On Saturday, July 30^th we held our annual back-to-school ministry event, KidStock. The Lord blessed us with a beautiful day and provided all the needed resources for this wonderful ministry event. Families arrived by appointment and each school age child was given a nametag and backpack. Then the fun began! Families walked around playing carnival type games filling their backpacks with much needed school supplies. The day was filled with delicious treats such as cotton candy & snow cones, amazing clowns sharing God’s love through balloon art & laughter, fun filled inflatables, stories of God and His creation through the use of exotic animals by AnimalTales from western Kentucky, and numerous volunteers with hearts dedicated to Jesus and sharing His love.

Throughout the day each family rotated into the building where they were presented a skit of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. Then, in the solemn quietness of the moment, individual volunteers humbly knelt before each child, washed their feet, and placed a new pair of socks and tennis shoes on them while sharing the world’s most powerful message, the Gospel.

During this time, I had the privilege of sitting with a grandmother who is currently raising five of her grandchildren. As the children were having their feet washed, her eight year old grandson finished and came running over. Full of excitement, he said “Look mawmaw, my new shoes are orange, my favorite color!” I spoke up and told him that I loved his new shoes. Then I asked him if he knew who had given them to him. The boy responded, “The lady who washed my feet said Jesus did.” “That’s right!” I said, “God provided those shoes just for you because He loves you so much and cares for you.” At this point, all I could think to myself was “WOW! Thank you God for allowing me to be part of this!”

Backpacks, pencils, erasers, crayons, scissors, folders, paper, notebooks, socks, shoes – all of these are just tools that the Lord has given us to use during the back-to-school season to share His love! Our prayer is that as each child continues to use these items, they will be reminded of who provided each of them and why.

Praise God for all our generous donors and partners who made this ministry event a great success! Thank you for your prayers and for the many volunteers who came and served alongside of us for the day! Thank you for standing in the GAP! (Please click on the image above to view more photos of KidStock 2016.)