KidsLife Blog Intro
Posted on July 10, 2008, by steven kelly, under children, parents.
Good Morning and a happy Friday to those of you in LifeChurch land! I was excited at this blogging idea until getting a chance to read the blogs I have to follow. Nice work so far, everyone.
My blog will be mainly for those of you trying to raise kids in one of the most difficult environments imaginable. Southern California. I will keep you in the loop as to new developments and current happenings of KidsLife. I would also love to field any questions that you may have in regards to raising your children to serve the Lord and reach their full potential in Him. Please send your inquiries to stevenk@getlife.tv. All questions will be anonymous.
I should probably start by answering a few of your questions about myself. For those of you who do not know, I am not married. I do not have children. However, fourteen years of Children’s Ministry has taught me a lot about children. And from a far more unbiased perspective than one who has his own children. (Fourteen years of working with children may also have something to do with it.)
I truly believe that children are the key to mass evangelism. I also have the facts to back this up. The statistic that is my rallying cry is 43%. That is the number of percentage of people in the United States who accept Christ during their elementary years. Once an individual is of college age, the likelihood of them accepting Christ as their personal Savior drops to only twenty percent and remains for the rest of their lifetime. That means that in this country nearly eighty percent of the battle for eternal life is fought outside of the sanctuary.
I am honored to be fighting the Good Fight here at LifeChurch. One of the first things I noticed when I first passed through the doors of LifeChurch in January was that this place believed in children and backed it up with resources.
I cannot express enough thanks to Pastor John and the staff of LifeChurch, both pastoral and volunteer, who have made this department possible. So many of you have put in a lot of extra time and energy during this transition and have done so without complaint. We are still in the midst of a lot of changes and restructuring and we appreciate your patience
I have had the opportunity to meet with a lot of you during our weekend services. Two things. First of all, thank you so much for your feedback. There is no other blessing quite like hearing from parents excited about the spiritual growth of their children. When they mention something they have learned at home or are taking the things that we have studied and putting them into practice, it always makes our day to hear about it. As KidsLife staff, we sometimes wonder if what we are doing is really making a difference. It always helps us do our job better when we know of some of the fruit it is producing. We never get tired of feedback!
The second thing is this. I am sure some of you have questions, concerns, or maybe you just would like some more information on an upcoming event or program. Maybe there is a serious situation you are dealing with in regards to your child or children. Maybe you just need to ask, “is this normal?”
I do my best to field as much during the weekend as possible, although sometimes I may be a bit distracted while handling the many things that pop up during the course of a service.
If for any reason, you need more that a scant moment of my time, please feel free to contact me either via email at stevenk@getlife.tv or by phone at (951) 704-9590. I am currently bi-vocational, so my office hours are not currently regular. I will, however, do my best to meet with you or just answer any questions you may have. Most of all, I want you to know that I am here for you and your children and it is my mission to see develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and grow in the ways of the Word so that they can take bring His Life to the valley!
Thanks for reading. Next week’s will be shorter.
-Pastor Steven Kelly
