There’s a particular kind of pride on a preschooler’s face when they’re holding something important — the kind that comes with two careful hands wrapped around a decorated jar, a little extra weight from the coins inside, and a big audience cheering them on.
That’s missions at NCC Santa Clara, and it’s one of the sweetest ways our children learn that even the littlest hands can make a big difference.
What Missions Look Like at NCC
Each classroom at NCC is paired with a mission organization that the children pray for and support through our weekly Wednesday offering. Families send in coins and gifts, children bring them in their own decorated jars, and together our classes collect offerings that equip children and families in other places around the globe (and right here at home!).
At NCC, we teach a simple but powerful idea: live with less, so we can save more, so we can be more generous. It’s a big lesson, delivered one jingling jar at a time. 🫙✨
Where Our Offerings Go
Roly Polies → Zimbabwe, through Hands of Hope — Supporting an educational program modeled after NCC that serves children in orphanages and teaches them to grow their own food.
Dragonflies → Santa Clara, CA, through CityTeam — Helping provide food boxes for people experiencing homelessness in our own Santa Clara County community.
Butterflies → Tanzania, through Hope of the Nations — Supporting a green school in Kigoma, modeled after NCC, serving children from preschool through 3rd grade.
Fireflies → Papua, Indonesia, through New Generations — Supporting the education of children at Sekolah Papua Kasih, a school that also practices sustainable green choices modeled after NCC.
There’s something special about knowing that schools across the world share a little bit of NCC’s DNA — and that our preschoolers are helping them grow. 🌍
Why Generosity in Preschool Matters
Giving does powerful things for young children:
Empathy & Compassion — Learning about children in other places helps little ones imagine someone else’s world and care about it.
Social-Emotional Growth — Sharing what they have builds a child’s sense of purpose, belonging, and joy in helping others.
Global Awareness — Countries like Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and Indonesia stop being faraway names and become places full of real friends.
Gratitude — Giving helps children notice and appreciate the blessings in their own lives.
At NCC, we believe giving, praying, and caring for others is part of what it means to follow Jesus — and that even our youngest learners can see themselves as world-changers. 🙏
“God loves a cheerful giver.” — 2 Corinthians 9:7
The Power of a Cheerful Giver
Watching a two-year-old proudly hold up their offering jar is a good reminder that generosity isn’t about how much you give — it’s about the heart behind it. And our NCC kids have hearts as big as their jars are full.
We are so grateful to every family who sends in those coins each Wednesday. Your generosity (and your children’s!) is reaching around the world. 💛
Neighborhood Christian Center — Santa Clara, CA
Faith-Based Early Childhood Education | Infant through TK