Christ’s Kids spreads faith through action

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

“Jesus loves you.” It’s a simple message, but it’s one that is best delivered with actions rather than words.

Christ’s Kids Ministry brings that message to dozens of children weekly, and over the summer months it fed those kids’ bodies as well as their souls, delivering 135 sack lunches five days a week… an estimated 7,500 meals since May.

“We just want to be a blessing and show kids that Jesus loves them,” says Steve Carter, who heads up the ministry with his wife, Janet.

As they deliver meals across Clarendon and in Lelia Lake without regard to any income guidelines, Steve, Janet, and their helpers repeat that simple message, “Jesus loves you,” and now kids come running to their delivery vans and give them the message first.

Some kids are economically disadvantaged. Some are home alone during the day. Christ’s Kids doesn’t look at those circumstances. All that matters is that a kid needs food, and the mission is to serve.

Every meal includes fruit, a drink, a cookie, and something hot such as a burger or corn dog. The Carters say they see God working every day in the ministry, whether it’s in the form of donations from across the community or in always having the right amount of food to go around. Some days there is food left over, other days supply equals demand, and then other days are more special.

“We’ve had days when we packed exactly 135 meals but had 140 kids to serve… and the meals are there,” Janet Carter said. “It’s a God thing.”

They also see the devotion of the local community, which has come through with all the money over the years to the extent that Christ’s Kids has never sought state or federal assistance.

At the start of each summer, the ministry puts a notice in the paper and sends information home with students in the school. The sack lunch program is open to kids 15 years old and younger.

“We kind of figure at 16 you’re old enough to get some kind of job, and we also just have to have a cutoff point somewhere,” Carter said.

The ministry buys much of its food from the High Plains Food Bank and also has a food pantry to help people when needed.

The ministry itself began as “Ted’s Kids” 14 years ago by Ted Shaller and David Dickinson and became known as Christ’s Kids nine years ago. The summer lunch program began five years ago.

The ministry was housed in three different churches and for a time in the Clarendon Lions Hall before the former Panhandle Community Services building became available on Kearney Street. Then about a year ago, the PCS building came up for sale.

“The PCS board offered it to us, but we said there was no way we could afford it, and they told us to just make an offer,” Steve Carter recalls. “We prayed about it and came up with the figure of $3 per square foot as all we could come up with. We offered $15,000, and they took it.”

Christ’s Kids ministers to about 40 kids on Wednesdays and Sundays, and owning their building has allowed them to make the facility available to any Christian-based group.

Carter started with Christ’s Kids nine years ago. In July, he retired from his job and now leads the ministry full time, which has allowed its mission to be expanded to include an adult Bible study to reach the kids’ parents.

The summer sack lunch program wrapped up last Friday with kids going back to school this week. Now Christ’s Kids shifts gears and works with the Snack Pack 4 Kids program to send extra food home with students that are identified by the school.

Support for the program cuts across all denominations, and the ministry has ten regular adult volunteers and is often joined by others seeking to serve, including missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Carter doesn’t see the need for the mission diminishing and says it’s hard to stop something once it’s started.

“We’re there every day,” he said. “There are a lot of hurting people. The Lord led us to kids a long time ago, and we’ll do it as long as we can.”