Cairo, Egypt (K4K) – How many people decide to go to the Middle East just five days before you’re supposed to leave? Also, who goes to Egypt for only two days? Yes, both of those situations fit me perfectly.
Keys for Kids Ministries exists to ignite a passion for Christ in kids and their families. While we’re most known to do this in the United States for the last 75 years, we want to do it more around the world. Which is why I traveled to Egypt.
One of the new pillars of Keys for Kids Ministries is our new international ministry called the Creature Feature storyteller program. This program is centered around new technology that allows us to distribute God’s Word and Keys for Kids devotional stories in audio on solar-powered MP3 players, which are held in the pouch of a soft and cuddly stuffed animal. The last two years we’ve been planning and collaborating with ministries to determine what languages we distribute first. One of the first strategic languages that will allow us to reach unreached people groups is Arabic.
Nearly 17 years ago, Dr. Wafaa Wahba, a medical doctor from Egypt, was called by God to begin creating a devotional for children in Egypt. A Sunday school teacher and youth worker, Dr. Wafaa saw there was a need to help Egyptian Christian children become passionate about God’s Word. She started looking for material in Egypt to help. There wasn’t anything. That’s when her and a co-worker started looking fore English material that they could translate into Arabic. They found Keys for Kids devotionals when a relative started sending Dr. Wafaa used devotionals.
“I was thrilled. This was exactly what we were looking for,” said Dr. Wafaa. That’s when she sought permission to begin translating Keys for Kids into Arabic more than 15 years ago. Because funding was limited, the reach was limited, but profound. Christian families started reading them together and today those children (now adults) are strong, wanting to do the same with their children.
While the need was great then, it’s even greater now as many in the Arab world are searching for spiritual truth, including many adults. More Muslims are turning to Christ than ever before. Dr. Wafaa believes God has placed Keys for Kids Ministries in the Middle East for such a time as this. Why?
There are millions of refugees, displaced because of war in Syria and ISIS. Many Christians left Egypt during the Arab Spring a few years ago. In Egypt, the poor economy is creating uncertainty in the hearts of all people, including Muslims. While these devotionals have been used here, many refugees don’t read. That’s why Keys for Kids is using Dr. Wafaa’s translations to record Keys for Kids in two Arabic dialects, which could potentially reach more than 600-million people.
Keys for Kids needs your financial support to kick-start this ministry, which we believe could grow exponentially. Through a partnership with SAT7, Keys for Kids could begin recording our devotional stories in their studio in Egypt. Once recorded and produced, it will open doors never seen before at Keys for Kids Ministries as we will be allowing other organizations to use our stories on their audio Bible devices. Through these partnerships we could see the hand of God reach hearts and lives like we’ve never seen before in our lifetime.
The Arabic storyteller program will be used to reach refugees in Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey and many parts of the US and Europe where Arabic speaking refugees now live. The partnership list continues to grow, but we already have more than a dozen groups who are ready to distribute our Creature Feature storytellers to many areas of the Middle East and North Africa.
What’s holding us back? We need funding.
It will cost $9,500 to update, print and distribute the Keys for Kids books. As this happens, the stories will then be recorded by our friends at SAT7. They intend on using our stories for their children’s television network (SAT7 Kids), reaching millions of children. At the same time, they’ll be providing us the audio for use on our storytellers to be used by many worldwide.
We know there will be additional production and distribution costs, but this initial expense will get everything started. How long will it take? Once the funding is raised, it could be completed within 30 days.
I hope you will consider investing in the Keys for Kids Creature Feature storyteller program. Your investment could impact a family’s life for eternity. Ask God what He’s have you give to this ministry, then go to keysforkids.org/storyteller and give your best gift.