Hang 10 Summer Reading Program Continues in July
We hope you and your kids are enjoying the "Hang 10" Summer Reading Program. Can you believe it's almost July? Don't fret; there is still plenty of time left this summer before your kids head back to school.
The Summer Reading Program continues the purpose of building habits in kids of daily Bible reading and prayer. This year’s Summer Reading Program focuses on character words already taught in Beach Club. The program, which provides a daily Bible verse, an action and a prayer, began just before Memorial Day and continues until Labor Day,
If your son or daughter is participating this summer, he or she has already learned about truthfulness, confidence, love, obedience and forgiveness. In July, the program will focus on generosity, thankfulness, compassion and humility.
Summer Bible reading isn’t just for kids! We are encouraging everyone to “Hang 10” this summer. Parents, teachers, volunteers and other Beach Club supporters can lead by example and spend at least 10 minutes each day with God through Bible reading and prayer.
We hope you will stay connected to KiDs Beach Club® during the summer. We would love to see you, your children and your grandchildren spending time in their KBC Study Bible this summer. Please follow us at @KiDsBeachClub on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and be sure to like, comment and share your own posts by using the hashtag #MyKBCBible. We may even share your posts and pictures!
The Summer Reading Plan for July is currently available at kidsbeachclub.org/readingplan
Published on Jun 27 @ 3:49 PM CDT
Susan Jiura, the Beach Club leader at Sherrod Elementary, recently attended the high school graduation party for Camrin Langston, one of her former Beach Clubbers. On a table displaying some of Langston’s favorite things from her youth, Jiura noticed the young woman’s worn KiDs Beach Club® Devotional Bible, the Bible that preceded the current KBC Explorer’s Study Bible.
Jiura was thrilled when Langston told her that it’s the Bible she still uses. That “made my day!” Jiura said.
Langston, who graduated from Lamar High School in Arlington, Texas earlier this month, became involved with KiDs Beach Club® in fifth grade during a difficult time in her life. Not only had she just moved to Sherrod Elementary, she had just had major back surgery. She credits Jiura with making her transition easier.
Langston said, “Whenever I had first started coming to Beach Club, Ms. Susan Jiura… made sure I was comfortable and put me in the right group with my grade level and the other girls involved, and she made sure that I had everything I needed to be involved and that I wasn’t left out.”
Jiura’s care and compassion gave Langston a sense of belonging for the two years that she attended Beach Club.
“It made me feel like that’s where I needed to be, and that I wasn’t in a place that I was forced to be in,” Langston said. “We were welcome to be there and we were safe there with them.”
According to Langston, one benefit of KiDs Beach Club® is that it teaches the Bible in a way kids can understand.
“It can help you on your level, and not a higher level, but also be where you can ask questions and not feel uncomfortable asking those questions,” Langston said.
One way that this is accomplished is through the KBC Bible. Although Langston owned a traditional Bible at the time, receiving her KBC Bible was truly a blessing. She is dyslexic, and having a Bible geared specifically toward kids helps her understand what she is reading.
“I just felt very relieved when I got mine,” Langston said, “because I was able to read it better than the Bible I already had. And the extra things they have in it, like the devotions and stuff, were able to connect better with my age group that I was in at the time.”
Her enthusiasm for her new Bible was apparent, even to her club leader.
“She was always so focused on listening to the Bible lesson and loved studying her KBC Bible,” Jiura said.
Although the ease of reading is what initially drew Langston to her KBC Bible, she has found additional reasons for continuing to use it today. She sees it as a tool for connecting with her younger siblings and those currently in the Sherrod Elementary Beach Club, where she volunteers when she is able.
“It helps me be able to know how to speak with them, or how to speak with the younger kids in my church,” Langston said.
At the time Langston received her Bible, only one child per week received a Bible. Now, thanks to generous donors like you who regularly support the Bibles for Beach Club program, all kids in Beach Club receive a KBC Bible. This provides each child a valuable tool that they can use well past the few years we have them for Beach Club.
Langston, who attends Dayspring Church and hopes to begin working toward a photography degree in the fall, encourages donors that their donations do make a difference.
“It definitely does help,” she said. “Especially, like my school that I went to was a lower-income school, and so being able to… get that Bible – a lot of kids probably don’t have one to that degree that they can understand, so it definitely does help.”
Published on Jun 20 @ 2:06 PM CDT
Outside of participating in our Summer Reading Program, you and your child might not be thinking too much about KiDs Beach Club® during the summer, but rest assured, we are thinking about you, planning for our future and getting ready for the return of Beach Club this fall.
As a part of those plans, we launched a redesigned website this week and hope you will check it out. It’s vastly different than our old site. Our organization has changed a lot over the years and we think this new design better conveys where we are as an organization by telling the stories about our Beach Clubs, the kids who attend and the volunteers who serve.
“Our kids and clubs have great stories to tell and we want to do that justice,” said Dave Crome, the vice president for marketing and communications at KiDs Beach Club®. “There are a lot of great photos and excellent videos throughout the site. We want people to be proud their kids are a part of this ministry and we hope that with this new site, everyone will want to share it with their friends.”
As the organization continues to grow, it is important that our current church partners understand our commitment and that our potential church partners gain a full understanding of what we do in connecting kids to Christ and helping their families find a church home if they don’t already have one.
“Connecting families to a church family is one of our core values,” said Jack Terrell, founder and president of KiDs Beach Club®. “Our records say a high percentage of children who enroll in Beach Club do not have a church affiliation. Therefore providing a tool to our partnering churches that is easy to navigate expresses our commitment to excellence. I believe it further communicates, at a high level, the value we have for all of our ministry partners.”
KiDs Beach Club® seeks to make Christ relevant within the community by providing Christ followers an opportunity to serve at the very heart of the neighborhood… the public school.
The new design focuses on the ministry’s four core values, the four Cs: Impacting Communities for the Kingdom; Sharing Christ in Public Schools; Fostering Life Change in the Hearts of Children and Connecting Families to a Church Family. And it’s all presented right on the front page.
The website comes with new features, including real-time reporting of the number of kids impacted by Beach Club, the numbers of volunteers who serve in Beach Club and the professions of faith made by Beach Club kids, both for the current school year and since the start of Beach Club in 2003. Also on display are the number of clubs, partnering churches and the all-time number of Bibles distributed.
Other new features include a way for anyone to Get Involved in Beach Club, the new Beach Currents blog, and coming soon, a way to find a Beach Club. Every Beach Club will have a page on the website devoted solely to it with information about meeting dates and times, location, information about the sponsoring church and a direct link to our new online registration/parent permission form. Be on the lookout for more details about that closer to the time your child heads back to school and back to Beach Club!
Social media is integrated throughout the website, allowing viewers to share content from any page with their friends on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn directly from the site. Content also can be shared with the most popular social networks.
“We would love to hear your stories about how Beach Club has impacted your family, particularly your children and grandchildren,” said Todd Lamb, director of communications for KiDs Beach Club®. “We would love to tell these incredible stories on our new website, blog and various social media accounts.
You should always mention @KiDsBeachClub in your social media posts and if the post is about the Bible, we encourage you to use hashtag #MyKBCBible. Stories and photos can be submitted by email as well at news@kbcmail.org or photos@kbcmail.org.
Most of the information from the old site has migrated to the new site, but it is presented entirely different and in an engaging way. We think you will find the site does a good job explaining who we are, what we do, where we are, when clubs meet and how to do a Beach Club.
We hope you like it and visit often to read and watch the countless stories about how KiDs Beach Club® is connecting kids to Christ and putting Bibles in their hands.
Published on Jun 08 @ 2:32 PM CDT
As the grandfather of four children, best-selling author Lee Strobel is especially touched when younger children decide to follow Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.
“I see kids within a new light now. My grandchildren who are 8 and 10 years old, received Christ during a Houston mission trip,” said Strobel, who will deliver the keynote address at the Bibles for Beach Club Benefit Dinner on July 14 in the Grand Ballroom of The Speedway Club at Texas Motor Speedway. “They both are on fire for the Lord and involved. It’s great to see the next generation take the banner of Christ and hold it!”
Recently, Strobel learned about how KiDs Beach Club
We have put together a first-class evening for our guests who will arrive to free valet service, a visit to a cutting-edge interactive photo booth and then have an opportunity to participate in the exciting live auction, popular raffles and games such as Dine & Dash, Pick & Play as well as Last Man Standing.Published on May 25 @ 4:54 PM CDT
Church Celebrates Baptisms of Beach Club Siblings
Beach Clubbers Baptised from KiDs Beach Club on Vimeo.
Harmony Baptist Church in Weatherford, Texas recently had a special worship service. The church, fresh off its first year partnering with KiDs Beach Club® to sponsor a Beach Club at Wright Elementary, has seen the Lord working in the club and in its church.
Jeremiah and Liliana, a brother and sister who attend Beach Club, asked to be baptized at Harmony Baptist Church. Jeremiah had previously made Jesus his Forever Friend and Liliana welcomed Christ into her life after a Beach Club meeting with her Christ-following parents at home.
Jeremiah and Liliana’s family regularly attend a different church in the area, but they really wanted to be baptized at Harmony Baptist since Beach Club has such an impact in their lives. They also wanted to be baptized in the presence of so many of their Beach Club volunteers who attend the club.
On a Sunday morning last month, the two siblings were baptized by Tyson Shapley, the church’s students pastor who also serves as the Bible Connection leader in their Beach Club.
In addition to the baptisms, the church also recognized each Beach Club volunteer who was in attendance that morning. Harmony Baptist provides regular updates to its congregation and celebrates together when there are praises and professions of faith. But, that April morning it was a special service to honor the efforts of their members and to rejoice in seeing the fruits of their labor.
For church coordinator Lea Sosebee, it was an overwhelming thought to see where the Lord has brought the church since it first partnered with KiDs Beach Club® last fall.
Harmony Baptist struggled with the decision to sponsor a Beach Club. Like many churches they didn’t think they would have enough volunteers or the funds to sponsor the club. The church started a Beach Club in faith, but at first saw little progress. It struggled and the leaders wondered if this was really what the Lord wanted them to do.
“We were faithful, and in God’s timing. And, in God’s timing, it was done,” Sosebee said.
By partnering with KiDs Beach Club®, the church not only was able to make an impact in the young lives of Jeremiah and Liliana, they were also able to reach an entire family.
Liliana came to understand the gospel during her time at Beach Club and Jeremiah saw his faith grow and become more solidified.
“The two started out at Beach Club so shy, but now they are rockin’ it!” Dylan Sosebee, the club’s worship leader said.
Jeremiah and Liliana’s mother saw this change in them and ended up becoming a volunteer in the club. The entire family was excited to visit Harmony Baptist for their baptisms.
“KiDs Beach Club® has ignited a desire in our church to minister more.” Lea Sosebee said.
After hearing updates and now seeing the fruits of labor in the baptisms of Jeremiah and Liliana, the church’s Beach Club has seen an increase in volunteers and is receiving other great support. Harmony Baptist Church is excited and ready for a summer of ministry and continuing into next school year at Beach Club.
Published on May 25 @ 4:53 PM CDT
Husband and Wife Find a Mission Field at KiDs Beach Club®
Don and Sue Lynn are not only husband and wife, but they are also Surf Team leaders at the Overton Elementary School Beach Club in Lubbock, Texas. The Lynns initially became involved after a request for help from their church, the First Church of the Nazarene, which partners with KiDs Beach Club®.
Don signed on first. Then, as Sue listened to Don convey the impact the experience was having in his life, she decided to volunteer as well. Together, they lead a Surf Team of about a dozen kids.
“Our prayer is that they’ll see Jesus in us, and that we will make an impression upon them that will be life-lasting,” Don said.
And indeed they have. They consider the children friends, praying for them throughout the week and greeting them with hugs at each meeting. This approach has garnered a positive response from the kids, who happily return their hugs.
However, the Lynn’s prayer to make a positive impact extends beyond the school walls and the weekly club meetings. They view Beach Club as a mission field, hoping to reach not only the children, but their families as well.
Each week, they walk the kids to their cars, greet their parents and invite them to church. They also encourage the kids to come up and speak if they see each other outside of club, and they do—usually with their parents.
“We have run into a lot of these kids around Lubbock,” Sue said, “and they always come and talk to us.”
Although their focus has been on the kids and their families, Sue says that the church’s efforts have reached a wider audience. In fact, people they do not know and who have no kids in Beach Club still know what their church is doing for their community and are grateful.
“I’ve heard this time after time,” Sue said. “Just like we don’t know the impression that we make, but something’s going on. God makes a way when there is no way. And I think this is one of those times.”
However, she is quick to point out that all of the credit goes to God, as it is indeed all about Him and all because of Him. They are simply blessed to be a part of it, and Sue echoes Don’s prayer that they will make a lifelong impression on the kids.
She quotes Proverbs 22:6, which reads, “Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.”
This promise gives Sue hope. “Maybe what we’re doing is a lasting impression on these kids,” she said. “And maybe it will be something they will take through their life. And they will want to grow closer to God as they go through their life.”
Published on May 25 @ 4:52 PM CDT
