Operation Kid-to-Kid

Operation Kid-to-Kid™ Blankets a Hurting World with God’s Love

Tonight in countries around the world, children will go to sleep hungry and cold, without parents, without homes...without hope. Now your ministry group can send a simple, tangible expression of God’s love to those in need.

Group Publishing, the premier publisher of children’s Bible curricula, including Sunday school and VBS, believes that some of the best ministers to children who are experiencing disaster and hardship are other children. Through the Operation Kid-to-Kid (OK2K) program, Group partners with nondenominational Christian ministries like Biblica (formerly International Bible Society) and World Vision to provide opportunities for children in North America to share God’s love with other children in difficult or disastrous situations. In 2009 alone, Operation Kid-to-Kid reached almost one million children. Since its inception 12 years ago, Operation Kid-to-Kid projects have impacted over 4.5 million kids and their communities all over the world. Highlights include:

· Over 100,000 care kits distributed to countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, and Albania

· More than 380,000 gift boxes sent to needy children worldwide

· Over 310,000 pairs of shoes and 200,000 pairs of socks given to orphans across the globe

· Over 1.5 million Spanish Bible books delivered worldwide

· More than a million cuddly prayer bears and copies of The Survivor’s Bible provided free of charge to underprivileged children all over the world

“Operation Kid-to-Kid is a great way to teach kids compassion and service,” says Joani Schultz, cofounder of Group and OK2K. “Children learn by doing. It’s one thing to drop a nickel in the offering plate, but when kids make a gift with their own hands, when they can be creative and personal, this leaves a real impression on both the givers and the receivers.”

This year’s OK2K project is a simple no-sew fleece blanket that proclaims “God Loves Me!” right in the fabric. Each 56” by 42” blanket will also include a hidden surprise—a little white heart concealed between the fleece layers. The heart is a sweet secret kept by those who create the blankets, one that symbolizes God’s love for the world and our love for others. Project participants are encouraged to pray specifically for the unknown person who will receive the blanket as they tuck the heart inside.

The OK2K blanket can easily be incorporated into any Sunday school or VBS curriculum. This year, the “God Loves Me” blanket is included as a special activity in Group’s two new 2011 VBS programs, Egypt: Joseph’s Journey from Prison to Palace and High Seas Expedition. The multi-generational participants will learn about the 40 million children around the world who are desperately vulnerable because of the AIDS pandemic and the effects of extreme poverty. Through Group’s partnership with World Vision, blankets created this year will reach children in Africa coping with the pandemic’s effects on their communities or families, including those who have been orphaned. Instructions for delivering the blankets to World Vision for distribution are included with each blanket kit. To make the gift extra special, churches can send a personalized “God Loves Me” coloring book with each blanket.

Over the years, OK2K has become one of the largest forces mobilizing children in serving other children around the world through gifts of school supplies, Bibles, hygiene kits, Christmas gifts, Bible coloring books, and socks and shoes. But the ministry opportunities are not just for kids. Between recent natural disasters like the earthquake in Haiti and the lingering effects of the global economic crisis, there are more opportunities than ever for Christians to show the love of Christ to others in need—and not just for a VBS event. Operation Kid-to-Kid can mobilize service projects any time of the year. Because the “God Loves Me” blanket project is so simple and practical, it is a perfect fit for a variety of ministry opportunities, from youth or women’s groups and short-term mission trips to neighborhood outreach initiatives and ministry to the homeless. With a little imagination, a ministry group of any size and age can customize the project to support its own ministry vision.

“For many of us, a mission-focused heart is something that develops over time. Like any aspect of Christ’s character in us, loving others like Christ loves them takes practice. This is a lesson for adults as well as children,” says Schultz. “Hopefully, OK2K service projects like the ‘God Loves Me’ blanket will encourage Christians of all ages to commit greater time and resources to missions.”

To find out how you can get involved, visit http://www.ok2k.org/!

Book "Stuff Christians Like" by Jonathan Acuff

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This book is divided in ten major chapters and the author writes about the topics in those chapters in deep details, giving his perception of many common situations that we see happening during services at Christian churches.

The author uses all his sarcasm to describe all situations that happen in a daily basis not only at the church, but also at the office, basically anywhere, that are related to the Christian faith. In one hand, this book is extremely funny and if you are willing to laugh out loud, you could not choose a better book. In the other hand, the author nails deep in our conscience. It is like a “wake up call”, and if we start thinking about what he is writing, instead of laughing we should be crying. He just describes the naked truth of the current status of situations happening inside our faith. He has a great sense of humor and perception. Some chapters are really hilarious, like how to handle the handholding situation during a service.

God is not a joke. We need to take God seriously, and that does not mean that we cannot have fun and laugh, but when we start judging people by what they do or what they don’t do, we start trying to act as God. Thanks to the author for allowing us to note and meditate on how several times silly things can distract us from the things that really matters.

This book is classified as a Humor/General Book and was written by Jonathan Acuff in 2010.

It took me around 7 hours to read this book.

My Rate: 4 Stars

If you want to buy this book, use the link:

Book "Bible Jumble for Kids" by Christopher Hudson with Megan Chrans

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Book "The Right Call" by Kathy Herman

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This is a mistery/christian book written by Kathy Herman in 2010. It was published by David C.Cook also in 2010 and The B&B Media Group was kind enough to send me a copy for reviewing through their blogger book review program.

This is the third book of a series called Sophie Trace Trilogy.
The history develops in a city close to the Great Smoky Mountains named Sophie Trace. Our Hero, Ethan Langley, returns from college to spend his summer vacation with his family, and he is willing to see where his friendship with Vanessa Jessup (daughter of police chief Brill Jessup) might lead. But a series of events will shake his world and he will face a hard decision. He can either help the authorities supplying information that will help them breaking a shooting case but at the cost of endangering the life of his loved ones, or he can chose a path that is also equally dangerous. Will he make the right call?

Although I did not read the first two books of this trilogy, the history holds as a stand alone history. But having liked the style of the author, I am eager to read the first two books of this series. The book goes deep into the problem of addictions, as mentioned by the theme of the book, a passage from 2 Peter 2:19b: “A man is a slave to whatever has mastered him”. For our history, some addictions are to gambling, lying, smoking etc.

In general, this is a very easy reading book (it took me about 13 hours to read it), very entertaining and with an excellent plot. If you enjoy a good suspense, this book is for you.

If you want to know more about the author, visit http://www.kathyherman.com/.

Publisher information can be found at http://www.davidccook.com/.

My Rate: 5 stars

Book "Will The World End In 2012?" by Raymond C. Hundley, Ph.D.

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This is a religious/christian life book written by Dr. Raymond Hundley in 2010. It was published by Thomas Nelson also in 2010 and they were kind enough to send me a copy for reviewing through their Booksneeze - Book Review Bloggers Program.

Holding a bachelor degree in theology, my main interest was always eschatology. The author does a magnificent job analyzing ten "end of world" prophecies during the first ten chapters of his book, and giving his point of view on each one with a conclusion at the end of each chapter, summarizing with logical arguments the validity (or not) of each prophecy. He covers the mayan prophecy, solar storms, the Large Hadron Collider, predictions of Nostradamus, reversal of magnetic poles, collision with another planet, Earth’s alignment with the galactic plane, eruption of a super volcano, the WEB Bot Project and finally some religious predictions of the end of the world. And his conclusions are coherent with Christian theology.

In general, this is a very easy reading book (it took me a little more than 5 hours to read it), very entertaining and hopefully the reader will be more at easy with the growing hysteria of 2012 end of the world. The end of the world as we know it is no different from the end of our individual personal lives. We should always be prepared for that.

My Rate: 4 stars

Book "Sleep - It Does a Family Good" by Dr. Archibald D.Hart

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This is a Family & Relationship/Health book written by Dr. Archibald D.Hart and published in 2010 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. and they were kind enough to send me a copy for reviewing through their Tyndale Blog Network Program.

The book is divided in three parts. In the first one, named “Understanding your family’s need for sleep”, the author shows some impressive numbers, like 3 out of 4 people in USA having some kind of sleeping problem. He also mentions when talking about animals in general, that for some species, food and sleep are equally vital for survival. The second part of the book is named “Determining your family’s sleep problem”. Here Dr. Hart teaches how to evaluate sleep habits and how to analyze sleep disorders like apnea, RLS or sleepwalking. The third part is “Overcoming your family’s sleep deprivation”, where the author teaches how to help our children to sleep better, talk about marriage and sleep patterns and how to manage what he calls a “sleep bank”.

Overall the book is a “wake up call” (sorry for that, Dr. Hart!), showing how important a good night’s sleep is for our sanity in general and for our spirituality. After reading this book you will never again think that sleeping is a waste of time!

My rate is 4 stars.
Number of Pages: 217 (It took me approximately 7 hours to finish this book).

Book "The Revolutionary Paul Revere" by Joel J. Miller

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This is a biography from Paul Revere written by Joel J. Miller in 2010. It was published by Thomas Nelson also in 2010 and they were kind enough to send me a copy for reviewing through the BookSneeze.com Book Review Bloggers Program.

The book tells us the story of Paul Revere, an apprentice in this father’s silversmith, husband, father of sixteen children, soldier, entrepreneur and war leader. Miller describes with vivid language Paul’s financial struggle, the grieving father when burying his child and the fearless activist fighting for something he thought was a just cause, using his talents. But although this book was supposed to be a biography, it is also an American history book, giving some insight view on the infamous Boston Massacre, the Tea Party, the Battle of Lexington and Concord etc.

Joel J. Miller did a magnificent research job and he had all the elements necessary to compose a very boring book, but instead he transformed his research into a very enjoyable reading experience. It is a very inspirational book where we learn a lot about loyalty, hard work, and willing to help your community. I am not that much into Biographies but definitely this book is an excellent reading choice and also a learning opportunity for all history lovers or anyone wanting more information of the Revolutionary War.

My Rate: 4 stars

Book "Christmas" by Agatha Christie

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This is a Mystery book written by Agatha Christie in 1938. It was also sold with different titles, as “Murder for Christmas” and “A Holiday for Murder”.

The book features detective Hercule Poirot trying (and succeeding) to solve a murder. A wealthy old man (Simeon Lee) invites his family (sons and granddaughter) to gather at his home for the Christmas party. Not all family members are on good terms with one another. An unexpected guest (Stephen Farr) arrives claiming to be the son of his former partner. So the house is full of potential suspects, and at Christmas Eve there is a commotion on the bedroom where the old man stays and everybody hears crashing of furniture followed by a scream. When they arrive at Simeon’s room, it is looked and they have to break the door down. Inside they find the old man dead, his throat slit and a great pool of blood.

Poirot is called to investigate and the questions, as usual, are the same: Who killed the victim? How was the victim killed inside a locked room? Is there any connection to the theft of diamonds? What is the meaning of the small triangle rubber and the peg that were found inside the room? Poirot explores the nature of the victim and the way these characteristics come out in his children. During his investigation, he tries to avoid another murder and barely succeeds. Poirot is able to unmask several characters that are impostors and solves the crime.

Main characters: Hercule Poirot, Colonel Johnson, Superintendent Sugden, Simeon Lee, Alfred Lee (son), Lydia Lee (Alfred’s wife), George Lee (son), Magdalene Lee (George’s wife), David Lee (son), Hilda Lee (David’s wife), Harry Lee (son), Pilar Estravados (granddaughter), Stephen Farr (partner’s son), Horbury (Simeon’s valet), Tressilian (butler).

If you are a Christie’s fan, you will love this book. It is a very easy and fast reading, also very entertaining, excellent plot.

My rate is 5 stars.

Pages: 246

To buy this book, use the following link:

Movie "Combating the Commandant of Confusion" (2010)

This is a Christian DVD movie published in 2010 by Thomas Nelson and they were kind enough to send me a copy for reviewing through the Thomas Nelson Book Review Bloggers Program, the new BookSneeze Program.

The Commandant of Confusion and his helper Chaos decided to steal a secret weapon from the Bible’s Team, and that helps them to put on the full armor of God. But they do not pay proper attention to the warning label and do not follow instructions closely.

Bibleman is a Christian super hero. He combats various villains with his friends Cypher and BibleGirl. This particular episode is a live action show and as such, has limited production resources. The show also was made in a short-budget, but what really matters after all is the message that is transmitted to the target audience, the little kids. The theological content is excellent and the movie teaches the kids to trust in God. If you want to expose your children to this type of message instead of the “sex, drugs and rock&roll” type of movie, this is the correct choice. Just do not expect high quality or Broadway type production or you will be disappointed.

My rate is 4 stars.

Length Of Movie: 60 minutes

Book "The Map - The Way of All Great Men" by David Murrow

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This is a "Christian theology" book written by David Murrow and it was published in 2010 by Thomas Nelson and they were kind enough to send me a copy for reviewing through the Thomas Nelson Book Review Bloggers Program, the new BookSneeze Program.

“The Map” is a book in two parts. In the first part of the book, David Murrow develops a mystery story, where he is contacted by a Welsh Vicar named Benson who asks him to meet with an old priest who knows of a guide to Christian manhood. The author goes on to search for that guide. On several occasions during the search, Murrow narrowly evades the enemy and becomes increasingly nervous. David knows that the opponents represent evil, but he has very few clues to identify his enemy. He becomes aware that the world needs this map.

In the second part of the book, the author explains the three journeys every great man must make through submission, strength and sacrifice. He analyzes several Biblical heroes, such as Paul, David, Moses and Samson and relates their stories to the map. He also offers practical and “down to earth” strategies for integrating these ideas into our life.

One of the biggest lessons from the book to me was the thinking that “When a fellow Christian points out our weakness, we should respond with humility, not self justification”.

Having a bachelor degree in Theology, I was initially skeptical that this book could bring something different, the so called “Map embedded into Matthew’s Gospel”. But I have to confess that the author made his point in a magnificent way. Overall, "The Map" is an excellent book, very worthy reading and very rewarding. The idea of teaching Christianity through a mystery story is very effective.

My Rate: 4 stars

Pages: 236