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How does one of the smallest churches in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex sponsor one of the largest Beach Clubs in the nation? It is all about the volunteers.

This spring, Hickory Tree Baptist Church started a Beach Club at Floyd Elementary in Balch Springs, near Mesquite. The church averages around 100 people every Sunday and had a real concern about how it was going to staff the club.

“I was really worried about our volunteer base initially because over half of our church is senior adults and the younger families all work,” said Jason Points, the children’s pastor at Hickory Tree. 

“We put out a signup sheet,” said Alex Gonzales, the church pastor, who admitted they expected to have only a few people sign up. “With the exception of one volunteer, all are senior adults and they just flocked to the signup sheet.”

The also had incredible support at Floyd Elementary. 

“With the support of the principal, we put our heads together and she basically blessed the teachers and the staff to help with KiDs Beach Club®,” Points said. “From there it all took off.

“The next thing we know, we have over 20 volunteers and 120-something kids on the roles.” 

“That told us it was a God thing,” he continued. “It told us that what we were doing was something that God had ordained and that God had set in place. It’s pretty exciting to be a part of this, especially for such a small church.”

One of the volunteers from his church, Georgia Dowdey, who raised five children of her own at Hickory Tree, is appreciative of the opportunity to share Jesus with public school children. 

“It is awesome to be able to work with these kids with Beach Club,” she said. “It’s something that great to know that we can bring this in our schools again.

“It’s beautiful to see these children soaking up the information and the fact there are so many of them who are unchurched. It’s just amazing that we can do this and let them know that Jesus loves them, that God loves them and their family, and we can plant a seed here and then let God make it grow.”

Another church volunteer, Sue Murphy, a member at Hickory Tree for 44 years, said, “To think that you have an opportunity to help children, guide their thinking and maybe seek the Lord. That is our real goal, to help the children and find Jesus.

“That puts a big responsibility on us because we need to do our part about being a role model, being an example,” she continued. “It is worth it – spending time with little children. Our time to do that with children is very limited and very short. They grow up so fast.”

The principal and some of the staff at Floyd previously taught at schools with Beach Clubs and were thrilled it was coming to their school.

“I worked with Beach Club before and I saw all that went into it: the games, the music, the snacks, the attendance, even things like keeping track of the points,” said Lauren Reed, a teacher at Floyd who had been praying for three years for a Beach Club to come to her school. “It takes people that are willing to help and its amazing to me that volunteers want to help out with that and I’m so thankful we have this kind of a turnout at Floyd.” 

A few of her fellow teachers and other staff at the school also serve in the club.

“I allow any of my staff that participate to wear their KiDs Beach Club® shirt every Wednesday with khakis,” said Dr. Tonya Mamantov, the principal at the school. “Because this activity happens during their contract time, they take a break from their contract time and go do Beach Club and then they come back and finish their contract time. This is on their personal time. They choose to do this.”

The church volunteers enjoy serving alongside the teachers and staff at Floyd.

“I am so grateful to our precious principal, Dr. Mamantov, and these precious people, these teachers, who are Christian teachers allowing us to team with them to help the little children,” Murphy said. “To even have a few of the children find the Lord; every minute that you give is worth it. It is such a privilege.

“The children need to understand the importance of getting Jesus in their hearts young and early and having a whole life to serve the Lord.”

The community has truly come together to make an impact on the students at Floyd and their families and to help lead them to Christ.

“I’m making a difference,” Reed said. “These kids are learning the truth. They need to know the truth and they’re getting that now. I love Beach Club because it changes kids’ lives. Some of these kids have never heard the name of Jesus. Some of these kids have never heard what a Bible is. They haven’t been to church. It is so important to come to Beach Club to learn about those things and get exposed to it and to see their teachers and other people that are helping to influence their lives in a positive way.”

God gives us thousands of promises in His Word and Psalm 89:34 gives us assurance that he will never break one of them, “My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.”

There have been countless times during a decade of ministry at KiDs Beach Club® that the Lord has fulfilled promise after promise and we share Paul’s testimony in Hebrews 10:23 which says, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”

We will celebrate God’s faithfulness to KiDs Beach Club® April 16 at the Bibles For Beach Club Benefit Dinner & Auction when we will also celebrate our 10th year of ministry. Please make plans to be with us at the Hurst Conference Center for an evening of praise and worship with David Gentiles, a compelling message from WBAP Radio’s Chris Krok and inspiring testimonials of how Jesus is working in powerful ways reaching children inside elementary schools across America through KiDs Beach Club®. 

Watch the video below to get a sneak peek at one of those stories from Floyd Elementary in Balch Springs, Texas.

Preview of Bibles for Beach Club from KiDs Beach Club on Vimeo.

God blessed KiDs Beach Club® at the 2014 Bibles For Beach Club Benefit Dinner & Auction by providing the funds to purchase 20,000 Bibles to give to every child in every Beach Club. After handing out 17,777 Bibles during each club’s Great Treasure Day during the past 17 months our supply is running low. We will be raising the funds for another shipment of 20,000 Bibles during our 10th Anniversary Bibles For Beach Club Benefit Dinner & Auction on April 16.  Please prayerfully consider one of three areas to help us continue giving God’s word to every child in every Beach Club.

1. Attend our Benefit Dinner & Auction on April 16, Buy Tickets
   
   
2. Bid online for items in our Silent Auction starting April 13, Get Bidder Number
   
   
3. Purchase Bibles through our KBC website, Donate Bibles

The Beach Clubs at Highlands and Victoria Walker elementary schools, sponsored by First Baptist Highlands on the east side of Houston, Texas, are funded exclusively from volunteers who participate in a volunteer grant program at ExxonMobil. Individual volunteers, who are also ExxonMobil employees or retirees, and can log at least 20 hours are eligible for a $500 grant up to four times each year. The company also has a group program for five or more employees. 

Several companies offer similar programs for non-profit organizations. In addition to ExxonMobil, KiDs Beach Club® has been the recipient of volunteer grants from Celanese, Texas Instruments among others. Please note the rules may vary by company. Volunteers are encouraged to check with their employer or former employer, if retired, to see if it has a volunteer grant program that could benefit KiDs Beach Club®.

We make a huge deal about Great Treasure Day at KiDs Beach Club® and rightfully so. It’s the day that every child in every Beach Club receives his or her own KBC Explorer’s Study Bible.

You’ve read the stories and watched the videos recounting the Great Treasure Day celebrations, but what happens after the Bibles are stuffed into a child’s backpack and head out the door and into a home? Do they take up permanent residence in the backpack to be read regularly or do they only make it back into the backpack on the day of Beach Club.

“I’ve seen a tremendous impact through these Bibles,” said Robert Schulze, the children’s pastor at North Pointe Baptist Church in North Richland Hills, Texas. “Sometimes when we give a Bible, a kid will take it home and we’re not always sure what they’re doing with them.”

After Great Treasure Day last month at Mohawk Elementary in Richardson, Texas, a mom sent a text to her son’s Surf Team leader thanking her for the impact she is making through KiDs Beach Club®.

“Hey, I just wanted to let you know that Anderson has been loving his new Bible,” she wrote. “He has several Bibles floating around our house, but not one of which has grabbed his attention like this one has. He has spent hours reading through it and highlighting any passage that grabs his attention. He has actually found some really neat scriptures that are new to me. Thanks so much for the part you have been playing in Beach Club with him.”  

Many of the volunteers at Mohawk have been able to recount similar stories about Great Treasure Day.

“My kiddos both had their Bibles out this morning and were eager to highlight anything and everything,” said Ashley Gillard, a Surf Team Leader who works with third-grade girls and whose two children attend the Beach Club.

The Bibles come out of the backpacks during school hours, too.

“I have had a conversation with one teacher in particular,” said Laurie Newby, the children’s minister at Trinity Bible Church that sponsors the Beach Club at Mohawk. “She said, ‘I just want you to know it is so great to see these kids take their Bibles out and spend their time reading them; and then hear them discussing what they are reading.’”

Since this was the second Great Treasure Day at Mohawk, some of the kids already had received a KBC Bible.

“I had an amazing day with my fourth-grade girls,” said Pam Deahl, a Surf Team leader at Mohawk. “While the majority of them already had a KBC Bible, it was a sweet time sharing what the Bible has meant to them and an opportunity for me to ask them to share verses that are special to them and to ask who had originally shared those verses with them. It was incredible and gave me a lot of insight into their hearts and where they are in their spiritual journeys.” 

For most kids who attend Beach Club, the KBC Bible jumpstarts their journey with God.

“It’s really cool to see how excited they are about those Bibles,” Newby said. “For me, the coolest thing is that they understand what a treasure God’s Word really is.”

The Bibles are making an impact beyond weekly Beach Club meetings.

“It has had a tremendous impact getting these Bibles into the home,” Schulze said. “We use them at Beach Club so the kids are using the Bibles and learning how to use them and by virtue of that they’re going home and they’re using them.”

March 1 is Super Tuesday, the biggest single day for presidential candidates to receive votes and delegates before the party conventions this summer. People in 12 states and one U.S. territory are involved in this important day which many pundits believe will point to the eventual presidential nominee in both parties. Primaries will continue from now until the end of June. It is a great God-given privilege and blessing to have the right to vote in our free country. We at KiDs Beach Club® encourage you to make your vote count in both the primaries and general election this year!