmazonSmile is a website operated by Amazon that lets customers enjoy the same wide selection of products, low prices, and convenient shopping features as on Amazon.com. The difference is that when customers shop on AmazonSmile (smile.amazon.com), the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5 percent of the price of your purchases to the charitable organizations selected by customers.

It’s quick and super easy.

1. Go to amazon.com, the fundraising arm of Amazon.com.
2. Login with your Amazon account.
3. Select KiDs Beach Club as your charity.
4. Start shopping.
5. Bookmark the page to make it easier the next time you shop.
   
   

As someone who has a relationship with KIDs Beach Club® already, we hope you’ll choose to support us when you shop online, not only this Christmas season, but also year round. With key shopping dates – Black Friday and Cyber Monday – around the corner, we encourage you to sign up now.

And the best part, there is no additional money coming out of your pocket.

It was a normal Wednesday afternoon at Bukhair Elementary, where volunteers from The Heights Baptist Church in Richardson, Texas arrived the usual 45 minutes early to set up for KiDs Beach Club®. 

To the volunteers’ surprise, their normal meeting place had been double booked and they agreed to instead meet in the gym. However, the gym had classes meeting right until 3 p.m., only five minutes before Beach Club was set to begin. This left little set-up time. Once in the club’s temporary meeting space, volunteers discovered technical problems with their computer, which was loaded with the worship music, lyrics and the PowerPoint presentation containing visual aides for the story.

Nancy Joyner, co-leader of the club with her husband Keith, said, "This is happening because of the lesson today."

The lesson that day was the story of Nicodemus approaching Jesus at night to ask Him some questions. Found in John 3:3, Jesus tells Nicodemus, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Jesus goes on to explain that being born again is believing in Him. In John 3:16, which was also the memory link, Jesus says, “For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

At the end of the lesson five children raised their hands to talk to a leader. One of those girls was a smiling, brown-eyed, third-grade girl who wanted to make Jesus her Forever Friend. Her name – Forever.

On that day of club where it seemed nothing was going right, the Lord moved. The complications of the day could not overpower the love of Christ reaching the hearts of these kids. The perseverance of the volunteers to share the gospel led to little Forever making the decision to make Jesus her Forever Friend. 

As we approach Thanksgiving, KiDs Beach Club® is thankful for the 375 Beach Club children like Forever, who have made the personal decision this fall to follow Jesus Christ. 

Tell us what you are thankful by leaving a comment below or sharing with us on social media.

If you know KiDs Beach Club®, by now you know Great Treasure Day is the day children are given a Bible of their very own. For most, the KBC Explorer’s Study Bible is their very first Bible. For some, it might even be the first Bible in their home. Sixty-two percent of children who enroll in Beach Club do not claim to have a church home. 

For many of these children, this is the first Bible they have interacted with on their own, so they don’t know how the Bible is structured. They don’t know how to find a book in the Bible or find a Bible verse.

Do you remember a time when you didn’t know what a Bible verse was? Do you recall the slight confusion to be told there are 66 books inside the Bible, which is a book itself? How about the amazement to turn all the way to page 1,291 right after it was just given to you to learn about the armor of God in Ephesians 6? For kids in Beach Club, this time is now.

KiDs Beach Club® not only wants to give every child their own Bible, but its also our responsibility to teach every child how to use their Bible.

In Beach Club at Spring Garden Elementary in Bedford, Texas, which is sponsored by Woodland Heights Baptist Church, volunteers are teaching kids how to use the Bible throughout an entire club. Woodland Heights provides their volunteers with a KBC Bible to use during club. They think it’s important they use the same Bible as the kids they’re teaching. While in Surf Teams, there is a “Focus on the Bible” time to help instruct the kids where that day’s Bible verses are found.

The kids begin Beach Club by looking up and marking the verses they will be reading that day for the story as well as the memory verse. The older kids are eager to help the younger ones as they learn to find the verses for themselves. During the story the children are called on to read and use their Bibles while they listen.

The Beach Club at Mary Moore Elementary in Arlington, Texas, reviews the books of the Bible each week before the club’s Bible connection leader shares the story.

“I love that this club is not only interested in teaching the lesson, but is also interested in teaching these children how to use a bible,” said Megan Brunner, an area director for KBC, who recently attended the club.

The volunteers at Spring Garden also go over the special “tip-in” pages that are specially made for the KBC Bible that discuss topics like salvation and spending time with God. The very first tip-in page of the KBC Explorer’s Study Bible shows “How to Use This Bible,” specifically pointing out where page numbers are located and how each book, verse and chapter are identified in the Bible.

To encourage spending time reading their Bible outside of club, kids are given a “Hang 10” page each week. These pages have different challenges on them to get the kids praying and reading their Bibles five times throughout the week. The goal is to encourage children to spend 10 minutes each day reading the Bible or in prayer. Club leaders at Spring Garden celebrate children who return their Hang 10 pages the next week with a parent signature.

“It is an immense privilege to stand in an elementary school and give a Bible and show the kids how to use their Bible, to teach from the Bible, and then encourage the kids to read it at home,” club leader Stephanie Thames said. “The kids are ecstatic to receive a Bible of their own.”

Your monthly support for Bibles for Beach Club does not just put a Bible in the hand of a child for one special day. It helps KiDs Beach Club® equip and train volunteers to teach kids how to read the Bible and how to make it a part of their lives forever.

Prayer is powerful. Prayer is effective. Just like it is written in James 5:16,“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”

Don Bearden is the pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Pass Christian, Miss., and his church sponsors a Beach Club at Pass Christian Elementary. 

Last spring, the school system got a new superintendent. Bearden knew the status of his Beach Club would have to be decided by the system’s new leadership and the odds of continuing the Beach Club looked slim. Bearden began trying to contact the new superintendent to see if she would allow the Beach Club to continue in the school but wasn’t getting through.

Just weeks before school started, Bearden felt specifically led by the Lord to do something. He called her office early one morning, and to his surprise, was connected with her right away over the phone. She immediately told him she had not yet made a decision about Beach Club to which Bearden responded that he wasn’t calling to talk to her about Beach Club.

“Have you ever felt led to do something?” She answered, “Well sure.” He continued, “Well this morning God laid on my heart to pray for you.” Without waiting for a response he prayed for her right over the phone. After the prayer, he and the then emotion-filled superintendent said their good-byes. 

Later that morning, Don Bearden received a call from the superintendent. She said, “The Lord spoke to me. He made me realize the reason I’m so jammed up in my job is because I forgot the One who has all the power. Your Beach Club is approved and anything else you guys ever want is approved.”

Later that afternoon, Bearden received another call from the superintendent who asked him to serve as chaplain for the entire school system. The school system had never had a chaplain before. She explained that after some prayer she came to the conclusion that the children have counselors and emotional support, but no one is there for the teachers and faculty.

He accepted the position with the overwhelming thought of “how big is God?” 

That same day at about 4 p.m., Bearden’s phone rang yet again. This time, the call was from a teacher. The teacher explained that she had been going to church and she realized from the pastor’s sermons that she was a lost person.

“Well pastor, what do I do now?” she asked. Bearden went through the plan of salvation and even the ABC cards from Beach Club: ADMIT you’re a sinner; BELIEVE that Jesus is the Son of God and He died for your sin; CHOOSE to follow Him. 

She accepted Christ on the phone that day and requested that Bearden talk to her husband about salvation, too. The next morning she called back to tell him she had never had a more peaceful sleep and that she couldn’t stop smiling. 

All that happened in just one day! Bearden was able to impact a superintendent and a teacher and made connections for lasting impact in an entire school system through pursuing a KiDs Beach Club®.

In Cornerstone’s Beach Club at Pass Christian Elementary they have seen teachers, interns and cafeteria workers impacted by what they are teaching. KiDs Beach Club® is making an impact on the entire community by making Jesus cool at school.

Serving in a KiDs Beach Club® has provided people of all ages, an opportunity to follow the Lord’s command to carry out the great commission. Many churches have done an excellent job of communicating these volunteer opportunities to their senior adults and to the parents of children in their Beach Clubs.

But with the growing amount of teens being homeschooled these days, The Village Church in Southlake, Texas has reached out to a brother and sister to serve in the Beach Club at Dove Elementary. 15 year-old Halle Wilson and her 14 year-old brother, Landry are assisting with several roles in the Beach Club.

Halle has jumped right in by assisting with a surf team and loves being a role model for the younger girls each week. 

“I wanted to get to know some of the girls and hang out with them,” Halle said. “I just want to be a positive influence and get to share what I believe in, just get to know them, help them find the scriptures in the Bible and just hang out with them.” 

Landry brings his guitar and leads worship each week and is thrilled to be able use his musical talents to fill the public school gymnasium with praises to God.

“I love coming up with songs for each week and play the guitar and the kids get all excited,” Landry said. “By serving in Beach Club, I have the opportunity to point them to Christ. My objective in this is not to make myself look cool or to further my talent, but to show these kids what worship is all about. The fact that worship is an expression of our love for God through song and through singing and using our voices, that’s really what I wanted to show these kids is that we can express our excitement and express our love for God through singing songs and in a fun way.”

Seeing these teens in action, serving the Lord is an inspiration for Dove Elementary Beach Club Leader Sherri Jursnick.

“It just makes me smile and shows that they love the Lord and they want to worship, they want to share,” said Jursnick, whose grandson Aaron is also a homeschooled volunteer assisting in a surf team for third grade boys.

Aaron attended that same Beach Club during his elementary school days and loves giving back.

“I know how much Beach Club has done for me,” Aaron said. “When I was attending club, the volunteers helpers helped me more than I could even imagine so now, I thought that I would be able to come in impact other people’s lives.”

Sherri Jursnick, who previously served as a Club Leader at Donna Park Elementary in Hurst, Texas, asked homeschool kids to help her serve in that club as well.

“The kids just gravitate to them and they just have a different way of getting to the kids and showing them God’s love.”

Sherri encourages club leaders to be proactive in providing these teenagers a chance to serve in Beach Club. 

“Since there are lot of churches that are looking for volunteers and there are a whole bunch of teenagers that could step up to help, they can inquire with the different homeschool organizations which often offer their teens credit for service,” she said.

“This also teaches the older kids that there is service involved with being a Christian and you are never too young to learn to help others.”