Have you noticed that the Kids Hope Logo is of a child (albeit a stick figure) surrounded by a heart? How wonderful is that? Our Kids Hope program at Hope Church is surrounding children with love! Those doing the “loving” include not only our mentors but also those who substitute for them when they cannot be there, our Prayer Partners, those who volunteer to help with special events and our pastors and you the congregation who supports this wonderful program. You see these children have great love from their home but often it is from an over stressed parent pulled in many directions. There is the love that the teacher has for his or her students but because the student feels as though they don’t live up to their teacher’s high standards they then become discouraged and become oblivious to that love. They may have friends who “love “ them but we all know how temporary and conditional friendship can be at these young ages. They may learn about the love of Jesus in their church but when they walk outside of the church they return to the unfairness of life and to the struggle to survive. We can only pray that they know the love of Jesus that is there despite these conditions. So when our Kids Hope students see their mentor once a week and that mentor comes to their school to only see them and spends time listening to what they want to talk about, plays a game that they choose (and maybe lets them win) and then is being read to 1 on 1 from a book that is interesting to them, they are being loved in the Kids Hope way. Now that is the Kids Hope logo in action! That is more than wonderful…that is life giving. Thanks be to God for all those committed to this LOVE.
P.S. Want to become a mentor and share your love? There is a current need for a mentor for a 3rd grade boy. Contact Vicki Rumpsa if interested.