It Started as a Tadpole
Posted on March 12th, 2010.Many churches ask, “How can we show the love of Christ to our community in a meaningful way?” Our church was no exception. We did not want to guess at the needs of our community, so we decided to get out there and ask the people.
An almost unanimous theme arose from among those interviews – children need help! What developed was an idea for a kids’ summer enrichment program to assist them in their return to school. But how could we possibly implement another program when our church was already stretched thin in regards to monies and recruiting summer volunteers was so challenging? Holding another program in addition to VBS was simply “too much.”
In evaluating VBS, we were reminded that VBS was supposed to reach un-churched kids in our community. After reviewing how many children fit into that category, we realized it was basically next to zero. We came to the conclusion that our VBS’ were self-serving; cost a great deal of money; were huge, complex undertakings; and required a tremendous amount of volunteers. There had to be a simpler, more effective way.
After much prayer and pro-versus-con lists, I made the “executive” decision – there would be no VBS that summer (2008). We would put our meager resources towards a VBS alternative – one I entitled L.E.A.P. Frog (Learning Enrichment & Activity Program).
Maybe you ask, “How can a children’s enrichment program further God’s Kingdom?” In a word – connection. This gives us (the church) the opportunity to intentionally connect with our community’s children and their parents – opening avenues of communication. It gives us the opportunity to come alongside our local schools. It puts our Christian love and faith into action.
L.E.A.P. Frog has proven to be a successful alternative to VBS – one that has brought entire families to Christ, sparked a passion for our community and helped us all “grow up” in Him just a little bit more. It is my sincere prayer that God will use L.E.A.P. Frog to reach your community, whether your church is large or small, urban or rural.
Rev. Renee E. Leslie has been the Children’s Pastor at North Lakeport Wesleyan Church (Michigan) since 2005. She and her husband, Fred, have been married 37 yrs., have four grown daughters and (thus far) four grandchildren.
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This sounds like a great reach out for our children in the communities where ever you may reside. I would like more information on how it works. Great job Rev. Leslie.
I would love to hear more about your LEAP Frog program. We have come to the same conclusion about our VBS program. The same set of kids from 3 or 4 area churches go from one VBS to another all summer and have a lot of fun. Some learn something new, but we rarely find an unchurched child who comes to know the Lord thru VBS, even though that is our desire. We are a country church of about 60 to 80 in attendance on Sunday mornings. Our Wed. evening kids activity ROCK (Raised on Christ Kids) has grown from 10 or 12 to 25 in the last 2 years. I am leaving tomorrow for a week of vacation, but I’ll be back March 19th. I am the Christian Education Director for our church and am a retired teacher (36 years teaching special education at all levels–Kindergarten thru adults at various times. The last 18 years I taught bilingual special ed–English/Spanish. Sincerely, Sylvia Hutchinson
Thank you for your posts and questions about L.E.A.P. Frog. We are really excited to offer this program and offer it FREE thanks to Renee’s willingness to share her work. The concept is to provide an educational themed, back to school preparation program that will reach out to at risk kids and their families. It connects the local church to the local school system and offers the community a practical, ministry service. It is a wonderful concept. The program will include ideas for strategy, a timeline, promotional material, recruiting and worker training, suggested classes with sample lesson plans, and follow-up materials. It is in the final edit stage and will be up very soon – no later than April 1! Keep watching for updates!
Colleen Derr, Director of Children’s Ministries