Blog

Bonnie Robertson is a volunteer for the Beach Club at Mabank Intermediate School in Mabank, Texas. In a club of all fifth- and sixth-grade students, one little girl stood out in her memory and prompted her to submit her story using the #MyKBCStory hashtag.

At Beach Club one afternoon, one of the talkative and outgoing fifth-grade girls came over to Robertson with a serious demeanor. The two of them went to the back of the room together to talk more privately about what was bothering her.

This little girl shared that she wasn’t sure if Jesus would accept her or that He would love her. Robertson asked, “Why would you think that?” The girl said because all of her family are wiccans. The little girl went on to say, “I want Him to be in my heart, but I don’t know if He will come in because of my family.”

Robertson was able to explain to her that it doesn’t have anything to do with the rest of her family, only her. And that little girl accepted Christ that day!

In the car pick-up line after club, Robertson was able to share with the girl’s family about her profession of faith. 

“Her mother, who was a wiccan was ecstatic that her daughter had accepted Christ,” Robertson said. “It was the best day ever. It was wonderful, and it was all because she came to Beach Club!”

Bonnie Robertson volunteers at Beach Club for the kids. “They are important. That’s what counts. They are the future,” she said. “I do it for Jesus, but I do it for the kids so that they aren’t left behind.” Robertson loves seeing the children being taught truth in club and taking it home to share with their families.

KiDs Beach Club® wants to hear YOUR story! Volunteers, what has been a stand-out moment for you in Beach Club? Was it a time like Bonnie Robertson’s when a child accepted Christ? Or a time a child received their first Bible? Have you had an extra special time of prayer with your surf team? Parents, what has been your child’s favorite part of Beach Club? Have you come to know Jesus through your child sharing what they learned in club?

We want to hear from you! Use the #MyKBCStory hashtag on social media or write us at news@kbcmail.org.

If you attended the Bibles for Beach Club Benefit Dinner in July, you likely saw the 20-ounce Bison Tumblers that were part of the popular Pick-and-Play game before the dinner.

Now, those same tumblers featuring the KBC logo etched in the side, are available in the KBC online store. They come in eight different colors including lime, pink, red, purple, light blue, sand, orange and black (not pictured). Be sure to place your order before they run out.

Since KiDs Beach Club® first began in 2003, teaching children about God’s word has been the focal point to giving each child a Jesus experience inside their public elementary school. From 2003 through the fall of 2014, only one Bible was given to a child in each club each week the club met.

Beginning in the spring of 2015, giving every single child in every Beach Club their very own copy of God’s word became a priority. This special day of Beach Club became known as Great Treasure Day. 

This month KiDs Beach Club® celebrated a very special Great Treasure Day as we handed out our 50,000th Bible since that very first Bible back in 2003. 

After weeks of anticipation and watching the tally of Bibles given to kids climb on the front page of the ministry’s new website, it was projected that the 50,000th Bible would be given away on October 10 at the new Beach Club at Gilbert Elementary, which is the second club to be sponsored by Christ Church Irving.

Gilbert Elementary had dozens of children in attendance for Great Treasure Day. All were giddy and excited to receive their new Bibles. What they didn’t know before they arrived that afternoon was one of them would be the 50,000th child in the history of KiDs Beach Club® to receive a KBC Explorer’s Study Bible. 

When it came time for the presentation, the room full of volunteers, kids and KBC corporate staff cheered as each child received their new Bible. After several were handed out, Beach Club leader Molly Greenlee announced the very next Bible would be the milestone 50,000th Bible, and that Bible was being presented to Jamie G.! Everyone erupted in celebration. 

Jamie was a little shy to have all the attention, but she was not shy to share that this was her first Bible, and the first Bible in her family. 

Once she sat down and removed the plastic, marking that this book had never belonged to anyone else, she was given a permanent marker to write her name in the front page.

Jack Terrell, the founder and president of KiDs Beach Club®, said, “It was amazing the intensity that she took, and the deliberateness that she took, in putting her name for the very first time, in her Bible.”

Jamie loves attending Beach Club with her friends because, “My friends and I can learn more about Jesus and we can spread the word to others that don’t come to Beach Club.”

Jamie was excited to receive a Bible, “So I can read it every night and tell my brother about Jesus.” Jamie has a 10-year-old brother who also attends Gilbert Elementary and does not attend Beach Club. Jamie hopes she can get her brother to come with her to Beach Club soon. But she is ready and excited to use her Bible to share Jesus with her family at home.

The milestone of 50,000 Bibles being given away to children is monumental. We are also celebrating you, our donors, as we rejoice in knowing that to purchase those 50,000 Bibles, it took your generosity to provide those Bibles to children in public schools! 

“God has blessed KiDs Beach Club® with some amazing, amazing donors who not only caught the vision of connecting kids to Christ by putting Bibles in their hands, but who actively participate in it with their generous gifts,” Terrell said. “Our donors have given $1 million since 2003 to purchase 50,000 KBC Explorers Study Bibles which will continue to impact not only the lives of the kids who receive them but also their entire families.

“So to our donors, from the bottom of our heart, we thank you!”

Be sure to watch the video above until the end for a special message from KBC President & Founder Jack Terrell.

KiDs Beach Club® is grateful for our kids, parents, volunteers, educators, churches and other friends of our ministry. We are excited to hear how the Lord is working in your child’s life, in your family, in your Beach Club, in your school and in your church.

Your KBC stories and experiences not only inspire us at the corporate office but they also encourage others who are part of our amazing team of more than 2,500 volunteers and more than 20,000 parents and supporters. 

As the Lord provides powerful moments in Beach Club, please take a moment to share them with us at stories@kbcmail.org or you can share them with us on social media by using the hashtag #MyKBCStory.

We want to not only showcase you and the kids at Beach Cub but to show our amazing donors and supporters how their prayers and financial gifts are resulting in life-changing experiences in communities and public schools across the country.

We have many avenues to share your great stories with thousands of our KBC friends:

• Surf Report E-News
• KBC "Beach Currents" Blog
• Bibles for Beach Club Monthly Newsletter
• Social Media Channels at @KiDsBeachClub

Great Treasure Day, the day every child in every Beach Club receives his or her own KBC Explorer’s Study Bible, began this week and for the first time will be celebrated in 11 states across the United States. We’ll celebrate another milestone early this fall when we hand out our 50,000 Bible since our ministry started in 2003. 

God’s word is the greatest treasure anyone could ever find and it is the foundation on which KiDs Beach Club® is built. We want every child to have their very own KiDs Beach Club® Bible 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.

Great Treasure Day is celebrated differently by every Beach Club and usually takes place during the fifth club meeting each year. Most of those will fall in the month of October though some Beach Clubs will celebrate their Great Treasure Day in November. 

Bibles are provided to our partnering churches at no additional cost to them. This is because of our many great Bibles for Beach Club donors, whether they give at the annual Bibles for Beach Club Benefit Dinner, on North Texas Giving Day or as a monthly Bible donor. 

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®. And when those Bibles make it into your home, we want to hear what getting a Bible means to your kids and what giving a Bible to a child means to you!

Please share your pictures, videos and stories on social media by using the hashtags #KiDsBeachClub and #GreatTreasureDay. Please follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

If social media isn’t your thing, you can email us anytime at news@kbcmail.org so that we can communicate it on our blog and on the monthly Surf Report e-newsletter.

Pro Tip: When taking video with your smart phone, turn it on its side so that the long edge of the device is parallel to the floor for higher quality!

At the start of the new school year it can sometimes be a challenge for churches to recruit volunteers to serve in Beach Club, and also organize who will be doing what role. Three years after launching its club, a church in Tennessee is praising the Lord for His divine orchestrations to bring them the exact number of volunteers it needed. 

First Baptist Church in Lakeland, Tenn. Started a Beach Club at Lakeland Elementary three years ago. When they were first presented with the idea of their church partnering with KiDs Beach Club®, it was a completely different concept for them to be able to host an after-school Bible club inside a public school. The church jumped at the opportunity.

First Baptist Lakeland has a church body of a little more than 100 members. Once they began planning for club and organizing their volunteers they had more than 30 people sign up to help in some form or fashion. That’s one-third of their congregation!

However, about a week before their club was scheduled to begin, they got an unexpected call from one of their volunteers. This individual was set to serve as both a surf team leader and the worship leader of their club. Their work schedule suddenly changed and they were no longer able to make it in time to volunteer. 

Church coordinator David Riggs found himself in a bind. When he heard the news, he thought “What am I going to do?” Panic began to set in. Another church leader was able to make a call to Laura Simons, a church member, in hopes of she had a connection who could fill either one of the open positions of worship leader or surf team leader. Upon hearing Lakeland’s request, Simon responded, “Well, I have kids that go to school there, and I am a teacher. Would you want me to do that?”

Indeed, First Baptist Lakeland wanted her to fill that role. That was one of the positions covered just in time. But, that still left them without someone to lead the music, and they had less than a week before club was set to begin. Riggs continued the search until they found Dianne Davis. 

Davis was working as the music teacher at Lakeland Elementary when she heard about KiDs Beach Club® through an email from the principal. She initially dismissed the idea of helping because of her busy schedule, but the Friday before their first club, Davis felt a stirring in her heart.

“What if no one signs up to help?” she wondered. So, Davis contacted the principal and was told the club was looking for a worship leader. “Well, I knew that was God working so of course I said yes.”

“I was so overcome with emotion that finally, after almost 20 years of teaching, I could finally pray with and talk freely about God with my students,” Davis later said about the opportunity to do Kingdom work inside her school.

With the start of the new semester Beach Club, it can sometimes be a challenge for churches to recruit volunteers, and also organize who will be doing what role. Three years later, a church in Tennessee is still praising the Lord for His divine orchestrations to bring them the exact volunteers they needed.

God has continued to work in the Beach Club at Lakeland Elementary. With more than 100 children registered, Riggs is thankful for a church willing to serve and the team of volunteers the Lord provided. “We know what our mission is; it’s go and make disciples.”