We started Reading Club last fall with 14 children, grades 1-5, carefully chosen from a hundred possibilities.
Many of these children live in tough circumstances. They may have gone through a crisis with their families or experience need on a daily basis. They are often surrounded by danger. Some are hearing the name Noah, Moses and Abraham for the first time.
And we have been tasked by God to make them into disciples who love to read.
I wish I had the space to walk you through the past year and detail the program that God laid out for us to follow with these precious, loud, (sometimes) rambunctious children. I wish everyone who reads this could have been on that journey with us. In short, we have seen children transformed by the healing power of God through one-on-one mentoring with an adult who can be trusted to love and nurture them.
The year began with some chaos, and ended with these children creating three different book clubs in which to participate. They voted on the books, formed the groups, read their selections and discussed them with each other! This would have seemed impossible at the beginning, but nothing is impossible with God!
More precious, however, is hearing them speak with growing spiritual and biblical literacy. This is particularly evident in the growing maturity of their questions about God and the Christian life. They are becoming disciples who love to read.
I can't wait to see what God does this year!
~Becky (Reading Buddy)