- 10/12/2023
United Parenting Coalition
Dear Subscriber,
Since my last article in the blog, the entire website at JAiME for SCHOOLS has moved over to a new hosting platform so I really hope this first article gets to you without any glitches. Also, I filed to run for District 833 School Board on August 1st, 2023, and the campaign is in full swing! If you live in MN School District 833, please VOTE Jaime Kokaisel for School Board on November 7th. Learn more about my campaign right here on the website and/or on social media at www.facebook.jaimeforschools.com
Human Suffering
This July I returned from a week-long Youth Works mission trip to Kansas City. My high school mission team tended to community gardens for the Meth Addicted homeless population, and we shipped medical supplies to Third World Countries like Chad and Niger. I learned that mission work is not just about the work you do, but more about the people you meet. Some of our team served in daycare facilities run by teenagers because the neighborhoods were so poor, the crime so high, and the families so broken. It was absolutely heart-breaking.
The kind of suffering and homelessness seen in the inner cities is not something we or our children are exposed to in South Washington County (though it is still there). For the past two years in Roseville, where my children attend private school, my daughter would often see homeless men and women outside her K-8 classroom windows. She would watch the alcoholics throwing up on the street corner of Rice and County Road C. This was something entirely new to her, and it was painful to witness, but she was protected from it too behind the safety of a brick wall where inside her teachers taught about love and forgiveness.
I think it is good for my children to see with their own eyes this human suffering that lives right next door to South Washington County … for them to spend time digging potatoes out of the ground for a nonprofit that serves their homeless community … for them to spend a week serving others through mission trips. Suffering is real, and it is a rapidly growing in America and beyond. By SEEING, we are able to grasp the BIG PICTURE and grow in our desire to do something about it that lasts.
A Network of Unity
Two years ago, as I began pursuing efforts to better advocate for strong families, I interacted with groups across the district and state at every level and every size. In so doing, I met a multitude of other parents who wanted similar things as me, and to this day many of them are still fine-tuning their approach at filling deep, dark gaps in the community – homelessness, drug addiction, victimization, fatherlessness, brokenness, illiteracy, poverty …
I have connected with and learned from groups I see doing GOOD in their communities. Some of these groups include TakeChargeMN, C.A.S.T. (Citizens Against Sex Trafficking), MPA (Minnesota Parents Alliance), FAIR (Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism). The Lord puts these people who spread goodness before me, and as I pay attention, He keeps putting more good people in my path.
Just yesterday, for instance, as I was in the middle of writing this article, I met the owner of Source MN out of Minneapolis. The mission of Source MN is “Through URBAN OUTREACH and ANTI-TRAFFICKING efforts, SOURCE empowers the at-risk and unreached to make a break from the past and build foundations for the future.” In the blog, Peter shares the 25 year journey he and his wife have had with Source MN,
"Over the years, we have had to keep reminding ourselves that it is not our job to fix people or even save people – that’s God’s job. Our job is to serve and love others and to do what we need to stay focused on the Vine (John 5). We are the branches and we thrive when we stay connected and get nourished by the Vine. When we do that, fruit will be produced naturally."
The Parent-Centered Approach
We need solutions. We need people like you and me to do more heavy lifting. Big government is not the solution. Why, because the only way for government to remain big and grow bigger is for you and I to depend on it. No thank you! We need private enterprise inspired by the people for the people . We need stand-alone businesses and nonprofits that don’t take government money. We need to be there in the flesh helping our fellow neighbor.
We need school board members who serve their local community and beyond by advocating for parents, children, and teachers in education.
When I returned from my mission trip in July, there welled up in me a strong desire to UNITE the people and groups I have met over the years who remain dedicated in doing the heavy lifting for everyone else. Two very specific people came to my mind, and their names are Jenna Dicks and Kim Wilson. I immediately called Jenna, and when we met over coffee she miraculously described to me a vision that looked similar to mine. This new nonprofit would resemble the branches of a tree or vine. When Jenna and Mike invited myself and Kim Wilson to be on the Board, I didn’t hesitate. I said YES!
This is the beauty of the Body of Christ. We all have unique gifts that when used to the glory of our God will be made whole. United Parenting Coalition is the STRUCTURE for good parents to access parenting tools specific to their local needs while also spanning the state of Minnesota and growing out into states across the nation.
United Parenting Coalition
The values of United Parenting Coalition are
FAITH – EDUCATION – PROTECTING PUBLIC SAFETY – SMALLER BETTER GOVERNMENT – ECONOMIC PROSPERITY – PRO LIFE – CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPALS – EQUALITY – PARENTAL RIGHTS.
UPC believes that strong families are the bedrock of society. Parents are the solution to building strong families and strong communities, and UPC wants to unite us through this very important work.
As we continue to grow, keep an eye on the website. We are adding new Board Members, new Resources, and planning ahead for convention this Spring of 2024.
Learn and Support
Uniting our community starts in your home, and through you, it grows out into the world. I joined UPC because, while I focus my eyes on the local level, it is important to keep a peripheral view of the BIG PICTURE. Parents need options, and UPC can help by equipping parents with knowledge and resources to bridge the gap between home and the world their kids grow up in.
By JAiME for SCHOOLS, October 12th 2023
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Make Straight Paths
What is the purpose of education, actually? This is a question I’ve been asking for a year. I see no reason why the purpose of education for a Christian should not be the same as God’s first commandment. You shall learn to love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength (Mark 12:30). See what four SoWashCo School Board candidates, who now sit on the board, had to say about the purpose of education when asked last October. Their answers are in quite stark contrast to “learning to know God.” This spiritual duality is easy to identify. It is like a picture of the serpent and the dove from Matthew 10:16, but the duality of political ideology in government remains a mystery to me. It should follow the same pattern as all other dualities of creation – like the left and right brain, the expanding and contracting of muscles, the rise and fall of convection, or the woman and the man of marriage – but this is not so with political ideology. If harmony is to be found in the balance and orbit of two opposing forces drawn together by a central unifying core, then God must have a purpose for the duality of governance in His kingdom. We might think of the political debate like a dance of differences or a game of theatrical nonsense which serves as the most useless thing and the most useful thing simultaneously. Of course, all games require rules, boundaries and referees. The key to a harmonious duo is the core in which it orbits. In the case of civil government, LAW is to be the central animating spirit that pulls these two opposing forces into harmony. Without the rule of law, peace cannot exist.
Language of War on Life
International Literacy Day was on September 8th, at which time UNESCO spotlit literacy “as a lever for empowerment and transformation to build more inclusive, just and sustainable societies.” They also celebrated progress in literacy at the global, regional, national and local levels. This is the language of war, and we can see this in many Minnesota school districts, like SoWashCo Schools, who are proudly forming local education policy based on UNESCO’s definition of literacy. I understand why the globalists at UNESCO are celebrating, but why SoWashCo? UNESCO intends to achieve lasting world peace by targeting the mind (intellect) and soul (morality) of children through education, science and culture. Our locally elected school board was hired to represent local residents though, not the world. The mind and soul of my child is not the state’s property. In 2024, SoWashCo Schools began a campaign called, “Literacy Is Everywhere,” but literacy is not everywhere. Literacy is, in fact, nowhere to be found in the English language prior to the 1880’s when humanist (Atheist) activists like Mann dreamed up their socialist mass public education utopia. We know the intent was to starve the church her influence over moral absolutes in America, and yet in 1959, UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold said, “The ancient dream of mankind, reflected in the words of Isaiah…is the dream inspiring also the Charter.” Is the UN really inspired by Isaiah? or do they see themselves as part of his prophetic fulfillment?