Kid to Kid: Youth and Missions Ideas
By Debbie McGee

Have children in your church reach all the way around the world with “we care about you” projects for missionary kids.

Yes, fall is barely here, but the holidays aren’t that far off! If your church supports overseas missionaries, hows about having the children in your church reach all the way around the world with “we care about you” projects for missionary kids (MKs). Try these ideas.

Homemade Christmas ornaments, Crafters clay, available at most hobby stores, is pretty inexpensive and easy to work with. Teachers can have students use cookie cutters or create their own designs. Set up a team in the church kitchen that will be in charge of baking each class’s creations. Use acrylic
paints to decorate the ornaments after they’re baked. Placing a reshaped paperclip in the back of the clay before it’s baked makes it easy to hook the ornaments on a tree. (Look for Sculpey modeling clay for baking, or Crayola WetSet clay, which hardens in cool water.)

Care packages, Concentrate on collecting nonperishable items that MKs can’t get where they are. Peanut butter and grape jelly, Kool-Aid soft drink packets, and pizza dough mix are some things these all-American kids might not be able to get in other parts of the world. Do a little homework ahead of time to learn what various MKs miss the most, or ask the parents and kids directly via email.

School supplies, Whether they’re home-schooled, in national schools, or residents at mission schools, MKs will appreciate it when the children in yourchurch gather pencils and pens, binders and paper, backpacks, art supplies, and any other materials a student anywhere in the world might need.

Email greetings, Maybe the simplest gift of all. Compile a list of MKs with email access and their email addresses. Ask children from your Sunday school classes to write a pen pal-type note to one or more of the MKs listed. You might also provide the church computer and email address for those who don’t
have their own accounts at home, or ask them to handwrite their messages, and send them via snail mail.

Original masterpieces, Each Sunday school class can create a painting on butcher paper. Decide on a theme, and let each child paint a portion of the “canvas.” Be sure that all the students sign their names. When the masterpieces are dry, roll them up and ship them in a mailing tube.

Excerpted from Rev. Magazine