THE CHRISTIAN EDGE - Lessons In Living On The Edge
By Gary S. Hatrick
Many adults are concerned about the future... not because of their health, or the tense international situation, or the tenuous economy; these are concerns to be sure, but they also worry about who will be in charge, who is coming behind them to take the reins of the world. Technology is the reason for most concern because while technology has given us the ability to do a great many amazing things and made many tasks easier, it has also impacted the practical aspects of life, rendering some young people helpless and lacking the skills to do what must be done if there is no computer to do it for them. Add to that the burden of limited socio-economic resources, and some kids can be left behind with no hope.
In Lacoochee, Florida, The Christian Edge seeks to close that gap and train kids to meet the practical challenges of life and, as the name clearly says, provide hope not only for this life, but for eternal life. “We have an afterschool program that does third grade through fifth grade on Thursday afternoons, then on Tuesday afternoon we do the teenagers, sixth grade through 12th grade,” explained Executive Director Cindy Kearns. “We pick up the kids after school. I will drive around in the van and pick up the teenagers and the little ones. With the younger ones, we play games with them, and then we feed them a hot meal, and we have a Bible study with them. With the teenagers, we do something a little different. This is the first year that we are doing life skills.”
Kearns has called upon local businesses to come and speak to the children about how to do things they may encounter in daily life. It is not required that the instructor profess Christianity, only that they can teach a life skill. “So far this year, we have had 3 Oaks Tree Service come out and teach them how to take down trees, take apart a chainsaw, put it together, and use the chainsaw,” Kearns said. “We’ve been to Pizza Manor, where they actually went through the entire routine from making the box, running the register, and making their own pizza to eat. The Pasco Fire Department and Pasco Sheriff’s Office, and the Dade City Hospital [Advent Health Dade City] came and gave us a career day. So, we’re trying to let these kids have hands-on projects of real-life skills that they may not be exposed to.”
Other people who volunteered are Jim’s Tire Service, who showed the kids how to change a tire, Dade City Transmission, who gave some under-the-hood lessons, and Bill Schroeder from Perfect 10 Charity, who gave tips on interviews and finding a job. The kids are also given Bible instruction. “We’re not a church,” Kearns said, “We’re just an afterschool program, but it’s biblically based.” They need to be in a church where they get baptized and all of that, but we are going to be teaching biblical principles and going over the gospel and teaching morals and ethics and all of these things that are Christ-centered.
One of those biblical truths taught is the value of work. “Work is a good thing,” Kearns continued. “God created work. Right? We need to work. It gives us so many valuable lessons and so many things that help us grow. And it’s good. Work is good. We’re trying to teach them work values and to appreciate things and how you feel after you accomplish something. Kearns said that some of the teens want to be at the program anytime they are open, they are given responsibilities with the younger kids to learn to be leaders, or they help with the upkeep of the facility.
What is it that makes them want to come back? Kearns recently got a clue. “I asked the teenagers, if you could describe the Christian Edge in one word, what would it be?” Kearns recalled. “They couldn’t come up with a word right away, and then one of them said, ‘safe.’ As soon as he said ‘safe,’ they all agreed – ‘yeah, we feel safe here.’ That spoke volumes.” The Christian Edge needs volunteers and funds. “We’ve got two meals a week to cook,” Kearns said. “One lady helps me on Tuesdays sometimes. But then we’re looking for volunteers who will help cook, and who will teach a class like sewing, cooking, or baking. We need volunteers just to be mentors - just to be there, and especially men.”
“We also need funding,” Kearns added. “We are a non-profit. We don’t have any income coming from any specific church or anything like that. We’d like to be affiliated with a lot of churches that believe in what we do. Right now, we have two churches that donate $100 a month, and I’m trying to get in with some businesses.” Businesses can benefit through such a program because they are investing in the future. These kids will be good future employees if they learn these lessons and become good citizens of the community.
The Christian Edge finds its beginnings in 2003. “Marion and Roger Kaminsky started it,” Kearns said. “It was Roger’s dream to pull all the churches together to make a better community. They opened a coffee house, and on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, they ran the coffee house. They also started working with the kids. They were teaching music, and they were teaching a lot of other things to the kids. When Roger passed away in 2014, Marion was ready to just walk away from it, but I said, no, we can’t quit, we just continued with the kids.”
The Christian Edge is located at 38251 SR 575, Lacoochee, FL 33523. The mailing address is P.O. Box 2, Lacoochee, FL 33537. To learn more about The Christian Edge or to volunteer or donate funds visit christianedge.org. or call (352) 710-2366. ♥
