Lifewise Outreach for Kids

 
Over 2,300 Children reached with the good news of Jesus during school hours!
 
Thank you for your generous support of the LifeWise Outreach for Kids! WBCL listeners raised nearly $70,000 to provide bibles and bible classes during school hours to public-school students in your community. Visit https://lifewise.org/ to learn more or get involved directly with LifeWise.
  
 
About LifeWise: 
Decades ago, the U.S. Supreme Court decision Zorach v. Clauson (1952) determined that it is constitutional for students to be released from public school during school hours to receive religious instruction. The court established that "released time" is legal under the following three conditions:
 
  1. Off School Property - Program must be held off site of school premises
  2. Privately Funded - No government funds can be used for this program
  3. Parent Permitted - Parental permission is required for child's participation
LifeWise Academy was inspired by a Bible education program founded in 2012 in Van Wert, OH, which boasted a shocking 95% participation rate among local elementary school students. The LifeWise founder and CEO, Joel Penton, envisioned a replicable, scalable approach that would equip communities with the "plug n' play" tools to launch and sustain effective Bible education programs. Since launching its first two programs in 2019, LifeWise has quickly grown to serve more than 340 schools nationwide. Every week, tens of thousands of public-school students attended LifeWise classes to learn the Bible.
 
Because classes are during school hours, local communities are seeing extremely high participation rates in LifeWise as compared to before and after school ministry opportunities, often exceeding well over 50% of eligible students.
 
LifeWise's vision is bold. Beginning with the goal to reach the first 1,000 schools by 2026, LifeWise will not stop until every one of the 50 million public school students in America have the opportunity to receive Bible education during school hours. With growth well ahead of schedule, there is every reason to believe that with the right strategy, partners, and resources, LifeWise can spread exponentially across the nation.
 
The current obstacles include the need for human and financial resources. To make LifeWise a reality, it will take God's people investing their time, talent, and treasure. LifeWise speaks in terms of Connectors, Doers, and Funders.
 
  1. Connectors help bring others into the LifeWise mission
  2. Doers roll up their sleeves and get the work done
  3. Funders invest the necessary financial resources