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KiDs Beach Club® is turning 10 years old in the spring and we will have a giant celebration on April 16, 2016 at the Hurst Conference Center in Hurst, Texas.

We will not only celebrate our birthday but we’ll also be celebrating more than 6,400 children who have put their trust in Christ in public elementary schools! By that time we will have also handed out more than 40,000 Bibles in Beach Clubs and will be raising funds to continue to provide God’s Word for every child in every club.

Would you consider volunteering for one of our committees?  We have opportunities to serve with the following committees: Silent Auction, Dine and Dash/Pick and Play, Decoration, Registration, Table Hosts/Ticket Sales, Sponsorship and Entertainment/Publicity.

Please contact Dave Crome at dcrome@beachclubs.org if you would like to be part of this great event.

Hey parents, have you contacted your church yet to encourage them to sign up for KiDs Beach Club® Summer Camp? Our camp will take place July 22-26 at the Latham Springs Camp and Retreat Center in Aquilla, Texas.

Right now, only KBC partnering churches have the opportunity to register groups for Summer Camp. That will change in November when spaces will be opened up to hundreds of additional churches. The camp is for all third through sixth grade children and you don’t have to attend beach club to join your church at camp.

“In my two decades of ministry experience, summer camp impacts kids like nothing else I’ve found,” KBC Executive Director Cindy Leach said. “There’s something about getting away from the daily routine and distractions of life that allow kids' minds and hearts to be open and to experience God in life-changing ways. That’s why I’m so excited about KiDs Beach Club Summer Camp.” 

A team of experienced camp leaders will provide a fun and impactful program that kids will remember for years to come. We’ve got all the details covered so your church volunteers can focus on your kids as they have a blast with traditional camp experiences while learning to share Jesus with their friends and become leaders on their school campus. 

“We’ll present Jesus to kids and prepare them to go back to their schools as leaders, sharing the truth of Jesus with their friends,” Leach said.

Why should your church choose KBC Summer Camp? Camp provides a unique opportunity for kids to get away from day-to-day distractions so they can hear the voice of God. Our prayer is that every child at KBC Summer Camp will experience God’s presence is a unique way and leave equipped to lead others to follow Christ.

Your church won’t want to miss this preteen camp experience with a KiDs Beach Club flavor. Contact your church and let them know you’re interested so it can reserve a space right now.

For more information vist: kidsbeachclub.org/summercamp

Great Treasure Day – the day we hand out a KiDs Beach Club® Explorer’s Study Bible to every child in every Beach Club who has not yet received one – is just around the corner.

God’s Word is the greatest treasure on earth and it is the centerpiece of KiDs Beach Club® We want every child to have their very own copy 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.

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®. You can share them on social media - @KiDsBeachClub on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram – by using the hash tag #kidsbeachclub or #greattreasureday. Also, you can email them to us at photos@beachclubs.org. Remember, when taking video with your smart phone, please turn it on its side so that the long edge of the device is parallel to the floor.

Chris Burton, the children’s minister at First Euless, is a volunteer at KiDs Beach Club at North Euless Elementary School. He initially provided this powerful testimony at the KBC Basic Training event at Christ Church in Irving in August and shared it again with us. We offer it as encouragement so you realize how much KBC is making a difference in the lives of the children who attend Beach Club.

“We were there at North Euless one day and the kids really weren’t listening. We were trying to get their attention. To say that we weren’t frustrated would be a lie because we were a little frustrated.

I asked the kids, ‘Guys, why are you here?’

When I asked that question, one little girl stood up in the midst of all the kids and she said, ‘Mr. Chris, I would love to tell you why I’m here.’

She began to tell me her story about how she lives with her mom – it’s just her and her mom – and how she doesn’t have a dad in the home and her mom works two jobs and works basically seven days a week and that includes Sundays. So they can’t ever make it to church. She told me, she looked at me and said, ‘Mr. Chris, this is my only time to hear about Jesus.’

When she said that to us, God just did something inside of us. It changed our whole Beach Club for that year. It changed what we were doing with the kids. It changed the leaders perspective in the way that they were excited about Beach Club. God just did a work in our club that year through what that little girl said.”

First Euless ministers to hundreds of these children each week through eight different Beach Clubs. 

“The reason why it is so important for us to have eight (Beach) Clubs,” Burton continued. “The thing about our church that we are definitely Kingdom minded. We understand and try really hard to get our kids – that we are a part of in Beach Club in the different schools – to our church. We know a lot of those kids may never make it.

Why it is important for a church to be Kingdom-minded is realizing that even though you’re reaching these kids and that even though some of these kids may not ever come to your church. It doesn’t change the fact that us not sitting where we are in our church waiting for people to come to us. Us not sitting and doing that is so important because it is so important for us to go to where they are. Because there are so many kids out there that aren’t able to come to church and that is outside of their control.

But as a church, we shouldn’t be waiting for kids to come to us. We should be going to them and taking Jesus to them. Where is the best place to do that, especially when you’re talking about kids? That is in the school system. God has opened the door through KiDs Beach Club® for us to be able to do that and all we have to do is step into it. That’s one thing I love about Beach Club. It gives us the opportunity to do that. We teach kids the Bible. There is probably no other way we would be able to do that if it weren’t for KiDs Beach Club®.”

Near the middle of the KiDs Beach Club® Explorer’s Study Bible, is an inset page about “How to Know God.” It’s on glossy paper and is full of color and is designed to be an attention getter for children and their parents when they read the Bible. It reinforces what is already taught in Beach Club.

Last year on Great Treasure Day, a group of Beach Club volunteers passed out their Bibles by surf teams. As soon as each team was presented their Bible they got their picture and went into their small group time. One third-grade boy sat down with his Bible and opened it up to that page and said, “Look, this is what our Bible story teacher has been telling us about – The ABC’s. This is what I want to do!”

So his small group leader went through each letter explaining what each one is making sure he understood.

A – Admit You’re a Sinner
Ask for forgiveness and turn away from sin: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

B – Believe that Jesus is the Son of God and He Died for Your Sin
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

C – Choose to Follow Him
“Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” Luke 9:23

The boy prayed with his leader that day to receive Christ.

About a week later, the club leader called to follow up with the child’s mother. She immediately told a story about how he has brought his Bible to the dinner table every night. He would read through the Gospel with his family and pray before they could start dinner.

The boy’s mother said she thought he had such a mature understanding at such a young age. The mother admitted that she had not really had these kinds of conversations with her kids before. She also has two older girls, including one in college, and they had not really had spiritual conversations as a family. That changed because of her young son. Praise God!

Your support of our Bibles for Beach Club program helped put a Bible in this child’s hands and that helped connect him to Christ. It also opened a dialogue in his family so that they, too, might come to know the Lord.

KiDs Beach Club® has ramped up its efforts on social media. We’re not just on Facebook. We’re also on Twitter and Instagram as well as Vimeo, YouTube and LinkedIn and provide unique content to each platform. You can find us at @KiDsBeachClub throughout most social media and we encourage you to engage with us there. Invite your friends to follow us, too.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/KiDsBeachClub

Twitter: www.twitter.com/KiDsBeachClub

Instagram: www.instagram.com/KiDsBeachClub

YouTube: www.youtube.com/KiDsBeachClub

Vimeo: www.vimeo.com/KiDsBeachClub

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/kids-beach-club