Milandra a 5th grade Bible Club student

What is one thing God helped me do lately, that I didn’t have to do, which showed kindness or sacrificial love to others?


“I moved into a new house and I didn’t want to share a room but I did even though I didn’t want to and I didn’t even throw a fit about it.”

Meet Mr. C

I grew up in northern Illinois with 4 older brothers. (5 boys, no girls!) From grade school through college, my Dad and his brother owned a dairy farm, so while we lived in town, we spent a lot of time working on the farm. My Dad’s side of the family has a German heritage, and Mom’s side is from Sweden. My parents and grandparents were all followers of Jesus, so I’ve always been part of Bible teaching churches. Growing up, we attended the First Evangelical Free Church in Rockford. I attended and graduated from Trinity College with a bachelor’s degree in Biology, which is where I met my wife Debbie. We were married in 1979 and have lived in northern Illinois, western Illinois, Lincoln (twice) and suburban Philadelphia. We have one child, Zach, who is graduating in early May from Oklahoma State with degrees in Aviation Sciences and Economics. He’s getting married two weeks after graduation, so we have an exciting, busy spring ahead of us!

I don’t really have a favorite color, I like all of them! My favorite food is filet mignon and in my free time I love to read, watch sports and spend time with friends. I was connected to City Impact when I was asked to join the ministry’s resource team in April 2004, and then served on the Board of Directors from 2004-2009.

Past experiences like growing up in a church with an active Youth Group, and going to a Christian college where investing our time, talent and treasure in the kingdom was part of the program have lead me to volunteer at a place like City Impact Jesus plainly told us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:36-40). Working with the kids, families, staff and the board of directors at City Impact are all practical steps of obedience to what Jesus’ commanded (John 14:15).

I have many favorite memories from volunteering at City Impact. To name a few, I loved the summer outings to Saltdogs games with the 5th grade Bible Club kids, to small group time talking about the relationship Jesus wants us to have with Him.

I have been with City Impact since 2004 and I am currently a table leader/small group leader, spending time with our 5th grade boys.

Pre-K showing love to others

The oh so cute Pre-K students are currently learning about the Easter story. They are talking about God dying for our sins and what an act of love it was that He did this for us. I spent a few minutes asking the Pre-K students what one thing they could do in the next week to show love to others just like Jesus showed love in the story they talked about.


Mariah- “Give my brother a big hug.”


Maliah- “Help my mom by cleaning up the living room and our bedroom.”


Jamiah- “Help my mom clean up the living room.”


Alejandra- “Help my brother clean up his room.”


Libby- “Help my sister make her bed.”


It is always so fun to sit with the youngest students of Bible Club because more often than not you get honest answers and that’s that!

4th graders shows responsibility

Goal: Personal Responsibility

* Students will learn and demonstrate appropriate social skills.
* Students will take ownership for their behavior.



The 4th grade activity on Tuesday night consisted of some very small confetti. After one group had finished they began to drop the confetti on the floor, it went all over covering the area with little pieces of black confetti. Just as the students had dropped the confetti Mr. Mike (volunteer small group leader) from the other team told the students to keep the confetti in their hands and to not drop it on the floor. You should have seen the faces on the students who knew they were immediately guilty of dropping that confetti on the floor, priceless! To my sweet surprise (without being asked) the students who had dropped the confetti immediately got down on their hands and knees and began to clean up the confetti. Joshua (4th grade student) even went and found a broom and after all the students had returned to the classroom he was out in the hall sweeping up the last few pieces of confetti.

Little Miss Grace extending some grace

There is a favorite game which all the Bible Club children like to play while they are waiting for program to start on Tuesday nights. They all gather together and play color tag. On Tuesday little Miss Grace (first grader) was heavily involved in playing color tag when her mom came out and asked her to show Sarah (a friend) how to play the game. Grace very kindly took Sarah by the hand and led her into the confusion. You see color tag is a very energetic and fast game. In the game, all the children, except a few, go to one wall and stand their waiting for the children in the middle to call out a color. If you have the color they call on your clothing or shoes you have to try and run to the other side of the room past the taggers, without getting tagged. Now you know what I mean when I say this is a game of energy and confusion! Back to the part about Grace and Sarah. Grace and Sarah walked to the wall of children and stood there waiting to hear the color. After noticing that Sarah was a bit unsure of herself, Grace walked up to Mrs. Bethany (Bible Club worship leader) and said, “This is my friend Sarah and this is her first time, do you think you could tell them to take it easy on her she’s a little nervous.” Oh how sweet it was to see Grace take care of her friend like that! It reminded me of the game that the first graders played a few weeks ago. The game was about helping someone in need, it reminded me of the baby doll that had fallen in the mud and Grace picked her up and was an advocate for Sarah. Grace very easily could have left Sarah to fend for herself, but she didn’t. Great example of how many times God treats us the same way.

Meet Miranda

Miranda has been coming to City Impact since her Pre-k years, this year she is in the 1st grade classroom, so that makes it a little over two years that she has been with Bible Club. Miranda’s birthday is November 28th and she has one brother and 2 sisters. Miranda’s favorite food is fried chicken from Popeye’s and her favorite color is fuchsia. When I asked Miranda what her favorite thing about Bible Club was she said this “I like to play!” I also asked her what is one thing you have learned about God this year and she responded very matter- of -factly by saying “He is my father, he is everybody’s father.” One thing that Miranda is good at is jump roping, and if she only had one more day to live she would spend it by doing good in church and school.

Stamps from the 3rd grade classroom

Stamp-1. a small printed card from City Imapct that expresses thankfullness or encouragement.


From: Taylor
To: Kaylan

“You’re a good friend, a good person, and a good learner.”


From: Simone
To: Taylor

“I like when you pray”


From: Kylea
To: Serinity

“You Roc!” “You are awesome and really good at expressing yourself, keep it up!”