Marco Presbyterian Church has something to be excited about. They will have a playground by Jan. 10 on the front grounds of the church. It will have slides and two climbing towers and the volunteers are anxiously awaiting direction from Kids Around The World (KATW). The playground will encompass an area of approximately 40’ by 40.’

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Mike Siegfried and Judy Roberts stand in the area where the new playground will be dedicated on Jan. 13 at noon. All church members are invited to a picnic first, and the children will then be allowed to have fun in their newly built playground by the Christian Organization, Kids Around The World.

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Judy Roberts is on the Board of Directors with KATW as well as secretary/treasurer. “As a board member and member of Marco Presbyterian Church, we can build a playground at our local church. The members wanted one for their children, and it’s about to happen,” said Roberts. She also stated that KATW normally doesn’t do playgrounds domestically, and that 95 percent of their playgrounds are built overseas.

KATW started in Rockford, IL about 13 years ago. Rockford is a sister city in Brovary in the Ukraine and Rockford is known for their parks. According to Roberts, Rockford wanted to do something for their sister city, and they thought a playground would be the best gift to give them.

“A group of businessmen and the children’s pastor from the Evangelical Free Church in Rockford went to Brovary and saw what an impact a playground can have on the city. And that’s where the idea was born — to do something for children who can’t be kids because of what their living situations are like.”

Mike Seigfried, church administrator, is in charge of getting all the volunteers which is reaching 30-40 from the church who will help build the playground with three people from Rockford supervising. The equipment comes from a company called Game Time, a large manufacturing company. KATW orders the equipment from them depending on the size of land available.

Seigfried said the city was very helpful in getting approval for this project and bent over backwards for us. “We will begin building on Jan. 10. Coffee will be supplied in the morning and lunch in the afternoon for volunteers. KATW has their equipment sitting in the parking lot, railroad ties and cement will be coming in and a huge truck to move the dirt. Many things will be happening in the three days it will take to put the playground together,” Siegfried stated. “We’re just here to help them. We put it together, but KATW will tell us how to do it.”

Eight people including the Siegfrieds and the Roberts built several playgrounds in Guatemala last year, so there’s no doubt they are the experienced ones for a job like this.

Roberts stated that the playgrounds are really their entry into the country. The ministry is to teach Sunday school teachers how to make flannel graphs — characters made out of flannel that the children can stick onto a board so that a visual picture can be created of what they are being taught. She went on to say that they use characters that look just like Jesus in the film “Campus Crusade” so that for weeks and months after the film is shown, the children are reinforced with the flannel graphs.

“We’ve been doing flannel graphs for over 13 years in a ministry organization. It’s been in the last three or four years that we’ve partnered with the Campus Crusade and we now produce our own flannel graphs,” Roberts explained.

Assistant Pastor Jonathan Loerop said the members are so excited that God has raised up people to build a playground for the children. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.”

Rev. Laerop and Jim Rosene, President of Kids Around The World, will be handling the dedication Jan. 13, a Sunday, at noon. The members of the church will have a picnic first and then allow the children to use the playground.

“Now, we will have a place set apart just for kids so as they come to be with God at church, they can have a fun, safe place to play,” Laerop said.

Marco Presbyterian church is located at 875 W. Elkcam Circle. For more information, call 394-8186 or visit www.marcochurch.com. For information on KATW, go to www.kidsaroundtheworld.com.