New City Kids Sowing Seeds of Faith

More than 30 elementary-age youngsters spent several days this summer studying science, creating art, joining in games, learning to play musical instruments, and hearing about superheroes in the Bible as part of a joint summer program put on by New City Kids and Lee Street Christian Reformed Church in Wyoming, Mich.

The program began on a sweltering morning with a clear blue sky as scores of New City Kids volunteers, mostly teenagers, busily arranged arts and crafts on tables in a building called “the Garage” behind Lee Street CRC. In the church basement organizers were also preparing for the service to open that day’s program.

Meanwhile, parents arrived with their youngsters. Among them was Eva Rodas, a Lee Street neighbor. She was crossing the parking lot to drop her children off for the day when she stopped to offer a comment on the value of the program, especially mentioning the things her kids were excited about. “My children love it here,” she said. “There is so much for them to do. They come home every day with the art they’ve done, and they’re singing songs. It’s wonderful!”

Nearby, Miriam De Jong, coordinator of the eight-day event and teen life internship director for New City Kids, was scanning the parking lot and keeping an eye on the early-morning preparations. She took a moment to sketch some of the objectives they had for the young people. “We have several goals such as building relationships, musical development, stretching our boundaries, and leadership development,” she said. 

With sites in a handful of cities in the U.S. (Jersey City and Paterson, N.J., and Detroit and Grand Rapids, Mich.), New City Kids offers faith-based, after-school programming for local youth from under-resourced communities.

Besides partnering for the summer program, New City Kids and Lee Street have linked to offer an after-school program starting this fall at the church. For the fall program, high school-age youth are trained as New City mentors to work with area elementary-school youth. 

As she watched the young people milling around, anticipating the opening worship time in the basement, De Jong noted that there’s a strong faith-building component to the program, both for the teen volunteers and the children they work with.

“We want to meet kids and teens exactly where they are in their faith journey to help them learn more about God and to grow in their faith,” said De Jong, who is also the daughter of a Christian Reformed pastor.

One of the mainstays of the event is the music program, she said. It introduces kids to such instruments as the bass guitar and drums and helps them to learn basic fundamentals for playing.

“Additionally, kids and teens are challenged to stretch themselves by stepping out of their comfort zones to meet new people and experience other new things,” said de Jong.

She added that the summer programming combines arts and crafts and music classes with spiritual development focused on a single and memorable biblical theme.

And it was time for that to happen.

After gathering in the side lot on the church grounds, teen volunteers led the kids into the church basement for the lively opening service, which was held in the cafeteria – and for this program the area was called Hero Headquarters. Once the children took seats in front of a makeshift stage, New City volunteers started to dance. And they sang: “I am the way, the truth, and the light! Jesus, Jesus, Jesus! Come let us sing.”

The kids clapped and sang in their seats, inspired by the rousing energy of the New City Kids teen leaders, who went on to sing: "Messiah’s come, and he’s bringing life. Hallelujah! He’s put laughter in my soul.”

As a tie-in to the program’s theme, a big video screen on the stage flashed photos of various superheroes including Batman and Superman. But the superheroes on tap for the event were familiar heroes from the Bible. 

When the music died down, Rev. Joel Van Dyke, one of Lee Street’s pastors, appeared on stage. He surveyed the kids in the seats and asked what biblical superheroes had they been learning about. A few answers came: King David and Jonathan, David’s best friend; Samuel, who anointed Israel’s first kings; and Abigail, a wise peacemaker who married David.

“Today, we have another superhero. Can you guess who she is? She lived in the Galilean village of Nazareth,” said Van Dyke. “She would marry Joseph, a carpenter who was a descendant of King David.”

A couple of the kids in the seats guessed it was Mary, the mother of Jesus. The pastor smiled widely and pointed at the crowd. “Yes, it’s Mary.”

Soon, one of the New City volunteers appeared next to Van Dyke. She wore a robe that covered her arms and some padding over her stomach that made her look pregnant. They spoke of the angel Gabriel, who had appeared to Mary and said she was going to have a child. “And,” said Van Dyke, “that child was Jesus, who was the hero of all heroes. He would rule the house of David forever.”

Wrapping up, Van Dyke told the young people in front of him: “This is an incredible story of the Holy Spirit coming upon Mary, who would give birth to the holy Son of God.”

After the morning worship time, said De Jong, the kids participate in a variety of classes and activities. Then “at the end of each day,” she said, “the teens and kids again gather as a large group at Hero Headquarters, where the teen leaders select a ‘HERO’ [kid] of the day from their team that stood out to them. Heroes are celebrated in front of the large group and even win a prize! The day concludes with more singing and chants, prayer, and favorite superhero poses.” 

Along with reaching out to children, said De Jong, one of the main purposes of New City Kids is to empower and equip teens to grow as leaders. One of the organization’s core values is "trusting teens with leadership.”

Among the teens performing for the boys and girls in Hero Headquarters, for example, was Yajaira Kloosterman, a Lee Street High School student who learned about the New City Kids program from a teacher at school.

Kloosterman said that New City Kids gives her a chance to combine her love for music with her growing faith. Performing for Hero Headquarters and serving as a mentor to kids has tied the two together in an amazing way for her, she said.

“New City Kids and Lee Street Church give me the chance to show my talent and speak about God through my singing at the same time,” said Kloosterman, who wore a scarlet-colored, New City Kids T-shirt that read “Rooted in Love.” “I never had a chance to do this before,” she added. “I’m having fun planting seeds of new life in these kids.”