Thanks to everyone that came and supported these young people with Harvest Kids and a special thanks to the kids that came from the Kid’s Club that meets at Carolyn’s home on Peavey Road. It was a bit rainy but the kids got lot’s of the cans crushed that had been donated. They will be taken to the recycle place this week and that money used to support vulnerable children in the Comfort Africa program in Uganda and to pay the teachers for the Wambuti pygmy tribe in the DRCongo. The kids then played a game of Simon Says to emphasize what Jesus had taught about who is the greatest in the kingdom being the child that simply listened and obeyed and was not distracted. Afterwards, the kids counted their change and, along with the money that had been made selling the hazelnuts, they had $88, enough to purchase 8 more mosquito nets for the orphans that live at the Nalidi Grace Primary school in east Uganda. The kids colored while others, including the adults, wrote down their birthdays for the birthday board and picked their color to add their handprint to the wall.

    Thanks to the women who provided and served lunch for the kids while Lynn from Child’s Evangelism Fellowship set up for her time with the kids. We are so thankful for her dedication to reaching children throughout our community with the gospel. Her lessons are inter-active to keep the young people interested and she is continuing to share the story of Esther from the bible. The scripture the young people were asked to memorize was “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Philippians 4:6). We are thankful that Amber, Nancy and Bobbie were able to spend some time learning how to use the Silhouette machine which we will be using to make decals and other items to support the various ministries that we are involved with. Thanks to Armando and Jason for taking a generator out to Carolyn’s Kid’s Club because they had no power, to Cathy for finishing up the evening building us a new display for the birthday board and to Dale for shelling some more hazelnuts that will be available at the Harvest Home for people that want to purchase them to support the Harvest Kids.

      The next Harvest Kids meeting is scheduled on the 4th Saturday, February 22nd, from 10am-1pm at the Harvest Home, 9467 Pierce Lane, Sedro Woolley. For information: call 360-421-8811 or 360-421-8812.

Here we are! The start of a new year and a new decade.

    Even though many things are new. One thing that we know is not new is that the enemy is the same and comes to kill, steal and destroy and he always targets the young and weak. We were blessed to be a part of the recent March for Life event in Olympia and are looking forward to the “40 Days for Life”, pro-life prayer vigil, that will go from Feb 26 – April 5th. Please check out the website to volunteer for times that you may be able to come and pray.

    “Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: ‘Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.” (Exodus 1:22) “When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under.” (Matthew 2:16)

     The Lord prompted us to cancel our mission trip to Mexico after Christmas to focus on infants and children.

We want to thank everyone that donates the aluminum cans that the Harvest Kids get to crush and recycle to help vulnerable children in Africa. The kids recently used their change to finish building a primary school for vulnerable and orphaned children in Uganda and have now raised enough money for 11 of the 60 mosquito nets for orphans that live at another school in another part of Uganda. We are so thankful for the work that Child’s Evangelism Fellowship does throughout our community, meeting with kids after school at the school (when they are able to find volunteers) as well as teaching with our Harvest Kids and other clubs throughout the community. We have been blessed to take parents and children to the rock climbing gym, skating rink and Children’s Museum. Reggie Hunter from the Upper Skagit tribe  shared about how he finds the wood and makes walking sticks, cutting off branches, sanding and sculpting each one before he seals the stick with varnish. We were able to relate all this to the story that Jesus told in John 15 about the vine and branches. The kids read the scripture verse and answered  the questions. Who was the gardener? Who was the vine? Who were the branches? What is the fruit? What did Jesus mean when He said, ‘Fruit that last?’ Afterwards, everyone enjoyed coloring different sheets related to the vine and the branches while the kids picked out sticks that Reggie had donated. They used saws, files, sand paper and drills to shape their own walking sticks before applying the varnish.

   Many thanks to our Harvest Vision team that put substance to our desire to provide a safe, fun night of fellowship for children and their families at the Children’s Museum in Burlington. Lot’s of prep work to invite people, prepare and set up refreshments, provide transportation and ensure we had information available about different opportunities for people to share the love of Jesus and stay connected as the family of God. Some Christian men and women came just to welcome and encourage those that came with children. A special thanks to those that speak Spanish and were available to translate when needed. A big thanks to the many that support the Children’s Museum that provides this beautiful and clean facility, with a great staff and environment that is filled with safe, interactive learning experiences for families in our community.  We had 30 children and almost as many adults greeting, meeting and sharing their lives with each other, many meeting each other for the first time. We are praying to provide many more opportunities for these and other families with children to get together and share their life’s faith journey with one another. 

    We are privileged to be friends with a wonderful elderly Christian lady in our community who has opened up her heart to the children in her neighborhood. What started with bringing some kids into her trailer to share Jesus with them has now evolved into 4 days of Kids’ Club every week. She has put a cover outside her trailer to provide a game room for the now 22 children from age 3-12. Nineteen of them have accepted Jesus and some of their parents in just these last few months. We are hoping to help her when she feels called to take them as a group outside her home when the Lord directs, so we are collecting booster and car seats. These young people love Jesus and want to share it with other kids that they meet in their neighborhood and their schools. If they meet someone in their neighborhood, they can invite them to come to the Kid’s Club and meet “Grandma Carolyn”. Why can’t we have a home open in every few blocks of our community?
     Consider this. Children and youth can legally share their faith with others in their school, which is their mission field. We have the legal authority to come alongside them after school and provide a place and support for them to bring in their harvest using that facility to encourage and strengthen them. Sadly, Child’s Evangelism Fellowship only has volunteers to stand with these young people at 2 of the 30 public schools in Skagit and Island county? Where are you, men and women of God? For information contact locally, call Lynn Griffin at 360-333-7025. If you live in a different area, contact Child’s Evangelism Fellowship in your community. 

   Many thanks to everyone that donates the cans that these kids get to crush and recycle to help vulnerable children in Africa. After crushing the cans, Dale helped the kids play a new game spelling words of faith by moving tiles on the floor “without using their hands”. Lot’s of fun. Afterwards, the kids counted their change and had enough money ($22) to purchase 2 more mosquito nets for the orphans that live at the Nalidi Grace primary school in eastern Uganda.  George wore one of the aprons that our friend, Bonnie, had made the kids for the cooking projects they are involved with. Reggie Hunter shared about how he finds the wood and makes walking sticks, cutting off branches, sanding and sculpting each one before he seals the stick with varnish. We were able to relate all this to the story that Jesus told in John 15 about the vine and branches. The kids read the scripture verse and answered  the questions. Who was the gardener? Who was the vine? Who were the branches? What is the fruit? What did Jesus mean when He said, ‘Fruit that last?’ We paused for a bit to celebrate birthdays for the month, had lunch that Grandma Linda had prepared and then celebrated with truffles that Pr. Lee Johnson had given us for the kids. After lunch, it was time for coloring different sheets related to the vine and the branches while the kids picked out sticks that Reggie had donated and used saws, files, sand paper and drills to shape their own walking sticks before applying the varnish. Thanks to all the adults that visited and spent time encouraging these young people. A special thanks to Pr. David and Faye Nichols for joining us. Everyone is excited about tonight’s Family Outreach at the Children’s Museum in Burlington and we hope to see many new families with children that we haven’t met yet.     

While Jesus hung on the cross, most of the disciples had chosen to not follow Him – but – “Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for His needs.” (Matthew 27:55)

to women of faith that even today have to carry much more in meeting the needs of Jesus because many men are caught up in the things of the world.

We are privileged to be friends with a wonderful elderly Christian lady in our community named Carolyn who has opened up her heart to the children in her neighborhood. What started with bringing some kids into her trailer to share Jesus with them has now evolved into 4 days of Kids’ Club every week. She has put a cover outside her trailer to provide a game room for the now 22 children from age 3-12. We would like to help her when she feels called to take them as a group outside her home when the Lord directs, but she doesn’t have access to enough booster and car seats.

If you have any seats or would like to start reaching out to children we would love to help and encourage you. If you can help Carolyn with the booster or car seats, you can drop them off at the Harvest Home, 9467 Pierce Lane in Sedro Woolley. We are in the “Harvest Home” part of our home on Tue-Fri from 10am-4pm. If we aren’t there, just come to the door of our residence. Or call us at 360-421-8811 or 360-421-8812. We have all been called to be “conformed to the likeness of Jesus” (Roman 8:29) who said, “Let the little children come to Me.” (Matthew 19:14). Please pray for those that are sacrificing to care for His needs.

Consider this. Children and youth can legally share their faith with others in their school, which is their mission field. We have the legal authority to come alongside them after school using that facility to encourage and strengthen them. Sadly, Child’s Evangelism Fellowship only has volunteers to stand with these young people at 2 of the 30 public schools in Skagit and Island county? Where are you, men and women of God?

For information contact Lynn Griffin at 360-333-7025.

     We had a new game to play today. The kids had scrambled letter tiles on the floor and had to spell a word they were given by pulling the tiles onto a circle drawn on the floor without using their hands. The words were from these phrases: We live by faith. We hope in Jesus. We give Him glory. We were excited to share that the final work on the primary school they helped build in NW Uganda was complete and the kids were in school. We started a new project to replace the mosquito nets for the orphans that live at the Nalidi Grace Primary orphan school in E Uganda. We will need 25 nets for the girls and 29 nets for the boys that costs $11 each in Uganda. We will also be trying to raise money for 21 sets of sheets to cover some of the foam mattresses that don’t have them. They now have $92 and are collecting their change to get them all. You are welcome to drop your change and empty aluminum cans off at the Harvest Home, 9467 Pierce Lane, in Sedro Woolley. We were again blessed to have Lynn and Christine from Child’s Evangelism Fellowship come and share their inter-active ministry which is always entertaining and brings the truth of God’s love to everyone.  Today’s focus was on “God’s plans are good!” and “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6) We will be meeting again on Saturday, Jan 25th, from 10am-12:30pm. Later that same day, we will have a family night at the Children’s Museum at the Outlet Mall in Burlington from 6-8pm. Please contact us for more information. 360-982-8159 or 360-421-8811.     

  What a beautiful day that the Lord provided for our last Harvest Kids fellowship of the year. After crushing cans that had been donated, these young people counted out their donated change and had $86 that will finish paying the money for the Comfort Africa ministry to orphans in Uganda and to pay the teachers of the Wambuti pygmy tribe in the DRCongo. Their next project will be replacing the mosquito nets for the orphans that attend and live at the Nalidi Grace Primary School in northeast Uganda. It was great to have Wayne and his mother-in-law, Stanny from Canada, and his wonder dog, Walker with us at Harvest Kids. Lynn, from Child’s Evangelism Fellowship, shared the story of Jesus, from birth to death and resurrection to the kids and they were able to help with the lesson. The “Word Up” for the day was, “God keeps His promises”. We are praying that our young people can be built up in God’s Word and strengthened before they enter their mission field in the public school at the first of the year.

   “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength. These commandments that I give your today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:5-9)

   Thank you to everyone that prays and support these young people as they become true disciples of Jesus Christ and agents of change in their families, schools, communities and around the world.