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Divorce Ministry 4 Kids is now Hope 4 Hurting Kids

We are pleased to announce an exciting transition today for Divorce Ministry 4 Kids and Hope 4 Hurting Kids. Effectively immediately, all ministry previously done through Divorce Ministry 4 Kids will be done through Hope 4 Hurting Kids. Articles and information previously hosted at DivorceMinistry4Kids.com will gradually be moved over to Hope4HurtingKids.com, and all future postings will be made on Hope4HurtingKids.com. We are excited about this evolution of the ministry which started over six years ago with the creation of Divorce Ministry 4 Kids, and we look forward to moving ahead and continuing to help hurting kids through Hope 4 Hurting Kids. We recognize that this transition likely raises some questions, and the purpose of this article is to answer those questions to the best of our ability.

Why Is Divorce Ministry 4 Kids becoming Hope 4 Hurting Kids?

There are many reasons we decided to make this switch now. Here are a few of the main reasons:

When we started Divorce Ministry or Kids in 2011, our main purpose was to minister to children who had experienced the divorce of their parents. We quickly realized that there were many kids who experience the trauma of family disruption even though their parents havn’t technically divorced. These include kids born to single mothers, living with their grandparents, living with cohabiting parents, gay parent led families and many more. Unfortunately, many of these kids, and the people working with them, would not take advantage of the resources we were offering simply because the name Divorce is in the title of the ministry. The principal reason for the name change is so that these kids can get the help they need.
When I launched Divorce Ministry 4 Kids, it was in response to a call I felt to minister to these kids. I liked the name and didn’t do a lot of research on it before we locked up the domain, developed a logo and invested some time and money into it. THEN, I found out there was a great curriculum out there for children of divorce called Divorce Care 4 Kids (DC4K). I have nothing but respect for DC4K. I teach a local DC4K group in my home town and have for years. The writer of DC4K, Linda Ranson Jacobs, is a mentor and has become a great friend. In fact, she has written extensively for Divorce Ministry 4 Kids (and you’ll see many of her articles as we transition those to Hope 4 Hurting Kids). Despite all that, people have always confused the two ministries, and understandably so. This move is designed, in part, to delineate the work and ministry we now do from the curriculum of DC4K.
Our ministry has also expanded since we started Divorce Ministry 4 Kids. As we created resources for, and worked with, kids dealing with the trauma of family disruption, we discovered that those same resources and that same information is helpful to kids who are experiencing all different types of circumstances and difficulties. For example, over the last few years a major portion of our work has focused on resources and training related to helping kids to deal with difficult emotions. These emotions like anger, depression, anxiety and stress are prevalent in the case of family disruption, but they are obviously not limited to just family disruption. Our ministry has expanded to include kids in all types of situations, and the people working with them, and the move to Hope 4 Hurting Kids more accurately the work we are currently doing.

Has There Been Any Turnover in People?

No. Hope 4 Hurting Kids and Divorce Ministry 4 Kids have always been related. They were both started by Wayne Stocks, and for a long time, Divorce Ministry 4 Kids was a “proud member of Hope 4 Hurting Kids.” The individuals behind the two ministries are the same and this is simply a rebranding/simplification of the ministry we have always been doing.

What Changes Can We Expect from this Transition?

You will see the following changes if you currently follow Divorce Ministry 4 Kids or are searching for one of our resources:

Effective immediately, any new articles and resources that would previously have been posted on DivorceMinistry4Kids.com will be posted at Hope4HurtingKids.com.
You will also begin to see articles and resources not specifically designed for children from disrupted homes but which may still be beneficial to children dealing with the fall out from a family disruption.
If you follow Divorce Ministry 4 Kids in a blog reader, Facebook, Twitter, etc. you will want to follow Hope 4 Hurting Kids from hereon out (more on how to do that below).
Articles and resources previously published on Divorce Ministry 4 Kids will slowly be reissued on Hope 4 Hurting Kids. These articles will be republished in their entirety (and at times updated) and taken down from Divorce Ministry 4 Kids. We are working hard to make sure that any links to Divorce Ministry 4 Kids will be redirected to Hope 4 Hurting Kids so that any old links will still lead people to the right place, but we would ask that any new links to these articles be linked to Hope 4 Hurting Kids.
Future workshops and presentations will be done under the moniker of Hope 4 Hurting Kids rather than Divorce Ministry 4 Kids.

What Won’t Change?

- We will still be helping kids who need it and teaching other people how to do the same. We have believed from the beginning, and continue to believe, that the mission of helping these kids dictates that we produce and provide the highest quality information and resources that we can. That goal will continue at Hope 4 Hurting Kids.

We will not stop talking about, teaching about and standing in the gap for children from disrupted homes. The umbrella of kids we serve has grown, but this change in no way diminishes our commitment to kids who are suffering or have suffered because of the disruption of their parents’ relationship.
Our commitment to not just call other people to serve hurting kids but to serve these kids directly is not changing. We will continue to work locally with kids who are suffering and also provide resources and means for kids around the globe to find the help they need.

How Can I Keep Following Hope 4 Hurting Kids?

There are a number of options for you to keep up-to-date on what is happening at Hope 4 Hurting Kids.

Subscribe to Our Site

The best way to keep up to date on everything going on at Hope 4 Hurting Kids is to subscribe to receive an e-mail every time something new is published on the site. You can subscribe by entering your e-mail in the box on the right on any page at Hope 4 Hurting Kids. This will ensure that you always know what’s going on, and as an added bonus you can catch up on the older material from Divorce Ministry 4 Kids as we republish old material fresh on Hope 4 Hurting Kids.

Facebook

Follow Hope 4 Hurting kids on Facebook by liking this page.

If you work with hurting kids in any capacity, you can request to join our private Facebook discussion group where we share information and ideas on how to help the kids we are working with.

Twitter

Hope 4 Hurting Kids is on Twitter @hope4hurtkids (We know @hope4hurtingkids would make more sense. Unfortunately Twitter limits the number of characters in our user name).

Instagram

Divorce Ministry 4 Kids never had an Instagram account. Hope 4 Hurting Kids does. You can find us at @hope4hurtingkids.

Hope 4 Hurting Kids has an extensive presence on Pinterest for quite some time. You can find us at @Hope4HurtKids (again we ran up against naming conventions).

RSS Feed

If you use a blog reader to keep up to date, make sure to add our feed at https://hope4hurtingkids.com/feed/.

What is the Mission of Hope 4 Hurting Kids and How is it Different than Divorce Ministry 4 Kids?

Hope 4 Hurting Kids’ mission statement reads:

“Hope 4 Hurting Kids exists to help young people who are experiencing hurt, trauma or adversity to find hope and healing.”

The mission of Divorce Ministry 4 Kids was:

To honor God by standing up for the child of divorce (including children whose parents were never married and are no longer together) by

Teaching people about the effects of divorce on children;
Equipping those who work with children to serve these kids more effectively;
Calling the church to serve, support and minister to these children and their families; and
Serving children of divorce and their families as the hands and feet of Jesus Christ.

Those ideals which made up the purpose of Divorce Ministry 4 Kids still exist within the mission of Hope 4 Hurting Kids and apply to an even larger population of hurting kids.

Where Can I Find Additional Information?

If you’ve read this far, you already have almost all the information we can give you. If you’d like to know more about Hope 4 Hurting Kids though, you can always check out the About Us page.

What Do I Do If I Still Need More Information?

Get in touch with us using one of the social networks listed above. If those don’t work, and you still have questions, feel free to e-mail the Executive Director of Hope 4 Hurting Kids, Wayne Stocks, at wayne@hope4hurtingkids.com.

November 29, 2016 by Wayne Stocks

Written by Wayne Stocks

Wayne is the founder and executive director of Hope 4 Hurting Kids. He is a happily married father of four kids with a passion for helping young people who are going through rough times. In addition to Hope 4 Hurting Kids, Wayne previously started I Am A Child of Divorce and Divorce Ministry 4 Kids to help kids who are dealing with the disruption of their parents' relationship. These are now part of Hope 4 Hurting Kids. Wayne speaks frequently at conferences and churches on issues related to helping kids learn to deal with difficult emotions and life in modern families. Wayne lives with his wife, three youngest kids, three dogs and an insane collection of his kids' other pets outside of Columbus, Ohio. In addition to his work with Hope 4 Hurting Kids, Wayne is a partner in a local consulting firm, an avid reader, coaches his son's soccer team and is a proud supporter of Leicester City Football Club (and yes, for those in know, his affinity for the club does predate the 2016 championship). You can reach Wayne at wayne@hope4hurtingkids.com.

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