Not only young people learn from Kids in Action

 After a series of staffing changes at Urbandale UCC, summer 2009 was lacking in children's programming at my church.  Being the mother of a 5 year-old and a 9 year-old, I knew that the church needed something for the children.  Or at the very least, my children needed something from the church!  And a summer off was not the answer.  I brainstormed with a few other parents to find out their level of interest in having a children's summer program--and Kids in Action was born.

With just a few short weeks until summer break began, I lined up leaders for a number of educational and hands-on opportunities for the children and youth of our church.  I structured the program to have educational activities, craft projects and service project preparation during our traditional Sunday School time, then planned a number of hands-on activities that we participated in over the summer.

We launched a t-shirt logo contest for the kids with a gift certificate given to the winning artist.  We received a large number of entries, and TWO designs stood out.  Both winners were incorporated into the front and back of the T-shirt.  We wanted people to notice us in the community, so they were bright tie-dyed shirts.  T-shirt sales also paid for the incidental costs of the Kids in Action program.

Kids in Action participated in the Urbandale Fourth of July parade (for the first time in many years).  The parade begins at our church, so this was an easy way to show our church spirit.  We also had a hospitality stand offering beverages and muffins for those in and attending the parade.  If this 4th of July had had normal hot weather, the hospitality stand would have been much more successful.  Cold and rain don't sell much water or pop!

We had "camp experts" visit us during our educational time to share what camp is all about and encourage more children to attend camp at Pilgrim Heights Camp and Retreat Center.  The kids created postcards and camper packets to give to all 14 of our campers.  We asked the campers to mail back the postcards to the church with their favorite camp experience.  The postcards were a nice way to thank the generous church members who paid for half of the camp cost.

Kids in Action also made meals for the church members participating in two Habitat for Humanity volunteer days.  The educational session that went with this activity helped the kids understand why people might need our help building their house, and why as a faith community we are helping build the house.  The kids enjoyed making cookies to send to the build site as well as assembling the sack lunches.  A couple of the children also helped hand out the lunches at the build site, and saw what it was all about.

As a way to create intergenerational relationships in the congregation, we created a couple of craft projects to deliver to seniors in the congregation.  We launched a "Get to Know Each Other" afternoon.  Kids read to a senior, had a snack, and visited.  We also met to play games.  Now the kids recognize long-time members of the congregation, and seniors know who the kids are.  I've been asked if we can continue the game time!

Our outreach activity included raising funds and packaging meals for Meals from the Heartland.  We are going to make this an annual event.  We are also going to package meals for Haiti this month.

Finally we conducted a School Supply and Clothing Drive for back-to-school time.  We filled 18 backpacks with school supplies for the Urbandale School District and donated a large amount of clothes for the annual Karen Acres ELL (English Language Learners) Clothing Giveaway.

Adults were excited to see the children of the congregation learning and participating in service projects in the Des Moines area.  Almost every week I heard "thanks" from those not immediately involved in the program.  I appreciated the volunteers who helped lead education programs, helped at the service projects, and donated funds to cover the cost of Kids in Action.

The goal of Kids in Action was to involve all the children and youth of UUCC in a summer education and hands-on service program; and although it was difficult to expect a steady crowd in the summer, our attendance ranged from 3 to 12 kids.

This first attempt at Kids in Action was a huge time commitment.  Now that a model has been created, it would be easy to make this an annual summer program.  Members were excited after the events, which will make recruiting leaders for the activities easier next time!

Kids in Action kept our children engaged the entire summer learning about ways they could make a difference in their own world.  It was a huge growth experience for me as well.  I don't enjoy public speaking, but 12 weeks of making announcements in front of a congregation can change that!  If I wasn't up front making an announcement, the congregation was looking for me, wondering what I would have the kids up to next.

Our liturgist wraps up the offering in worship each week at Urbandale UCC by saying, "God is good . . . all the time.  And all the time . . . God is good!"  I must say that God was good to us during the summer of 2009!  God showed us how we can work together in a tough situation to create a memorable experience for all.  We all shared in God's goodness!  Thanks be to God!

Jennifer Gardner is a 13-year member of Urbandale United Church of Christ.  She has served in many roles in the church, and currently serves as the Financial Secretary and Chair of the Membership Team.

Moving them beyond the classroom – children in mission.

 

Helping children and youth discover ways to care for people beyond their own classroom, beyond their own family, is one more way to teach them to love God.  I believe it is our task as adults, educators and/or parents, to give children and youth language and opportunities to be the hands and feet of Christ.  

God identifies with the poor; Jesus specialized in the have-nots.  Concrete illustrations to link scripture and today’s world are everywhere – soup kitchens, nursing homes, shelters, missionaries, etc.  Activities for children, more concrete thinkers than we adults, should perhaps be designed with several points in mind. 

Respect 

First, respect those you are wanting to help.  A recent call for a food pantry project revealed they did not need macaroni and cheese.  What they really were in need of were ethnic foods – red beans and rice, canned, spicy vegetables.  So, always contact the agency you want to work with and determine, with their help, the real needs. 

Second, respect the children.  They are capable of almost everything!  They can make the posters, give the announcement, and most of all they can begin to understand the real world.  Affirm everything they do by not re-doing.  Give them direction in the first place, then turn it over.  Let them stack the wall of mac and cheese, wrap the gifts, and count the items collected and write the newsletter article. 

Do the advance preparation, then give the children choices.  Don’t ask “what do you want to do?” but rather “let’s make a list of 5 (or 10) suggestions to ask people to bring for the food collection.”  It means asking “how do you think we could tell others in church we’re doing this?” and letting them pair up to work on each idea they come up with.  We photocopied notes in their handwriting to send home with the preschoolers.  That was their idea!

Make it “real”

            As you develop the project with the children, help them develop empathy.  This is about helping real people.  And, remember, in general, children do not understand the value of money, so collecting “items” is more concrete.  Our “milk money” collection for the soup kitchen was translated into gallons of milk.  (Nothing wrong with teaching some math skills as they work together.)  Posters were a take off on “Got Milk?”, featuring the kids. 

            At a Wednesday evening gathering of elementary kids, I asked, “What would you think if I told you you had to wear the same socks and underwear you have on tonight all the rest of this week?”

“Cool!” the 4^th grade boys replied.  I’d sorta expected this reply!

“Well, let’s think about this a little more. Close your eyes, and imagine you and one of your parents can’t go back to your house tonight.  All you have is what you have with you right now…I think each of you have a home that is safe, but you might know someone in your class at school that lives in a house where there’s lots of hitting.  Put yourself in their place…Your parent has decided to go to a shelter, where no one will know where you are…but…there’s no clothing there that fits you….you need to stay there for a while – several weeks, maybe…how long do you want to stay in these clothes?”

I could see some faces changing. “Yuck!”   As I continued to reflect, we began to make a list of what these relatively-affluent children would want.  What if you could only have a plastic grocery bag full of things?  Even the children knew the difference between wants and needs.  High on this list – pajamas, socks, and yes, underwear!  And yes, they would like underwear and socks that were NEW!

One of the older girls came to me while everyone was playing a game.  “I’m pretty sure my friend is at the shelter.”  Further private discussion revealed this might be true, so in our closing prayer, we included “those here in Sioux City that need a safe place tonight.  Be with them.”

From this discussion, our Undie Sunday project was born.  See the picture of the oversized boxer shorts, being filled with socks, PJ’s and undies of all sizes.

Prior to this, I had discussion with the staff of the shelter.  They had almost nothing for school-age children.  The need was real, especially at midnight!  And, through a little discussion and list making, on the children’s level, most did make a real connection to the need.

Personal

            Hands-on interaction with clients of local agencies (soup kitchens, for example) is often not possible for younger children.  However, in some cases, such as a nursing home visit, the children become the actual gift!  We’ve decorated and delivered pumpkins.  Many churches have children make and take gifts to the local nursing home on a regular basis, singing and visiting with the residents.  If you do this, though, be sure to educate your children in advance.  Some have never been in this situation, and need to know what to expect as far as sights, smells and sounds.  But what teachable moments these could be!

We took a field trip to a food bank, delivering our canned food collection, and saw the site.  Visiting with the staffer, she told us a family could have 4 plastic bags of food every 2 months!  Even the kindergarteners knew how many bags of groceries their families eat – and began to see we were only part of a solution.

            Remember these are children, not adults, you are working with.  Don’t sell them short, but know that if you mix work and play, everyone wins!  (Maybe that’s true for adults, too!)  You can help parents as they teach to move children from

¨      Isolation to connection

¨      Self-centeredness to other-awareness

¨      Hostility to hospitality.

Isn’t that what we all want to do?  Children are a valuable part of our congregation.  Let’s include them as we seek to put love into action and seek justice for all.

Project ideas to spark discussion in your congregation:

As part of Sunday morning, each age-level prepared a part of the meal that is to be taken and served at the local Soup Kitchen during our congregation’s regular turn to serve.  Three groups made the casseroles to freeze to serve 100; the preschoolers scooped cookies onto the sheets for baking. 

An email with missionaries discovered they not only needed American crayons, but had youth who loved Big Red gum.  We collected and sent these things, with pictures to follow up – and hopefully a YouTube exchange as well.

Shop for and wrap gifts for a local family.  Christmas – and maybe another time during the year.  Check with a local agency for a family in need.  We found our kids are excited to buy clothes – and often ask “what color hair do they have?”  Gets pretty personal.

Find exciting ways to spark food collections.  A wall of mac and cheese.  Line the halls of the building with canned goods.  One fall we had a contest between fruits and vegetables.  Stack on opposite walls.

Pillows for Hospice patients.  Invite a staff from Hospice to come and talk with the children a little about Hospice, and dying.  Most have lost a grandparent; it won’t be as difficult as you might think.  Pillows were precut fleece, sewn on 3+ sides.  They stuffed and whip stitched shut.

Decorate and fill big flower pots for a local preschool.  Fun, and good stewardship.

Our children made collection bags for local shelter.  Hot pink sheets stapled on the front are list of needs from agency staff.  Even the preschoolers made bags.  Everyone in the congregation was invited to take, fill and return.

Alaire Willits has directed Christian Education at First Congregational UCC in Sioux City for nine years.  You can reach her at alairew 'at' msn 'dot' com.


Resources:
Heller, David, The Children's God.  University of Chicago, 1986
Johnson, Jan, Growing Compassionate Kids.  Upper Room Books, 2001.
Thompson, Marjorie.  Family: The Forming Center.   Upper Room Books, 1997.
Www.rotation.org  Search under specific Bible story.  They often have outreach suggestions you can modify.
Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?  Alternatives in Simple Living.

Educating for Mission

In seminary I had a Christian Education professor who loved for the students to define words. At the beginning of class we all had a few minutes to define the topic of the day’s focus. I hated this activity. But that activity has also taught me well that I must know what something is before I attempt to do it, even if my definition is broad and general. Participating in mission is a bit like this for a local congregation. When people hear the word “mission” they have a sort-of 1950’s version of U.S. missionaries traveling to far countries to spread Christianity. But that is not only a limited view of an outdated idea of mission, but mission in which only few people can actually participate. I prefer to think of mission as any activity that Jesus preached—broad definition with specific possibilities.

Mission at Larchwood United Church of Christ began 123 years ago at the birth of the congregation, but my experience of mission here began five years ago, when I came to be the pastor here. In this blog I will discuss two specific mission projects that have become part of the life of Larchwood United Church of Christ. It is important for you to know that just because we have a food pantry and take a yearly mission trip—this is not a prescription for your congregation. I’ll remind you of this later…

The Church Council discussed starting a food pantry in the fall of 2004. We cleared a space, stocked the shelves, advertised, and waited for the people to come. The project began ever so slowly and it took almost two years for the first guests to even arrive. Since then the food pantry has become very popular—there are now usually 8-10 visits to the pantry each month. The congregation does not get to see people come to the food pantry, but each week they begin to notice the pantry shelves and when they are full and when they are looking bare. For Sunday school offering the children bring canned goods for the pantry or money, which is used to purchase gift certificates for the grocery store. When an after school program was studying the Lord’s Prayer the children walked to the grocery store to purchase food for the pantry to understand “thy kingdom come, they will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This year the Christian Education Committee decided to purchase food for the pantry instead of giving the usual small gift to each Sunday school child as a Christmas present. This decision was announced to the children and instead of sad boo-hoo’s, there was great rejoicing!

When there is food to be sorted and placed on the shelves the older children love to help and have even become skilled at checking expiration dates. The general community has become involved in the food pantry. Other local churches, businesses, civic and social groups, individuals, and even the community school bring food and money for the food pantry. The annual Santa Claus event in town has also become a huge food drive for the pantry.

Since I am the one who gets to know each person who comes to the food pantry, I can testify that we are feeding the hungry and helping the hopeless. But I can also see the effect that the pantry has on those who support it. People come to worship on Sunday and notice the ebb and flow of the pantry shelves. People tell their friends and family to make a gift to the pantry instead of buying gifts for birthdays or Christmas. People call on the phone to ask what the pantry needs before they go to the grocery store. And the food pantry guests want to help sort food and stock shelves to offer thanks for the help they receive. The success of the food pantry as a mission has been that those who support it have made it part of their lives.

Taking a yearly mission trip has become part of the life of Larchwood UCC and many of our members, however this requires a much larger commitment than buying a few extra cans of tuna each month at the grocery. Each year since 2006, Larchwood UCC has participated in a mission trip experience. For a few couples who are “regulars” this is sometimes their vacation. The mission trip is not a youth mission trip—ALL ages (over 12 years) are welcome and encouraged to come. One blessed summer the youngest participant was 13 and the oldest was 84! We usually have an even balance of youth and adults. For an event that lasts only one week, we sure do talk about it and plan for it for a year!

Interested participants meet to discuss our mission destinations and pick a project. We use the UCC Mission Trips booklet (which is free from the national office) and have always been happy with our choices. We hold fund raising events throughout the year in our church and in the community. And the Sunday following the trip every person from the mission trip tells their story during worship so that each member of the congregation can share in the trip and its details.

It has taken a few years for us all to learn that while we go somewhere else and make bunk beds or build a fence or clean an apartment to help someone else, the mission truly begins when we come home. Leaving our own comfortable lives and homes for one week—leaving behind comforts and cell phones and commitments—we become immersed in someone else’s reality for a short time.

Many folks like to say that it makes us more thankful for what we have, but it is my hope that it will make us ashamed of what we have that we cannot let go of and refuse to share. After a few years of mission trips I believe this is happening among those who go—both youth and adults. And certainly nothing can compare with the wisdom of the group as we meet in our exhaustion and delirium each night during the trip for Roses and Thorns—a collage of the best and worst of the day. This past summer a wise 12 year old preached her greatest learning from the week: “The poor people we met have so little and are satisfied; we have so much and all we want is more.”

I have no great words of wisdom that will explain mission to you or a magic formula to help make mission part of the life of your congregation. Each congregation must find her own passion and mission. Perhaps the best formula is to discover the intersection of what Jesus calls us to do and the interests of your congregation and the needs of our world. Since the needs of the world are great, the call of Jesus is beyond limits, and the interests of congregations are broad I suspect you will have a great time finding and making mission part of the life of your congregation.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to follow Jesus. And God only knows where that will take you!

Blessings on your journey—

Kelly Volk

Rev. Kelly Volk is the senior pastor at Larchwood UCC, part of the Iowa Conference UCC.