Go Beyond

A key component of our missions ministry is equipping the next generation to do their part to make our world a better place. This means doing practical things to address urgent needs around the globe and giving others an opportunity to hear about Jesus. We want our kids to understand that they do not have to wait until they grow up to help change the world. God can use them to do so today.

Every summer, we encourage the kids who attend our Vacation Bible School to give a daily offering that we invest in helping kids in need. We also educate our kids to understand the challenges faced by those they are helping. Over the past years our kids have supported initiatives to help kids in Mongolia, India, Cambodia, El Salvador, Honduras, Egypt, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Last year they raised funds to drill six new water wells in poor villages around the world.

This summer we challenged our kids to raise funds to help start construction of a new primary school in the slums of Kawempe, a division of Kampala, Uganda. For the past thirteen years, our missions ministry has had a strategic partnership with Pastor Robert Nabulere and his wife Rose. These valued friends and partners saw a need among children in Kawempe and moved in the direction of that need.

Pastor Robert and Rose were burdened by the numbers of poor children in Kawempe who could not afford to go to school and decided to do something about it. So, they started the Miracle Destiny School with an initial enrollment of 16 kids. Today, they have almost 500 children enrolled in their schools.

The primary school has met in rented facilities from the start. God, however, provided a piece of property on which to construct a new school building for the elementary aged kids. We knew that this was the time for us to help Pastor Robert get this project started and challenged our kids to raise funds to make it happen.

Our missions ministry provided each child who attended VBS with their own Go Beyond Kids Explorers Club kit. Each kit contains information and interactive activities to help our kids learn about Uganda and the need for the new building for Miracle Destiny School. I wrote another kids book to tell the story of the school. Amy Redhair, my intern, did an outstanding job of illustrating the book.

Once again, our kids met the challenge. They exceeded their $15,000 offering goal and, with a matching gift from our missions ministry, raised a total of $32,561.74. These funds will help kickoff construction of a new four-story building in Kawempe to house classrooms for more than 260 elementary school students. We presented our gift to Pastor Robert at all of our services on both campuses on Sunday morning. He was beyond thrilled and grateful.

I am grateful for our kids and all who served in our VBS. We had an outstanding team of volunteers who helped guide and encourage our kids. And, once again, our kids have done something special to make the world better for kids in the slums of Kawempe.

In the words of the Apostle Paul to Timothy, his young protégé, “You are young, but don’t let anyone treat you as if you are not important. Be an example to show the believers how they should live. Show them by what you say, by the way you live, by your love, by your faith, and by your pure life” (1 Timothy 4:12). Thank you, Kingsland kids, for your generous gift and your great example.