Kids
Two kids, three "water" realities, one story.
Adeline, an elementary student, was born and spent her first several years in Haiti. While living there, she had helped her family by collecting water: walking miles to draw it from a stream and then carrying it home, either in a jug at her side or in a jar balanced on her head.
Greta, another elementary student, had heard from her parents about places in the world where it was difficult to access clean water. She wanted to do something about that, so for her next birthday she planned a special event that would raise awareness among her peers. Greta invited friends to her house, where they carried water in her backyard.
TWO ADOPTIONS
At nine years old, Adeline was adopted into a West Michigan family, and through her peers and her "Shepherd" small group leader at Mars Hill Kids, she started hearing about a special event: local kids planned to walk to a stream and then draw and carry water, just like she'd done in Haiti. But this walk was different—lots of people planned to participate, raising money so other kids in the world wouldn’t have to spend hours fetching dirty water.
How did it end up there? That's simple. Greta's birthday event had sparked excitement in her community the year before: kids and families alike had adopted the mission for clean, accessible water. Backyard enthusiasm had turned into the "Walk for Water," an annual event that helped provide clean water for people halfway across the world. So later, when Adeline stood up in front of her peers and talked about Haiti, joining Greta and other kids as they practiced balancing jars on their heads, it was just another example of kids leading the way.
What compels kids to take what they know and then work to bring change? We believe it's I-B-M: when kids know their Identity as children of God and find Belonging in his family, they have little difficulty grabbing hold of a role in his Mission. That's why you'll find I-B-M woven through everything we do: from check-in to child dedications, from Bible stories to play time, from connecting in groups to rocking babies to sleep. Join us!
