John Trent, Ph.D:

"I was two months old when my father left. There were no displaced homemaker programs back then. No Confident Kids program to help bring hope and light and God's love to hurting children. But there is today. I've read their material, and watched how Confident Kids has helped many children at my home church. If you're looking for a tool to build up broken hearts, and teach people about God's best, I heartily recommend Confident Kids."

John Trent is a nationally known speaker, counselor, and best selling author (The Two Sides of Love, The Language of Love, The Blessing, The Value of a Man, Love Is A Decision.)

From a Teen
     Hi.  My name is Drew and I am 15 years old.  I was in Confident Kids from 4-6th grade and I loved it.  I was able to get my problems out and talk and cry and show that I was really hurting.  I am now a counselor myself, and there is nothing more I can say but that I love it and enjoy every minute.  I have been encouraging kids my age to come and be like sub counselors working under an older counselor which I have been doing for 2 sessions.   
     Thank you for making Confident Kids.  For all the kids who have been through it, I thank you.

From Illinois
     We have been using Confident Kids curriculum now for over 5 years and we are loving it! We are a multi-site church and are gearing up to offer a Confident Kids program in three locations each week this fall.  We currently offer the program as part of our support and recovery ministry in Naperville and Romeoville, IL.  In the fall we will add Montgomery, Illinois to the list of locations. 
      We are finding the curriculum to be solid and consistent in offering a place of hope and healing for kids.  One mom relayed this story:  Driving in the car with her 10 year old son, Alex, she lost her patience with him in the course of the conversation.  Tired at the end of the day, she raised her voice and used words she regretted.  Alex looked at mom calmly and said, "Mom, when you talk to me like that, I feel like you don't love me."  Mom said to me..."THAT, is Confident Kids."  She went on to further explain that she had not herself learned how to clearly express herself and now she was seeing her son do that in a healthy way.  She was sure that she did not teach him that, but that he learned it in Confident Kids.  She said it took her so by surprise, she was able to reflect on her conversation with her son and have more patience the next time around.
      Thank God for Confident Kids where kids are growing emotionally and spiritually.  Janet McMahon, Director of Support and Recovery

From Minnesota
       When my schedule forced me to stop leading CK at our church, it kind of fell apart.  Other leaders stepped up, but for several reasons it just didn't continue.  We now have a new pastor and my time commitments have changed so that I have agreed to direct the program at our church again.  Our new pastor was not convinced that CK was what we should do.  Last week we had an organizational meeting.  I did not have to say much at all.  Five former facilitators just could not stop talking about the curriculum and the life changing effect it has on the children.  Three of them are teachers in the public school system, one is a social worker and one is the director of a day care.  They were quite the pep squad.  And the person the pastor had brought in to do music said that she didn't really think we needed to do the CK Song or the other CK music and that she had some things picked out.  The pep squad was not about to listen to that!  They spoke of kids identifying with the song and how the kids had even made up motions to it!  And right there they broke into the song and sang it from beginning to end.  The group was convinced and we have real excitement and energy about our program for next year!
     Additionally, my denomination asked me to go to a church in New York this spring and teach them how we did our program.  God really worked us through that training.  Through overbooked flights and snow storm cancellations we finally got together and the time was amazing.  They planned and prayed for 12 students in their program.  The first night 18 showed up!
     Don't ever waiver in the belief that CK is the best Christ centered program for ALL kids that we have.  And the only skill building, Christ centered program.  I really am praying with renewed energy that more churches and faith communities will be led to Confident Kids.

About our unit, "Telling Myself the Truth":
     We are in session four of "Telling Myself the Truth."  WOW!  The kids, parents and facilitators are all loving the material, the activities and everything about this unit...
                                    -- From Austin, Texas

    I sent a boy in my small group a post card saying he is very special. At the next meeting he told me that his grandfather saw the card and said, "This person must not know you very well since he called you 'special' -- You're not special". The boy gave me a BIG smile and told me, "When he said that I said to myself, 'That's a lie, I'm Fearfully and Wonderfully made by God".  It constantly amazes me how powerful this material is, Linda. I know it is anointed by the Lord.
                     -- A Small group facilitator from New York

From Iowa:
     Just wanted to let you know how our group is doing.  We have had 3 times together with the kids.  We've had a lot of disappointments and a lot of exciting and encouraging things happen.  You didn't warn us how much the enemy would be attacking.  Satan sure doesn't seem to want us to succeed, but I guess I should have known that!!
     We have 5 children from 4 families participating this time and from all I can tell, we will have a considerable amount more next time.  Our team has learned so much from each other, from the kids and from God.  It's been amazing!  The kids bonded to each other so quickly and we are having an opportunity to plant some seeds with some unsaved adults. 
     Also, I just received a call from another church in Iowa wanting to know more about our program.  He is very enthusiastic.  I am so excited to help spread this program around!   --Jill Crain-Reutter

America is not the only place with hurting kids.  This message comes from the other side of the world:

Dear David and Linda,

     We are now in our third week of Confident Kids!  Having received the Confident Kids Curriculum 'Facing My Feelings', and with my Pastor's encouragement and blessing, out went the invitations to the families of the 12 children who had been on our hearts. We have been overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of the parents and kids.  We are experiencing the door of opportunity wide open by the Lord and confirmation every step we take.

     We are a team of 5 leaders, with 12 children and we have a teenage helper, and the possibility of another leader with 4 kids.  We all love the interaction we are having within our groups and the children's responses are very encouraging. The lessons just allow for these kids to be honest and open.  

     We have special activities tailor-made for these kids special needs.  We allow 1/2 hour for this activity which varies from electronics, woodwork, cooking, craft, learning the drums, and we are finding that the children rise to the challenge with every new skill they are taught.  For this 1/2 hour we recruit a male from our church who has a skill to share with the boys and at the same time present a good role model.  Each week, during activity time, one of our leaders takes a group of 4 children to visit the sick and lonely in our community and in the nursing homes and hospital.  They go armed with bunches of flowers tied with ribbon, and heart shaped cards that say GOD LOVES YOU, and who we are.

     We adopted the name Building Confident Kids to help parents and people in our community identify with what we are aiming to do. We love the curriculum because it works for the kids and opens the way for the Lord to minister to their deep needs and already we are seeing encouraging changes in these children.  

Thank you, please be encouraged,

Leonie  Ward
Bairnsdale, Victoria
AUSTRALIA

 "I wish I had a group like this when I was 8."

Dale Ryan , CEO
Christian Recovery International

Does it work?  Check out this Email we received from Minneapolis:
Our new Pastor's wife was substitute teaching at the school across the park from our church.  She was complimenting a young lady who had just walked away from an explosive situation.  As they were talking and the girl found out where our Pastor's wife lived, she said, "That's where Miss Mona teaches Confident Kids.  That's where I learned to make wise choices!"  As it turns out, she was in our group for only one unit FOUR YEARS AGO, and she still uses it!  And that's why I'm so grateful that you and God did this thing!

CK can cut to the heart of a family's issues.  This email comes from Pennsylvania:
I'll always remember the time one little girl would not draw her stepdad in the family picture.  I knew she had a stepdad, so I asked her about it.  I found out she was upset with her stepdad for drinking too much when he was suppose to be watching her.  She said he was getting too "mean" when he was drinking so much.  I talked to the mom who did not realize this was going on.  She talked to the stepfather, who did not realize he was scaring his stepdaughter so much, and agreed to go to AA.  I can't say everything turned out perfectly, but at least he acknowledged he had a drinking problem and started to get help.  And that came from his stepdaughter's response to a Confident Kids family activity.  She had never given us any reason to suspect that something was wrong at home before this time.  I really like the way some of the activities get to the real issues in an indirect manner.

Our CK group started last fall and we are very excited about it.  We had twelve kids enrolled the first time around and all twelve have signed up for our group which will start the end of January, plus we are able to add some new ones.  Our staff found it just an outstanding experience and I am just so grateful to you for putting the program together and to God for allowing us to run it here in such a successful fashion.

Dee Engel, Minister of Children, Trinity United Presbyterian Church, Santa Ana, CA

 "One of the most useful resources we've used recently is Confident Kids. When we first started the program, we intended to keep our first session quite small but we immediately had 25 kids signed up. It has been growing ever since. This has turned out to be a phenomenal ministry for both the kids and our volunteer facilitators.
I highly recommend it."

Church of the Open Door, Crystal, MN