How to Meet Your Neighbors w/ Joleen Steel

In this episode of Collide Kids Podcast, host Christen Clark welcomes Joleen Steel, the dynamic co-founder of Camping Stick Kids. Joleen recounts her spiritual path from a pastor's child, watching her faith take shape in grand stadium crusades, 20 years as a kindergarten teacher, to her role in nurturing children's Christian faith and adventurer spirit through Camping Stick Kid. We will explore the mission of Joleen's ministry, which intertwines appreciation for the great outdoors with a guide for how kids can share their faith with their friends with lots of practical approaches to community building and friendship forging right at home. She advocates for the formation of neighborhood clubs and gives insights into transforming simple gatherings into opportunities for fellowship and evangelism. AND Joleen shares her hidden talent for sounding like a human bagpipe, you won't want to miss! Plus Kids Only Segment featuring Cami.

GO to campingstickkids.org/ to get your free resources and learn more about this ministry!

Special thanks to our editor Jay Lee from Provision Pods.

Clip Finder:

Grounding the Emerging Generation in Faith: "It's to ground the emerging generation in a robust and resilient christian faith so that they can share the love of God with their peers."
— Joleen Steel [00:05:39 → 00:05:48]

Building Community Connections: "Well, there's a scripture verse that tells us that we can be strong and courageous and that the Lord our God goes with us everywhere. So the first thing I'd say is, ask God for courage and then just be aware when you're outside."
— Joleen Steel [00:10:29 → 00:10:44]

The Essence of Commission in Teaching: "Well, first of all, I'm a teacher, so I just want to tell you guys, when you think about commission, I want you to think about it as a super important job that you have been told to do and that you get to do. So that word can sometimes be confusing, like great commission. What's that mean? It's not just Jesus saying, do this. It's actually a really important assignment, and he's sending you out to complete that assignment."
— Joleen Steel [00:12:57 → 00:13:27]

Creating Community: "We have an entire packet. I'm going to offer to you all for free to plan your own backyard club. And you can use it for any club."
— Joleen Steel [00:13:47 → 00:13:57]

Backyard Fun with Themed Stations: "We decided what our theme was going to be. We set up stations outside, so we set up a volleyball net for water volleyball. We had another station that was sort of the music station, and we hung tin cans and put buckets and sticks and stuff to make music outdoors. We had a book area out on the porch. We had a craft table, so we had all these stations set up, and then we set up who's going to lead the stations?"
— Joleen Steel [00:20:26 → 00:20:57]

Personal Transformation: "jesus died for thieves and liars. And my heart knew I was a thief and a liar because I had lied to my parents initially about that ball."
— Joleen Steel [00:25:12 → 00:25:22]

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Some days, you might play The River for some nice background music. Some days, you'll play it so your kids don't hear anything inappropriate. But some days, you listen because life has knocked you down, and you need help getting back up. We're here for all of them. Our goal is to introduce as many people as possible to Jesus through music and service. You can listen and get connected at https://riverradio.com/