The Long Report of Vertical Kids Ministry

 

December 2010

The Long Report  Greetings! We pray that you are well and that God is blessing you. We want to update you on our ministry and our family during the year of 2010!

Our Mission: To help kids grow up in Christ by using creative arts including magic shows, juggling, balloon twisting and puppets. Our Vision: To reach as many kids and families for Christ as possible.   Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!    When we look at a Christmas tree, numerous things about it remind us of the real meaning of Christmas. The tree is an evergreen, reminding us that we have “eternal life” in Jesus Christ (John 6:40). The shape of the tree always points toward heaven, a reminder that we are “born from above” (John 3:3). The needles on its branches remind us that Jesus was “pierced through for our transgression” (Isa. 53:5). We usually hang decorations and lights on the tree which are reminiscent of Jesus who hung on the cross (made from a tree) for you and me. For you see, Jesus was the light that hung on that tree. Therefore, we know that Jesus is “the light of the world” (John 8:12) and through Him we are to be “the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14). The gifts under the tree remind us that Jesus Christ was the greatest gift ever given to mankind (John 3:16). As I look at our beautiful Christmas tree that my family decorated, it reminds me of the wonderful gifts that God has given this year. Our God Is Amazing    As 2010 began Vertical Kids Ministry set a goal of seeing 500 receive Christ. Still early in December, after completing 114 performances (the most in VKM history) we’ve seen 486 children, teens and adults profess Christ this year!  In the past four years more than 1600 lives have been changed for eternity through Vertical Kids Ministry. During the past nine years, our ministry has seen much growth, many changes, and more and more lives transformed year after year; likewise our needs continue to expand. As we look forward to what God will do through the ministry of Vertical Kids Ministry in 2011, we seek your Prayers and Financial Support.  October 2010     In October of this year we found our ministry in the worst shape financially than what it has been in 3 years. We were $3200 behind due to the lack of show opportunities and the lack of giving.     Many of you responded to the request we sent out and you blessed us. We were able to catch up on most bills. Thank you very much. The Fall and Winter months typically are more challenging than the rest of the year. 2011 Is Going To Be “Out Of This World”   Excited to begin our tenth year of ministry, we expect an “out of this world” (John 18:36) experience for 2011. Our theme is “Alien Kids!” – Dear friends, I urge you, as Aliens and strangers, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul (1 Peter 2:11). It is an exciting learning experience with galactic backgrounds, space and alien decorations, lots of music, scripture learning, story time, magic tricks, juggling, balloon twisting, puppets and plenty of audience participation.  With this new theme, we have new expenses (props, advertising, mailings, transportation, lodging, office supplies and other miscellaneous goods). Furthermore, Vertical Kids Ministry has long anticipated the ability to provide partial or full scholarships to churches and other ministries that might not otherwise afford our services. We would love to see this come to fruition in the months ahead.  We believe that with the financial backing of our Ministry Partners, we will make 2011 our most triumphant year of ministry to date.   The Backbone of The Ministry is You   Returning to Lynchburg, VA just over two years ago from Johnson City, TN, Vertical Kids Ministry has been a full time investment. Focused on establishing the ministry in our area and along the East Coast, we have neglected efforts to attain new monthly ministry support. In that time, monthly giving has declined significantly and our ministry expenses have increased. We are about $1400 a month short of where we need to be. Therefore, we hope to attain 5 new $100 monthly contributors, 6 new donors at $50 a month and 30 new $1 a day partners ($30 a month). These new moneys will enable us to prepare for the coming year of ministry, provide for the needs of our family, cover our business expenses, and allow us to partner with new churches and ministries that may not otherwise afford our services. As 2010 draws to a close and many of you consider end of year giving, please prayerfully consider Vertical Kids Ministry as we, through Christ, expand the Kingdom of God.  Though the magic we share with children and families is really sleight of hand, our deepest desire is to show them the miracle worker, Jesus Christ.  VKM is a 501(c)3 non-profit, making your year end and monthly giving tax deductable.  We ask that you prayerfully consider financially supporting our ministry – with your backing you will share in the ministry of Vertical Kids Ministry that is “not of this world”. We thank God that you do believe in and pray for us. You are great friends and partners in ministry. “In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership!” (Philippians 1:4-5).  Like the Apostle Paul, I rejoice because of your support of God’s work through Vertical Kids Ministry. We hope you have a wonderful Christmas and New Year. There are two ways of giving. You can write a check but make sure it is mailed before December 31. Or you could go on our web site at www.verticalkids.com and press the donation button. This will bring you to a secure sight where you can give either by using your credit card or PayPal account.  Or you can push the button below      To keep up-to-date on our praises, praise requests and general family updates, check out our blog at   https://verticalkids.wordpress.com. You can also follow us on Facebook. Type in Earl’s or Kimberly’s name to connect with us.    Click here for Earl’s Facebook Page  We also have a Vertical Kids Ministry Facebook site.      Vertical Kids Ministry www.VerticalKids.com   Family NewsDecember is a busy month for our family. Not only is it Christmas but it is also Rian’s Birthday on December 28. He is turning 9 years old! Then on December 31, it is Kimberly’s birthday. She was born at 11:15 PM. Her parents just did get a tax right off that year! Make sure you send her a card or give her a call.     Rian’s Rave This year Rian is in the 4rd grade. As a 9 year old, he enjoyed playing baseball again in the 9-10 year old league. He played tackle football with the Heritage Pioneers. He just seems to be a natural athlete and does well in every sport.   This year Rian started doing magic shows on his own and with us. He has a 13 minute routin thaty he performs. He performed it about 15 times this year. He loves getting paid for it.   Also, he is playing the violin again at school and it actually sounds like music now. He loves Science and History. They are learning about Virginia history this year. He loves everything about the civil war period. He always likes playing computer games, board games and teaching his brother how to do these things.   Chase’s Chatter Chase is in 1st grade this year. He loves school and can remember just about anything. He turns 7 on February 8, 2011.   Chase is our entertainer. He has a great personality. He is very artistic. Even though Rian likes doing magic, Chase is the one that will come up with all types of creative magic tricks that almost makes sense. He catches on really quick to the ones I teach him. He keeps begging to be able to do magic in the our shows. He learned how to snow board this year and now says he wants to learn how to ski. When Chase was 3 and we lived in TN, he played soccer. When we moved to Lynchburg last year he wanted to play again but we could not afford to let him play. However, this year he talked about it all year. When soccer season came around we made sure he got to play. I think we found his sport. He loved it and did pretty well.   Here are Some Pictures From This Year

Thank you for all of your prayers and support. Please continue and let us together make 2011 better than ever! Serving Him, Earl, Kimberly, Rian and Chase LongVertical Kids Ministry

K-Love Cruise Report

 

It has been a little over two weeks since we have returned from our cruise. We had an amazing time being able to minister to several hundred people on the cruise. This opportunity also gave us a great vacation time as well. Below we will give you more info of our travels and some pictures. Thank you to everyone who prayed for our safety and ministry opportunity. Here is the first photo taken as we entered the ship.  West Palm Beach Spanish Seventh Day Adventist Church Our air travels brought us into Ft. Lauderdale Florida two days before the cruise started on Monday. We have a friend that lives just outside of Ft. Lauderdale who I have worked with for the past 3-4 years volunteering with Youth Specialties National Youth Workers Convention. She graciously allowed us to stay in their home for the two days before the cruise and one after the cruise. Our friend Annie Mercedes asked us if we could take part in their churches grand opening of their new teen coffee house by performing a magic show. We left the airport at 7:30 PM. It was a 45 minute drive to her church. The program started at 8:00 PM and we were scheduled to perform around 8:45 PM. We arrived at the coffee house at 8:20 PM and started setting up our magic props in the parking lot as a comedian performed before us. They took a break to allow us to set the stage or should I say set the small standing area. It was a small coffee house but it was sufficient. We proceeded into a great evening of magic, comedy and ministry. We had a ball. Thank you Pastor Eric for inviting us to minister. Here are some pictures from that night. We were again blessed to attend their worship service the next Saturday after the cruise. It was a wonderful worship service in Spanish. Neither one of us speak Spanish, however we were able to worship God for the first time in another language. It was neat.                       K-Love Cruise Above you will see one of the pages out of the K-Love Cruise newspaper. It was a privilege to be able to perform with some well known Christian music artists such as Mercy Me, Jeremy Camp, Nicole C. Mullen, Natalie Grant, Sanctus Real, Stellar Kart and Bob and Larry! We were able to perform twice on the ship. As we began the second show a couple of the tricks started out wrong. I couldn’t believe what was happening. I thought, “Here we are performing one of the most important shows of our career and things are falling apart.” We continued on and things got a lot better. The audience response through out the show was exhilarating. Near the end, I gave an invitation to accept Christ as their Savior. Two young girls around 11 years old asked Jesus to forgive them and come into their life. Two of the days on the ship, we worked for about 3 hours each day entertaining people who were standing in line to receive autographs from the music artists. Kimberly twisted balloon creations and I performed close up magic to help the time to pass easier. Some people were in line for over an hour and a half. Check out some of our pictures below. You can see more pictures if you go to Vertical Kids Pictures  Other stuff on our trip  We were very blessed to be able to visit with our friend Annie as mentioned above. Here are some pictures of her, her family and us.    Here is the Lounge we performed in and the sign outside of the door. It is the Puttin On The Ritz Lounge.        I hope you enjoyed our Report. We could not have had this opportunity without your prayers and support. Thank you again.Love,Earl and Kimberly