Kids Small Groups

The SK Hong Kong Team had a once-in-a-lifetime R & R grand finale at Noah's Ark. What special bonding together as a team to close out their action-packed time.  Truly a unique and wonderful team that was so loved and appreciated and affirmed by the Saddleback Hong Kong team. These special connections will be forever held in their hearts. 

Now the team is "all aboard" on the plane ready to come HOME.  Pray for safe travels. Pray for final rest.  Pray for a great time to rest and reflect on all that they saw, felt, and experienced during their action-packed week in Hong Kong. Track their flight CX #991 as they touchdown in LAX Sunday early afternoon.  Can't wait!

So at some point in all this blogging I think I have mashed up and/or confused days...SO sorry about that...the 15 hour difference is messing with my brain. Nonetheless, I have been keeping up diligently with Mr. Randy's glowing reports and know that the team is FEELING your powerful prayers.  They are now blessed to TODAY enter into the debrief and reflection day of their time in Hong Kong. And man do they have LOTS to reflect on and remember during this action-packed, fun-filled time in Hong Kong.

I think that some messages I have received from the Saddleback Hong Kong staff summarizes it all. They bottom line said that this is the BEST reflection of a PEACE team that they have ever received.  Mr. Randy is, of course, such a wonderful leader constantly keeping the team encouraged and empowered to do well beyond what anyone could have ever imagined.  And the kids have knocked the socks off so many people with their heart stories and their hearts to be present with everyone.  What a team! They deserve this day to just kick-back, have fun, and ENJOY Hong Kong.  Pray for their day to rest, relax, and reflect on all that God did to get them to Hong Kong, the powerful impact and inspiration in Hong Kong, and the life-change that they will carry with them forever after.  Great stuff!

Wow is God SO very good. The team requested prayers for Hannah & Rosalee Rodda as they may have eaten something that disagreed with their systems the day prior...but due to the time difference and posting this is the first you're hearing about it. Well, the power of your prayers in general covering this team are felt and heard.  Rosalee is back up today (Thursday 7/25) 100% and Hannah is at least 50% there. Praise God! They were able to join the team for family night fun at Saddleback Hong Kong.  Well prior to this answered prayer...

 Another FULL day of ministry wrapping up Main Event. Catherine is with her group that she is leading. SO FUN!
 Angelika boldly shared her testimony at the NGO


Also at the NGO, Bethany beautifully shared the salvation message of Christ with a science experiment. The kids loved it and we heard a lot of ooo's and aahhh's at the powerful illustration shared about all that Jesus did for us.
The pic on the left is the blessing of getting to share the love of Jesus at the NGO.  Through worship songs, Bible message, testimonies, Christian crafts, snacks and games the team deeply impacted the lives of these kiddos.

 Finally, a heartfelt wonderful story. This young boy was a major "God moment" for the team. The team did a salvation message using a visible message with balloons and then asked the kids if they wanted to accept Christ to raise their hands. Well, this little guy was one of the many kids who raised their hands. Shortly afterwards, Hannah shared her testimony and Rosalee shared with the kids the sinners prayer. The team has a VERY special photo of this little boy praying. When the team returned today (Thursday), he was wearing his cross necklace and this photo shows him looking at the invitation to come back to the local Saddleback Church family night. While at the NGO the team has shared the love of Christ and then directed them to the local church to learn how to truly belong to God's family and to grow in Christ. Please pray for this young boy and all the children our team encountered. Pray we see him and his family tonight at the Family Night. Amen!

 The team served God by assisting in the preparation of snacks @ Main Event. Truly an example of stepping up to serve however and whenever and wherever needed.

Full day #3 is DONE and man was it impactful to be a part of all that God is doing through Saddleback Kids Hong Kong & Main Event. Man have they each risen up and been superstars in incredible ways!  It was a BEAUTIFUL day of ministry. So many memories & moments. Main event, WOW, the energy and interaction with the kiddos was off-the-charts. The NGO, the kids had SO much fun, and the testimonies were POWERFUL. To see them raise their hands and pray to accept Christ was an indescribable God moment.

Pray for the team as they get a MUCH needed night's sleep. Pray as they prepare to be part of an exciting video at Saddleback Kids Hong Kong that will truly uplift and encourage Kids Small Groups unlike ever before. Pray for the words to flow from the students and parents/leaders. May they be lights of encouragement and wisdom after the impact of connecting deeply with God & others through Kids Small Groups over the past years.

Message direct from team leader, Randy Wong:
We are so excited for the lives that are going to be touched and changed by God through Main Event. Yesterday, each of you played an important role during our full day of set-up, and your labor did not go unnoticed. Although the kids coming to Main Event will be completely unaware of the countless hours spent in set-up and preparation, God noticed. You are a truly amazing team!

Prepare the hearts of the kids!May the Lord guide the team as they embark on Main Event!

God is good and He has truly challenged but uplifted the SK Hong Kong team in mighty ways.  There were definitely some nerves as the team not only acclimating to the 15+ hour time change but then also were asked to speak in the main service (at each of the 3 morning services) about Kids Small Groups.  Randy introduced at each service while the Briney girls did the 10:00 am testimony to KSG's impact, the Rodda girls did the 12:15 pm and the Biasbas ladies shared at the 3:00 pm service. Man were their words all well-prepared and fully God led. Truly inspirational. Now pray for the ears that heard the words so that they will register their kids or step up to lead in KSG.  God stretched each team member mightily and the congregation was blessed to hear how God is moving in and through them because of children's discipleship.

Before/after being on-stage the team lit up and shone God's light with lots of greetings and love. Smiles abounded throughout the room because of the team's welcoming touch and words.  Their love for Jesus was evident and shared with every person they met in the service...which they were blessed to first attend under Pastor Stephen's leadership and then served in Saddleback Kids the next two.




Bottom line, the team has been blessed with precious bonding from the bus ride, to the plane flight, to the hotel time, and then starting to serve right away.  Something extra special they are preparing for (in the pic below) are care packages for an NGO that will be touched to have not just visitors but Christian visitors share with these underprivileged kiddos (some even orphans). Pray for these simple items to reflect God's love as I know each team member's hearts and prayers were poured into it while packing. Can't wait to see the connections form when the team goes to visit in the next few days.

It is official as of 7:08 pm in Hong Kong (15+ hour difference from here in the Pacific Standard Time zone) that the SK PEACE team has ARRIVED.  It was a long flight and the team is exhausted after the flying, collecting bags, and getting to hotel. But they are in great spirits and ready for a good night's sleep to catch up on the missed rest in-air.  Keep the prayers coming as the kiddos are going off of maybe 2 hours of sleep on the plane...inevitable excitement for what is to come in Hong Kong. Despite sleepy heads the team is having fun, bonding, and ready for what God has in store tomorrow!

Our 4th and final SK PEACE Team is off and running. The 11-person SK Hong Kong team gathered together this morning @ 8:30 am for prayer and packing up. Just as all of our teams, they faced spiritual attacks up to the wire which only affirms how GREAT God is going to be glorified through this team. Pray for them on their long flight to Hong Kong as they'll then hit the ground running with services @ SK Hong Kong promoting KSG and then Main Event all week long. Going to be a GREAT time for this team. Bond them. Unite them. Let them have pure silly fun (as the bottom picture shows). Be with them 24/7.

US Passport Control was a ghosttown at LAX so after a sleep-filled smooth flight home it was an easy reentry process. Bags and people are loaded onto bus with ETA back at MO2 around 10-10:30 am. Can’t wait to share all about what God did this past week!

UPDATE WE ARE HERE @ MO2!

Hard to believe that the LAST full day of ministry took place today. And what a joyful finale to this fast-paced, fun-filled time in Argentina.  We got to spend incredible quality time with our brothers and sisters from Tigre. In particular, the Tigre Teens ministry as it just started in March and seeking to build the relationships. The morning started with two devotionals--Eddie led the one with the teens and Jeremiah led the one with the adults. The connections started immediately with the morning encouragement. From there, a lot of time spent simply "being" as our kids played with theirs and knit together the body of Christ beautifully. All the kids even helped prepare bag meals that would later be delivered through their homeless ministry that evening.  Took a powerful break from playing and chatting to share stories. Four of our kids shared-Tyson, Emma, Bailey & Gabriel-alternating with 4 of the Tigre kids. Tears were shed, smiles were lit up, and hugs were shared over the life-changing stories by all. Well done. We ended our time sharing a delicious meal of hamburgers and chorizo from our incredible host, Juan. And we were blessed to share Dylan's 12th birthday with him so some cake was definitely in order.

After all this connection time in the morning until afternoon we headed to Saddleback BA for the grand finale of Kids Small Groups there. Don, Tiffany, and Michelle got to shadow the KSG leaders in 101, 201 & 301 alongside groups of our kids.  Meanwhile, the remaining adults led a time of encouragement and discussion with the KSG parents. It was helpful for the KSG BA parents to hear the same struggles yet glorious riches taken from discipling our children through KSG at Lake Forest, Irvine South, and Irvine North. It was inspiring to wrap up the time with the KSG BA parents being so vulnerable about their struggles and how they can best support one another as bonded KSG families. Truly a beautiful time shared all in preparation for the BIG things that God is doing here in Buenos Aires. Grateful for Ceci's faithful leadership, perseverance, and sacrificial love for these families and kids. Unbelievable!

Our bags are packed (or in process) and we are preparing for a day of touring the country and also debriefing and affirming this wonderful week.  Please track accordingly with American Airlines flight 992 for information of our arrival. We'll try to update at end of day that we're on the plane but all depends on connectivity or lack thereof.  If not, we'll look forward to lots of hugs and kisses back at home on Friday.  Until then, pray for the debrief process and lives forever changed.

Today we FINALLY got to "sleep in". I say that in finger quotes as the late nights are REAL late with Monday night's dinner commencing @ 8:00 pm (VERY early for Argentina, in fact the restaurant just opened then) and then wrapping up @ 10:30 pm.  So bedtime was barely before the next day started for most.  Oh well, the team continues to push onwards with great attitudes and wonderful servant hearts.

We started the day with precious time in Moreno again at our "home church" there.  We spent an hour encouraging those who work with children in how to best be intentional, interactive, fun, and connecting in their ministry.  Darmawans, Chens, Wus, and Palmers each took a type of learning-style (auditory, reading/writing, visual, and kinesthetic) to bring children's ministry to life and help them create plans.  It was stand-out as the Darmawans co-led worship with ISOS worship leader, Chens included the ISOS kids in a skit, Wus brought simple yet powerful object lessons and Palmers wrapped up with a fun paper airplane game.  Then Pastor Joaquin beautifully transitioned from focusing on the little ones, just as Jesus did, to what our families have taken away from their time in Argentina. The Goleys, Chengs, Dudlestons, and Minos had this section handled well. They shared from their hearts how they came to come to Argentina, the highlight God moment and how their lives will be forever changed.  It was truly a special, beautiful farewell to our dear friends in Moreno.

Then the evening closed out serving alongside our Saddleback Buenos Aires KSG families as we traveled to another manedero (soup kitchen) that Saddleback BA specifically partners with. We brought delicious chocolate and regular churros and were able to integrate in several games, crafts, and God's love during our few hours there. We even got to deliver and gift all the blankets to these kiddos. Well worth the cutting and tying for hours at end. (Sorry not a lot of pics as it was tight quarters and FAST-paced)

Nothing like wrapping up another ministry day with some "comfort food" from home (at least it sounds familiar) but it ironically tasted so much better/meatier - McDonalds.  The team can hardly believe ONE final full day of ministry before the debrief process and long journey home on Thursday. Pray for God to use the team in BIG ways on this final day. Help those who have fears to push them aside and rise up to share so they can go BIG before they go home. Thank you for the continued prayers for health and safety...they are felt, heard, and being answered. Love you!