Our Beginning
In Matthew 28, Christ is compelling His disciples to go and make disciples. At every opportunity, He ripples the water producing a wave to guide His followers back on course. Each wave is designed to generate amazing and wonderful change. With a simple stroke of His hand, a new wave occurs. If a person is ready, one of Father’s waves can create great momentum, compelling ministry to new heights. However, if a person is not ready for change, a wave from Father may be overlooked and simply roll by unnoticed.
On such occasions, when a person sees a wave, hears the rumble and then chooses to ignore the wave in order to avoid making any ministry or life changes. Father may be compelled to produce a second much stronger wave. A wave that would most assuredly get His disciple’s attention. One so strong that it would knock its intended target to their knees. In the summer of 2005, Jack Terrell found himself on his knees before Father, knocked down by a Tsunami.
Terrell’s wave began in 2002, while serving as minister of children at First Baptist Church in Euless, Texas. His wave came in the form of a challenge from Dr. Claude Thomas, the church’s senior pastor. The challenge was to generate a plan that would allow the children’s ministry at First Euless to take the good news of Christ outside the walls of the church in an effort to reach children in the third through sixth grades. The idea was to go where preteen children spend their day. The plan would allow them to discover Jesus, come to a saving knowledge of Jesus and then connect them back to the church for discipleship. Since most of a preteen student’s day is behind the walls of a school, taking the gospel message to them meant taking it to their public school.
The wave gained strength after learning about a 2001 Supreme Court ruling granting faith-based Bible clubs equal access. The Supreme Court ruled (6-3) in Good News Club v. Milford Central School (No. 99-2036) that a school policy of denying access to school grounds for a weekly after-school meeting of elementary age students by the Good News Club, a Christian organization, violated the free speech rights of the club. This ruling opened the door for non-denominational Bible clubs to begin meeting in public schools across the United States.
It is important that the church take advantage of this wave. Father’s waves are meant to challenge His church to see through His eyes. Why? It’s simple, Father desires to properly position His church to maximize the momentum of time of each wave He creates in order to fulfill Matthew 28.
In the spring of 2003, Terrell led a group of nine volunteers to start the first Beach Club under the Good News Club banner. Michelle Gregory was the first club leader at Bellaire Elementary in Hurst, Texas. The Beach Club at Bellaire began with just 20 children. Later that year, the Bellaire Beach Club was not the only club in the Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District.
In the fall of 2003, five Beach Clubs began. First Euless was doing three Beach Clubs with Trinity Baptist Church doing one club and Woodland Heights Baptist Church doing another club. These five Beach Clubs began with a combined enrollment of 304 children. Those five Beach Clubs saw 91 children come to faith in Christ. Clearly, the wave was in motion.
In the summer of 2005, while attending First Euless’ Flight 360 Student Camp, Terrell encountered Father’s Tsunami wave head on. It was during the Wednesday evening of camp. Matt Setliffe was preaching from Romans 11, explaining how each one of the Saints knew their role and were willing to run their leg of the race as if it were a relay race with each Saint passing their baton to the next generation and so on.
It was at that moment when Father asked Terrell, “What is your baton?” Do you know what you are to carry for the cause of the gospel? Terrell responded, “The children’s ministry at First Euless.” The Lord was silent. Terrell then responded, “Beach Club?” The Lord quickly responded affirming this in Terrell’s heart saying, “This is what I have equipped you for. It is your purpose.”
Terrell said, “You want me to leave my church and go do Beach Clubs?” He told the Lord no and asked the Lord to please pick someone else. That is when Father rolled out His Tsunami and said, “Trust Me!” At that moment, Terrell got out of his seat and got on the floor, face down before the Lord. Terrell fully surrendered, and said, “Father please forgive my unbelief.”
“While still on my knees, He showed me the role I was to play in taking Beach Clubs across the United States,” Terrell said. Beach Clubs were to take the good news of Christ to every third through sixth grade boy and girl in order to create change in the culture of their public school.
Later, on January 5, 2006, KiDs Beach Club® launched as a 501(c)(3) non-profit non-denominational ministry with a mission to mobilize the church to reach preteen children and to allow them to experience Jesus within the safety of their public school.
What started as a simple challenge gave birth to a fresh new wave. A wave of after-school ministry which today mobilizes churches of all denominations to boldly go outside their walls reaching into the heart of their community. This Tsunami is called KiDs Beach Club®.
