September 14, 2010Honduras, Skarley Tatiana, and Karen Doherty: A Great Mission Experienceby EarlI'm excited for you to read and know this story.  It comes from one of our Kidzapalooza pre-school teachers, Karen Doherty, and an awesome missionary experience she was blessed to be a part of because of her willingness to be available and used by God. 

From Karen:

Recently I had the opportunity to go on a mission awareness trip to Honduras and help out. I sponsor a 10 yr old girl, Skarley Tatiana Escobar, through CFCA (Christian Foundation for Children and Aging) I have sponsored her for the last 5 years. This trip changed my life forever. The conditions and poverty in which these children live is horrendous. These families live in a one or two room concrete home with no window or doors. They have no indoor plumbing or electricity. I have seen mothers cook on clay fire pits outside and wash dishes in a concrete basin. The water must be boiled to drink and even then it does not remove all the all the impurities and bacteria that makes them sick. Most of the children suffer from some form of health problem.

For my $30.00 a month I am able to help Skarley and the whole family to be able to have the things they need to survive They are assessed by a social worker every month as to what there needs are. The children receive school supplies once a year and uniforms. The family receives food and housing materials. Here in the US we have government assistance; they do not have this help. There are approximately 4400 children and aging being sponsored through CFCA and there are another 1000 waiting for sponsors. These are a humble and grateful people. They do not wait for handouts. There are very strict rules for sponsorship. The parent or parents must work or do some kind of community work and the children must stay in school, write at least 2 letters a year and 1 yearly photo ( I receive more) or they lose sponsorship. They are a proud people.

CFCA allows these mission trips for sponsors to meet their child/elderly and see where their money is going and to help out if they wish. They make these trips very a affordable.  Sponsors are able to send items such as additional school supplies, books, toys to there sponsor child/elderly. You start to think of the sponsor as part of the family. It broke my heart to leave her behind.

I thank God every day that I had this opportunity and I pray for my sponsor child and her family every night.  If anyone would like information on the foundation or sponsorship please visit the website www.cfcausa.org or www.hopeforafamily.com.  You can also contact myself at ksdoh2004@yahoo.com. I have brochures and pictures of children that need sponsors not only in Honduras but many other countries.

God Bless
Karen Doherty

I was so moved by her story and the vision of this organization that I asked her to write this blog and share any pictures that she could to help us gain awareness of CFCA and get a mental image of the conditions, the children, and the elderly of this area of Honduras.  You'll find her pictures on our Kidzapalooza fan page by going to www.facebook.com and searching "Kidzapalooza."  Karen and her daughter, Kelly, have been a great addition to Watermark and Kidzapalooza.  I love Karen's heart and the sincerity of which she shares about her experience.  I'm excited about what God has in store for Karen as she continues to love on Skarley and her family and make herself available.

Earl

June 22, 2010Home Field Advantage: Faith Begins At Home - The Extended Family Makeover by EarlMark begins chapter 4 with this great truth  -  "One of the greatest resources we have as parents is the wisdom of our parents, extended family and others who have gone through the ups and downs of family life before us."  A great truth that he expands on in the following sections.

Missing Out
Through e-mail, cell phones, and even web cams, grandparents and their families are able to stay more closely connected even though many miles separate them.  If you wanted advice on how to load your iPod or add a memory chip to your computer, I would generally steer you away from the elder generation.  But when it comes to passing on faith to our children, we can learn a lot from our elders.  Mark shares a great story to illustrate this point:

I recieved an interesting phone call.  "Pastor Mark, my name is Eleanor," the voice on the other end of the line said.  "I'm not a member of your congregation, but my duaghter and son-in-law attend your church.  You see, my daughter and son-in-law aren't at church frequently, but because of my insistence they've made sure that my precious grandson attends [Kidzapalooza] there every week."  While Eleanor's call makes for a great story, in all my years of ministry, it's the only phone call like this that I have received from a grandparent.  It seems that I should receive hundreds of phone calls like this!  I strongly encourage grandparents everywhere to meddle in faith life of their children and children's children!

Parents need to seek out the wisdom and direction of their elders.  And elders must not "hide," but instead take a prominent and active role in the lives of their families.

It's Time for a Change
What if we released our elder generation to be continually in prayer for our children and our families?  God loves to answer our prayers - Isaiah 58:9: "Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say:  Here am I."  Or, John 16:23-24:  "In that day you will no longer ask me anything.  I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.  Until now you have not asked for anything in my name.  Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete."

Have you asked God to protect your children and family?  Have you asked your parents and grandparents to pray for you and your children?  Do you give your parents, on some sort of regular basis, your family's prayer requests and needs?  You probably have many other older folks in your church who would gladly fill this role for you if you simply asked them to do so. 

Reconnect and Reengage
Psalm 68:6 says, "God sets the lonely in families."  God never intended for you to go through life alone.

Mark shares some awesome truth and wonderful encouragement.  This is my favorite chapter in the book.  It gives practical, insightful ideas that can be easily incorporated by any family with significant, monumental impact.  Holmen finishes the chapter with several wonderful activities and ideas to begin to take intentional steps to further your family makeover by tapping into the wealth of knowledge and wisdom found only in your parents, grandparents, and extended family.

Click Faith Begins At Home to purchase your own copy.  This is a phenominal resource that I encourage you to take advantage of.  
June 22, 2010Pray Without Ceasing: Teach Your Kid to Make Prayer a Natural and Constant Part of Lifeby EarlBelow is a summary of a great article in Children's Ministry Magazine by Ali Thompson, an editor for Group Magazine.  She reminds us of a very small, but impactful passage of Scripture - 1 Thessalonians 5:17: "Never stop praying."  Her article answers the great question from that verse:  How then can [parents] teach [their] children to pray without ceasing?  I've outlined a brief summary over several days on our Kidzapalooza fan page, but I wanted to make it available through the blog page and web site as well.  Thomspson breaks it down into 7 simple building blocks with some awesome activities you can do together as a family that I've included in my summary.  Here goes...

1.  Prayer is an Attitude
Praying constantly is an attitude.  It's an awareness that God is here.  It's "a constant God-consciousness," says Arlyn Lawerence.   This doesn't mean we're soley focused on God and nothing else through the day, but just like breathing occurs even as we go about our day, we can also sense God's presence with us regardless of our circumstances.

Activity:  Pair up with your child.  Count how many times you each take a breath as you tell each other everything you've eaten so far today.  Then, try the activity again.  This time, don't count your breaths.  Finish by asking:  "How did counting or not counting impact how you breathed?  How is breathing like or unlike God's presence?  How does God's constant presence afftect the way you pray?"

Just like air is always flowing through us, God is always with us.

2.  Prayer is a Routine
Our prayer attitude is shaped by regular times where we "check in" with God (out of ove, not obligation) about our day.  It can begin with simply praying when they get up and then ending their day with bed time prayers.  Use that as a spring board to pray during other times in the day other than meal time.

Activity:  Rewind...Fast Forward - have your child rewind their minds to the start of their day and then act out the things they did before they left the house.  When you say, "Freeze!" they must stop, think about what was on their mind, and pray about it.  Encourage your child to do that regularly through out their day.   

3.  Prayer is a First Response
Prayer should be our first response, not our last resort.  Because God is always with us, God's always listening to our prayers.  "Kids can be trained to make prayer the first thing they do when they need help," says Renee Gray-Wilburn, or "when someone they know needs help."  Read Nehemiah 1:4 and 2:4 for some great examples.

Activity:  Word Association - Start with the word "problem." Take turns saying the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc... words that come to mind.  Then ask:  "What's the first thing you think to do when you have a problem?  Have a decision to make?  When you're happy about something? 

God wants us to turn to Him first for everything!

4.  Prayer Involves the Bible
The Bible and prayer are glued together.  For a parent/child to grow in prayer, the parent/child must also grow in reading.  Reading the Bible gives you and your child a better prayer vocabulary, help in praying for God's will, teach them to pray for things they might not have thought of.  

Activity:  Start with reading these verses: Psalm 138:1a, Psalm 142:5, Psalm 86:1, Psalm 75:1,  and Habakkuk 3:19a.  Your child can simply read the verse or read it and add their own prayer.  If you child is older and a good reader, encourage them to read the Psalms whenever they need help praying.

5.  Prayer is Listening to God
Prayer is also listening to God.  Prayer is a dialogue, not a monologue.  Kids must understand that God is not a vending machine.  We can go to God with anything in our hearts, but prayer is also letting Him speak to us through the everyday parts of life. 

Activity:  One way your child can listen for God's voice is to write their questions or prayer to Him in a prayer journal.  Begin to daily listen for His answers and record them.

A potential question:  "What does God's voice sound like?  Start by sharing with them what God's voice sounds like to you.  Your child needs to know this takes time and isn't magical.

6.  Prayer is for Others
We can pray about anything, and that includes other people.  When your family is driving in your car, pray for people you pass on the road.  You and your child can pray for people you walk past or a family in your neighborhood.  Renee Gray-Wilburn calls them "prayer projects."  When kids see the work of God in the lives of others through their prayers, that is motivation to keep prayin!

Activity:  Draw a target with 6 circles.  Fill in the target with "prayer projects."  The outer - circle = the country.  The next circle = a neighborhood family.  The rest of the circles can be people in your child's life.  In the center, have your child write down something they'd like to pray for themselves.  Pray for the circles for 2 weeks.  As the prayers are answered, erase them and replace them with other countries, people, friends, loved ones, etc...

7.  Prayer is Modeled
"You can't bring [your child] to a place you haven't been yourself." says Arlyn Lawerence.  Lawerence believes the best way to challenge your child to pray more is to challenge yourself to pray more.  When your child sees you pray and the impact it has, then they see prayer being modeled, that God does answer prayer, and they're motivated and challenged to pray.

Activity:  this one is really about you.  if you want to teach your child to never stop praying, you've got to never stop praying.  Use the ideas mentioned above to strengthen your habit of praying.  Ask God to help you keep your eyes on Him at all times, and let your child see the impact God's presence has on your life.

Enjoy!  Get to it!
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