Paul Calvert caught up with Ruth Ben Yoseph

Kings Kids Choir in a radio studio

King's Kids are an international youth ministry; their main goal is to see children and young people growing in confidence in sharing their faith through their lifestyle and through arts like dancing, singing and drama. Ruth Ben Yoseph is the leader in Jerusalem and Paul Calvert spent some time with her to find out more about this pioneering work.

Paul: How long have you been working with King's Kids?

Ruth: This is my 7th year.

Paul: What needs do the children have here in Jerusalem?

Ruth: Well the biggest need is prayer because there is a lot of pressure from the non believing community whether it's the Jewish side or the Moslem side so a lot of prayer is needed.

Paul: Are there a lot of social problems?

Ruth: Yes there are, especially with the new immigrants and also in the Palestinian areas. We have a lot of one parent family children where the one parent is struggling, there is of course social human needs too and we try to help wherever possible.

Paul: What sort of things do you actually do in King's Kids?

Ruth: Well, we meet weekly and we have three different age groups, 5-10 years, 11-13 years and the teens. We have three meetings, one for each age group and we get about 80 children and youth attending on a weekly basis. This is a huge responsibility but this is what God has called our leaders too. During our meetings we pray, worship, have Bible study and rehearse dance, drama and songs for performances we do. We are bringing kids from very different backgrounds together and God is blessing us.

Paul: I understand you've been to Finland and England what did you do there?

The Canada team

Ruth: Well this was a great opportunity and privilege for us as King's Kids Jerusalem, who are predominantly Jewish, to join King's Kids Israel, who are Arab. We went to Finland and ministered in song, dance and drama, on the streets, in an orphan house, in the churches and even in a prison. God used us in a big way. Then we went as King's Kids Jerusalem to England. We were predominantly Jewish but we were privileged to have one Palestinian boy with us, so we were together as one body giving glory to God.

Paul: You have Palestinian and Israeli kids is that unique for here?

Ruth: Yes it is actually. It's a privilege for us to do this, to bring Palestinians and Israelis together. It's real pioneer work and is not always simple, for example, one boy was coming every week from Bethlehem, a Palestinian town, since he was 13, but when he became 16 he wasn't allowed to come to Jerusalem anymore. We as Israelis aren't allowed to go to Bethlehem either. To solve the problem, we decided to meet once a month in a neutral place where Palestinians can be and where Israelis can also go and that has been a real blessing. It has actually spoken into the hearts of the youth. In the new term I believe this will grow in a big way.

Paul: Are there any other difficulties you face bringing Palestinians and Israelis together?