All the Bible verses in this edition of The Presidential Prayer Team
for Kids Update are from The New Living Translation of the Bible.
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  • Character counts—hear about it from great Americans from Jefferson to Reagan.
  • Helen Keller—God may develop your character through adversity.
  • President Reagan tells of the link between character and jelly beans. Do you know?

Things to pray for

This happy boy raises his hands with excitement as he speaks with President Bush at Waldo C. Falkener Elementary School in Greensboro, N.C. on Wednesday of this week. Pray for the President as he continues to travel the country speaking to children, teachers and others about the importance of education. Photo courtesy of the White House.
  1. Pray for President Bush as he continues to work for a peaceful solution to problems with North Korea, the Communist nation that is developing nuclear weapons even though the United Nations has asked them not to. The U.N. is getting tough with North Korea and its leader, Kim Jong-il, by stopping the flow of products and money into the country. Pray that this will work and that the nations of the world will want safety and security badly enough to follow through on these new limitations.

  2. Since it’s National Character Counts Week, pray for everyone in America to consider character, and to be inspired to step up to be people of great moral and spiritual excellence! Pray for your school, your friends and family and yourself to grow in godliness and character. You’ll learn more about Character Counts Week below.

  3. Our troops are still working very hard and under great danger, whether in Afghanistan or Iraq. Pray for the violence to stop and for the Sunni and Shiite Muslims to stop fighting each other. Pray for God’s loving protection and care for our troops there, especially as danger has increased. Pray for all the kids whose parents are in active military duty, that they will be supported and know they are loved, no matter where in the world their parent serves.

Leaders to pray for


Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff—Gen. Peter Pace

Photo courtesy of the Department of Defense.

General Peter Pace became our nation’s 16th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on September 30, 2005. As CJS, he is the top advisor on military matters for President Bush, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and members of the National Security Council. Gen. Pace is very effective in this position—he was Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs for four years before stepping into this new position. Gen. Pace is also the first Marine to be Chairman.

General Pace was born in Brooklyn, NY and grew up in Teaneck, NJ. A 1967 graduate of the United States Naval Academy, he holds a Master's Degree in Business Administration from George Washington University and attended Harvard University for the Senior Executives in National and International Security program.

Gen. Pace has had a long and exciting career with the Marines, having served in Vietnam, Washington, D.C., Thailand, Korea, Japan and Somalia.

General Pace's personal decorations include: Defense Distinguished Service Medal, with two oak leaf clusters; Defense Superior Service Medal; the Legion of Merit; Bronze Star Medal with Combat V; the Defense Meritorious Service Medal; Meritorious Service Medal with gold star; Navy Commendation Medal with Combat "V"; Navy Achievement Medal with gold star; and the Combat Action Ribbon.

A former runner, Gen. Pace now stays fit by walking and doing 30-40-mile bike rides. He met his wife Lynne when he was at the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, and they have been happily married for 34 years. They have two adult children, Peter and Tiffany Marie.


Secretary of Commerce—Carlos Gutierrez

Portrait courtesy of the Department of Commerce.

The Secretary of Commerce oversees the important areas of business and manufacturing in our nation, helping small and large companies thrive. His department is very involved in strengthening trade with other nations and in helping all Americans, especially minorities, to start and grow their own small businesses. In his job, Secretary Gutierrez works to create a great climate for business to thrive while providing encouragment and help for those entrepreneurs who wish to start new businesses.

Secretary Gutierrez comes to the office from a very successful career with Kellogg Company—that’s right, the folks who make cereal. He has served as its CEO for several years. Secretary Gutierrez emigrated from his homeland of Cuba in 1960 and joined the Kellogg Company after getting a job delivering cereal in Mexico City. Ten years later, he was running the Mexican business. Fifteen years after that, he was appointed its CEO. President Bush hailed Carlos Gutierrez as a fantastic American success story. Our country is very fortunate to enjoy his gifts and talents in leadership.

Secretary Gutierrez has been married to his wife, Edi for 25 years, and together they have three children, Carlos, Erika and Karina.

And now about prayer. When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I assure you, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father secretly. Then your Father, who knows all secrets, will reward you.
—Matthew 6:5-6

And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test. Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong. Not that people will see that we have stood the test but that you will do what is right even though we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth.
—II Corinthians 13:6-8

This week we’d like to challenge everyone to consider sending to our wounded troops a word of encouragement, prayer, Scripture or just a note of thanks. In fact, we’ve created a special mini-poster you can use with our PPT mascot Patriot Pete! Click here to download.

Take a moment and draw a picture and write a few words to encourage the brave men and women at Bethesda Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD. Mail your mini-poster to: The Presidential Prayer Team for Kids, PO Box 89130, Tucson AZ 85752.

When it comes down to it, everybody should care about character. Because character affects us all. Just think about it--whether it’s your trust that the other driver will stop at the stop sign without running into your car, or the confidence that the kid behind you in line at the movies doesn’t cut in front of you, character is really important!

That’s why the President has announced that this week is National Character Counts Week. He wants to remind us all that who we are inside is really, really important. As kids who pray, we need to have the highest character. So this week we will be focusing on character in order to understand what it is, why it is important, and what the Bible has to say about good character.

Also kids who pray have the very best resource for developing really great character—we have Jesus Christ who promises to live His life in us. What better source for character could there be?

For sure, when we talk about character, we are talking about GOOD character! One dictionary describes character as moral excellence and firmness. That’s a pretty good definition. A kid who shows moral excellence is a kid whose character is unquestioned. He or she can be counted on to pretty much do the right thing most all the time. Our morals reveal our understanding of right and wrong. So a person with good character usually does the right thing.

As kids who pray, our standard for what is right and wrong is found in our Bible, God’s Word. Kids with character honor and follow the teaching of the Scripture. Here are the six pillars of character, according to Character Counts! and the Josephson Institute:


Be honest • Don’t deceive, cheat or steal • Be reliable — do what you say you’ll do • Have the courage to do the right thing • Build a good reputation • Be loyal — stand by your family, friends and country

Treat others with respect; follow the Golden Rule • Be tolerant of differences • Use good manners, not bad language • Be considerate of the feelings of others • Don’t threaten, hit or hurt anyone • Deal peacefully with anger, insults and disagreements

Do what you are supposed to do • Persevere: keep on trying! • Always do your best • Use self-control • Be self-disciplined • Think before you act — consider the consequences • Be accountable for your choices

Play by the rules • Take turns and share • Be open-minded; listen to others • Don’t take advantage of others • Don’t blame others carelessly

Be kind • Be compassionate and show you care • Express gratitude • Forgive others • Help people in need

Do your share to make your school and community better • Cooperate • Stay informed; vote • Be a good neighbor • Obey laws and rules • Respect authority • Protect the environment

What do you think of these pillars of good character? There are some great ideas here and there is plenty for every member of PPT Kids to work on! Since good character is based on moral excellence, most of these ideas have their origin in God’s Word, the Bible. That’s great, isn’t it? Can you think of a Bible verse that speaks of one of these six pillars or principles? Hover here to read one of our favorites.

Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught.
--J.C. Watts, Congressman from Oklahoma and member of PPT’s Honorary Committee

Many of our presidents and other elected leaders have spoken up about the importance of character. They agree that character counts! Read some of their comments below and see if you understand their meaning.

Think about it. Do you agree with the presidents who say that character is very important? Do you think a person could do a good job as president without having good character? Do you think the character of the people a president leads makes a difference? See what Thomas Jefferson thinks.

Portrait of Thomas Jefferson courtesy of Christian artist C. Michael Dudash.

QUESTION 1

In his comments about character, Thomas Jefferson takes a peek ahead and wonders how future generations will handle the freedom he and his fellow Founding Fathers have fought and worked so hard to achieve. What is the concern that Jefferson expresses?

  1. Jefferson thinks that America is so perfect and her freedom so good that nothing can keep America from remaining perfect.
  2. Jefferson says that in time, America will forget how wonderful and hard fought her freedom was, and by forgetting, America will lose her liberty.
  3. Jefferson says that there is only one thing that can keep America from being great forever--if her citizens get too accustomed to having the best of everything and begin to take it all for granted. With too much material success and prosperity, he says, will come America’s downfall.
Portrait of Abraham Lincoln courtesy of the Library of Congress.

QUESTION 2

Abraham Lincoln experienced both adversity and power in his life.

True or False
In his statement about character Abraham Lincoln thinks that everyone must eventually deal with adversity, but a person who is handed power must surely deal with character issues, for the temptation to abuse power is great.

  1. True
  2. False
Portrait of Woodrow Wilson courtesy of the Library of Congress.

QUESTION 3

Which statement below best explains Woodrow Wilson’s perspective on the importance of character?

  1. Character is something everyone should work had to develop so it will make them look good.
  2. Only others can help you develop character within yourself.
  3. The best way to develop character is to work at serving others. Serving other automatically leads to the development of character.
Photo of Theodore Roosevelt courtesy of the Library of Congress.

QUESTION 4

President Teddy Roosevelt believes that character is important too.

True or False
Teddy Roosevelt knows that whether it is your personal life and well-being or the success of an entire country, character (moral excellence) is the thing that will determine success or failure.

  1. True
  2. False
Portrait of Ronald Reagan courtesy of the White House.

QUESTION 5

President Reagan’s quotation linking character and jelly beans might seem funny at first, but there is quite a bit of character-building truth in it! Which of the following statements best explains what President Reagan might have meant by this statement?

  1. People who like blue raspberry jelly beans are the best people because blue raspberry jelly beans are the best flavor of jelly beans.
  2. People should never eat jelly beans because they are full of sugar and they could be pretty bad for you.
  3. Since jelly beans are a special treat, they should be treated with care--if you grab a whole bunch at once, you won’t leave many for others (demonstrating selfishness). If you take only a few and savor their flavor, you show thoughtfulness, sharing and self-discipline--all morally excellent qualities.

President Bush visited with these kids at their school in North Carolina. Pray for the development of good and godly character in our nation’s schools. Photo courtesy of the White House.

Individuals have the power to do much good, and great societies are built by knowing the difference between right and wrong. People of character strengthen our country through their daily actions. To help children fulfill their potential and build a more hopeful future for our Nation, we must continue to encourage and support the character development of our young people and support the institutions that give direction and purpose: our families, our schools, and our faith-based and community organizations.
--George W. Bush

Think about it. President Bush says that “societies are built by knowing right from wrong.” How do kids learn right from wrong? How did you learn right from wrong? How could a person’s daily actions make our country stronger? How does your faith in God help make your little part of America a better place?

We hope you are starting to see how very important character is—for you as an individual, and for our country. The more kids in our country have good character, the better our country will be, because kids who have good character grow up to be adults with good character. And adults with good character make great leaders—which is what our country needs!

Helen Keller at age 7. Image courtesy of the Helen Keller International.

HELEN KELLER
Character is developed in all kinds of ways. Many people believe that character is best developed by adversity. Helen Keller was a pioneer in her time. Born in 1880, she was just 19 months old when she became very ill. Her family thought she would die, but Helen survived, though the illness had robbed her of her sight and hearing. As Helen grew, she became a very difficult child. Her parents did not want to give up hope for her so they sought a special teacher. They found Anne Sullivan, a young teacher who was also mostly blind. It was through her teacher, Anne, that Helen had the wonderful world of language unlocked for her. But it came with great struggle and difficulty. Helen went on to lead a very successful life, though still marked by hardship. Here are some of her thoughts on the development of character:

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.
—Helen Keller, American social activist, public speaker and author (1880-1968)

The Bible speaks in many places about the importance of hardship or trials in developing godly character. Can you think of a verse that talks about this? Hover here to read.

HOVER HERE FOR ANOTHER ONE!

President Bush takes a moment to visit with a young man at the Victory Junction Gang Camp in Randleman, NC. Photo courtesy of the White House.

President Bush says that character is important!
National Character Counts Week, 2006
America's strength is found in the spirit and character of our people. During National Character Counts Week, we renew our commitment to instilling values in our young people and to encouraging all Americans to remember the importance of good character.

As the primary teachers and examples of character, parents help create a more compassionate and decent society. And as individuals, we all have an obligation to help our children become responsible citizens and realize their full potential. By demonstrating values such as integrity, courage, honesty, and patriotism, all Americans can help our children develop strength and character. Read more.

A WORD TO PPT KIDS

We hope you’ve been encouraged to think about character this week—your character and the character of those around you. We hope that you’re working on being trustworthy, respectful, responsible, fair, caring and a good citizen! Each of these qualities is important to God, and it brings God joy to see his children strive for excellence and goodness. So look for ways to help and encourage others today and every day—it’s a great way to develop character. Remember that prayer, whether done in private or public, is one of the very best ways to develop your character, because when you get to know God better, He helps develop strong character in you!

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