Kid's Place Visits the World in 2007

"Surgery" in an imaginary Haitian medical clinic

No sirens were wailing, but it was an emergency anyway. With the infection spreading, Julian’s only hope was an operation. Preparing the toilet paper bandages and her plastic knife scalpel, the doctor prayed and the operation began on the young patient, one of 200 children who joined the Kid’s Place 2007 World Tour and traveled in Hartung Hall on the Anderson University campus during North American Convention, June 22-27, 2007, in Anderson, Indiana.

On the whirlwind three-day adventure, elementary kids wrote in hieroglyphics and joined in an archaeological dig in Egypt, learned origami paper folding and ate rice with chopsticks in Japan, experienced the challenges of living below the poverty line in the United States, met “real live” missionaries from Africa, fashioned kangaroo-like pouches for prayers and threw boomerangs in Australia, and prayed for persecuted Christians in Egypt, among other activities. At the same time, preschoolers traveled to India in Little Kid’s Place, meeting in the facilities of Park Place Church, adjacent to the university campus.

New this year to the 25-year-old children’s program was a daily full group worship experience in Byrum Hall, the original camp meeting venue of more than 100 years ago. While opening kids’ eyes to the mission field around the world, Kid’s Place is committed to challenging them to answering God’s call today in preparation for the time he may tap them to become pastors and missionaries in the future.

“It’s awesome to see the ways God showed up at Kid’s Place,” declared Michelle Parker of Laurel, Mississippi, program director. “We’re expecting the same thing next year when Kid’s Place travels to China for the Olympics.”

By the way, Julian survived the imaginary operation in a medical clinic in Haiti, another destination on the World Tour. As a result, kids saw how missionaries share God’s love through preaching, teaching, and even medicine.

Curricula of past Kid’s Place programs written and/or edited by Cheryl are available at minimal cost through Church of God Ministries (check the Church of God Web site, call 800-848-2464 and ask for Vivian Atkins, or e-mail Vatkins@chog.org). Easily adaptable for vacation Bible schools, children’s church, or other kids programming, these curricula include missions studies of the 10/40 Window, Japan, Costa Rica, Thailand, the southern cone of South America, Australia/New Zealand, the islands of Micronesia, Hawaii, and the Caribbean/Atlantic region, among others. Additionally, a historical look at the Church of God helped kids celebrate the hundredth camp meeting/convention in 2006 through drama and interviews with church pioneers from bygone days.

Please pray with us for the nurturing of the next generation of missionaries, pastors, and church leaders.