Special Announcement!
We want to share some incredibly good news with you!
KidZ at Heart International has been blessed by Lilly Endowment with a $1.25 million grant through its Christian Parenting and Caregiving Initiative. KidZ is one of 77 organizations, denominations, local congregations, and regional districts of national church groups to whom Lilly Endowment awarded a total of $92 million this summer.
As stated in Lilly Endowment's request for proposals, “The aim of the Christian Parenting and Caregiving Initiative is to help interested parents and caregivers share their faith and values with their children….The Endowment is especially interested in supporting organizations that provide programs and other activities through which they will walk alongside parents and caregivers and congregations as they further the initiative’s aim, ….organizations that demonstrate in their proposals that they have the capacity to design, implement and sustain high-quality programs.”
In recent years, KidZ at Heart’s global training ministry has dramatically increased, now impacting 49 countries. This grant will enable us to implement of our vision to expand what we do in the United States. We believe God has uniquely positioned us to provide high quality training, trauma-informed care, and sustainable relationships of support for less-resourced and underserved churches and families typically found in smaller, often ethnically-diverse churches located in lower socioeconomic urban or rural centers across North America.
Our new program, “Transforming KidZ Ministry,” is designed to build upon our already effective training methods to better meet the unique needs of North Americans. This new effort will include the addition of trauma-informed ministry to children and an emphasis on the extended family’s work in nurturing faith in children. As we continue to build relationships with underserved populations across the United States, we will infuse the materials with the wealth of knowledge and experience provided through these partners.
The funding from Lilly Endowment makes it possible for us to eliminate barriers that might otherwise prevent under-resourced groups from accessing this partnership. Obstacles such as limited funding allocated for traveling to and registering for conferences will be removed as we train personally right in these communities. Time constraints such as those experienced in households of multiple working adults will be addressed through on-demand training and encouragement via both a downloadable app as well as a podcast with various ministry partners that further supports caregivers in sharing their faith.
“We’ve heard from many parents who are seeking to nurture the spiritual lives of their children, especially in their daily activities, and looking to churches and other faith-based organizations for support,” said Christopher L. Coble, Lilly Endowment’s vice president for religion, in a July 5 statement announcing the grants. “These thoughtful, creative and collaborative organizations embrace the important role that families have in shaping the religious development of children and are launching programs to assist parents and caregivers with this task.”
As reported by Ministry Watch in a post dated July19, 2023, “The initiative seeks innovative ways to engage children in lives of faith, inside and outside of church buildings. During the height of COVID-19, many of the traditional methods of children’s ministry — Sunday school, vacation Bible school, confirmation classes, baptisms — disappeared or were adapted. In the aftermath, parents and church leaders continue to grapple with the best ways forward for discipling children in their homes and congregations.”
For too long, churches have focused solely on teaching children about God. The statistics show this approach does not create lifelong disciples of Jesus. For more than 20 years, KidZ at Heart International has walked alongside those who love children around the world, training them to help children fall deeply in love with Jesus. We help children and the adults who love them discover how to experience a deeper, more intimate, loving relationship with God through the practice of spiritual disciplines and in the context of a strong church/family partnership.
With this generous grant, to be used over the next five years, we will be able to bring this training to those least served across our own country. We offer a huge thank you to God and Lilly Endowment.
How can you help?
Are you a leader in an underserved church or community (or do you know one) who would like to partner with us?
Would you be interested in joining our team of trainers to minister within your own context or across town with another culture?
Do you believe that this initiative will encounter spiritual warfare and are you willing to pray for the work of KidZ at Heart, the workers, the families and churches behind those leaders, and the parents, grandparents, churches, leaders, and children we hope to see fall deeply in love with Jesus?
Questions? Responses to the questions above? Please call or email me personally.
Gordon D. West
President / CEO / Co-Founder
Email: gwest@kidztheart.org
Cell: (602) 284-3511