USA (MNN) – In 1942, World War II dominated the headlines. The Allies of World War II formed the United Nations. Henry Ford patented the plastic automobile. Disney released Bambi in theaters. C.S. Lewis saw The Screwtape Letters published. A little girl asked her uncle why there were no Christian programs on the radio for kids, and thus Keys For Kids (then Children’s Bible Hour) was born.
Now, consider how this ministry has grown from a children’s radio program in 1942 into the full-service, multi-lingual, multicultural discipleship organization that it is today. Over the nearly eight decades that they’ve been around, their mission hasn’t really changed. Executive Director Greg Yoder puts it this way: “We’re here to ignite a passion for Christ in kids and families. That’s what we do at Keys For Kids Ministries, and so we want you to be a part of that, too.”
Mission and passion
(Greg Yoder, Executive Director of Keys For Kids)
In those first 12 words, you can hear how much Yoder cares about what Keys For Kids does. He’s also aware that the energy and passion he has about this has to spill out beyond… because “There are people in the church, who see the church, and they see the mission field and say, ‘It’s over ‘there’, or ‘We’ve got to go help those people over ‘there’’, and not thinking about ‘I need to be a part of it here’ or ‘Maybe I need to go and do something there’.”
If nothing else, Keys For Kids excels in resourcing. They offer daily devotionals, stories, games and more to help families become accustomed to engaging together in God’s Word—but this year, they decided to take ‘resourcing’ to a different level.
An invitation
Introducing: Keys For Kids first-ever mission trip to Guatemala. Yoder explains, “We’re partnering with dear friends of ours, Orphan Outreach, and taking a team of about 15 to 20 people (it’s a small team), to go to Guatemala, coming up on September 8th; it’ll be a week-long trip.”
(Photo courtesy Orphan Outreach)
Why there? Don’t churches and missionaries already saturate Guatemala? Orphan Outreach has a long history in Guatemala, which means an established network, and with that, relationships. Plus, Yoder reminds us, “There’s an incredible need in Guatemala for the Good News of Jesus Christ. You would think that it’s a reached country, but there are many people who don’t know Jesus, especially outside of the Guatemala area.”
Participants on this trip will be loving on the kids, playing, teaching, and much more. Yoder explains, “Give them the resources they need, with our Storytellers and our devotionals, go into some of these areas and just love on kids with these VBS programs that we’ll be doing for about three or four days, and see the work of what Orphan Outreach is doing, and come alongside them.”
If anything in this story resonates with you, you’ll need to act fast. “We need to know that you’re interested by March 1rst. Now’s the time. It’s going to fill up fast. Again, we only need 15 to 20 people to fill this trip and so the quicker you get your name in, the quicker we can get it all processed and begin planning for this amazing trip.” Click here for more information about joining the Keys For Kids mission trip to Guatemala with Orphan Outreach.
Header photo courtesy of Keys For Kids.
