New Wave is our vision that everyone on our Coastside has an opportunity to hear and respond to the love of Jesus Christ.
Kaitlin Gehret, Children’s Ministry Director, found her heart for teaching children about Jesus right here at Mariners Church as a young volunteer in the Little Lambs Club weekday program and summer Day Camp.
“I started serving with Pam Sayles, who continues to volunteer with Little Lambs Club, when my younger brother was about that age. And seeing how she served and how she gave her heart to these kids made me develop a heart for kids,” Kaitlin said. “I love watching a child when something clicks. I love to see that happen with the Bible, as they learn about God and grow. That little spark lights up in their eyes.”
Kidmin Vision
The goal of the children’s ministry at Mariners is to instill a heart for Jesus in children and a fundamental understanding of Christianity that they can carry with confidence into junior and senior high school as disciples in Christ.
“I want these kids to really understand the fundamental truth of who they are in Christ so that when they get to middle school and high school, they can approach a friend on the playground and say, “Hey, Jesus loves you.”
The ministry uses three tracks to make that happen – Sunday Kid’s Church provides the fundamentals; a set of Wednesday afternoon programs goes deeper, with a focus on discipleship; and the annual summer Day Camp opens the ministry to a broader slice of Coastside children.
Kaitlin would like to expand the children’s ministry to be able to accommodate everyone who wants to attend and to better tailor the programs into specific age groups.
How New Wave Will Help
The children’s ministry programs are growing and space is tight. Little Lambs Club, the Wednesday program for preschoolers, presently has a waiting list, and Day Camp was offered across two weeks last year instead of just one to accommodate growing interest in the community. New Wave will double the space devoted to the children’s ministry to accommodate more children as well as add rooms to better tailor programs to age-specific needs.
“I would love to see the children’s ministry grow and expand to the point where we have to come up with newer ideas on how to cater to everyone,” Kaitlin said. “More space means new opportunities to grow and enrich the program and better serve the children of Mariners and the Coastside. New Wave is critical to making that happen.”
Find out how you can be a part of New Wave by clicking here.
By Dan Page, Volunteer Storyteller
