• Relationship
  It enable us to build a personal relationship with the kids. With 600 attending here on a Saturday it would be easy for the kids to feel like just another number. By visiting them in their homes, we’re showing that we care. We become their friends, able to support and encourage them through the struggles of inner-city life. As the famous quote goes "people don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care."
  
• Families
  Many inner-city families see church as remote and alien to them. By visiting we place ourselves in their world, building friendship and offering prayer and practical support.
  
• Perseverance
  The kids we deal with can at times be difficult and challenging. If Kidz Klub were merely a programme it would be easy to give up. Through visiting we see the awful reality of neglect and violence that some of them live with. They become real people, with very real needs. When you’re tired and discouraged, it’s the motivation you need to keep going.
  
• Discipline
  Visiting means that each child has one helper who knows them really well. When you’re dealing with large numbers of troubled kids, these relationships enable you to keep order. A disturbed child is far more likely to respond to a helper who’s become their friend than a remote authority figure.
  
• Relevance
  Most of our Kidz Klub team come from basically middle-class backgrounds, far removed from the inner-city areas in which our kids live. By visiting them in their homes we place ourselves in their reality. We know what it feels like to be threatened by teenagers while we walk down the street and we see the effects that crime and drugs have on their families. Placing ourselves in their world like this helps us to present Jesus to them in a way that’s relevant.

The Logisitcs

Our Kidz Klub area is divided into visiting zones. A zone can be visited by one person, a pair or a whole team of people. The size of the zone will vary, according to the amount of time the visitors have to give. On the same night each week, usually one or two nights before the club, the visitors will knock on the doors of all the children in their area who regularly attend the club. It’s important that they wear a Kidz Klub T-shirt or Sweat shirt and take a photo ID badge with them.

First Visits

Each week at Kidz Klub any new children are registered. The visitors are then given a list of new children in their area. On the first visit, the visitor will introduce themselves to a parent, giving them an introductory letter, which explains a little bit about Kidz Klub. The letter makes it clear that parents are welcome to come to the club with their children. The visitor will then explain that each week they are in the area delivering memory verse sheets to all the children who come to Kidz Klub. These sheets tell the kids about that weeks activities and enable them to enter the weekly Kidz Klub colouring competition. (To see a sample memory verse sheet, click here, to download a free sample of the Kidz Klub UK resources.) We’ll then normally ask for the child, show them the sheet and have a chat about how they enjoyed their first Kidz Klub.

Regular Visits

Each week the visitors go from door to door, asking for the kids and spending time chatting to them and their families. It’s important that you visit on foot and not in a car. Talking to children from a car window can look highly suspicious and walking gives you the opportunity to get a feel for the area and meet new kids. The memory verse sheet is a great tool. It gives you a reason to be there and something to talk to the children about. Like all relationships, some grow more quickly than others. In some homes you become a family friend in a matter of weeks, others are more wary. The important thing is that you’re there week in week out, extending the hand of friendship. The length of time spent on each door varies from family to family and week to week. Some families will ask you in for a drink, while others prefer chatting on the doorstep. It’s important that you never enter a house unless there’s a parent present. On an average week you’ll probably only spend three or four minutes on each door. But three or four minutes each week for a year soon adds up. Over time, not only will you build a friendship with the kids you visit, you’ll have a chance to pray with their families, when needs arise, and share Jesus with them. You’ll soon become an established part of the community.

Recruiting

You can also use your visiting time as an opportunity to recruit for the club. In the areas where we work, a lot of kids play out in the street after school. We stop to chat to kids we don’t know, telling them about Kidz Klub. If they’re interested in coming, we ask them to take us to their door, so we can introduce ourselves to a parent and give them an introductory letter. We find this works well. As long as you’re not talking to children in a secluded space and have your Kidz Klub ID badge and T-shirt on, people understand what you’re doing.
We also ask regular Kidz Klub kids to tell us if they have any friends in the area who would like to come. With a parents permission, we get the children to take us to their friends houses, often just further down the same street, so we can talk to them and their families about the club.Visiting is one of the most fruitful things we do. It’s hard to describe, but great to experience. If you’re thinking about starting to visit, why not book onto a Kidz Klub Training Weekend. You’ll have a chance to shadow our visitors at work, as well as hearing more about what God has done. For more information on Training Weekends click here.

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