Each Wednesday, for a couple of hours in the evening, children between the ages of 5 and 10 gather at Gateway Church on Sarnia Road.  They’ve gathered together to be part of Midzone, a youth program focused on teaching and exploring Christian values in a variety of fun and creative ways.

“We typically see between 80 and 100 kids on Wednesday nights,” says Cheryl Boyes, Family Ministries Director.  Boyes, along with a dedicated team of volunteers share their God-given gifts and talents with the children.

“One of the things we battle in our society is self centredness,” says Boyes.  “We wanted the evening to be service focused.  We wanted to focus on somebody other than ourselves.”

The Midzone group took on a number of projects designed to give back to the community: decorating flower pots for a local nursing home, bringing arts and crafts supplies to Ronald McDonald House, even baking cookies for their local crossing guards. 

In addition to these projects, the kids chose to help the clients at Mission Services of London as well.  For the second year in a row, the Midzone group from Gateway Church created individual care packages for clients to use during or after their stay in shelter.  They gathered toiletries, snacks, tissue, Band-Aids among other things.  Each package will mean a world of difference to a resident in shelter. 

This year, the packages contained something new, an extra addition meant to brighten an otherwise gloomy day.  “The children chose to include an encouraging note along with those basic articles that we all take for granted.  “We wanted to let [the clients] know that God loves them,” says Boyes.  “Something a little more personal.”

Boxes and boxes of these little bags were dropped off at the head office of Mission Services of London and were quickly distributed to the many programs that desperately need them.

The children involved in this group continue to learn about their community and grow within the spirit of giving.

For more information on the many programs and services at Gateway Church click HERE.

For information on how you can support Mission Services of London click HERE.