• Taylor Brianne Kinard Born
After nine months of waiting Sarah and Kevin’s second daughter arrived July 15th. She weighed in at 7 pounds, 6 ounces. Taylor comes to a loving family with lots of support. This is a great time for Kevin and Sarah who seem to be really enjoying all these special blessings. There is enough love in our hearts to add another little one.
This is our seventh grand child. This is a great time for all of the family.
• Bryan & Kristen Are Engaged!
Well, It’s true! Bryan and Kristen announced their engagement this last weekend. After three years of dating and working through the nitty gritty of forming a good relationship, it finally happened. I was clued in that it was imminent, when Bryan took me out to dinner to ask for Kristen’s hand in marriage. He wanted my blessing and permission, which I gave. I respected the approach and the manner of the gentleman.
I congratulate Bryan, he asked Kristen to marry him the old fashion way….
• Madison Will Love This!
Madison, our two-year-old grand daughter is expecting a sister this week. So Sharon and I have been thinking how we could do something for her that would help her adjust to all the attention that comes with bringing a baby sister home. After some serious discussion and many investigative shopping trips to consider our options, we found a really great deal on this playground set. We agreed that “Madison will love this.”
However, like many great gifts, some assembly is required. It took five of us over a period of three days to build it. But that is not all…
• NeXgen Mandarin Kids
There are many First Generation Mandarin speaking Chinese at the Bread of Life Church in Torrance. They have their own Mandarin speaking worship and programs. After many years of ministry, there is a growing group of second generation Chinese who have learned English and have become parents. Their children are learning English in school and at home, plus being exposed to both the Chinese and American culture. Two of their Adult Bible Fellowships come together on Friday night for study. Their children need a two-hour program to accomodate the schedule of the parents. They do not want just a child-care program, but meaningful teaching ministry for their kids.
So I was asked to speak to these English speaking children. Wow, what a fun time that was to share the claims of the Gospel. I did some ventriloquism, some object lessons, and some gospel illusions for them. They had such a good time, laughing, responding and paying close attention to my visuals. The mothers that came to assist, and who often are involved with this children’s program, were quite amazed that I was able to hold the attention of 25 children for a whole hour.
This last Sunday, I returned to the same church in Torrance for our next Oaxaca, Mexico Training Meetings. I saw many of these same children and their parents, who recognized me. They were still talking about the fun we had on Friday. Obviously, I represent some skill and talent to these children, who were very responsive to my ministry, not something they see much, if at all. Parents were asking me, “When will you return for another visit?” I was able to tell them Aug. 15th.
I am already looking forward to returning for another children’s program for them.
• Knotty-Heart Trick
Knotty-Heart Trick is on special this month from Kid Helper Resources. A simple gospel illusion that we have used in our ministry for years. The thing I like about it is that you can create new messages for any occasion once you learn the effect. If you are interested in securing your own, just go click on www.khrstore.com to check it out.
• Not A History Buff
History never was my favorite subject. I kind of tolerated historical study in school, not that I failed the subject, but just had a no reason to relate to it. As the years have gone by, I remember the first time I really connected to the study of history. It was while attending Moody Bible Institute, I had to take a required course on the History of Theology.
My teacher was Howard Whaley, a brand new teacher, his first year on the faculty at Moody. I remember that he lived in Wheaton and commuted to school each day. He was so excited about history. Every day, the first part of his lecture, he would share some great historical “tidbit” that he just found the night before. Such enthusiasm and excitement was just contagious every class. We all looked forward to Whaley’s Historical Theatre. Also, as a pastoral student, I wanted to learn about theology. I loved it. That’s when history first became relevant for me. It was the enthusiasm of the teacher that helped.
From this new interest in the history of theology, I found it easier, years later, to write a “thesis-type” research paper at Fuller Seminary that I called the History and Theology of Children’s Evangelism. It turned out to be a 60 page document complete with footnotes. It was not required, I just wanted to do it. Dr. Whaley’s enthusiasm was in my head.
All this interest in History was quite narrow in scope, but that all changed when…
• New Website Announced
It is now official! Kid Helper Resources announced the opening of it’s website. The vision of the site is to provide unique and creative resources to help those ministering to kids. Michael LaFond, the company’s chief officer, has been working hard to launch this new web business site. So this week, July 1st, it launched. He felt it wise to open it now, rather than to wait for all the product to be represented. Many former customers will have a clear route to get some of our best sellers right away, namely Kiddo Puppets, Gospel Magic and the Born Again Birthday Book.
You will want to bookmark this site for on- going reference. Michael tells me, that dozens of creative resources will be added weekly throughout the summer, so you will want to keep checking into this site. Watch for the monthly specials.
Here it is…www.Kidhelperresources.com
• Condo Splish Splash
It was a quite time at the Condo when I went there for a Writing Retreat. However, the silence was broken late morning when a vacationing neighbor broke out this virtual water-park slide, unbeknown to me. Apparently, he blow up the unit and attached a hose. The silence of my solitary place was broken with gleeful sounds of ten to twelve children romping up and down this water slide. It was fun watching them from the second floor balcony of my air conditioned shangrila.
It was so colorful that I just had to snag a couple of photos. The children continued to play in the water long into the afternoon. It was really hot out here in Palm Springs…110 degrees in the shade. They were keeping cool with the two intertwined water slides.
So, I decided that I would try a little “water works” of my own, since it was July 4th.
This is all that I had to put up with…
• Recognition from Luis Palau
This is a recently received certificate that came in the mail. This means that I am one of the evangelists in the Next Generation Alliance. This is a group of evangelists that Luis Palau Evangelistic Association partners with to effect the next generation. I have attended an annual training program every summer since 1998 ( I missed one).
Our next Extend the Impact Conference is Aug 20-23 in Portland, Oregon. I did not think I could go this year because I was planning on going to India. However, now that I am not going to India in August, I am now considering how possible it would be for me to attend this time. It seems every time I attend, something significant happens to me and my ministry goes to another level. Many of my overseas trips started with contacts that I made while attending these annual conferences. So I am now considering what it would take for me to attend this time. It may just come down to money needed to go. So I am now praying that funds will be available. I went to India because of the last conference, where to next?
• Every Penny Counts
Every two years the Cambodian Evangelical Churches in the U.S. conveign a Regional Conference. They send delegates from each church for a denominational gathering for about 30-40 churches, mostly from Calfornia, but several from other states too. This group of Cambodian Evangelical Churches are affiliated the Christian Missionary Alliance Churches and have their conference every two years. They move it around the country. Next year it will be back East or in Texas. This program is mostly focused on the adults leaders. Originally, they only provided “child care” for the delegate’s children.
Here I am with six of the seven children who responded to the invitation.
