Many times I’ve watched the blue sky over Lake Michigan turn gray. Soon after, the rhythm of playful waves yields to a low grumble and growl; prelude to bad weather and consequences my community must endure.
Too often, lightning causes lights to flicker. Sometimes all goes dark. And quiet. Life makes a sudden, dramatic change when the power goes out. We hear: “Our crews will work around the clock to get the lights back on.” We trust they’ll fix the problems. We believe life will return to normal.
If only life worked like that for children. For too many kids, the light never returns after a storm. Eventually, they abandon hope that it ever will. And life’s noise keeps others from noticing their silence.
A missing parent or parents from divorce, death, illness, or incarceration. Desperation caused by short- or long-term poverty. Strained or strange relationships with adults. Frequent moves, meaning infrequent friends. Emotional challenges. Behavior challenges. Loneliness.
Every child arrives in this world with a bright light of hope inside him or her. But storms arrive. Sometimes children’s lights flicker. Sometimes they go out. To no fault of their own, the power turns off and life goes dark for kids from Orange County, California, to my home in Ottawa County, Michigan.
Try to read with only a faint light or in the dark. It’s just not possible. Even at school. Participate in a lesson to learn about God? Seriously? It’s not going to happen.
Reality check: A child with a stormy life will not sit at his desk Monday through Friday, or in a Sunday school classroom at church, and think: Okay, let’s forget all that stuff going on in my life and think about what the teacher is saying. Instead, he will arrive with his ability to learn and live and thrive locked up tight.
Think about this darkness whenever you hear or read about America’s education crisis. Or the challenges faced by those who seek to serve kids—whether in schools or at churches.
Budget cuts. Faculty cuts. Facility cuts. Swelling classroom sizes (schools). Shrinking class sizes (churches). School personnel and church personnel face similar, perfect storms: children who arrive with greater needs into a setting with less of everything to do anything. Both crews work around the clock to get the lights back on in kids.
But as this storm builds strength, light after light in child after child continues to go out—and the lock snaps shut.
But you and I hold a key. We can do something. We can help change lives, one at a time. Especially when churches and schools combine energy.
A children’s pastor told me about the relationship she’s built with the principal of a nearby elementary school. They swap information about behavior policies and practices, and also share appropriate information about children who face rough seasons. Their combined compassion helps kids more than their solo efforts.
In addition, we know that many children stand just one positive, loving adult relationship away from the light coming back on. When that connection happens, everything changes.
Our organization, Kids Hope USA, reaches elementary school children with mentors from local churches. Girls like Emma, whose dad lost a battle with cancer last summer. She spent most days with a finger in her mouth as she looked down—avoiding life. Darkness does that to a child. For five months, academic skill tests indicated the need for intensive intervention. Then a teacher requested a mentor for Emma.
During their first session together, the mentor tried to get Emma to talk. But the finger stayed in, and her head stayed down. Determined to make a connection, the mentor showed a family picture. Emma’s response: “My daddy died.”
“Mine did too,” whispered her mentor, who had lost her dad just two years prior.
As her hand went down to her side, Emma looked up and knew she had a friend who understood. And the light returned. In May, she tested above grade level. The school specialist credits the mentor’s emotional support.
Amazingly, every public elementary school in the county where I live partners with a church through a Kids Hope USA program. Every month, more communities express a similar desire—to see the faith community and education community work together.
Why? Because they understand their options: Live with the devastation of the storms or help the lights return.
The Bible tells us that the world began with these words: “Let there be light.” We need those same words today for children in my community, your community, and every community across this nation. Imagine the power and potential created when churches and schools work together.
If this idea causes sparks to fly inside you, contact your local principal to meet over coffee. Your treat, and make it good coffee. Then get in touch with our organization; we have a simple program run by over 630 church-school partnerships in 31 states. Do something, though, because too many young lives need their life to change. And you can make it happen.
And when you change a life, it’s no small change.
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David Staal, senior editor of Today’s Children’s Ministry and a mentor to a second-grade boy, serves as the president of Kids Hope USA, a national non-profit organization that partners local churches with elementary schools to provide mentors for at-risk students. Prior to this assignment, David led Promiseland, the children’s ministry at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois. David is the author of Words Kids Need to Hear (2008) and lives in Grand Haven, Michigan, with his wife Becky, son Scott, and daughter Erin. Interested in David speaking at your event? Click here)
©2011, David Staal
