*Don't miss the online version of this story from Community Spirit's website.  The story is on page 30 of the May 2010 issue. 

 The little girl said, “My cousin took her Bible to school and her teacher told her that she can’t bring her Bible to school.”  I barely got the words out, “That’s not right.”  And another child blurts out, “Everybody knows you can’t talk about God at school.”  Then another made a similar comment.  In my heart I heard my own quote “If you want to effect long term change, reach them while they are young.  You can ‘build’ men, but if you wait till they are teens, you are doing damage control.”  I was stunned, because I have never thought of teaching elementary age children about this.

I want to give you who are parents, grandparents and /or children’s pastors some simple points you can share with elementary age children about what is legal to say or do at school.  That is a good place to start with the difference between At/To or IN school.  You see “at/to” has to do with the school as a PUBLIC place one may go to, and “in” school refers to instructional time.  A child may take their Bible to school.  They may read it during “free” time, such as free reading time, lunch, before or after school.  The same is true of religious literature such as books, flyers for events, even tracts during free time.  A child may also share their faith during such a time. 

However, “in” school these things are not permissible with the exception of expressing an opinion in response to a topic in an open classroom setting.  A student has the right to express their opinion regardless of whether it is religious or not.  If a child bows their head and prays silently before a test or lunch, no school official can stop them.  However, a school official can not lead children to pray. 

The part that we (or any other religion) struggle with is that children of other religions have the same rights that CAN NOT be infringed on.  Students have first amendment rights as American citizens, regardless of age.  All too often an administrator infringes on a child’s rights out of fear or ignorance.  NOT BECAUSE THE ARE BIG BAD ADMINISTRATORS working for the big bad un-Godly Public school system as we have said in our churches and Christian television shows. In fact, it’s time we in the church stop promoting what I consider the biggest lie in America in the past 47 years.  More lawsuits have been caused and filed because this lie is so deeply ingrained in our society. 

Judges have ruled based on what they “knew” rather than law and constitutionality. 

I could lay out every detail of the law for you all, but just like the study of God’s word, I believe we all learn better if we study for ourselves.  What I have listed above is basics, simple enough for an elementary student to understand.  We have so much more freedom than most of us know.

I have written this in detail in my book, “How Are You Doing That?” available at the Kids for Christ USA website: http://www.kfcusa.org.  I went to great pains to put the law in simple terms.  Also on my website is a link to information on Student and Teacher Rights from The Rutherford Institute.  The website for The American Center for Law and Justice (www.aclj.org) has a very complete “Student Rights Briefing” under the tab “On The Issues”.  I would even recommend (believe it or not) a brochure on “The Bible and Prayer in Public Schools” on the website of the Americans for the Separation of Church and State.  This brochure is very balanced and frankly just a “good read”.  On Teacher’s Rights please go to Christian Educators Association International (www.ceai.org).  In fact, if you are a teacher you should seriously consider joining CEAI instead of the NEA.  Your interest as a believer is well served by this organization.  There is a wealth of information -- all you need to do is read.  FYI: I have included and summarized all of these in my book.

If you are unwilling to do any research for yourself, these keywords should help you understand the law with regard to God, The Bible and Prayer, and the schools:  At/to, in, Free Time, Instructional time, Voluntary, Mandatory, Neutrality. 

I want to thank all of you who expressed what you or your child’s experience has been.  I wanted to incorporate those into this, but I after reading, thinking and praying about it I felt simple pointers and quality sources to study for yourself seemed more fitting.  I encourage you to not only study for yourself, but share the truth with your children.  It is important that we as believers understand the law and not participate in spreading the “Big Lie” anymore. To date knowing the word and being carriers of God’s love has been limited by our ignorance in this area. This could quite possibly be the single most important thing we could do to impact changing the spiritual climate of America’s schools.

We are so excited to share with you the Kids for Christ USA Inc Toolbar.  It will serve as a new way to generate revenue along with the Kids for Christ USA Inc Mall. With this Toolbar we will raise much needed funds for Kids for Christ USA, without you writing a check !

This Toolbar will not replace your existing toolbar. The features on the Toolbar are all designed to help us raise funds in a non-intrusive way. THERE IS NO COST TO YOU. There are no pop-ups, adware, spyware or tracking and the user’s privacy is protected.  It is easy to download to Internet Explorer or Firefox…just click the banner above

By using the Yahoo search engine that is conveniently located on our toolbar, you are helping us raise dollars for our non-profit organizations! You will get the same information results that you receive using your current search engine.  Every time you click on a sponsored link (anything listed in the shaded area with bullet points or anything listed on the right side of the page) you are raising money per click for our non-profit organizations! NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.

Performing 2-5 searches a day on something you are interested in and clicking on sponsored links, because those links help you with the information you are looking for, will help us reach our goals faster! This should only take 5 minutes. It’s that EASY!  What are you waiting for? Click on the banner above to download our Toolbar and start helping us raise money.  Click Here to view an instructional video that will provide you with more details about the Toolbar.  If you have any questions or special support needs do not hesitate to contact OurGV Rewards at support@ourgvrewards.com

With a direct link on the Toolbar, you now have even easier access to the Kids for Christ USA Inc Toolbar Mall to Shop and Fundraise!   We invite you to visit the Mall for your everyday needs as well as for special occasions.  Remember that every time you shop at over 1500 stores in this Mall (to make purchases you are going to make anyway) you are generating funds for our non-profit organizations!

We are proud to have you as a Supporter!  We hope you are equally proud to have our Toolbar on your computer. We encourage you to share this toolbar with your friends and family so they can help our organization raise funds as well.

One such issue was that the streaming options available to a ministry with limited resources such as ours just didn’t have quality I was hoping for.  I have consulted with a couple individuals and have come up with a better solution: We will host on a private password protected page within this site a pre-recorded version of my typical “Sunday Morning presentation”.  In addition, the legal and “How to” session I usually do on Sunday afternoons on the road will also be posted the same way.  Finally, I will be available to the churches via Skype to do a training or question and answer session for the groups.

I apologize for the delay, but since I won’t be with groups who take advantage of this program it is important that the quality is “up to standard”.  We hope to have the program available within the month.

In the state of Oklahoma the biggest rivalry is Union and Jenks.  These two schools are known as having one of the nation’s most intense rivalries.  They not only compete athletically, but academically.  In fact, from this writer’s perspective, even their school administrations and boards compete.  In the last year Jenks announced a partnership with the local Community College on site that would help their students better prepare for their college experience.  Not to be outdone, Union announced plans for a new college prep wing to be added to their Sr. High building. In fact, I am told the wing will even include a Starbucks.

Since 1996 either Union or Jenks have won the Oklahoma 6A State Championship in football. These two programs have turned out many stand out Division 1 college players and even at least one NFL player. There is nothing about this rivalry that’s not BIG. The annual game is so well attended that the game is played at Tulsa University because neither school’s home field can accommodate the crowd.

  A few months ago in the Bible Clubs of both schools it became evident that God was “moving” in a significant way in the students.  When they would come together weekly, the atmosphere was “electric” with expectancy.  They were (and still are) hungry for God!  They are kids of all denominations, joining together to go after God with all their might.

As I was talking one day to a KFCUSA team member who worked with the Jenks kids I said, “Wouldn’t it be cool to get the two clubs together to worship and pray together on one campus or the other?”  So we began working on it.  We were of the belief that God would use these amazing pure-hearted kids to be the face of God’s love to their schools. 

Last week (March 5^th, 2010) they came together to worship and press into God before school.  It was AWESOME!!!  As they were leaving one of the kids from the visiting school had the idea to invite the students from the host school to their school next month.  Kids in both schools believe God wants to use this new found fellowship to reach their schools.  Personally I think they only see the tip of the iceberg! I believe that God is stirring and raising up an army of kids (of all ages) across this land that will become a movement so powerful that for someone to be unaffected by it would be evidence of absolutely rejecting Christ. 

What does it look like when rivals worship God in absolute unity? HEAVEN! 

One thing that is a goal in this ministry is that Kids for Christ meetings be a true place of connecting with God, or simply stated, a place that kids feel comfortable making a decision to serve Jesus with their lives.  Next, is that they develop a true relationship with God for themselves. 

To that end, as they grow through elementary school and into Jr. High, we begin training them to run the club themselves.  This is because “spiritually” we hope they are growing into a relationship with God and seeing Him as a truly loving father; and “legally” because they will need to run the clubs when they reach High School.

In an effort to accomplish this, just a few weeks ago I asked some of the leaders of one of the High School clubs to go to the Jr. High in their own school district and lead the meeting.  They led worship, and did the message, and the Jr. High kids were captivated.

The girl who spoke to the 7^th graders shared her personal testimony, explaining that she didn’t come from a family that went to church.  The very first day of KFC in 2001, she gave her life to Jesus as a 2^nd grader.  “Kids for Christ was my church…”  She told how she went through a hard period in Jr. High when her sister was diagnosed with bone cancer.  She dropped out of KFC for awhile.  Her family found great support in a local church that raised thousands to see that her sister got the care she needed. This touched her sisters and Mother deeply and they gave their lives to Christ, too.  Finally my young friend called me and asked me if there was a club in the High School.  She explained that she wanted to start it, so she and a young man started the club. 

She is a junior, and that young man is a senior.  There are six other leaders that work with them to run the club.  She encouraged the 7^th graders to stay plugged in to FUSE (the name of the club from Jr. High thru High School).  She did great.

When she finished, she left to get to school early.  She and the other two students collaborated to write a message right there on the spot before the 6^th grade students came in. The young man (the aforementioned senior) delivered a story that I read years ago as a “forwarded” email. 

The story goes, “One night the biggest geek in the school was headed home with all his books in his arms.  He tripped and dropped his books all over the hallway.  Other students were laughing and making fun of him, when suddenly one of the most popular guys in the school came and began helping him pick up his books.  When he finished, the “geek” asked the popular kid, “Why did you do that?”  The popular kid said, “Why wouldn’t I, you needed help.” 

A few years later the “geek” was the class valedictorian of their class.  As a part of his speech he told how one day a few years ago he had emptied his locker because his plan was to go home and commit suicide.  When the “popular kid” helped him pick up his books, it gave him the hope to go on.  Great story.

Then the young man proceeded to tie this story and the story of Jeremiah the prophet together.  He told the kids how they needed to choose to take a stand for God at school.  He told them he knows it’s hard when everybody around you is dropping “F bombs” and smoking this and drinking that.  He encouraged them that they need to “be” Jesus for their friends. 

While he was talking I felt impressed to do an altar call with those kids.  As the young man finished, the students were hanging on every word he spoke.  I realized that the story he told paralleled the salvation message, so I tied to his message.  At the moment of truth seven of the twenty-seven 6^th graders attending confidently raised their hands to receive Jesus as their Savior.  I have given hundreds of altar calls to kids through the year, but what made this one special is that 6^th graders are not like elementary school kids; when they raise their hands, they know exactly why and what they are raising their hand to.  Between that and the fact that the young man speaking was my oldest son, it was one of the most special moments in KFCUSA history…at least for me.

The fact is, there are special moments in Kids for Christ everyday.  For me this one just said to me “This ministry is working, it’s really working.”  I witnessed kids who had been involved in KFCUSA since the beginning who have made their relationship with Christ their own, sharing the love of God with other kids who are coming up in the program, and it was an absolutely rewarding feeling.  All I can say is that I hope that if God is prompting you to get involved in this ministry in some way, that you will not resist Him.  Together we’re reaching a new generation of Kids for Christ.

The first and sixth amendments allow students to distribute literature to their fellow students.  They can share their faith (in their free time---WHATEVER that faith may be); and they can even hand out tracts.  I advise students and parents that the students can distribute the flyer outside the school doors after school as kids are leaving.  I also advise them NEVER to force someone to take one of the flyers.  I tell parents to just sit with the box of flyers. 

The biggest points are that the flyers are not forced on other students and that when you leave, you make sure that any flyers that children drop get picked up and placed in the trash.  The next big point is when the principal tells you how she/he will allow you to advertise, you are to be respectful and optimistic.

Here is the reality: whatever means you are allowed to use, God will bless.  Once you’ve begun, I believe God will give you creative ideas that you can use from within the club to get the word out.

I have used many resources through the years.  Grade contests: which give prizes to all the students in the grade that brings the most kids; Boys vs Girls; or a prize for the one who brings the most new friends.  (Although this is not one I advise, because it’s often too difficult to track who really is a new guest.)

In my view there is nothing with bigger potential than for the leaders to be willing to make a fool of themselves if the group reaches a certain number of kids.  For example, “If you guys get 100 kids here next week, you can put a pie in my face.”  I know kids’ Pastors that have eaten live goldfish, or live crickets. (I didn’t say I recommend it, I just said I “know guys who’ve done it”.)  My favorite personal stunt is eating a raw egg… something I learned from the first Rocky movie back in the 70’s.

We had a club here in Tulsa that just wouldn’t grow.  It is a Jr. High and just like any school, some years you have a bunch of kids and some years you don’t.  There are “up” years and “down” years, and that is just the way it is.  Although numbers don’t mean a whole lot, the more kids you have coming, the more kids you may reach.

ANYWAY, this particular group has been small all year.  We’ve done several things to increase the crowd, but to no avail.  Just a few weeks ago the young man who oversees the group told the kids that he, an Oklahoma State University grad, would wear an OU (University of Oklahoma) jersey if OU beat OSU in the big rivalry game.  He did the same thing at his church.  However, when he came to the school he forgot about his promise.  Before the club started He was telling the 12 or so 7^th graders in the room about how many people came to youth at his church the night before to see him in an OU jersey.  As he talked I was in the back of the room standing next to our student sponsor.  I couldn’t help myself, I interrupted him and said, “Do you really think a group of 7^th graders are going to get up and come to school half an hour early to see you in an OU jersey?  That is just lame!  If you really want to draw a crowd, tell them that you will eat one raw egg the week after they reach 100 kids”. My student sponsor asked him if he would do it, and the overseer said “Yeah, I’ll do it”. I felt like he’d be safe because the most kids that group has ever had was 88 and that was three years ago. 

With that as ammo my student sponsor did a variation of what he does every week, he goes to the gym where the students go when they get off the bus and tells everybody in there that FUSE is starting.  Normally, a few kids come back with him.  This day however, he was on a mission.  He walked in that gym and yelled “FUSE is starting and the guy who oversees it for us said that if we get 100 students there, then next week he will eat a raw egg! OH! …and there are free donuts!!” Next thing I know I heard some kids coming and looked up at the door to see the craziest sight.  Kids just kept pouring in!  All totaled, 145 kids packed in that room.

The next week 88 came back to watch Rusty eat a raw egg and the week after that, 104 kids came.  I’m guessing that we should retain 60-80 of them for the rest of the year.  My point is: God, the creator of the universe, lives in you, and He will give you creative ideas to grow your club.  Do you understand?  Creativity is in you!  He said, “Ask and you’ll receive.”, so ASK.  There are a lot of kids to reach with the love of Jesus, so “Ask”!