Kids Hope USA mentors make a difference

Posted: 11/17/06

Kids Hope USA mentors make a difference

By Jenny Pope

Buckner International

DALLAS—One child in five lives in poverty. One in three lacks a significant father figure, and children without a father figure are twice as likely to drop out of school, said Scott Waller, director of program development for Buckner Children & Family Services and Kids Hope USA liaison.

Poverty, poor education and lack of parental involvement clearly are linked to crime. In fact, two states currently look to third-grade reading-level scores to determine the future number of prison cells.

Kids Hope USA, in cooperation with Buckner Children and Family Services, is a church-based initiative where churches “can make a profound impact in the lives of at-risk children if they would mobilize their members to form one-on-one relationships with children in neighborhood schools,” he said.

The ministry model is based on church members spending one hour a week with one elementary school child for a year.

“The only way to a child’s brain is through the heart,” Waller said, noting children are “hard-wired to connect” and cannot learn when their brains are constantly in the fight-or-flight mode caused by an unstable home life.

“I know that nobody in here needs more programs,” he said during a Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting workshop. “But this isn’t about the BGCT or Buckner or Kids Hope USA. This is about the transcendent issue of children needing God’s love.”

Kids Hope USA began as a 1995 research project that proved schools were searching for help from mentors who in turn help reduce emotional, behavioral and academic problems in children and promote self-esteem. The greatest resource for this kind of love was the local church.

More than 400 churches participate in the Kids Hope USA program in 27 states.

What makes the Kids Hope model unique, Waller said, is that the church owns and operates the program and ultimately determines how successful it can be. Although the church must respect church/state separation issues on campus, they can invite the children and their families to participate in church events.

“Teachers say that they see a noticeable difference in the attitude and behavior of these children in two weeks,” he said. “That’s just two, one-hour visits. It’s almost hard to believe that it’s that simple.

“Faithful mentoring transforms lives, and that’s what we, as Christians, are all about.”