Operation Kid-to-Kid™ Blankets a Hurting World with God’s Love

Tonight in countries around the world, children will go to sleep hungry and cold, without parents, without homes…without hope. Now your ministry group can send a simple, tangible expression of God’s love to those in need.

Group Publishing, the premier publisher of children’s Bible curricula, including Sunday school and VBS, believes that some of the best ministers to children who are experiencing disaster and hardship are other children. Through the Operation Kid-to-Kid (OK2K) program, Group partners with nondenominational Christian ministries like Biblica (formerly International Bible Society) and World Vision to provide opportunities for children in North America to share God’s love with other children in difficult or disastrous situations. In 2009 alone, Operation Kid-to-Kid reached almost one million children. Since its inception 12 years ago, Operation Kid-to-Kid projects have impacted over 4.5 million kids and their communities all over the world. Highlights include:

· Over 100,000 care kits distributed to countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, and Albania
· More than 380,000 gift boxes sent to needy children worldwide
· Over 310,000 pairs of shoes and 200,000 pairs of socks given to orphans across the globe
· Over 1.5 million Spanish Bible books delivered worldwide
· More than a million cuddly prayer bears and copies of The Survivor’s Bible provided free of charge to underprivileged children all over the world

“Operation Kid-to-Kid is a great way to teach kids compassion and service,” says Joani Schultz, cofounder of Group and OK2K. “Children learn by doing. It’s one thing to drop a nickel in the offering plate, but when kids make a gift with their own hands, when they can be creative and personal, this leaves a real impression on both the givers and the receivers.”

This year’s OK2K project is a simple no-sew fleece blanket that proclaims “God Loves Me!” right in the fabric. Each 56” by 42” blanket will also include a hidden surprise—a little white heart concealed between the fleece layers. The heart is a sweet secret kept by those who create the blankets, one that symbolizes God’s love for the world and our love for others. Project participants are encouraged to pray specifically for the unknown person who will receive the blanket as they tuck the heart inside.

The OK2K blanket can easily be incorporated into any Sunday school or VBS curriculum. This year, the “God Loves Me” blanket is included as a special activity in Group’s two new 2011 VBS programs, Egypt: Joseph’s Journey from Prison to Palace and High Seas Expedition. The multi-generational participants will learn about the 40 million children around the world who are desperately vulnerable because of the AIDS pandemic and the effects of extreme poverty. Through Group’s partnership with World Vision, blankets created this year will reach children in Africa coping with the pandemic’s effects on their communities or families, including those who have been orphaned. Instructions for delivering the blankets to World Vision for distribution are included with each blanket kit. To make the gift extra special, churches can send a personalized “God Loves Me” coloring book with each blanket.

Over the years, OK2K has become one of the largest forces mobilizing children in serving other children around the world through gifts of school supplies, Bibles, hygiene kits, Christmas gifts, Bible coloring books, and socks and shoes. But the ministry opportunities are not just for kids. Between recent natural disasters like the earthquake in Haiti and the lingering effects of the global economic crisis, there are more opportunities than ever for Christians to show the love of Christ to others in need—and not just for a VBS event. Operation Kid-to-Kid can mobilize service projects any time of the year. Because the “God Loves Me” blanket project is so simple and practical, it is a perfect fit for a variety of ministry opportunities, from youth or women’s groups and short-term mission trips to neighborhood outreach initiatives and ministry to the homeless. With a little imagination, a ministry group of any size and age can customize the project to support its own ministry vision.

“For many of us, a mission-focused heart is something that develops over time. Like any aspect of Christ’s character in us, loving others like Christ loves them takes practice. This is a lesson for adults as well as children,” says Schultz. “Hopefully, OK2K service projects like the ‘God Loves Me’ blanket will encourage Christians of all ages to commit greater time and resources to missions.”

To find out how you can get involved, visit www.ok2k.org!

Yesterday and today were one of our big ‘go to the city to visit and shop’ trips.  We had a great time, and God blessed us SO much through wonderful savings and deals.  Some of the things we purchased yesterday were things we’d been putting off.  Things we needed that we waited to buy.  In God’s timing, He made these items available to us at a huge savings.

Our digital camera has been on it’s last legs for over a year, and yesterday we bought one with nearly 5x the MP for only $60 (and it’s pink!)  We had some pencil crayons that were getting VERY short and I knew I’d need more for the girls for this school year, we bought a set of 55 for $2.75 (regularly $12).  I’ve been wanting to show the girls The Sound of Music, but don’t know anyone with DVDs that we could borrow – we found a NEW VHS set of 2 tapes that still had the manufacturers blue sticker holding the tapes into the box for $1.49.

I’ve been trying to collect all of Beatrix Potter’s little hardcover storybooks for the girls for …well, 4 years now, here and there as I’ve found the used books.  Today we found a set of all 23 hardcover books in like new condition that we were able to get for $19!

I’ve been looking for replacements to my favorite old purple shirt with NO success over the past month, and today I was able to buy 2 complete purple outfits for $30.

This isn’t all of it even!  He’s a God who likes to give good gifts to His children, and sometimes those gifts arrive by way of really, really, really good bargains.  Thanks Father for coming shopping with us!

When the We-TV episode “Born to Breed” was aired I posted a heads-up about it (thanks to a We-TV publicist) a few hours before it went on-air. Without cable, our family wasn’t able to view it. Perhaps your family is in the same situation, or maybe you just missed the show, but if you have high-speed internet the Jeubs (one of the families interviewed) has compiled the six installments available for viewing on youtube. You can find their handy collection here.

I haven’t watched it yet (I’m hoping to view it tonight with my husband), so I can’t share any commentary. But if you’d like, let me know if you caught the show when it aired, or what you think after you’ve watched the youtube videos.

I just found out about a new online directory that lists quiverfull families according to location. It’s members only, and all applications are approved by the site owner. I just submitted my application, and think it sounds like there’s a lot of potential for reaching out to other families within our geographic areas (we all know it can be isolating at times!)

Anyways, if you want to check it out, it’s at: http://www.arrowcollectors.com

Maybe you and your family (and me and mine) can be enjoying a QF bbq/picnic/afternoon tea sooner than you think! I’m excited!

Please share the news as you are able (if you have a blog, please link up), the more we spread the news the more likely it is that we’ll be able to find like-minded friends nearby in the future!

Some of my fondest memories of childhood are the romping and cuddling times that we shared with our parents and siblings.  Some evenings we’d climb into my parents bed and play – we’d tickle Mom and Dad, much to their protest, snuggle tight and have our heads scratched, laugh, and enjoy time together as a family.

In the wild, fallen world in which we live, life can seem chaotic – even when we’re small.  Compounding that sense of chaos is our own relative inability to control our own environments as little people (as if we ever truly can!)  The family is a safe haven, a safe port when the ocean waves are roaring around you.  My sweetest, safest, most joy-filled moments of childhood revolve around this time of togetherness, it’s a great gift that my parents have given to me, and I’m determined to pass the experience on to my own children.

Today you can find our family sharing the same fun-filled romps – tickling, tossing, trapping, hugging, pouncing, and so on.  It’s my hope that these times together will lay a firm foundation for an ongoing relationship of love, comfort and reassurance.  Have you been pounced yet today?

Okay ladies, here’s the low-down, we don’t get television reception of any kind, but apparently WE tv is airing an episode in their “Secret Lives of Women” series tonight at 10 p.m. (not sure about time-zones, so if you’d like to watch check into it) about the Quiverfull movement.

Entitled “Born to Breed” (ugh, oversimplification much?), three different mothers will be interviewed and profiled, as well as author Kathryn Joyce, author of the book Quiverfull (I understand it’s written from the point-of-view of a woman who is studying cultural trends, not as a fellow believer).

That normally would put me on guard somewhat, but as there are some somewhat well-known Quiverfull moms appearing on the show as well, I’m thinking it will likely be a balanced presentation.

You can find the details and some clips from the show here.  If you get a chance to watch the show, can you let me know what you think, and how it was?

I just learned that November is also National Adoption Month.  Our family has a heart for adoption, and though our current living space won’t allow for an adoption to take place, we long for the day when God will add some precious blessings to our family through this avenue.

My blogging friend Celee at Miscellaneous Musings of a 5x Mom is posting about adoption from a Christian perspective on her blog throughout the month, and has already written some excellent posts there.  Some of my favourites are a listing of adoption books she wouldn’t be without and her personal thoughts on them, and you won’t want to miss a short version of her adoption journey here.

She writes a great blog, so you’ll want to check back in throughout the month for more posts in this vein!

Our family has been investigating the names of God and His Son lately.  This is a question that came up for me a year ago, but it wasn’t until this past month that we really spent some time together as a family (well, Larry and I) researching the topic.  As a result of our findings, and the names of God found in the original languages our family has begun referring to God as Yahweh, and His son as Yeshua – though we do some switching back and forth as our children are familiar with the anglicized Latin translation of their names.  Now, as a blogger I’ve continued to use the common English translations/titles God and Jesus.

I have a quick question for my readers.  Would you feel comfortable and know who I’m talking about if I use the original names of God?  Why or why not?  Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

Should Christians celebrate Halloween, or not?

Some of my faithful readers may be familiar with my involvement in witchcraft and the occult prior to God saving me, and the blood of Jesus being applied on my account.  As such, the debate concerning whether or not Christians should celebrate Halloween – a festivity with roots in the Celtic pagan traditions – is close to my heart.

Though I wasn’t planning on participating whole-heartedly in the debates this year, when Lisa Metzer contacted me regarding my personal feelings on the topic as an ex-witch, I was happy to comply.  She has carefully compiled my responses with that of an ex-wiccan along with her own research on the topic, and I strongly recommend that any believer questioning the appropriateness of this celebration for their holiday read it.

You can find her excellent post here.

Enjoy, and may God bless and keep you.

Larry likes to mix things up a bit with our family devotions, and we’re changing things up again!  It’s a very exciting transition though, and very homeschooly – if there’s such a word!  We’ve read through all of Genesis and Exodus over the past half-year, dug around in a story bible, drawn lots of pictures, and now we’re going to start again in the creation week with 106 Days of Creation Studies from Simply Charlotte Mason.  I recently reviewed this title at Eclectic Homeschool Online here.  We are all going through it together, and are looking forward to studying science through the scriptures (once I assemble some materials of course).