Hi! My name is Kerri Shepard and I created this GoFundMe to raise funds to publish Promise Keys children's discipleship curriculum so that children everywhere could know God experientially for themselves!

Children need to know God personally--His character, how He moves, how to engage Him, hear Him, and receive from Him so that they have their own personal relationship with Him. Children are made in the image of God—He is a Spirit, they are a spirit, and there is no junior Holy Spirit!

Let me tell you WHY I'm doing this first first, and then I'll share more about what makes Promise Keys so unique and important.

Why am I doing this? (Here's my story!)

When my youngest son, Joel, was 5 years old, I was preparing to teach his class at church. When I asked the Lord what to teach, He said, “Kerri, introduce them to the person of Me, not the “system” of Me.” I knew exactly what He meant.

Let me back up further. When I was about 8 years old, something tragic happened in my life. I didn’t know what to do and I didn’t tell anyone, I just tucked it away with a lot of shame. I became a youth pastor in my twenties and loved God and ministering to His people. I had a vibrant relationship with the Lord and loved Him with all my heart, yet still had this question lurking in my mind—“What kind of God would allow that to happen to a child?”

Eventually I hit a place of despair and my husband and I cried out to the Lord to help me. The Lord led me to talk to my father-in-law about my situation. He listened with compassion and that said, “Kerri, you have some foundational assurances about God that are missing in your life.” He essentially told me that there were areas of my life that I did not know God’s character, not in the way that God longed to reveal Himself to me.

So while I was preparing to teach my son’s class at church, the Lord asked me to teach them what He and I were doing to make sure these “foundational assurances” were built out in my life. I told the Lord that 5 year old’s can hardly say “foundational assurances”, much less understand them. That’s when the name “Promise Keys” was born, as the Lord showed me that these assurances are just His Promises, and what is foundational is key.

The Lord gave me 6 Promise Keys:

God loves me

God saves me

God forgives me

God is with me

God comforts me

God protects me.

The first 3 Promise Keys were pretty solid in my heart at that time. But the last 3 He built in me as I journeyed with Him in His Word, in times of prayer and worship, and as I let Holy Spirit minister to my pain and shame.

Our children’s pastors saw that Promise Keys wasn’t a typical “Sunday School” curriculum, but more of a “core curriculum” that children might need to go through multiple times during their development as a believer. So I wrote Promise Keys for preschoolers and elementary-aged children. My children and the other children thrived during this time. Several of those children came back to me as teens and young adults and told me that Promise Keys was the curriculum that made the greatest impact on their relationship with God as a child.

What is Promise Keys?

Promise Keys is an innovative, fully illustrated and interactive children’s discipleship curriculum that is designed to help children know God personally and experientially for themselves. It includes Bible stories, object lessons, Holy Spirit activation encounters, illustrated characters, memory verses, biblical blessings, games, art, various activities, and teacher notes to provide all you need to introduce children to the person of God, not the “system” of God.

How can Promise Keys curriculum be used?

Promise Keys can be used in churches, Christian schools, home schools, after school programs, Vacation Bible Schools, for family devotions, or anywhere children need to know God experientially for themselves. The curriculum includes tips on how to adapt Promise Keys to your particular setting. An “Introduction to Promise Keys” video training for teachers/parents is included.

Would you give into the mission of publishing Promise Keys to help children across the globe know God personally for themselves? I have already raised over $8,000 but the total cost of publishing Promise Keys is $26,000.

How will the GoFundMe funds be used?

All funds from the GoFundMe campaign will be dedicated to publishing Promise Keys curriculum. If more funds come in than are needed to publish the Elementary curriculum, the additional funds will be used to publish the preschool and adult versions which have been written and are currently in the editing process.

Future Promise Keys Projects in the Works:

Promise Keys for Preschoolers and Promise Keys for Adults are projected to be released in 2024. Other projects we plan to develop include Promise Keys for Teens and daily devotionals based on the Promise Keys. My heart is to make Promise Keys available to missionaries and those working with children in the nations. (There are missionaries waiting on it to be published right now!) Giving into the Promise Keys mission will help us make that happen.

For more information:

Please message me if you have any questions or would like information on pre-ordering Promise Keys.

Thank you so much for reading about the Promise Keys mission! I appreciate your prayers and welcome your financial gifts!

All gifts are tax-deductible as Kerri Shepard Ministries is a 501©3 (and a dba of Building the Net/Cornelius Connection International).