The Middlers ministry began in January 2000 mainly because we had a lot of 3rd and 4th graders trying to sneak into Pre-teens. Instead of sending them off to the church Parking Lot (ha ha) we decided to begin a program just for them and I'm glad we did! Last night I had the privilege of filling in for the director Eric Karminski. The Middlers is made up of 2nd, 3rd & 4th graders, all who have tons of energy from 7:30 to 9:15, 9:20, 9:25, 9:30 ...you get the point!
After some "free time" we sat down and took prayer requests...some that would break your heart when you hear about what these kids are going through. I did a lesson on being thankful by sharing my story about a homeless punk rocker I met in New York City who sleeps on a city stairwell. I then used that to go right into the bible lesson which was from Luke 17:11 - 19. It's the story of the 10 lepers who were healed by Jesus yet only 1 came back to give thanks. After the lesson, some of the kids played their all time favorite game...DODGEBALL...and the others worked on a Christmas card craft. All in all it was a great night and we thank God for these young lives who are being impacted every Wednesday evening!
In spite of a snowy weekend and a wet Sunday morning, we had a total of 53 kids come to our very first birthday party for Jesus at Kidz for Christ on Sunday morning December 21st. Between two services we had object lessons, a bible lesson all about the birth of our Savior as well as a party game, cake (yes, we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus), balloons, decorations, hats...the works. The kids had a blast and we are looking to start a new tradition here at SGT every December!
