OUR TESTIMONY
It all started in August 2014 in Port Au Prince, Haiti. Tiffany McGaugh boarded a plane in Kansas City, MO with The Global Orphan Project to go to Haiti and teach children martial arts. Tiffany thought she was going to change their lives and show them really cool moves. WRONG. They changed her through their unconditional love and rich faith. Actually, her faith in Jesus came to light through this trip, which flipped her whole world as she knew it upside down. Jesus changed her from the inside, out.
On the plane ride home, she thought, prayed, and talked with Joe Knittig about what God's plan was for her future. For some reason, it kept leading back to Haiti and martial arts. She had it in her mind that she would never own a martial arts school, instead just teach at one. This way her heart could stay on the kids and not the business. WRONG AGAIN. The battle started inside, telling her to pursue God's calling for her- open a school with a focus on missions and martial arts- where Kids Change Kids.
Once back in Kansas City, the idea got lost while teaching, college, and training took a front seat. Not for long though. She met TJ Holgerson at a Taekwondo tournament in Springfield, MO. Afterward, they started training and going to church together. Come to find out, he had a heart for children, missions, and martial arts. This brought the school idea back to life, but with a twist - a partnership. Once this came into play, Joe Knittig, the CEO of The Global Orphan Project, called Tiffany to tell her the Haitian Olympic Committee wanted to meet with her on her next trip. God was throwing curve balls in every direction.
Tiffany scheduled a trip to Haiti in April 2014 to meet with the Haitian Olympic Committee. Once there she taught the kids again, and had a meeting with the chairman of the Taekwondo division- who wanted to start a partnership to serve hurting children. So, they concluded that his olympic athletes would travel to the an orphanage in Port Au Prince, Haiti and continue to teach them. After her school was open, then they would financially support the athletes to continue teaching. This moved the idea of the school to even more of an international approach, where Kids internationally Change Kids (KiCK).
Tiffany was so excited, she came home and asked TJ to be her partner at KiCK. Once he agreed, the ball started rolling. They looked at what it would look like to be inside the organization they were already in. Lots of calls, heartaches, and months later, it didn't work. Instead, they took a different approach. Teaching the same forms and moves the olympic athletes would be teaching in Haiti, focusing on each individual child. They are flipping things "upside down" in the martial arts world- this is why their logo is a child doing an inverted kick.
From there, they both decided to start on the business plan and figure out how to fund this new endeavor. They planned on opening KiCK in March of 2015, although God had a different plan. They tried going to the bank for a loan and got approved for the next step. At that same time, Lisa McNearney called and said that her family wanted to invest all the money needed for their mission! The McNearney's are a big supporter of Tiffany and TJ and helped them open the doors on November 3, 2014.
KiCK stands for Tiffany and TJ's dream come true and are always pursuing their purpose through God.
