Good Night Club
About the Good Night Club:
Help a child end their night with love…because there is no reason to keep waiting for a good night! Volunteer to make a difference for Eternity in the life of a child in foster care one night at a time… Dedicate 45 minutes twice a month to read with the children. We share the hope found in Christ through paralleling His Word with bedtime stories.
A Bedtime Reading Ministry For God's Kids in Waiting in Foster Care... ...because there's no reason to keep waiting for a good night.
The Good Night Club is a ministry of Idlewild volunteers to God's kids waiting in foster care. Night Light Readers connect with these kids in order to bring them true security; the security found through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Every night hundreds of children go to bed in foster care with an uncertainty of who will be part of their life tomorrow. A personal relationship with Christ changes that... Receive Him and He will never leave! We share Christ with the kids just by doing simple things parents do: reading to the kids, allowing the kids to read to us, listening, embracing the kids with love, telling them that they are special, and praying together. We help rebuild a connection to a peaceful night by freely sharing the love that God has given to us. We love the kids by sharing the peace found in God's Word. It is our hope to lead them to a spiritual home (salvation) and open up new possibilities to physical homes (adoption).
The kids desire unconditional love that we know the Lord offers them. Knowledge of the truth that belonging comes in knowing God adopts us forever.
Joshua 1:5 NIV "No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you."
The volunteer readers are like night lights in dark places, helping to turn the light on... Letting the light of the Lord shine for His glory
Matthew 5:14-16 NIV "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
The Good Night club will prayerfully seek to have Night Light readers connecting with children in group homes and foster homes throughout Hillsborough County and beyond.
Uniting Kids in Foster Care with an eternal home in Christ by utilizing His people to shine in dark places for His glory with His Word...
Volunteer Training
Stop by the Goodnight Club display at IBC missions conference GAITHERIA 2/19/12 and 3/4/12 (7:30-12:30)
The next Goodnight Club Volunteer Reading Informational meeting is scheduled for:
Sunday 3/25/12 / 12:30 - 1:15 Room E111
Register For Training
Contact goodnightclub@idlewild.org
Serving Locations
Saturday: 1st Saturday of month 9:45 - 11:45am (Florida Ave and Busch Blvd) Tuesdays: Twice monthly 6:30 -7:30pm (Hillsborough Ave and Sheldon Rd)
The Kids Need To Belong....
1. Physically (Some are still at home, some are in temporary homes, some have no place to call home) Over 3,000 of God's children currently are in the Hillsborough County System of Care with an assigned case manager overseeing their life. Over 1100 of God's children have been removed from their biological home because of abuse, neglect or abandonment and are living in foster care private homes or group homes (temporary living). To accommodate all of theses 1100+ kids, there's an immediate need in Hillsborough for more than 200 more licensed homes needed to provide beds for children in a nurturing environment for those waiting to be placed back with their biological parents (purposeful waiting). Without these needed homes, some must move regularly. Approximately 700 of them are available for adoption - They are disconnected and at loss of a sense of permanent belonging (~500 are in a foster home they could be potentially adopted into and ~200 whom have no identified home to adopt them). Many of these kids do not get to attend/fellowship at church regularly if they are in group homes (US orphanages) or non-Christian private homes.
2. Spiritually (Some do not know Him. Some know of Him. Some know Him.) 100% of all these kids mentioned above need a relationship with Jesus Christ 100% of all these kids desire compassion and unconditional love the Lord offers them and the knowledge of belonging that comes in knowing He adopts us forever. 100% of all these kids need a nurturing environment found in opportunity to fellowship with the Body of Christ
Support
The Good Night Club seeks to connect with these kids and gently lead them to peace in Christ. Want to help the Good Night Club, but can’t commit as a reader?
1. Pray for the readers and the children.
2. Donate Bibles
3. Donate secular books with spiritual truths
4. Baby-sit for a friend while they go read
Send us an email to connect as a prayer-warrior or drop of a donation!
5. Donate funds for Bibles to give to the kids
6. Donate funds for copies of the secular books read to the kids to be made available to other Good Night Reader Volunteers
7.Donate funds for copies of the secular books read to the kids to be made available to be left in the cottages for kids to re-read
8. Donate funds for bonding items (tooth care products, birthday gifts, etc)
Volunteer
Are you prepared to make difference in the life of a child in foster care?
Become a Reader
Email us at goodnightclub@idlewild.org This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and express your interest in becoming a reader.
Pray about your involvement in this ministry.
Commit to read 12 times (twice a month for six months). Kids in Foster Care have experienced dozens of people coming in and out of their lives. We want to have a stable presence and a positive impact on their lives as we represent Christ.
Attend the next Good Night Club training session. Trainees will receive required instruction from a social worker, and from experienced Good Night Club readers, as well as submit a thorough background check.
Schedule a visit to a Good Night Club session with an experience reader.
Start Reading!
What's Involved in a Good Night Club Night?
Arriving:
You will arrive during evening hours arranged with the cottage supervisor (~6:45pm-7:30pm).
You will I read with the kids in the living cottage twice a month
You will read with the kids for approximately 30 of the 45 minutes you are there.
The first five (5) minutes is transitional time and greeting time
Reading:
You come with a pre-selected book.
You will read to whichever kids God's orchestrates for you to read to that night... whether one, few or many (One matters...)
You will use secular books with eternal values (parables) to God's word
You will use scripture to define the book's eternal values to the kids
You can leave the script on pre-written note cards so the kids can keep them
Praying:
You will close in prayer with the kids
Sharing:
The last five to ten (5-10) minutes is sharing and bonding time
(Ideally) You will have a Bible to give to every new child who arrives at the cottage whether they read with you or not
(Optional) You can bond with kids further through briefly sharing tips on teeth brushing, flossing, healthy bedtime routines
(Optional) You can give small gifts to kids of toothpaste, tooth brushes, mouthwash, flossing picks
(Optional) You can remember the kids birthdays with birthday gifts
Leaving:
You will leave the kids that night with a sense of God's love for them and their value in the eyes of our Lord Jesus
You will communicate to the kid‘s that none are orphaned with Jesus ("...I will never leave you nor forsake you" Joshua 1:5)
For some of you, God may communicate to you someday not leave a particular child, but rather that you are to adopt them
If you are unable to commit as a reader, please click here to see how to support this ministry.
Get Started
Contact goodnightclub@idlewild.org