Hempstead Second Annual
Kids for Christ Day

Before the beginning of the camp meeting season in June, announcements were already being made for the second annual “Kids for Christ Day” at the Hempstead, New York, Apostolic Faith Church. The young evangelists were looking forward to the day. By the beginning of August, the leaders in charge of the Children’s Department had made colorful flyers to distribute, while other preparations were in full gear. As in 2007, “Kids for Christ Day” was on Labor Day. Even though it had been announced to begin at 10:00 a.m., no doubt a number of children woke up by themselves, long before dawn, and could hardly wait for the day to start. Some of the children who had been invited even called ahead of time to remind the adults who had invited them that they were ready. Everyone knows what it feels like for a child to wait for an exciting day!

Some of the adults were at the park before the start time to secure the spot and transport the food and drinks. The Lord was with everyone there and granted good weather. As soon as the children arrived, they started eating. They did not have to wait for noon when the barbecue was to start, because God had put it in the hearts of the leaders to prepare scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast. 

The breakfast came in handy as an energizer because before the barbecue was ready, three groups went out into the neighborhood to distribute literature. Each group was equipped with tracts in both English and Spanish, and forms to write down the information of those who had an interest in attending church or having their children picked up for Sunday school. Like it happened on the first “Kids for Christ Day,” the children did no less than what would be expected of evangelists, whether young or old. They cheerfully handed the tracts to people after greeting them. Generally, people did not refuse to take tracts from the children, even when they probably would have hesitated before accepting Gospel papers from an adult. By the time the groups had returned, the barbecue was ready.

The outfit for the day was the promotional T-shirt that has the church’s name and address printed on it. Only a few were made this year, which were given to children who did not receive one last year. That also served as our count of the number of new children who attended this year’s “Kids for Christ Day.” The majority of the newcomers were from our afternoon Sunday school site at Wyandanch. These and the other newcomers added up to over sixty children (not counting children who regularly attend Sunday school or church, parents, and other adults).

Even though the barbecue was ongoing, there was plenty of time for games and other healthy competitions for all ages, which enabled the participants to win lots of prizes.

The activities were over soon after 5:00 p.m., after goodies had been distributed and photographs were taken. Those who participated have every reason to thank God for favorable weather and a day full of blessing in every way!