King’s Kids performing troupe to play Bonner Park, then lead VBS on Crow reservation

Kathleen Kenny, a King’s Kids representative, said the group will perform at Bonner Park in Missoula at 7:30 p.m. tonight and then travel to the Crow Agency in eastern Montana and to Spearfish, South Dakota, to run a Vacation Bible School and teach songs to local children.

The King’s Kids performing-arts team, Kenny said, combines discipleship training with on-stage worship. “The purpose is to spread the good news of Jesus Christ and also to minister to God’s heart. We believe worship is spiritual warfare and that it ministers to God’s heart as well as affects the heavenlies,” Kenny said.

King’s Kids began in 1976 in Kona, Hawaii, when Dale Kaufman founded the program, Kenny said. The organization has since expanded globally; Kenny said there are about 24,000 children involved worldwide. The team visiting Missoula is based in Lakeside, Montana, and completed a two-week training camp before touring.

Kenny described the training schedule used at the camp: early-morning aerobics around 5:30 a.m., worship and quiet time in the morning, classroom instruction until about 12:15 p.m., rehearsal from 1 p.m. to about 4:30 p.m., evening review and public rehearsal around 6:15 p.m., and family time later in the evening. The group’s outreach mix includes song, dance and worship music rather than the hands-on building and nursing skills practiced by King’s Kids “Hands teams,” she said.

The Missoula performance is one stop on the troupe’s short tour. Kenny said the team will run a weeklong Vacation Bible School on the Crow reservation that organizers expect will serve about 100 children, then continue to a reservation in South Dakota before concluding the tour in July. “One of the things that the Lord really spoke to us was to go to the Native Americans this year and really just try to serve them in any way,” Kenny said, describing conversations with pastors on the reservation who requested VBS programming and help teaching songs.

Several young team members spoke during the event. Keisha Martin, 16, of Lakeside, Montana, described the troupe’s personal impact: “God has just really been a father to me,” she said, recounting how her faith strengthened through the program. Other performers introduced songs and said they hoped the music would communicate faith and encouragement to audiences.

Organizers said the troupe often offers a private opportunity for people who want to talk after the concert; Kenny said team members typically walk among the audience and make themselves available for conversation.

The event and tour are presented as a religious outreach and performing-arts ministry rather than a civic or government program. No local government action or funding was discussed during the interview.

Details not specified in the event transcript include exact tour dates beyond the general July end date and the full roster or home communities for every performer.