NEW "PACKAGING" STRATEGY SUPPORTS EXPANDING YOUTH MINISTRY
AN INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S and youth ministry is taking on a new look and a new challenge in the coming months.
King's Kids International, the Youth With A Mission evangelism and discipleship program for five- to 18-year-olds, will appear under a different name in some parts of the world in an effort to reach a wider constituency.
"Over the past few years, particularly in English-speaking countries, the word 'kids' has suggested that our ministry is limited to working with kids, which in many people's minds refers to younger youth or children," said King's Kids International founder and director Dale Kauffman.
"For some English-speaking teenagers this can even be an offense, which is unfortunate since in reality we are probably working with far more teenagers and young adults than children, and our work with families is rapidly expanding as well.
"In some ways similar to Youth With A Mission's dilemma, our name spelled out has tended to misrepresent the full scope of what we are doing and, for some, created problems. So as many tend to use 'YWAM' instead of the full name, we are underscoring this freedom for our leaders as well."
King's Kids International leaders meeting in Korea recently agreed that ministries in different parts of the world can use the abbreviation "KKI" and then a description that best suits their local situation. "For example, in the United Kingdom they are describing themselves as ' KKI Children and Youth Ministries'," said Kauffman.
"At the same time we do not want to lose our roots or dismantle our worldwide ministry family network that identifies with the name King's Kids," he said. "We have rallied around that name for 23 years and we are not ashamed of it or trying to deny it. It's simply a way to make room for further innovation and development - packaging that better represents the true contents."
Founded in 1976, King's Kids aims to lead children and young people into "a proven knowledge of God" through mercy ministries, evangelism, discipleship training and practical ministry opportunities. KKI outreach teams use multicultural celebrations, sports, practical community service, intercession and travel study programs as vehicles of ministry.
King's Kids programs operate in over 150 countries, with thousands of young people also involved through the Go Network, an affiliation of local churches adopting KKI values and methods in their children, youth and family work. Hundreds of King's Kids missions outreaches take place every year.
KKI has also announced a new focus on reaching children and young people who do not know Christ. "It has been part of our plan from the beginning and something we have done through our short-term outreach programs, but we want to give it a very strong new emphasis in the days ahead on a year-round basis," said Kauffman.
"Too many people still think that KKI is limited to working with Christian children or doing eighties'-style dances to sweet music. But there is much more to our ministry family worldwide than that."
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