Partnership and a Pipeline
Posted on Tuesday, April 12, 2011 by
September 16, 2010
Partnership and a Pipeline
by Amy Jonson, Sozo Kids-City Life Volunteer
“I’m already seeing the benefits of our time at Baskin Robbins last week with the new 6th graders! After only two days of school, each of the kids has stopped by my room several times just to talk, give hugs, etc. I love being a team!”
This was an email from one of our friends who leads a ministry at Jason Lee Middle School, which is where almost all the kids in Hilltop attend middle school.
Let me back up a bit and tell you the context of this email and its significance. Several months ago, a local co-op preschool did a bake sale to raise money for Sozo Kids, which is a Late Night outreach for elementary-aged kids in the Hilltop. They raised $500 to buy Bibles for our kids!
Just a couple days before the first day of school for the Tacoma School District, a couple of our Sozo Kids leaders and two Jason Lee Campus Life leaders met at Baskin Robbins with four of our Sozo Kids “regulars” who had just graduated from elementary school and were about to enter Jason Lee. The purpose of the meeting was to introduce these 6th graders to the ministry leaders at their new school and to give them a present in honor of “graduating” from Sozo Kids. Each kid received a hard-cover Student’s Life Application study Bible . . . purchased with the money raised by the co-op kids!
The kids had never had quality Bibles with study notes, a concordance, and cool pictures and maps. The kids immediately sat down on the sidewalk and started pouring through their new Bibles. Our casual time together at Baskin Robbins turned into the best—and unplanned—Bible study that we’ve ever had with those kids. The kids started asking questions about topics in the back of the Bible, and we started reading the passages together that explained those topics. Our study only prompted more questions, which led us on a thrilling journey throughout the Old and New Testament.
At Tacoma YFC, God has created a “pipeline.” All of our ministries are working closely together, and as a result, we’re able to reach kids at an early age and walk with them from kindergarten through high school. Because of this pipeline, our kids who “graduated” from Sozo Kids are already connected and plugged in with our stellar leaders at Jason Lee Middle School.
Thank you to all of you who have financially supported our ministries, who have served, and who have faithfully prayed. You are all co-laborers with us in this pipeline!
-Amy Jonson