Kids: On Mission
Hello, Southwood Families!
The mission of Southwood Kids is to advance the kingdom of God as we partner with families to encourage growing relationships with God, each other and our neighbors - and this year we have an exciting opportunity we’d like to share with you! Beginning in October, the Children’s Ministry is introducing a new initiative called “Kids: On Mission” with the heart of helping our kids discover what it means to love our neighbors - next door or on the other side of the world!
Each month, working closely with our Community Development Team, we will carefully and prayerfully select a mission partner to learn about and support for that entire month. We plan to support these partners in a variety of ways - all of which are designed to nurture a mission-minded heart and encourage kids to become active participants in living “on mission.” Sometimes, we’ll gather items for donation or perform service projects together, and other times, we’ll write encouraging letters or commit to prayer for a month. No matter the method, this is a great way to help your child develop a biblical worldview of Jesus’ heart for mission work.
We’ll also devote an entire month to getting to know the selected mission partner in KidsConnect on Sunday mornings - who they are, what they do, where they serve, and why we support them. And, from time to time, we’ll send home helpful resources to equip and encourage your family toward deeper conversation about loving our neighbors well.
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CURRENT PARTNER:
August 2022: Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) and our SPCCollege Students
PAST PARTNERS:
- Whitesburg Elementary
- Residents at Fleming Farms
- The Betts Family in Kandern, Germany
- -Homebound Members
- -Express Grace Kids Conference - Global Missions Partner with guest speaker Seth Lewis from Ireland!
- -The Huntsville Pregnancy Resource Center
- -Second Mile “Secret Santa Shop”
- - “Socktober” sock drive supporting Manna House
How you can help nurture mission-minded hearts at home:
- -Affirm qualities in your children which could serve them on the mission field.
- -Let your kids pray out loud for missionaries. Let them hear you pray for missionaries. Tell them what they can specifically pray.
- -Use downtime to talk about what it means to serve & love others.
- -Pick a missionary’s prayer card up from the Mission Desk. Attach it to a map and watch as the map fills up over the year.
- -Follow blogs of missionaries we support. (Not only will you receive prayer requests, needs, and updates - you’ll also receive praise reports of answered prayers!)
- -Write to a missionary kid pen pal. We have a few who would love a pen pal!
- -Help your child save money to purchase a needed item.
- -Make a special trip to the store and allow kids to pick out a needed item on their own.
- -Encourage your child to serve. Serve together.
- -Choose a family devotional that is mission-focused.