"K" is for Kid's Club . . .

"And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi,

Let me now go to the field,

and glean ears of corn after him

In whose sight I shall find grace.

And she said unto her, Go, my daughter."

Ruth 2:2  KJV
 

We built Noah's Ark in the
basement of the Meeting House

"K" is for Kid's Club . . . ' Kid's Club is the name of our Wednesday evening youth program here at Mooresville Friends Meeting. It began with three simple summer events - one each in June, July and August - lasting a few hours each. My younger three children, Nathaniel, Elizabeth and Catherine, helped in writing a grant that got this program started back in 2005 through the 'Youth As Resources' program of the United Way Agency of Central Indiana. The grant project was called 'Kids Uniting' and they received a $440 grant for their project.



Some of the animals
found in Noah's Ark

Kid's Club is a community 'outreach' program that also includes a bit of 'inreach' as well - reaching in to the Young Friends that we have in our Meeting and to our adult Friends as well. The Kid's Club program is a through the week ministry that provides a safe place for not only our Young Friends but also for neighborhood children to gather for spiritual growth and nurture. It's a program where we encourage the youth to grow in their faith and through it we are able to introduce Jesus to those youth and families from the neighborhood who may not know Him or know Him well. Our staff provides not only spiritual nourishment but also emotional and physical as well. As I'm sure is the case with all Meetings, we have those who are well gifted with leadership skills to work with the youth and those who we see the gift in and are working with to nurture those gifts - be it adults or our older Young Friends/youth.



Washing paint off
little hands . . .

Over the last nine years, since we began this youth ministry program, we've seen many changes in the adult staff, the programing - making up our own or using prepared youth ministry programing kits, as well as changes in the youth who attend. I believe the original program began for youth in grades 3 - 6 and has now grown to include youth from pre-school age (with the parent staying and participating with their child/children) through High School aged youth. Youth in Junior High - High School (7th-12th grades) are often times referred to 'Youth As Leaders' and serve as assistants with adults with the younger youth. This Spring we discontinued the 'Big Bucks Store' - a large variety of items that the youth could purchase with the 'Big Bucks' the received for attending, bringing a friend with them and for various other reasons. We've also gone from just a bit of a snack to serving a light dinner - pizza, pizza rolls, chicken strips/French fries, baked spaghetti, grilled cheese sandwiches, mac & cheese, raw veggies/dip, fruit and pudding cups trying to serve something to nourish their whole body. I over heard one of the boys ask as he came in last Wednesday "Did we miss dinner?" No, they hadn't missed 'dinner' it was a bit late, as they picked up 6 pizzas from Little Caesar's!



2014 Mother's Day gifts
Handprints turned
into butterflies.

When we first started out everyone was in one big group. Then when we ended up with the older youth, Junior High/High School age, we broke into two groups. Now, we've got four groups going - Preschool, Kindergarden - 2nd grade, 3rd grade - 6th grade and 7th grade - High School. For a while we even offered an adult Bible Study class - which took several different forms - including Bible basics for those who really didn't know the Bible and at one time the adults studied the same lesson that the youth were . . . so that they could talk about it when they got home as a family.



Christmas Program - We had
a lot of Angels in this one!

We meet from September - late May, following the school calendar, taking a break from mid-December through February - due to the unkind weather we had several years ago . . . we found it easier to not plan to meet during that time than to have to get the word out that we weren't going to meet due to bad weather. For two - three weeks in late November through mid- December, they youth work on a Christmas play of sorts, which is now the 'entertainment' for our all Meeting Christmas dinner - use to be our 'Salad Supper' which was a pitch-in dinner of various salads that we sat down to after decorating the Meeting House and the Friendship House for Christmas.  We take a break during the summer due in part to lack of participation, which made it hard to plan, and to give our adult staff a much needed break to pause and refresh ourselves and plan for the upcoming year.

 

Over the last 9 years I've played various roles with Kid's Club, for the last year or two (at some point it all runs together and you lose track of the time you've done something) I've been giving oversight in the kitchen . . . that is, I'm the one who finishes getting the snack/food ready, serves it and then cleans up.



So, are we on the right track? Are we doing things right? Are we meeting the needs of our community/neighborhood? Are we meeting the needs of our Young Friends and our Adult Friends? Is there something that we're missing? Something more that we could/should be doing?

 

From this outreach ministry we have had a few families come and attend worship with us and several families that have become members our Meeting, so I believe we're doing something right . . . we are building God's Kingdom . . . we are bringing the little ones to Him and even some of the bigger ones!



 

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Recipe time! From my mom's recipe file, another one of those cookies that only got made at Christmas. I'm not a nut person, so this is not one that I've eaten, but if my memory is right, this is one of my Godfathers' favorites . . . my mom's one and only sibling and her younger brother, my Uncle Dick.

 

Keeflies

(makes 18-20 dozen cookies)

4 cups flour

1 pound butter

6 large egg yolks, beaten

½ pint sour cream (or evaporated milk)

Preheat oven to 350˚ F. Ungreased cookie sheets.

Mix flour and butter like pastry; add beaten yolks and sour cream (or evaporated milk). Work until dough is smooth. Roll into long rolls as for ice-box cookies. Chill in refrigerator for 24 hours. Cut in ¼” slices; cut those into 4 pieces and roll in palm of hand into balls. Put on slightly floured board and roll each paper thin. Fill with following nut filling.

Nut Filling:

½ pound nuts, shelled

1 pound powdered sugar

6 large egg whites, beaten

¼ teaspoon lemon juice

Shell and grind nuts, add sugar, beaten egg whites and lemon juice. Put a teaspoon of filling on each little round of dough. Roll up like a jelly roll and curve into horseshoe shape.

Bake for about 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. May be sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Recipe from Mrs. D. A. Martin, and printed in  the South Bend Tribune, Indiana.