Incredible comebacks and new initiatives were made all over the province throughout the fall and Christmas seasons for Kids and Families in our churches and their communities! With the huge common denominator of fluctuating Sunday morning attendances and the rebuilding of a volunteer base in all churches, I celebrate them here with highlights:

Sintia Kraushaar reported from Cold Lake on a brand-new initiative:

"Our Kids Grow & GO Summit was amazing! We had just over 50 kids attend. Nearly 20 of those kids do not attend a church regularly. The kids loved the sessions, and my leaders did a phenomenal job!! The keynote address went well as well, and we had about 20 come forward to join me in following Jesus, begin talking with Him so He has us to listen to as He promises to hear us, and start listening to Him and doing things His way. It was so awesome. You can tell John thank you for the direction He gave at the teaching he brought us in the fall." Check out these highlights.

Pastor Alayne from Beddington in Calgary sent highlights of a November BP Kids Takeover for a whole service – 3 services! They did the praise and worship, the preaching and reading of scripture. It was amazing! Here's the link to their website if you want to see it and let it inspire you to try something similar!

Oasis Church in Grande Prairie:

Two movie events were hosted by Oasis these past two months, and attendance doubled for the second one – largely due to the "door knocking" invites the church people did! Kids who came to the movie and had not attended the church came on Sunday mornings! On December 3, a preteen boy brought a friend to the movie event, then to church the following day. Pastor Ivy prayed with him to accept Jesus into his heart and to be the leader of his life! Now he wants to bring all his friends to church and daily reads the Bible that was given to him. I can't wait to hear what will happen with January's movie event! Pastor Stephen also met with the local elementary school principal and had a great connection. Oasis will be providing a number of hampers for needy families in the school. Keep on Oasis!

Several of our churches hosted Trunk or Treat or Fall Fun events for families on or before October 31. They all reported their efforts were a 'Win" in their community and churches!

Pastor Jaclyn Wilkie from Freedom Centre in Edmonton reports that since last year's "Discovery," their church has been trying new strategies and Re-Launched their Kids Min as "Anchored Kids." Their attendance has quadrupled! They gained a lot of momentum through their outbound events like "Brickfest," "Fall Fest," and "Harvest Fest." Here are some celebration stats for Freedom Centre in this past year: Facebook engagement was up 105.6%, Kids attendance on a Sunday (0-12) quadrupled, Youth Group tripled, Sunday morning attendance almost tripled, first-time visitors 4-5 times higher! Go, Freedom Centre!

North Pointe in Edmonton had a live Nativity experience for their Family Christmas event. It was complete with animals, take-home crafts and treats! The Nativity experience was a prelude to the Children's Christmas Pageant led by Ashley Commandeur and an incredible team of assistants who helped very talented and enthusiastic children pull off a fantastic performance!

The Park Church in Sherwood Park was packed with people coming to see their Children's Pageant, and they also hosted a beautiful meal after for everyone. Pastor Kayla's inspirational message, "The Gift of Invitation," that followed was a challenge both to the churched and those visiting that morning.

In December, I was invited by Dana, the CM Leader, to attend the family event at Lighthouse Pentecostal Church in Stony Plain. The kids and youth did a presentation in the service. After the service, there was a banquet that included a beautiful meal, draw prizes and an intergenerational variety show of talent. I was excited to learn that from their community outreach pancake breakfast the day before, they had seven new people come for their Sunday event.

I believe children are the best "tellers" of the Good News of Jesus at Christmas time, and people are more open to the message delivered by them. Thanks, kids, for enthusiastically declaring Jesus' purpose for coming to earth as a human! Thank you, Children's Ministry Leaders, for your heroic efforts!

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