Childrens Ministry Online

Josh Kornberg and Give a Kid a Christmas 2008

Posted on17. Dec, 2008 by Kenny.

Okay, this post is really about a simple video you’ve gotta see. It’s a powerful audio and visual demonstration of lives being changed in Africa. So, take five minutes and watch the video, you’ll be glad you did.

Now this video is a little of my “worlds colliding.” You’ve seen me post quite a few times about my friends Joel and Heidi who serve as missionaries in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Well, this summer my intern, Josh Kornberg (you an call him Korndog) met Joel and Heidi and decided to go to Africa to participate in Give a Kid a Christmas. You may have seen me write about Josh, or more notable, Karl Bastion, as he made a HUGE deal out of the Korndog at Kidology U as described in this post. Yeah, that’s a lot of connected people. But, what’s really important is the video. Good stuff is happening in West Africa!

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Things I didn’t know about the Great Commission (Part 1)

Posted on29. May, 2008 by Kenny.

At staff meeting a few weeks ago, we spent a little bit of time talking about the Great Commission. Yes! This is my verse. As someone who is very committed to the cause of reaching the unreached, the Great Commission is my motto. But I learned something that kind of shook my understanding of this verse.

Don’t worry. My new found revelation has not changed my feelings or passion for world missions. But I do look at this verse a little differently now.

“Go Ye Therefore!” I’ve listened to countless sermons where this was the thrust of the message. The last thing Jesus said to his disciples was to “GO!” This verse has been the catalyst for pushing people out of their comfortable lives a out in the world making a difference.

Then I learned something very interesting. In staff meeting someone asked, “What are the verbs in this command?” Easy. Go, make (disciples), baptize and teaching. Then someone asked, “What is the “main” verb in this command?” Duh. Everyone knows that. Go!

Wrong.

Go is not the main verb. Make disciples is the main verb.

Go, baptize and teach are participles modifying the imperative verb “make disciples.” A better way to say this verse would be “As you go” or “In your going” make disciples. It is thought that as Jesus gave this command, the “Go” was assumed. In the three years Jesus walked with his disciples, they were always on the go. He often spoke about “all nations.” The point that he was making here was that we are to “make disciples.”

Here’s some more information on the context and language of this verse: Site 1 Site 2 Site 3

Here’s where the rubber meets the road. For me I’ve “GONE” many times. I’ve been obedient to “The Great Commission.” I’ve spread the gospel.

However, how many disciples have I made? (Awkward silence)

Sure, I’ve been a part of helping kids grow in their faith over a period off years. I’m very proud of that. However, when I step out of my role as “Kenny Conley: Children’s Pastor,” and become “Kenny Conley: Average Guy” or “Kenny Conley: Next Door Neighbor,” how many disciples have I made?

Rhetorical question: How well have I obeyed “The Great Commission?” How well have you?

Technorati Tags: Great Commission, Missions, Discipleship

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Mission details (Surge Part 3)

Posted on13. Mar, 2008 by Kenny.

Putting together this mission trip was a lot of work, but not nearly as much as it was putting together Venture Quest (our VBS type program) or summer camp. Actually the most frustrating thing was tracking down donations (we had some issues that were beyond our control). I would have anticipated that a 2008 trip to Mexico would have taken significantly less time because I had so much of the ground work done. So, if you’re thinking about doing a mission trip, feel free to borrow as much of this as you need to maximize your time!

Informational meeting

I made sure I had my ducks in a row for this meeting. Although people would come to this meeting very curious and very excited, it is also the first opportunity they have to hear about you taking their child outside of the country. Attention to detail is important here. Below are the forms I had. In addition to these, I had all adults planning to go to Mexico fill out a standard volunteer application and background check.

• Overview
• Facts and Information
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Adult Participant Application
• Child Participant Application

At this initial meeting I had the room set up with round tables where we served drinks and fresh chips and salsa from a local tex-mex resturant. I verbally shared my vision for what we were doing, my experience in attending and leading mission trip to various locations all over the world. I described what it would be like and what the kids were likely to get out of it. I reviewed all the printed information and then took questions. It took 45 minutes or so at the max. I stayed after for another 30 minutes or so to talk to parents individually. Everyone did sign in and left emails so that I could stay connected over the next several weeks.

Additional meetings

I had this meeting on April 22. Everyone who planned on going needed to submit all their paperwork and the deposit by May 18th. I ended up contacting everyone earlier than this though to get a better estimate so I could go ahead and reserve travel (I’ll discuss this more below and tomorrow). We held 3 meetings over the next 8 weeks. The first one we did at the church one Sunday. It was highly relational as we got to know each other better. We spent the majority of the time introducing ourselves and playing some games that helped break the ice. We closed with a few details and a time of prayer. Our second meeting was in someone’s home for lunch and a pool party. Again we had plenty of time to have fun and get to know each other. We did come back together for the better part of an hour to talk about the trip and start preparing ourselves for what to expect and what we would be doing. Our last meeting was in a home again, but this time no swimming. We broke into assigned groups, got tent and van assignments and schedules of the trip. I let the groups spend more time together to start building unity. Afterwards we talked about what to pack, what to bring and other last details. Finally, we had our commissioning service two days before we left. I had one of the worship leaders, our campus pastor and our senior pastor come for this. All the participants came with their families and any significant people who helped support them. We had a short time of worship followed by our key leaders/pastors speaking to the group and praying over us. Before leaving, everyone got their Surge T-Shirts and the very last details.

Important documents

I spent a lot of time figuring out what documents needed to take kids out of the country. At the time of this trip, it was not necessary to have a passport to cross the border, but this summer it should be. However, I required every child to have a passport, certified copy of a birth certificate and a notarized and singed permission slip. If you’re taking kids out of the country, you MUST have these three… I’ll explain why.

Passport- Well, you can’t come back home without it, so it’s a necessity. I required it because it is an official picture ID for a child. So, with a passport, you can verify the identity of a child.

Birth Certificate – You used to be able to cross the Mexican border with just a birth certificate. I required it in addition to the passport. Why, because the birth certificate officially links the child with his/her parents. This is very important when you look at my last required document.

Permission slip – The permission slip, which is notarized actually gave me authority to take the child across the border. So, essentially, it was this document that linked the passport and birth certificate all together. So, essentially the parents (proved to be parents of the child by the birth certificate) gave me permission to take their child (proved to be their child by the passport and the birth certificate) across the border.

So you see, it is essential to have all of these on every child.

What if a child has a parent attending as well? Good question. Actually, I don’t care if the child’s parent is attending. I don’t care if the child is my child and I’m attending. Why? What happens if there is an emergency and I have to get the kids out of the country immediately. What if the parent was injured or worse? I’m covering all the bases and prepared for the absolute worst case scenario, even though it’s unlikely anything will come to that.

Here’s an example of my permission slip.

Also, get more information on passport for kids here.

Oh, last but not least. I required every parent to sign a release… you know, the standard form for any activity. Here is the one I used.

Transportation

Depending on where you are coming from, you may need transportation in and out of Mexico. We rented 15 passenger vans out of Los Angeles. Remember that you are going to need Mexican auto insurance (this is not covered under your insurance or the insurance that you can typically get with a rental). Obviously Mexico has auto theft issues, so you need the insurance. I think there is a rule… like if you are within 40 miles of the border, you might not need the Mexican insurance. So depending on where you go, you may be okay. Just do your homework. We paid about $15 a day per vehicle.

Now, for the big one. Airline tickets. This was the thing that concerned me the most. Typically the cheapest way to fly was through Southwest Airlines, but I was really uncertain on what to do. I figured that I’d be lucky to get tickets for $200. However, how do I book the tickets far enough in advance to get good prices yet late enough that I’ve gotten money from the participants to cover my expense. Well, I got lucky and I’m passing on this great nugget of information on to you. Go here! If you are taking more than 10 people, book through group travel. We used American Airlines. We were able to make reservations as far out as we needed and it only cost me $50 per person, and I didn’t have to submit any names. If I remember correctly, you are even allowed to drop 10% of your reservation when it comes time to buy the tickets. Thirty days before the trip is when you have to pay for all the tickets and give the names of those going on the trip. That gives all the participants enough time to raise the money they need. Two weeks after the trip, you’ll get refunded the deposit you paid to make the reservation. This method allows for you to book your tickets early and get a great price while managing cash flow as money slowly comes in. I think I also got a free ticket for taking more than 30 people. It’s a no-brainer!

Raising Money

Part of every mission trip is raising necessary funds to go. In all the mission trip I participated in, I had to raise almost all of my funds. For me, it was always a testimony of God’s faithfulness and provision. I firmly believe that when we invite people to support you in a mission trip, you are inviting them to invest in “kingdom” work. I’m never shy about asking people for money for missions because I do believe it is me giving them an “opportunity.”

So, I encouraged all of the kids to send out support letters. I knew that many of the kids came from families that either could or were planning on just writing a check. I certainly didn’t make an issue of it, but I still encouraged the kids to send letters to raise prayer support and awareness. It’s a great opportunity and others need to join in support.

Here is a sample support letter that kids could take and make their own.

Publicity

As much as possible, we tried to get the word out about what we were doing. This is a huge win for the children’s ministry. It’s the kind of excitement that draws both the community into your church as well as volunteers into your ministry. We issues a press release which a local paper responded with interviews and an article in their paper.

• Press Release
• Article

Miscellaneous

Packing List – Here is what we asked everyone to bring. Technically, everyone is allowed to check 2 bags and take one carryon. Since it was a short trip (and a mission trip for goodness sake) I required everyone to only check one bag. That gave me one bag per person for supplies. I bought several of those heavy-duty totes from Wal-Mart. They’re the black ones, with grey lids that come off completely. The red handles lock the lid on. I like them because they’re really heavy duty. I can use zip ties to hold them together for the flight and I can actually put padlocks on them if I need to use one for medications or such. As it turns out, I only needed 5-6 totes for supplies and a few bags for tents.

*** Huge hint! Before leaving, go to home depot and buy a couple spools of neon flagging tape. It’s the stretch plastic ribbon that people usually tie around lumber that may be hanging out of the back of their truck so people see it. I gave every participant 2-4 each. They would tie them to the handles of their luggage. That way when we’re getting luggage at the airport, anyone on our team will recognize “our” bags. So I could send 10 people to retrieve the 60 or so bags instead of everyone having to be involved. Its just a trick that really works.

Schedule – Here is the schedule we followed while for our trip. I was very impressed as we actually followed it pretty closely. Usually mission trips are exercises in flexibility.

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Mission overview (Surge Part 2)

Posted on12. Mar, 2008 by Kenny.

Like I said before, I had to reinvent the wheel here as I couldn’t get any help from anyone who had done this before. Fortunately I have participated on many mission trips (as an adult and as a teenager) and have led trips for adults, so I had a pretty good idea of what to do. I boiled all this down in the context of presenting to kids and their parents.

Initially I began leaking information about a coming trip to all the kids involved in our mid-week small group program. Then in late March I began advertising in the program/bulletin that we would be offering a mission trip for 4th and 5th graders. It listed a web address for more information and dates for an informational meeting in April. I had a web form on the web site where people could RSVP for the meeting. I was amazed at how many people were responding. I figured I would take 10-12 kids, but the response was looking like a lot more than that.

Our first meeting was perfect. It was a 45 minute meeting where I shared vision and the where, when and what. I had everything in print including adult and child participation forms. The vibe was incredibly positive and most questions pertained to little details since I covered all the majors both in my talk and the printed materials. I provided information on deadlines for deposits, payments, participation forms as well as meeting dates. I even set up a blog with all this information (sometimes even a recording of the meeting) so that all the information was in once place. It also provided a place where people could ask questions and benefit from the questions asked by others. We even had a page with everyone’s pictures so teams could get to know each other better.

We held more meetings over the next two months and a commissioning service (with a very short meeting before that). Just to make it a lot easier, we had everyone just meet at the airport. By the time I got there, some of the early birds had already checked in and were at the gate. I waited until everyone had checked in before moving going on to the gate. We flew from DFW to Los Angeles where we picked up our rental vans and drove straight down to Ensenada (which all went without a hitch). We set up camp (we literally set up camp as we stayed in tents) and then pulled everyone into a quick meeting talking about boundaries, buddy rules and other essentials like that. All the kids had free time to explore the orphanage, get more settled or even climb the big hill behind the orphanage. We wrapped up the day with dinner, chapel with the orphans and some prayer time around the campfire.

The next day was all work (okay… just a little bit of play). We put together a shirt VBS program for the kids at the orphanage, so mostly our kids just played and interacted with them. The kids loved it and couldn’t get enough of it. After lunch, we had various work projects to do including one major offsite project which required us to haul dirt up a hill to fill in an area where they were building a house. It was way too much work for us… we could have done this for a week. But, it was the stuff of mission projects were made up. It was hot, the work was dirty but the kids had a blast! Okay, they didn’t have a blast, but they did it all without complaining. They took turns shoveling, moving dirt and smoothing it out. I never heard any complaining. They were great. When we got back, I had a little surprise. I gathered everyone together and we took a hike up the hill behind the orphanage. Kids took turns hauling a few heavy crates with supplies. At the very top is a breathtaking view of the area. You can see mountains all around. Between some mountains, you can see a sliver of Ensenada and between others you can see the beautiful Pacific. On the top of the hill we were on is a giant cross. It’s my favorite place there in Ensenada. We opened up the crates and it was filled with water bottles and food in the forms of MREs. You know, military rations. See, I knew that the whole time we would be on this trip, the food would be great. I wanted to provide at least one meal that was unique or a little strange. On previous trips, I would be on MRE’s for weeks at a time. Most of the kids loved them. As a special treat, I pulled out the dessert MRE’s, pound cake! While on the hill, I wanted us to take some time to pray. The kids divided into their groups and they had a prayer assignment. They prayed for the orphans. Once all the kids had a chance to pray in their groups, we divided again into different groups and they prayed over Ensenada. After that they divided again and prayed over Mexico. Later they prayed for the America’s and finally prayed for the unreached around the world. What I planned as a 45 minute activity quickly grew into 90 minutes of prayer. Changing things up, keeping the kids ,moving to new groups and changing the prayer topics kept them interested. I’d rotate from group to group to join and simply listen. It was amazing to watch the kids grow in their confidence of prayer. It was very obvious that some of these kids had rarely prayed out loud. We had to rush things at the end so they could get down the mountain before it was too dark. What an incredible day.

Day three was our last full day in Mexico. We started off the day by visiting one of the poorest barios in Ensenada. There was a family from a local church that had started a ministry out of their house. They took it upon themselves to feed the kids in their neighborhood lunch everyday as most of them didn’t get any food during the day except for dinner when their parents came home. We went to paint the outside of their house. It was a fun project and with 35-40 of us, it really didn’t take very long. Several of the kids enjoyed a seemingly endless game of soccer with some neighborhood kids. Lastly, we divided into our groups and went on a prayer walk. We encouraged the kids to just walk around as a groups and pray for the things and people they saw. We all met up about 45 minutes later with many exciting stories. Several groups met people along the way and prayed over them. The group I was with met a local pastor who was fairly discouraged. The kids in my group put their hands on the man and prayed as the interpreter translated. You can’t tell me that this wasn’t powerful. Finally, we wrapped up the project by gathering around the family who’s house we painted and prayed for them as a group. We then made our way into town where we were able to take our first showers of the trip. Following that we spent several hours being tourist and shopping. We had a great dinner at a Mexican restaurant (duh!) and then made our way back to the orphanage. After chapel, our kids got some extended playtime with the orphans before wrapping things up for the night.

The next day we got up early, packed our stuff up and headed out before 7:00 AM. We enjoyed a really nice lunch outside of San Diego and then caught a flight out of LAX at about 3:00 PM. It was a joyous homecoming at the DFW airport as families and kids were reunited. Within minutes it seemed everyone was gone. What an incredible experience. It was exactly what I had hoped it would be, in some ways even more. For weeks I continued to stay on this mountain top. The campus pastor at my campus (my direct boss), who’s son attended the trip on his own, began trying to convince me to consider becoming the church’s missions pastor. As fun as that would be, why not enjoy the best of both worlds???

After getting a good night’s sleep, I sent this email out to the team. You can read it here.

Within a few hours I got these responses:

• From one of the kids on the team.
• From one of the parents who sent their kid without them.
• From one of the parents who went on the trip as a leader.

Yes, we’ll be taking your kids to a foreign country… does that worry you?

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Mission origin (Surge Part 1)

Posted on11. Mar, 2008 by Kenny.

Goodness, I’m not even sure where to begin. I guess I’ll start from square one… when I first decided to take kids on a mission trip.

I believe it was in 2003, I was sitting in an all-day pre-conference with Craig Jutila at CPC in Atlanta. I sat there like a sponge, taking in everything he had to say about purpose driven children’s ministry. For me, it was a new approach to ministry that I desperately needed. I had a lot of great things going, but it was inspiration from this session that helped refine, polish and add structure to ministry. Having a huge heart for international missions, I knew that I’d eventually take kids on missions, I just didn’t know how or when. It was after I developed a “process” for ministry that I saw how missions might fit. Four years later the time was right.

I had developed a mid-week small group program for K-5th grade kids. The next step was to provide opportunities for them to put what they had learned into practice. The plan was for a comprehensive missions/outreach program. We would begin with a local mission trip available to 3rd-5th graders. We’d spend 2 nights away somewhere within the area doing hands-on ministry (nursing homes, service projects or whatever else we could put together). In addition, we’d offer another trip for 4th or 5th graders to somewhere a little further away, such as a Native American reservation in Arizona or New Mexico. This trip would give the older kids a little different experience… ministering to another culture, but still being in the United States. Last of all, we would offer a trip to Mexico for 5th graders. It would provide an actual, cross-cultural missions experience. The program was comprehensive, something that kids could grow into. In the same way, the older kids still had the option of the local trips as well.

The way it worked out was that an opportunity for Mexico developed faster than any of the others. I hadn’t been actively pursuing the missions program, but the opportunity developed and I jumped on it. I went the summer before with a family mission group and fell in love with the location. It would be perfect for what I wanted to do. So, we got to work planning it. We decided to offer the trip for 4th and 5th graders in 2007. It would be a trial run where we would test the waters and refine for following years. I figured that I would add a local trip in 2008 for 3rd -5th graders and add the Arizona/New Mexico trip in 2009. I got the final okay from the staff and leadership and began promoting the trip in April (too late in my opinion).

Ultimately, the philosophy of this experience was to build on what we were doing in small groups and create an environment where kids “do” the ministry. I’ve been on many trip where the kids just “tagged along.” I’ve also been on trip where efforts truly were made to involved the kids, but it was still an adult trip. This was going to be different. In these trips, the adults go to support the ministry the kids actually do.

Tomorrow, I’ll share an overview of the preparation for Surge: Mexico and what actually happened while in Ensenada.

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Taking kids on a mission trip… it’s a GREAT idea!

Posted on10. Mar, 2008 by Kenny.

About 9 months ago I wrote this post on taking kids on a mission trip. I was in the planning process of taking twenty 4th and 5th graders to Mexico. Unfortunately, I hit one of my blogging lulls when I actually went on the trip and I never followed up on the post. Let me tell you, it was one of the single most memorable experiences in my children’s ministry career. Absolutely incredible!

The trip was amazingly smooth. There are very few things that I would change. However, I did learn a few lessons. If you’ve ever thought about involving kids on a mission trip, you should totally start planning to do it.

Beginning tomorrow, I’ll start my Surge series. I’m spilling it all. Every detail, every plan, every document. So, if you’re ever interested in doing this kind of trip, you’ll have a good place to start. I had a very difficult time getting information from those who’ve done this before. I essentially had a reinvent the wheel. Now I present to you my wheel. Don’t reinvent… just tweak!

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SURGE: Kids in Missions

Posted on26. May, 2007 by Kenny.

With great excitement I’m embarking on a great new ministry for kids at Cross Timbers. This July I’ll be taking a team of 40 to Mexico on a missions trip. Although mission trips to Mexico are about a common as Baptist Churches in the South, the unique element of SURGE is that we’re taking 4th and 5th graders. [...]

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May we remember these brothers and sisters before we gripe and complain.

Posted on24. Apr, 2007 by Kenny.

Article

No condemnation here at all, just offering perspective. My problems really aren’t nearly as big as I thought they were. My heart swells with pride when I read this article. Yes it’s sad, but they’ve given more to Christ than I ever have. May I be more like these brothers and sisters of mine!

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