Commander Kellie & the Superkids

in children’s ministry at Kenneth Copeland Ministries was born with the creation of Commander Kellie and the SuperkidsSM

The characters for this cartoon/ animation feature first appeared in an audiobook adventure format. However, after three albums, listeners wanted more. By 1992 the first Superkid movie, The Intruder, was released. That same year, Wichita Slim, which featured Kenneth Copeland as the title character, rode onto the screen in a second movie The Gunslinger.

“We set out to do full-length motion pictures, and in those motion pictures, train and teach the power of The WORD of God,”

Brother Copeland recalls of the venture, which has seen major success, much to the delight of parents and children alike.

Over the next several years, three more Superkid movies— Armor of Light, The Sword and Judgment: monthly Victory

The Trial of Commander —and two additional Wichita Slim movies— Covenant Rider and The Treasure of Eagle Mountain—were released. In April 1993, the first Superkids theme expanded when a children’s activity page appeared in KCM’s Believer’s Voice of magazine. A year later, in May 1994, a further expansion saw the beginning of Shout! The Voice of Victory for Kids magazine. The full-color magazine quickly grew from 5,000 subscriptions to more than 150,000 when its last issue was distributed in 2006. For more than a decade, Shout! not only won awards, but it also brought the Word of God to tens of thousands of children on a regular basis. When its run was complete, funds for Shout! were funneled to other children’s ministry projects.

“When we started this Superkid Academy theme it was just an idea,” says Kellie Copeland, who today oversees KCM’s children’s ministry and is the founder and developer of Superkid Academy. “But what has happened is that we now have real Superkids—even adult Superkids—who know the Word and really have it down in their hearts; they know how to use their faith and what to do when things are hard or when they are in need. They know to go to God because He is their Source.”

Standing for the Children of the World

A major part of the evolution of Superkid Academy came after children’s ministers Dana and Linda Johnson, and their young children Jenni and Tyler, moved from California to Texas and connected with KCM and Eagle Mountain International Church. A few years before, Dana and Linda had been praying when they heard the Lord say, I want you to stand in faith with Kenneth and Gloria Copeland for the children of the world.

In 1989, they attended KCM’s West Coast Believers’ Convention in Anaheim, Calif. Much to their surprise, they found themselves backstage meeting Kellie Copeland, who is known as Commander Kellie in the world of Superkid Academy. It was clearly a divine appointment. Someday, they all agreed, the Superkid Academy would become a real place.

That same year, in December, Dana and Linda and their children’ moved to Texas and soon after became part of the children’s ministry at EMIC. It would be three years before their proposal to church leadership to establish Superkid Academy as a physical place would become a reality. But on January 3, 1993, born out of Commander Kellie’s first adventure tape, and with Commanders Dana, Linda and Jenni at its core, Superkid Academy became “a real place.”

Each year since Superkid Academy first opened its doors at the Southwest Believers’ Convention in downtown Fort Worth 30 years ago, its leaders have made a point of being Holy Spirit-led in all they do so they can speak to children right where they are.

This can be a challenge since there’s a temptation in children’s ministry to value efficiency and production above the daily, even minute-by-minute, leading of the Holy Spirit. With decades of experience, Commander Dana admits that it’s easy to plan children’s meetings months in advance. He’s learned, though, that leaders must be willing to put their own plans—which are made with the best of intentions—aside for what the Lord wants to do in each moment, for how He wants to reach the children with a specific word.

“Children’s ministry is more than simply a break for parents or a way to keep children occupied,” says Commander Dana. “Children’s ministry can be life-changing.

“Children belong to our heavenly Father. If we bear that in mind, it affects what we do for those kids, and how we prepare for those kids who only have minutes or hours with us.”

Asked her thoughts on the success Superkid Academy has experienced over the years, Commander Kellie says, “When I look at how far we’ve come, sometimes it’s striking. Personally, I want to know that I have pleased the Lord with my life, and what I’ve been able to do for the kids, and I believe that I have. But there are times when I wonder, Could I have done more? Should I be further along? Then, I see all these kids who are now all grown up, and some of them even have kids of their own. And they come up to me and say how much I’ve impacted their lives, and that I helped them to find out what God wanted them to do with their lives. That’s a really good feeling!

“That’s very significant because it tells me what we’ve been doing works. It tells me that, because these kids directed their attention to the Lord to find out who they were, they found that their place was in Him. And today, He is so powerful in their lives. This is not a theory. It’s reality, and it works!”

Through Superkid Academy, hundreds of thousands of kids have been reached with the message of God’s love. So, what more is there to be done?

“There’s plenty more to do,” says Commander Kellie, “because there are always more kids coming along. The kids around the world who are growing up as Superkids are growing up learning the Word of God. They’re facing things that my kids could never have fathomed while growing up. We have to give our kids the proper tools to use as they grow and develop, and it’s important that we get started with them when they’re young. That way, the teaching becomes a natural progression for them, not something foreign that they have to try and remember.”

“It’s better to raise up children in the Lord than to try and rescue them later,” adds Commander Dana. “We don’t have to know the exact call on their lives to equip them. Our job is to prepare them for God’s purpose.”

For the past 35 years, Superkid Academy has had its finger on the pulse of the younger members of the Body of Christ. Today, it continues to play a major role in impacting the lives of children around the world—teaching them what it means to have a personal relationship with God, and how to experience the refreshing that comes from spending time in His presence.

What better way to change the world than to win it one generation at a time?