Walking into the large group room of Blast Kids this morning felt like a familiar experience. Tons of laughter. Adult leaders in silly costumes. Colorful posters describing the monthly life app (Courage: Being brave enough to do what you should do, even when you are scared). As someone on staff at a church who thinks Orange and uses 252 Basics, these are things I see every Sunday morning. Only this morning something was a little different…

Today was Friday. Kids should be in school on Friday. And did James the storyteller have a British accent? And what about that miniature Pharoah – is he of Indian descent? Suddenly I remember I am not in Pennsylvania, but in Dubai at Gateway Church. What I love most is that the kids in this room right now, are hearing the very same Truth that kids will here in my home town on Sunday! A wiggly 8 year old Moses will be crossing the Red Sea while a miniature Pharoah chases him. In Dubai this morning, and in Pennsylvania on Sunday, children will learn they can be brave even when things seem impossible.

Before we left on this trip, friends would ask me what could possibly connect me to Dubai. The simple answer is this: The Church and Family. As children learned upstairs, their parents sat in Gateway’s weekly service and heard from Darren and Christine as they cast vision for families and church leaders to partner together. All week long, a mission has continually surfaced that Gateway become known as a church that loves and supports families. A mission like that is what connects me and our entire team to Dubai. That’s thinking Orange.

This blog post is part of a week-long series from an Orange Coaching team partnering with Gateway Church in Dubai. The team is comprised of the following church ministry specialists: Darren Kizer (Parker Hill Community Church, 1Semester) , Becky Kizer (Orange Specialist), Christine Kreisher (GT Church), and Stephanie Whitacre (Parker Hill Community Church, 1Semester).