History

Over 20 years ago, God began to open the eyes of Sylvia Foth, founder of Kidzana, to the fact that huge numbers of children in the United States and around the world had never had a chance to hear and respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Over years of outreach ministry, God brought together a board of exciting and godly children’s leaders who shared the passion to reach our world’s unreached kids and help them grow strong in Christ for a lifetime. Kidzana incorporated in 1998 as a nondenominational nonprofit organization.

How Did Kidzana Begin?

I was surprised to see Pastor Matthew, from Liberia, in our small adult Sunday School class. We rarely had guest speakers.

I was even more surprised to hear about the desperate needs in his country. A seven year civil war had claimed the lives of a quarter of a million Liberians. Churches and schools were bombed. Children had been kidnapped to serve as child soldiers. Jobs, medical services and even clean running water were nearly nonexistent. I could hardly comprehend what daily life might be like for a child.

So I asked, “What do you think is the greatest need of children in Liberia?” I was shocked by his answer. “We need materials to teach our children about God. And we need someone to come and teach our people how to teach children about God.”

With years of experience in discipleship and outreach ministry to kids, I knew God was calling us to Liberia. Within a year, we trained over 350 Liberian leaders from 174 different churches and organizations to minister to their kids, who desperately needed Christ’s healing from years of wartime trauma.

On that day, I didn’t realize that so many others around the world were just as desperate for help to reach and disciple their own kids. And the job keeps getting bigger. The UN predicts that within 25 years, three billion new kids will be added to our planet.

Since 1998, God has led us from a basement Sunday School ministry, to a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization serving missions and denominational leaders worldwide. Tens of thousands of kids have already come to Christ.

It’s a joy to be part of what God is doing! We invite you to join with us to reach kids around the world for Christ.

His for the Kids,

Sylvia Foth
Founder & Executive Director