KidsLink Downrange is a service project designed to involve MOPS groups in helping military personnel and their families. You can be a part of this project by creating Card Kits that include pre-made cards that military kids can send their parent. (See a picture of what’s in a Card Kit.)
KidsLink Downrange exists to provide military children with the means to communicate regularly with their deployed parent downrange. In military slang, downrange is a term for being deployed overseas, usually in a war zone.
Military personnel who are downrange love getting mail from home, and they especially love personal notes from their children. It is a joy and encouragement amidst the long days, homesickness, and hard work.
Want to get involved? Start now by reading how to become a KidsLink Coordinator or reading through the Instructions on how to make a kit.
How is MOPS involved?
The MOPS Group part is to design card kits that contain everything a military child will need to write to his or her parent throughout the year. In this way, military children who are separated from a parent can still have the vital interaction they need with their parent as they grow and develop. Anyone can choose to be a part of this project—all it takes is a little time and creativity.
Once your card kits are completed, all you have to do is send them to the address determined for that particular project (watch for project details to be announced.) After that, Cadence staff will sort the kits at which ever base or bases participating in the project at the time. The Military Children’s Ministry staff at the base will then disperse the kits to children with a deployed parent in cooperation with on-base school counselors.
About Cadence International
Cadence International is the non-profit organization that facilitates this project. Cadence International is an evangelical mission agency dedicated to reaching the military communities of the United States and of the world with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Cadence International does this through Hospitality Houses (off-base homes that provide meals, Bible studies, activities, and lodging for military personnel), retreat centers, youth groups, and children’s ministries. Each effort of Cadence International reflects the mission’s motto: “Sharing the Gospel and our lives with the military community.”
Military Children’s Ministry is a partnership between Cadence International and Child Evangelism Fellowship. Its desire is to see all children in military communities have the opportunity to know about Jesus Christ and to grow in their relationship with him.
