Kids Small Groups

If you have not registered yet for the 2010-2011 season of Kids Small Groups, we would strongly encourage you to do so ASAP. The groups are quickly filling up. Also, pray about leading as volunteer leaders are the keys to making Kids Small Groups successful. Any questions, feel free to contact us at (949) 609-8638.

Otherwise, register by:
1) Coming by the church offices Monday-Friday
2) Stop by the Children's Building outside during weekend services
3) Go online to http://saddleback.com/lakeforest/children/ksg.html

Our time of planned ministry for Kenya and the entire All STARS 2010 Rwanda PEACE Trip officially ended today. And it ended on a high note! The team was entirely aligned and intentional through God's Word. We divided up into smaller teams in the morning for home visits. This is where God's glory shone as several team members shared the 5 purposes with pastors in their areas who in turn connected over lunch on where to go from here.



The afternoon we broke into even smaller teams to minister to children in schools, high school youth, church leaders, and women with special needs children. It was all about empowering the local church and raising up the PEACE banner in Kenya.



All in all there were many sad but powerful messages learned in Kenya. Our hope and prayer is that these are steps in the right direction as Kenya receives SO many missionaries, but sadly SO many missionaries doing more harm than good. We trust God for His will and plans most of all.



So, we bid everyone farewell on this journey of the All STARS Rwanda team as we enter into the final debrief process with Team #2. We have appreciated everyone's love and support more than words can express. Please continue to pray for this team as we debrief and process the past two weeks, particularly as the majority are on their very first international missions trip ever. We will look forward to seeing everyone's bright and smiling faces soon @ LAX or back at church!

It is hard to believe, but our time in the Land of a Thousand Hills has come to an end and we are now spending the remainder of our time overseas in Kenya.



Today we enjoyed a full day of ministry in the slums of Kenya. The team's eyes were truly opened up to what the global giants look like--live and in-person. What is seen on TV is nothing compared to the reality of being there directly in the midst of it all. Our prayers are mighty and strong that God will raise up mighty Godly leaders to slay the giants in these areas. There is great work to be done and we believe in an all-powerful God who can and will make all things possible.



Tomorrow is our last day of full ministry, so please be praying for the team as we begin the debrief process. With that in mind, we will go "offline" technologically speaking to focus 100% on the debrief process tomorrow night. We will look forward to one more update tomorrow and then covet your prayers as we debrief and depart for home in the days to come.

It is hard to believe...time has flown by...but today (Saturday 7-17-10) was our LAST day of ministry in the "Land of a Thousand Hills." We will be departing later tomorrow afternoon for a few days of ministry and R & R in Kenya before we arrive home.

Today was a memorable day as we completed the Purpose Driven Children's Ministry training with the children's leaders/workers. It was incredible to see how God opened up doors today. Pastor Justin commented that never in any previous trainings has he ever seen people truly grasp and hold onto the 5 purposes as they did by the end of our time together. Praise God! It will be exciting to return in a year or so to hear reports on how each of the different churches' children's ministries develop and bloom.

Then the afternoon was spent at the football field of the Technical School. As the teams completed their games, we gathered them together for a brief bit of God's Word. The focus was on "Respect" based on the story of Creation in Genesis. The players were challenged to respect the game of football and all that comes with it (i.e. uniforms, fields, coaches, referees, teammates).

Now we are gearing up for a much anticipated dinner before Church Day tomorrow. Pray that our transition out of the "Land of a Thousand Hills" tomorrow will go well. May the fire God has lit in each team member's hearts still burn brightly as we continue our ministry in Kenya.

We had an action-packed day of God's glory as we ministered throughout Kibuye.

The morning started off with a glorious time as Jeremy and Liza led the team in visioncasting Children's Ministry to the pastors of the ICC. It was an eye-opening moment in which these incredible church leaders grasped onto the keys of Children's Ministry and are ready to reach the next generation in incredible ways. One of the key ah-has was Dorothy sharing her insight as she is a model of Children's Ministry at Christ Gospel Fellowship in Kimironko.

Meanwhile, a small team of 6 (Susan, German, Christine, Corrie, Jessie, & Eric) visited the hospital. They spent time ministering to the patients through prayer, song and testimonies.

Then we reunited for lunch as a team with the ICC pastors and other church leaders. It was a time of fellowship that was thoroughly enjoyed...we wanted to cancel the rest of the afternoon's plans to just join in fellowship with our brothers in Christ.

But we persisted on as the entire team introduced the 5 purposes through Children's Ministry Leader Training to the "servants" (children's leaders/workers) representing the ICC's churches in Kibuye. The room was filled and they were challenged by our team, Dorothy & Pastor Justin to truly understand the first two purposes--Worship & Belong--in order to be the purpose-driven models to the children of their church.

And, of course, no day would be complete without time spent at the football field. We once again got to support and uplift the PEACE Football Club teams in a final practice before Saturday game day. As we lost sun, we divided into two teams all through God's intervention. Scott shared his testimony and led many older students from the technological school to Christ. At the same time, Eric shared his story and Jeremy led many children in the prayer of salvation. Even if many were rededicating for the 2nd, 3rd or 10th time we know that there were still many who were genuinely accepting Jesus into their lives for the very first time.

We praise God for a fruitful day. Today truly marks the beginning of INCREDIBLE things here in Kibuye. The gauntlet has been thrown down as far as raising up the Children's Ministries in the local churches. If they do not care for the children, who will?

We have arrived to the beautiful area of Kibuye where we will be enjoying 3 more days of ministry. Today we got a few hours in with the PEACE Football Club and it was truly a blessing. The morning started with a time of reflection and remembrance as we visited the Genocide Memorial in Kigali. It was once again a powerful experience that changed each team member's perspectives on those we are ministering to and with.

After a full morning/afternoon of travel we geared up quickly to spend a few hours with 4 of the PEACE Football Clubs. It was so fun to see how the game of football (soccer) can draw together kids throughout the community regardless of socioeconomic status.

It is hard to believe, but only three more full days before our time in Rwanda will come to a close. Team #2 still has a bit more ministry to go even after we depart in Kenya; however, it will still be extremely difficult to leave our home away from home.

PRAISE: Janean's energy is regaining and recovering every day. Your prayers have made a world of a difference and she is ministering alongside the team now much stronger and better than before.

Our time in Ruhengeri has flown by with lots of ministry time spent at Christ Gospel Fellowship church plants. Here are a few highlights:

• We received a warm reception as we climbed the hill to CGF Rusenge. There were memories shared from previous trips with Dave and Jeremy and many new ones made. David McSwain, Ariel, Eric & Corrie led the evening’s service on the idea of “Belong”. It was an evening filled with laughter and fun.

• Today we began with an impromptu but incredible message at CGF Ryandinzi. The focus was on what the world needs in Christians today – authentic living, courageous fighting, and sacrificial loving. The majority of the team banded together to communicate a powerful message.
• Finally, we managed to get through all 5 purposes in the Children’s Ministry Leader Training in a matter of 3 hours at CGF Ryandinzi. The children’s leaders and children were stretched in their understanding of the purposes for the next generation.

Time to hit the hay before we wrap up ministry tomorrow morning in Ruhengeri and then return for a brief overnight rest stop in Kigali.

Praise that Janean is healing and recovering slowly but surely. Continue to lift her health up in prayer and our travels around Rwanda.

We enjoyed a WONDERFUL day at church at Christ Gospel Fellowship today. While the team is still slowly but surely adjusting the time difference, they pushed through with energy and love. The majority of the team ministered to the hundreds of children of CGF. Meanwhile, Dave Plaza led a teaching team of men this morning in the Bible Study teaching (Scott, David, German, Eric, Trenton & Christopher). Then in the main service later in the morning Jeremy and Liza tagteamed to encourage the adults in caring for kids with five key principles.

The afternoon was all about preparations for the ministry that lies ahead as we prepare to depart for Ruhengeri first thing tomorrow. The team seems confident and ready to challenge children's ministry leaders in Ruhengeri in how they reach out to the next generation.

Please lift up in prayer Janean as she has not been feeling well today. Pray she gets the much-needed rest she needs to be ready for what God has in store ahead.

This meant a lot to Team #1 and #2 in different ways...

Team #1 is arriving shortly (literally in a few minutes hopefully) to their home sweet homes in California. They had an unforgettable two weeks in Africa. If you see a Team #1 member, be sure to ask them about their top Memories & Moments (M & Ms). We were so very blessed to call each other family over the past two weeks and walk away with changed lives because of it all.

And then Team #2 has now arrived to "home sweet home" in Rwanda. It was a long day of fighting sleep and weariness, but the team is now snuggled up in bed for some much-needed rest. Pray for the team's restored energy and strength as we get ready for church day tomorrow.

Hard to believe but Team #1 is wrapping up their time in Rwanda. We're @ the airport awaiting our flight to Nairobi as we begin the debrief process. During this time we will not update the blog so we can focus on the debrief time as a team. Appreciate your prayers at this time.

It was both with excitement and sadness that we went into our team's last full day of ministry here in Kibuye and in Rwanda. We started off the morning with home visits and hospital visit. Jeremy and Liza took Ariel, Adam & Jon to the hospital while the rest of the team broke into family groups to go visit 2-3 homes in the Kibuye community. Each home is part of the Community Peace Training where they are striving to improve their basic living conditions (i.e. protection from malaria, clean water). It was a true privilege for each of our team members to sit down more intimately with Rwandan families.

The afternoon was soccer-packed again as we helped support practices at the Kibuye stadium. No day would be complete though without a pick-up game of football. It was classic Muzungus vs. Rwandans and we got our butts kicked 4-1. All was in good fun and we had a blast with our Rwandan football family.

Tonight we will pack up as we head back to Kigali for one evening before our time in Rwanda concludes. This has been a whirlwind of a trip, but an incredible one with hundreds of stories and millions of pictures to bring home.

Did you know that even God--our all-mighty, powerful Heavenly Father--had a day of rest?!?! If Sabbath was good enough (and important enough) for God then it better be for our All STARS PEACE Team to Rwanda, as well.

Today's day of Sabbath (Sunday) also marks a day of celebration. One because it is the 4th of July back in the US of A. But two because it marks Rwanda's Liberation Day from the 1994 Genocide.

We spent the morning at 4 different churches spanning the variety of denominations--Anglican, Baptist, Methodist & Pentecostal. Our team was blessed with these unique opportunities and was able to share our hearts in many different ways.

In the afternoon, we took in a little R & R time by visiting Bat Island and then relaxing at Peace Island. After much boat time, volleyball, Fantas, swimming and more we were ready for dinner and then into bed.

It is hard to believe this journey for the All STARS 2010 Rwanda Team #1 is drawing to a close. Please pray for the debrief process for each team member by name. It will be a unique experience for everyone and we pray for God's presence through it all.

These two sounds define our day here in Rwanda...

MOO - the sounds (sort of) from the Rwandan cows that we visited. We followed up on the 2009 Summer Spectacular Mission Project. It turned out to be an incredible blessing as all of the ICC pastors (the Inter-Church Council in the western region of Rwanda) were present to show off their proud efforts. There are 15 cows in well made stalls and the first baby was born just two days ago. Our team fed the cows, prayed over each one and even had the honor to name each of the cows. We closed out our time in prayer over the land that they are desiring to build a technical school.

YAHOO! - the PEACE Football Club had their first day of games in their FULL uniforms. It was such a blessing to see the joy overcome each child's face when they received their very own jersey and shorts. Cheers and support resounded from our team for hours. We also helped each team to end their games with God's Word. Today we taught them about respect, thinking about all the character traits of God and how we too can respect others (i.e. coaches, referees).

Being out in the sun has tuckered us out. We are going to go eat dinner and then hit the hay in preparation for church day.

** Please pray for the team's health as there are a few upset tummies and dehydration after today's long day in the sun **

After a LONG day of travel yesterday, we spent a FULL day doing God's work throughout the Kibuye region. We were sad to separate the team for the majority of the day, but as we know--the harvest is plentiful and the workers are few. In the morning, Liza & Jeremy took the "older kids" (Ariel, Adam, Jonathan, Hannah & Kayla) to lead spiritual leader training the 40+ coaches and referees of the PEACE Football Club in Kibuye. At the same time, the remainder of the team (parents & younger kids) led by Jessica Schuster visited two schools in Kibuye. It was a wild and crazy time as they shared God's word through song, testimonies and lessons.

The afternoon was much the same as the morning, just in a different setting of Rubengera. This time was spent at just one school and with about 25 coaches and referees.

To end the day, nothing could be better than a little football. At first it looked like it would be the Muzungus against the Rwandans (USA vs Rwanda). But they thankfully realized that would be an entirely unfair advantage so we intermixed and played an energy-filled game of football for about an hour before we lost sunlight.

Now we are wrapping up the evening with World Cup. There is NO better place to be than the heart of Africa when Ghana is leading at the half against Uruguay. GO GHANA!

We apologize for the delay in a new post. The next day (which I believe was Tuesday last) the Internet was not longer working at our hotel. We hoped it would return the next day, but still no luck. But, now we are in Kibuye and we have Internet...very slow Internet, but connection nonetheless.

Here's a brief update as we are winding down a long day of travel and ministry:
* Tuesday - completed Children's Ministry Training with the Wheeler, Ruiz & Brase family knocking it out of the park. The leaders working with children were inspired and challenged to reach out to the next generation in a whole new way. We also visited a moving genocide memorial at a church; team members walked away changed with a whole new perspective of Rwanda and the people. Finally, the Ruiz family boldly led the night's Bible study message at the church.
* Wednesday - the day began divided between men and women. The men led based upon materials from "The Herd" Men's Ministry. The men were empowered and eager to start their own "Herd" here in Rwanda. Meanwhile, the women looked at what a Proverbs 31 woman is all about. A woman called Rita shared her testimony during the time that truly exemplified Proverbs 31. We all walked away better men and women (boys and girls) because of our time. Then the afternoon was jam-packed with relationship building as we did home visits, spent time with the Mutabazi's and then had several Rwandan friends and family over to our hotel for dinner. A great final day to our ministry in Kigali.
* TODAY (Thursday) - we travelled to Kibuye for the bulk of today (western region of Rwanda). After a quick respite and checking in, we were off to the soccer fields of Bugesera where we practiced alongside the PEACE Football Club teams. It was truly a blast to see the organization and fun had by the boys.

Well, off to bed and hopefully will update again soon.