Just for Kids Academic Year 2004-05 Report

 “Just before you were going to perform, I thought: ‘How on earth are they going to grasp the attention of this big number of noisy children.’ But after a few minutes, I couldn’t hear a single breath.” This is what one teacher told us after having seen the Just for Kids Program. This program was performed to over 9,000 kids at schools in Lebanon.

 During the academic year (04-05) many kids received the Book of Hope Scripture Portion in their schools and churches, Orthodox, Catholic, Evangelical and others. What was really interesting is that the teachers were asking for their copies of the Scriptures not only for themselves but for their own children too. Also after scanning the Scriptures, coordinators of different classes were asking for extra copies for the absent students, so they won’t miss it.

September was a month of writing, producing & rehearsing for new programs. It was a month of tension and hard work, but at the end, things turned out better than we had expected. Just For Kids’ academic tour started in schools through various programs resembling, Christmas Production, Gulf Tour, Birthday Parties, Television Episodes and Organic Program (USAID) and that’s all through live productions which included, clowning, pirates, puppetry, songs, and beautiful mobile sets.

Christmas Production:

“What a beautiful message”; “I loved the songs and choreography”; “This new team is cool” these are some of the comments we received from kids and teachers during the Christmas play. Eight members of “Just For Kids” team toured a mixture of schools in Lebanon, presenting the real meaning of Christmas to 7,475 kids in 42 performances. The message reminded the children and cleared out the real meaning of Christmas and how to celebrate it in our lives.

 Gulf Tour:

A Sunday school teacher came to us holding the hand of a child and says: He has something to tell you. The child, then, staring at the ground with a shy and smiling face with his barely audible voice says: “The play was beautiful”. “I loved the way you explained the proverb of the Sower and God’s Word”, said one head Sunday school leader.

Touring in the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman was an encouraging time for the people there and for us. Both the children and adults learned several topics through our creative and dynamic programs. In addition, many Sunday school and Church leaders were encouraged by what they saw and were inspired to start up “new” ministries at their churches. Overall, 8,375 children viewed our programs in 37 different churches.

 Birthday Parties:

Our new Activity is the Birthday parties that are being held by the team in different places, mostly at the JFK center. Different interesting segments are being presented to children. Many segments carrying various spiritual topics take a big part in the birthday celebration like: loving one another, helping others etc… And before cutting the cake and making a wish, we pray to God that he may help and bless the child to grow physically, mentally and spiritually as Jesus did when he was a child and that his wish may come true.

 Television Episodes:

It’s a new project where we celebrate any child’s birthday, and the chosen child for this event may be passing through different social, economical, or physical problems.

Having an interesting time with a little Armenian child, we celebrated a surprise birthday party for “Garbis” an eight years old underprivileged boy. It’s really sad to mention that when we asked him what he wants for his birthday as a present, his answer came shocking the team as he asked for Milk? Why Milk “Garbis”? You may ask for any toy you want? “Because my mom can’t afford to fix me a warm cup of milk.” “Garbis” lives in a small room with unpainted walls and a wooden ceiling. He has a couch for a bed and a kettle for a sink.

It’s a very physically and emotionally demanding project, but extremely rewarding when we leave a child with a smiling face, and wonderful memories.

 Organic Program:

In collaboration with World Vision and the USAID, we produced a 45-minute play about organic agriculture. It is part of the awareness program for elementary students in the Beirut area. The play was followed up with a game played by each class. The game taught the children on how to use organic methods we can protect plants from bugs.

 This project was highly rated by the schools we visited. “This is very effective, teaching a whole science class in a fun and dynamic way. Excellent!” said one school principal.