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When associate pastor Paul Miller first became a Kids Hope USA mentor to a child named Simon, the boy was in such frequent fights that he had a nearly permanent place in the principal's office. Simon's life has begun to change in the two-and-a-half years that he's met with Miller, pastor of Covenant Life Church in Grand Haven, Michigan.

"Sometimes we go over his homework, sometimes we play games or read books. Mostly we just talk," Miller says. "The principal told me that Simon has done a complete about-face in his respect for his peers, for authority, and for himself. All I do is show up each week. I believe in him and pay attention to him. Every week we end our time together the same way: I tell Simon he is a good kid, and he tells me he will do his best. I am amazed how God uses that hour in such big ways."

When Virgil Gulker developed Kids Hope to help at-risk children in public schools, he asked police, teachers, clergy, and social workers what the church could do for at-risk kids (many of whom live in impoverished and single-parent households). The resounding answer: What children need most is a stable relationship with a caring adult.

Gulker started Kids Hope in 1995 with three churches and schools in southwestern Michigan. Today 217 programs in 27 states provide mentors to about 3,800 children. Gulker connects a church with a neighboring elementary school, and church members become one-on-one mentors to at-risk students. A mentor spends one hour a week with a child—tutoring, helping with homework, playing, or just visiting. But the underlying purpose of the hour is to create a friendship with an adult that brings consistency to a child's life.

In nine school districts, all public elementary schools are matched with Kids Hope churches, and seven school districts have requested a church for every school. The organization grows consistently, adding about two programs each month. Kids Hope plans to have 5,000 churches serving 100,000 children by 2010.

Mentoring relationships transform children. Consider Annie, a student in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who has five family members in prison. When school began last year, Annie was withdrawn and doing very little school work. After four months with a mentor, she is performing above the class average in all subjects.

"Principals tell us that between 98 and 100 percent of students in these adult-child relationships show significant improvement in academic performance and attitude," Gulker says.

A consistent and nurturing relationship with a mentor fosters a child's ability to learn. "Research shows that children in unstable environments are left with two physiological responses: fight or flight," says Joseph Loconte, a fellow of the Heritage Foundation. "Only emotional stability allows brain function to improve and learning to take place."

Educators such as Carmen Hannah, principal of Van Raalte Elementary School in Holland, Michigan, say that mentoring also helps children stop bad behavior. Says Hannah, whose school has the largest Kids Hope program in the nation: "The pride our students show in their work and their increased motivation for learning gives them so much confidence that they no longer need to fool around or be belligerent to get their need for attention fulfilled."

Gulker likes to tell the story of Jason, a five-year-old kindergartner who had been arrested 25 times for arson. Jason had attended a correctional school for pyromaniacs, but he continued to set fires. "The boy is just searching for proof that someone cares about him," said the principal at the correctional school. A year later the principal and the pastor of the church offering Kids Hope at his school invited Gulker to speak to other local principals. He opened by asking about the young arsonist.

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August 2003, Vol. 47, No. 8