“Teach a child in the way they should go and when they are older they will not depart from it” – Proverbs 22:6 (NIV)

“Give me a child for the first four years of it’s life, and the seed I have planted will never be uprooted” – Lenin

No doubt on this Easter weekend this year there will be many children’s ministries who will be passionately teaching about the atonement and the resurrection; such great formative themes and integral thoughts which are the foundation of our faith. I don’t think that there are many children around our churches who won’t be looking forward to the bounty Easter brings. They will be chowing down on Hot-Cross Buns and having egg hunts; they will be celebrating this most important occasion of Christ’s atoning death and His defeat of death in their own ways, with their own traditions – often whether they believe Christ is the savior of the world or not. Of course many of our church halls will be burgeoning with those who only turn up to church once or twice a year; but it is a golden opportunity where more people are open to hearing and accepting the Gospel Story. Over this coming weekend we, as children’s ministers, have the opportunity to share with children the Gospel message and the change Jesus made in the world and for us personally in our lives.

In kids ministries around the globe on Easter Sunday a joyous celebration will be taking place. For our Christian faith Easter is worth celebrating as a community because it represents something so crucial to our faith; that’s why we will be passionately telling children about the resurrection of Christ. Christ is the only way to God (cf. John 14:6) so it is absolutely right that we should be teaching the gospel story as truth. Moreover the importance of events like Easter help families create meaningful traditions that communicate the message of the Bible to children. Parents should see (and we should help them see) the opportunities that these critical events on the Christian calendar give us in “training and instructing” children in their faith (cf. Ephesian 6:4) and putting children on the best path for their lives (cf. Proverbs 22:6). There should be no greater imperative for us than to teach children the heart of the Gospel. Just as George Barna says:

“By the age of nine, most of the moral and spiritual foundations of a child are in place… it seems that by the time he or she is nine, the child shifts mental gears and begins to use the cues he or she receives from that point forward to either confirm or challenge an existing perspective.” (Barna 2003:58).

On evidence such as this, it is imperative for the church to deliver the story of Christ’s death and resurrection in its fullness. The Easter story should be the foundational, beginning point of our entire ministries – it is the very thing that Christ’s whole life was directed toward. It is the moment that we were redeemed.

Of course, there has been debate about the resurrection or even the existence of Jesus; and shortly after Christians celebrate Easter atheists will flock to Melbourne for their own ceremony – “A Celebration of Reason”, the Global Atheist Convention. They would see Easter in a very different light. Some would claim that Jesus never existed, against all reasonable evidence. They will make these claims even though hostile, non-Christian sources of antiquity show that Jesus Christ was a historically testified real individual (McDowell 1999:136). They will claim that the resurrection never occurred; saying that He never died – rather he swooned into a coma. But furthermore they may claim that Easter Sunday was a non-event. That Jesus died and stayed dead. They may claim that the testimony of the many who saw Him is invalid, or hallucinations. But the radical truth is that the tomb was empty and, once again, even Jesus’ “enemies” gave testimony to that (Busenitz 2008:205). Yet further than all of this, the claim will be forcefully made that science has buried God, that as Peter Atkins has said: “Science and religion cannot be reconciled” of which he goes on to say that science has eliminated cosmic purpose; to which some have gone even further – particularly Richard Dawkins, who has contended that religious faith is an evil or a virus that must be eliminated (Lennox 2009:1-3).

Neo Atheists though, especially the antagonistic “high-priest of atheism” Richard Dawkins, whilst not shying away from the aforementioned arguments, level a new kind of criticism that directly involves the work of children’s ministers. If Christianity, or theistic faith in general, is a virus that must be eliminated then those who spread it are essentially doing wrong. Richard Dawkins in essence asserts that children’s ministry is a form of abuse.  In contrast to the words of Barna, Dawkins has said:

“I’m very aware that people try to get their hands on children and indoctrinate them and I want to open their eyes, open their minds, show them the thrill of science — of really understanding so much of why we exist, why the universe exists, what life is” (Linklater 2011:n.p).

Dawkins’ polemic on teaching children to live in a faith is not limited to Christianity; but it is incredibly relevant to the work that we do as children’s minsters.  For example at Randolph-Macon Women’s College, in a video titled Richard Dawkins on Religion as Child Abuse (2008) Dawkins asserted, “There is no such thing as a Christian child, there is only a child of Christian parents”. In an interview with Jill Mytton, for his documentary Root Of All Evil – shown in “Is Religion Child Abuse? & Investigation of Hellhouses” (2009), the comment is made – Dawkins: “If you tell a child that it is going to roast forever in Hell…” Jill Mytton: “That is abusive, yes”. And in an article titled Religion’s Real Child Abuse Dawkins states: “Priestly groping of child bodies is disgusting. But it may be less harmful in the long run than priestly subversion of child minds” (Dawkins 2006:n.p). Effectively Dawkins states that it is abusive to assign a child a religion, coerce them to conversion, or to be a part of the (deliberate) formation of children’s worldview.

And perhaps on some elements Dawkins is right.

First of all we as leaders should never manipulate children to becoming Christians: especially using fear techniques or manipulation techniques such as hell. Yes we do believe in hell, but we should not design stories, or orchestrate productions that cause children to follow Christ out of fear. Things like “hell houses” which are featured in the Root Of All Evil documentary are as reprehensible, crude and unethical as organizations that use funds meant for aid or humanitarian assistance to proselytize. Secondly child abuse is always totally reprehensible; it’s evil, disgusting and should never be condoned nor its perpetrators protected.

But Dawkins makes some fundamental mistakes. First of all his argument against “indoctrination” is hypocritical. Dawkins criticizes the “priestly subversion of child minds” but endeavors to indoctrinate children himself. Having released a book/iPad application obviously designed for children and young teens (carefully labeled as for all ages); it seems Dawkins defines the nature of abuse not in the proselytization of children; but the proselytization to a theistic religion. In other words there can be no such thing as a Christian child, but there can be an atheistic child. Dawkins’ logic is skewed. Second of all his downplaying of physical and sexual abuse against religious education is horrendous; though we must keep in mind that Dawkins himself was sexually abused by a priest at age nine (cf. Dawkins 2006:n.p). So I reiterate again – we must be vigilant against this particular kind of evil. Third of all we have to keep in mind that what we know is real. We know that Christ actually existed, that he died and even that the resurrection is true. We believe that science and reason are not incongruent with Christianity. And we believe that ultimately that Jesus is the only way to be saved.

Out of this we have to keep in mind that if we are right about the Easter story, that it is imperative that all children know the truth of Christ. If we are wrong and Dawkins right (that there is no such thing as God – He is a delusion), we haven’t lost much, in fact we may still gain a greater level of moral development.  But if Dawkins is wrong, and if he succeeds in stopping people from conveying God to children, he in fact may be guilty of exactly what he accuses the priest, the “subversion of child minds” and from our context the subversion of their eternity.

If you wanted to eliminate the “virus” of religious faith, you would need to start with the children. This is exactly what Richard Dawkins is up to by his definition of abuse. This Easter there is nothing more important than the children’s ministries passionately preaching atonement and resurrection. What a bounty Easter has really borne – salvation to all who accept Christ. This Easter preaching Christ is not at all abusive. In fact it is the most anti-abusive thing you can do.

Bibliography

Barna, G. (2003) Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions. Ventura, CA: Regal Books.

Busenitz, N. (2008) Reasons We Believe: 50 Lines of Evidence that Confirm the Christian Faith. Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

Dawkins, R. (2006) “Religion’s Real Child Abuse.” The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science. Available Internet: http://richarddawkins.net/articles/118-religion-39-s-real-child-abuse. (1st April 2012).

Is Religion Child Abuse? & Investigation of Hellhouses 2009, video, Root of All Evil, 11 June 2009, viewed 1 April 2012, < http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=u7OyAnn3S7Y >.

Lennox, J. (2009) God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God? Oxford, England: Lion Hudson.

Linklater, A. (2011) “Children are indoctrinated. I want to open their minds.” The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science. Available Internet: http://richarddawkins.net/articles/642927-children-are-indoctrinated-i-want-to-open-their-minds. (1st April 2012).

McDowell, J. (1999) The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.

Richard Dawkins on Religion as Child Abuse 2008, video, Randolph Macon Women’s College, 23 October 2006, viewed 1 April 2012, <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sOPbn3XrdU&feature=related>.

As the title suggests, we’ve been developing some Sunday school lessons and will be releasing them to the public shortly. Head over to our Sunday School Lessons page and enter your email address to be notified and to receive special offers.

Continuing from my article “Becoming a Passé Pastor – 10 Hot Tips,” I have been dissecting the ten different elements that I contended were very important to continued relevance in kid’s ministry.

Missions – local and global in context, should be one of the paramount teaching topics in Kids Churches around the world. Not only should it be a topic of teaching though, it should be something that you as a minister to children should be doing and investing in. Let’s get straight to the point here: there is a world out beyond your church walls that needs the Gospel of Jesus Christ and, if we are honest with ourselves, we really more often than not don’t focus on it. That’s a big statement, I know, but if we are really honest with ourselves, at times I think we need to step back from building an empire with lots of bums on seats and consider what we are doing to reach people locally and beyond. I want to consider this from both perspectives, locally and globally.

Local Missions

Dear children’s Ministers – You have a missionary force at your fingertips, a group of people who are pre-occupied all day with socializing with other people who are developing their worldview. They are much better at evangelizing than you are, they understand the mission field much better than you do, and if you mobilize them they will be much more fruitful than you will ever be alone. We need to stop thinking of ourselves as the evangelistic force, but instead change our attitudes to become facilitators of evangelism in our local community, understanding their fruit to be our fruit. What we need is disciplers in the schoolyard; we need to teach, enthuse, excite and release children in the area of evangelism. One of the biggest obstacles that stand in the way of this missionary force is the popular media sources focus to convince children that everything is all about them, in order to create insatiable consumers. I would contend that our focus on global mission’s can be the very thing that challenges that worldview.

Global Missions

Lets face it global missions is exciting. It is exciting for adults, and, it is exciting for children. You need to be doing mission and you need to convey the global task to children. When kids start to get passionate (and compassionate) about others, particularly the lost in a worldwide sense, this will often spill out into their everyday lives. This doesn’t mean you ship kids over to the developing world necessarily (though whole families experiencing what your church is doing overseas is a great thing and something the church I am a part of has done in the past) but finding smaller, yet deliberate, ways to get kids to own your churches global vision.

Here is an example of what I have done to get kids to own our churches mission vision: Our kids ministry supports four Compassion sponsor children from Kenya; Kenya being a country which our church has a huge heart for. I once heard Tony Campolo repeat Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:21 in relation to why Christians should have sponsor children, “for where your treasure is, your heart will be also.” His train of thought was that where we put our money is often where we end up putting our heart, so if we wanted a heart for others we need to invest in others. I wanted kids to have a heart for the world, and a heart for other children, so sponsoring Compassion kids make sense. Not only do our kids give money into sponsorship; they also build relationship with them through letter writing. This starts to chip away at the media reared concept middle class kids have of children in developing nations as being the “other’. What I am saying is the letter writing (and receiving) process is chipping away at the idea that these kids in Kenya are people UNlike us, that they shouldn’t be described as “them” or “exotic” or even in some kind of bizarre form of political correctness be considered a lesser human, such as in colonial missionary days (which is why I somewhat dislike the term missions, but it serves a function for this article). Being able to visit the homes and churches of the children that my kids church sponsors, as I was lucky enough to do with five other members of my kids team whilst doing child safety training in Kenya, brings the connection into reality. These are real people, not just photos on a screen; seeing their pastor and leaders standing beside the kids they sponsor really brings that home.

That is only one example of what you can do to get kids on track towards having a global mindset. It is my firm belief that if you want effective local missionaries from the kids in your ministry, global missions can often (I’m not so idealistic to say always) be the tool that can get consumer indoctrinated children to see past themselves; to stop being such a zealous evangelist for the latest gaming console, and to become passionate about spreading the good news of Jesus Christ whilst playing with their friends on that said console. Furthermore it is a trait (a love for missions) that will hopefully stick with a child for the rest of their life. I can’t think of anything better than that; being a part of raising kids that are passionate about spreading the Gospel for the rest of their lives? That sounds like every children’s pastors dream!

So let me surmise it simply like this: Raising up children with global mindsets will reap a local reward for you now, and for the church in the future.

If you don’t have a compassion child personally, or for your Kids Church, you really should. You can get on board the good ship here.

This is such an easy way to put together a solid Christmas musical for your children at church. It’s a split track DVD with kid friendly arrangements of 20 familiar Christmas chorals. This might be just the right resource for your struggling Christmas musical. Click here to learn more about this DVD.

Giveaway: To win a copy of this DVD, just leave a comment below and say what you love about Christmas. I will randomly select a winning comment this Sunday 9 October 2010. The winner will be notified by email and the DVD will be send directly to your US mailing address.

Here’s what Bob from God’s Kids Worship has to say about this DVD.

This is a great DVD for kids ministry people who want to put on a quick, easy & enjoyable performance with any group of kids at Christmas. Take any group of kids, rehearse them once, and because the lyrics are on screen, everybody knows the words and nobody gets lost! (I’ve led kids choirs in church… I know what that’s like.)

Plus, since it’s a split-track DVD, you can mix in enough of the recorded kids voices to give your kids confidence to sing out. There are also free, reproducible sheet music files included on the DVD for people who want the music, too.

The cost for all 20 familiar Christmas songs including the sheet music is $29.98; so for about $1.50 for a video and sheet music per each song, it’s a tremendous value.

Kids Ministry people can also purchase the “White (Christmas)” CD, which has all the same songs, and get a license to make rehearsal CDs. Click here to learn more about that option.

Tony Kummer put this on his facebook and it got me thinking.

What kind of attendance numbers do you track in your #kidmin? Just say this post from Henrietta Mears that got me thinking. She said, “Don’t be afraid to count numbers. Numbers stand for people for whom Christ died. Count them!”

I have a love hate relationship with numbers – (Yes I was horrible at math growing up but that’s not what I am talking about) I believe that in order for things to grow you have to evaluate them. You can only evaluate what you mesure so weather you admit it or not you have a system of measurement.

There are the extremes out there. Those people whose worth is connected to the size of their ministry so they count everyone twice. Then there are those out there who react to that guy and don’t count anything and say numbers don’t matter.

They are actually both right and both wrong,for me it’s all about motivation with numbers – We need to know because each kid matters to God, not because my worth is tied numbers. The interesting thing for me is that in the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15 the shepherd left the 99 and went out after the one. How would the shepherd know 1 was missing if he never knew he had 100 sheep?

The amount of kids that come is not everything but it is something. I think the bigger problem in the church at large and definitely in children’s ministry is we are not good at is creating measurable goals for our leaders. As a result of that we default to the easiest measurable goal out there, who came. I think obsessiveness over numbers is a sign of week leadership. If we create a culture that is gospel focused people will come and people will grow.

The problem I have is what should I be measuring? Because what we mesure is what we get. How do I give ownership to my team by giving them specific mesurable goals to help them know that what they are doing is significant?

What do you mesure and why?

So many kids in the news recently are killing themselves because they’ve been bullied for being gay. That breaks my heart! And when I listen to Dan Savage, creator of the “It Gets Better” campaign, say that the pain these gay and lesbian kids are suffering is due in part to the “religious right,” I get even sadder.

What have we as a church communicated to these kids–or to Mr. Savage–that makes him not know that Jesus loves them and wants to give them hope? What are we communicating to a lost and hopeless generation about the love of God?

What matters most in the church? It’s not being right! We need a new definition of “righteous.”

We need a loving response to kids who are struggling with their sexuality and trying to come to terms with their creator–were they made that way? is it sin? is it a choice? Does it matter if these kids don’t know Jesus’ love?

How can we show kids our amazing Jesus who’s full of love and compassion first and foremost? It’s the work of the Holy Spirit to grow all of us to be like Jesus–and every single one of us in process. I heard someone recently say that our job is to encourage what the Holy Spirit is doing–and will do–in others’ lives if we allow them to draw close to God.

My heart is broken that these kids who killed themselves–and those who are struggling still–don’t know our loving Savior. What can we, as the church, do to change that?

Today’s families are in trouble.

That’s old news for anyone working in kids ministry. But now more than ever, we need to find ways to encourage and disciple Christian parents.

One strategy is providing resources for the home. In my ministry, that has been a powerful way to help families grow together toward Christ. That’s why I wanted to talk with Jason Houser from Seeds Family Worship. They are a group of musicians that create Bible saturated worship resources for families.

Directions: To listen to this 25 minute audio recording, just press play below or download the MP3 file to your computer. You can also subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes.

In this conversation, we talk about Seeds and how their music can help families in your church. Then Jason offers some tips for family worship. Since he was fresh from the D6 conference, I asked him more about the family equipping movement. You’ll want to listen through to the end for more helpful ideas.

If you’re new to Seeds Family Worship, here is a recent video from their YouTube channel. It’s a live concert where Jason performs their song latest song. You can also connect with Seeds on Facebook and even share your ideas for their upcoming album.

Before Compassion Philippines hired Tours and Visits Specialists, I used to handle Sponsor Tours. I did my best to take good care of the visiting sponsors. I talked about my country, Filipino children and how Compassion operates here.

I had three favorite lines that I shared with sponsors. The first two were, “You are our heroes,” and “Thanks for making Filipino children happy.”

I meant those words. I am truly amazed that people from miles away share their lives with children living in obscure, squalid squatter colonies in the Philippines.

Then, the third line, “Sponsorship is not about the money you give but about the lives and relationships you build.”

This was not just a clever thing to say. It’s a profound statement that I learned from the children themselves. I’ve seen that our children are more concerned about building their relationship with you than the help they get.

“I did not receive any reply letters from my first two sponsors. I felt sad. It’s as though I was writing to a fictitious person, an imaginary friend. So just think how happy I was when I received my first reply letter from my third and present sponsor.

“I can’t explain how excited I was that time. It’s not only me who gets excited whenever I receive a letter from my sponsor, my mom, too. And I am so happy because in every letter I received, stickers with verses in it were also enclosed.

“Other than reading their letters, I get to know them well, too, by looking at the pictures they send me. The feeling of being connected to a part of your family far from you makes you feel more loved.

“Communication is really a big thing in strengthening the bond that binds a sponsor and a child together.

“The best types of letters from sponsors are the ones that tell something about themselves and their lives. It would be better if the sponsors can tell a bit more about themselves. A brief summary of his/her life means a lot to the sponsored child.

“It can be as simple as writing what kind of place they live in, what kind of work they have, what they do in their free time and even their favorite stuff. It would be nice if children learn about their sponsors from other countries or other backgrounds and see how different, or surprisingly familiar, their lives, issues and dreams are.

“Acknowledging the achievements that the child has shared can also be of help in building a better relationship. In this way, the sponsor could learn more about the interests of the child and would give deeper support. Praises will always make one feel good.

“Although the children are thankful for the blessings they are receiving, it is inevitable for the sponsored children to be curious about how their sponsors can manage to sustain themselves, and at the same time lend their hands to those who are far away from their country. In this way, by sharing, the ‘stranger’ barrier between sponsor and sponsored child will slowly disappear, although the two have not yet met.

“And of course, inspirational and enlightening words coming from sponsors would definitely contribute greatly to the sponsored child. By sharing their relationship with Jesus Christ and sharing their prayer requests, sponsors develop themselves and their children spiritually. Words from a sponsor, despite the physical absence, can be a source of encouragement and inspiration for the sponsored child to be a better instrument for God.

“Indeed, response letters from our sponsors really bring a feeling of gladness to us.” — Rona

I went to CCWI-Frisco Student Center, and asked many sponsored kids this question: “How can your sponsor be a better sponsor?”

There were some children who hoped for more gifts, but I was not surprised that most of the children talked about your letters and knowing you more.

Here are some of their responses.

“I want my sponsor to write me always and occasionally send some greeting cards. I want to know about his family, what his home looks like, and what his country looks like. I also want to know how he met his wife and about their baby.” — Zarrah

“I love it that my sponsor never forgets to write me letters. I know he always thinks about me. I’d like it if he would send a picture of himself and his family. I want to know what they look like.” — Raffy

“What I really love about my sponsor is that she is very friendly and always writes about what is going on in her life. I would like my sponsor to write me more about her future plans, hobbies, and what she does during her free time. I hope she will never forget to write me and pray for me.” — Pauline

“I hope that my sponsor can come visit so I can personally ask him how he is doing. I want to talk to him in person. I will tell him many things about the Philippines.” — Michaelangelo

“I really, really hope my sponsors will come visit me. I will cook my special spaghetti for them, as well as chicken adobo.” — Anjanette

“It captures my interest a lot whenever he tells stories about his wife who is a Filipina. I’m excited to know when they could have a baby.” — Jhemaica

“What I like most about everything she writes is how she tells me to walk on God’s path. I also like it when she praises my talent, my personality and everything I do is a blessing to her. She writes mostly about her work in a camp and how she spends her time with her husband. One thing I’m curious about my sponsor is if she’s pregnant because she’s been married for almost two years now and I still haven’t read in her letters of them having a baby.” — Hallelujah

“I appreciate it whenever she writes her experiences in her country. She even tells me her stories about God that make me feel inspired. I just want to know how she would react if I flunked in one of my subjects at school. What is she going to tell me if ever that would happen? Sounds funny but I am so curious to know.” — Ryann

“‘I am truly blessed by God. That’s what my sponsor tells me whenever I receive her letters. My sponsor and I often talk about our latest activities. She even shares to me the activities of her children. I am very much eager to know why she chose to sponsor a Filipino child instead of children from other countries.” — Precious

“I can feel the love and care whenever I read the letter from my sponsor. I feel glad when she tells me that she is really proud of me. She gives me inspiration when she shares about how God has helped her to overcome her hardships. I want to know more about her family especially about her sibling who she mentioned once in her letter.” — Christine

“I like it when my sponsors tell me that I’ve become an amazing man now. And they are very encouraged because they said that I’ve grown up just like the person they thought I would become. They also serve as my inspiration especially every time I read in their letters the ways God has helped them in all their circumstances in life. They always tell me to pray to God, most especially in time of hardships because God is always ready to help. I want to know why they wanted to sponsor a child.” — Jake

“I feel motivated when my sponsor tells in her letter that she is proud of my achievements. I also feel happy when she says that I am beautiful. She often tells me stories about her grandchildren. She tells me how naughty they are. She loves her grandchildren so much. One thing I want to know is why she chose me to be her sponsored child.” — Jackielyn

“I am inspired by the letters my sponsor sends me. He often tells me stories of God’s greatness to Him. He also tells me about his family and the things he likes to do. I want to know the qualities of a sponsored child he looked for when he chose me to be his sponsored child.” — Precious

“My sponsor always sends me greetings and holiday cards. It feels like I am physically with them during special occasions when I actually am not. She really loves me and shows care for me in each of her letters. I am curious to know how it feels to live in their country. Is it like also here in the Philippines?” — Christopher

“My sponsor likes to write her life experiences even in her young age. I came to the extent that I become interested to learn how to swim because her sport is swimming and she often shares to me how she enjoys doing it. I am curious to know the kind of school she goes to. I even want to know if we have the same subjects at school.” — Kristine

“I enjoy reading my sponsor’s letters because I really feel that I am a part of their family. I want them to come visit me so that I can finally meet them and personally thank them up close and tell them how I am so grateful that they are my sponsors.” — Brenlyn

“I know my sponsors are always praying for me. They always pray for my health. I just recovered from tuberculosis. I just hope that they will write more often. I really love them.” — Maricor

“I really want to know something about my sponsor and how she is doing in life. I am thankful that I just know that she is there supporting me and my studies.” — Noemi

Remember my third-favorite statement: “Sponsorship is not about the money you give but about the lives and relationships you build.”

I asked a formerly sponsored child who can write well the same question, “How can your sponsor be a better sponsor?”

She is Rachel Valenzuela. She just graduated from the Child Sponsorship Program and is now a schoolteacher. This is what she answered.

According to Rick Warren, the best use of life is love. I personally witnessed how sponsors best used their lives by extending their love to the children, including me. However, being sponsors is not enough and it will never represent the totality of the sponsorship because there is still the need to express love through time.

When they accepted the responsibility as sponsors, it is a must to set a time for letter writing. It is through this [letter writing] that the sponsored children will be updated about them. It is through this effort that children will know that they are greatly appreciated in terms of stories, accomplishments and so on. Remember, children are some of the best story-tellers.

So, I challenge [the sponsors] to reply immediately after receiving their letters because such responses mean a lot to [the children]. I was once a kid so I knew the feeling of patiently waiting for replies.

I discourage [the sponsors] to discuss busyness in their letters because it may affect what the children would think. Talk about what the sponsored children wrote in their recent letters because this will motivate the children to share their wonderful experiences and it will assure them that their sponsors do read their letters.

Send recent pictures whether being asked or not because pictures do excite children to know more about their sponsors.

Improve penmanship because this may affect the feeling of the children upon receiving their letters.

Always send spiritual icons to the children because they view sponsors as God-given gifts. They put so much trust, respect, and admiration in their sponsors. Thus, they expect the sponsors to include amazing things on how God changes them every moment of their lives. Giving memory verses from the Bible will help children to understand what sponsors like to share with their spiritual involvements and convictions.

Simply put, sponsors will become better sponsors if they will take on extended responsibilities. Becoming better is a process; it will never be instant. This is not to belittle sponsors but to simply allow them to know any possible gaps they have had in the past, and inform them about the important points to consider in expressing their love to their chosen children.

A child’s world is not always the bright landscape of “Oompa Loompas” and candy forests that we hope it to be. Kids today face a myriad of fearful challenges often without a solid family structure to offer an important comfort – loving discipline. For the children’s minister, this means an increase in problematic attendees, many coping with varying degrees of trauma and neediness. Ministering to the problem child can wear you down, run you over and swallow you up, if you lose perspective. How can you bring the love of God into the realm of the problem child successfully while maintaining class order? How do you minister to all children equally without causing dissension and discouragement? Get started by reviewing these important steps.

1. Teachable You

Abandon your ideas about what the class should be, or its arrangement and get prepared to change. Yes, there should be order, but prepare for an adjustment period for children who enter. Multi-tasking and preparation are necessary for this season in your ministry. You can do it! The days of standing before a class while eager ears listen may be over for a time, at least until your new child or children become acclimated to the structured environment you have created. As you guide the child, let God guide you. Be teachable and your children will be. It is a kingdom principle that works.

Break your normal lesson into 5-minute blocks. Break up the lesson with object lessons, skits, and games. This requires work, but it is well worth the pay off.

2. Build Relationships

Build a trusting relationship with the child. To build these relationships you need to get out of the classroom, and your comfort zone. Visit the child’s home; eat lunch with him at school after gaining parental permission. Do not “adopt” him but become involved. A weekly phone call or letter will help you establish a good relationship and demonstrate to the child you are there for the long haul. In addition, your positive influence will give her examples of what “good” attention is versus “bad” attention. Once you have the authority, by way of a trusting relationship, you will have the right (in his mind) to correct him. You cannot skip this step; it is integral to helping the child and your entire class.

3. Avoid Segregating

It is a normal mental path to segregate your children, at least mentally, into “church kids” and “problem kids.” While few may admit this, mental segregation not only occurs but also spills over into the classroom. Fight the natural tendency to divide your class with words or task appointments; work towards unity. Everyone knows who the “problem child” or “problem children” are but the remainder of the class, and the church, need you to bring everyone together. In the end, it will help your regular attendees by demonstrating to them how to handle tough ministry situations.

When assigning tasks, don’t rely solely upon the experienced members of the group, use the newcomers too. However, do not reward bad behavior by giving kids a task. At the opposite end of the spectrum, sometimes we assign every fun task to the newcomers to excite them. This should be avoided too.

Ministering to the problem child is not easy but by doing so you are changing the world, one child at a time.

The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life recently conducted a survey of what Americans know about religion. I just took the 15-question quiz, and I scored a 100. Does that mean I’m a better Christian than others? Does it even mean I’m a good Christian?

Does it matter if I know Mother Teresa’s religion? Or what Ramadan is? Or which one of four statements is not a Ten Commandment? (Take the quiz for yourself: http://features.pewforum.org/quiz/us-religious-knowledge/index.php?)

It makes me wonder when a research organization makes sweeping statements about how ignorant we Christians are about religion, what is it that they’re measuring? our level of faith? our relationship with Jesus? our trust in him? our contentment in tough times? the measure of our character?

I don’t think God looks at the things the Pew Center measured because after all, God looks at our hearts–not our knowledge base.

What is it that we’re aiming for when we teach our kids in children’s ministry? A body of knowledge or a relationship with the living God?

And, can you have one without the other? I’d say yes, because I’ve known some pretty illiterate people who love Jesus with more passion than many learned people I’ve known.

We need to focus on what really matters in our ministries–and not take studies like these to heart.

EZRA

– Book of Rebuilding the Temple

Key Point –Why Church is important

Memory Verse – Ps. 122:1 “It made me glad to hear them say let’s go to the house of the Lord!”

Skit – Putting God first – It is important in all we do that we put church first. – A boy comes into the house and tells his mom that he is not going to church today because he is going to play baseball. His mom asks him if he thinks that church is important? The boy responds that he definitely thinks that church is important. The Mom asks if baseball means more to him, he says that church does. The Mom then explains to him that our actions tell us and others what our priorities are. We spend time doing whatever is important to us.

Skit – We need each other – Fellowship – A sort of nerdy boy gets picked on by a group of bully types they make fun of him because he goes to church. They pick on him and push him over he falls down and starts to cry. A older Christian comes out and sees the boy crying and asks what is the matter the boy doesn’t want to talk about it. The older Christian recognizes the boy from his church, lets the boy know that they go to the same church and that part of being Christians is that we are there for each other, we need each other especially when we are going through a hard time. That is a great reason why we go to church because we need each other the boy feels much better leaves encouraged.

Object Lesson – Crutch Vs. foundation – church is not a crutch to hold us up but a foundation which to stand upon. – Have someone stand with two crutches The MC will explain Church is not a crutch we lean lightly upon show how easily the crutch can be knocked out from under us easily church must be a firm foundation that we stand on.

Object Lesson – Rope to chair vs. 2×4 to chair – Take two folding chairs tie a rope from one chair to the other and try to walk from one chair to the other (be careful because this is part of the object lesson) as soon as you steep on the rope the two folding chairs will collapse. You will explain that when we stop coming to church it affects not only our relationship to God but also our relationship to others as well but when God is in control and we are attending church we have a strong relationship with God we have a stronger connection to God and to others. (Place a 2×4 from folding chair to folding chair and walk across easily.)

Bible Story – Ezra 3:7-13 Ezra & Israel rebuild the Temple

God’s people were living in exile they had been taken into slavery to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar. God began to move on the heart of king Cyrus. He told the people of Israel who were in exile that God wanted Him to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, that all who wanted to go back an help with the work he would give them gold, silver an livestock.

Ezra 1:2-4

2 “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:

” ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. 3 Anyone of his people among you—may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the LORD, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem. 4 And the people of any place where survivors may now be living are to provide him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.’ ”

God revealed to Cyrus how important the temple was how important worship was. Can you believe that a evil king that wanted to see the temple rebuilt so many of God’s people returned and they began to devote themselves to the rebuilding of the temple.

As the people started to build the temple God began doing amazing things.

Ezra 3:7-13 says

Rebuilding the Temple

7 Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters, and gave food and drink and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, so that they would bring cedar logs by sea from Lebanon to Joppa, as authorized by Cyrus king of Persia.

8 In the second month of the second year after their arrival at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozadak and the rest of their brothers (the priests and the Levites and all who had returned from the captivity to Jerusalem) began the work, appointing Levites twenty years of age and older to supervise the building of the house of the LORD. 9 Jeshua and his sons and brothers and Kadmiel and his sons (descendants of Hodaviah [a] ) and the sons of Henadad and their sons and brothers—all Levites—joined together in supervising those working on the house of God.

10 When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the LORD, as prescribed by David king of Israel. 11 With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the LORD : 
       “He is good; 
       his love to Israel endures forever.” 
      And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. 12 But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. 13 No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.

Sounds amazing doesn’t it. There was so much excitement over the temple and rebuilding it so that they could worship God like they had in the past.

Why is church important in our lives just like it was in the time of Cyrus, Jeshua, and Ezra.

It’s the foundation our lives are built on. – Understanding that Jesus has a rescue plan that he came to earth lived a sinless life and died for your sins and mine helps build a foundation for us to respond to God. We know what he did it’s important that we take time each week to remember, respond, renew.

1. Church helps me Remember – It Ezra it says some of the people watching the temple be rebuilt were crying because they remembered what the temple was like before it was destroyed and were so thankful that it was being rebuilt. Never forget what Jesus has done for us. When we meet each week it’s vital that we remember what Jesus did for us and why.

2. Church helps me Respond – In Ezra some who were watching and responding were shouting for joy because they were so excited for what God was doing. Church should be a place that is exciting. What Jesus is doing in our lives should be uncontainable. When we remember what Jesus has done for us it give us the power to respond to the work of the Holy spirit in our lives. It helps us to make wise choices and respond to what God wants to do in us every day of the week.

3. Church helps me Renew – When we remember and respond it will renew our passion and faith in Christ. We will be strengthened by what Jesus did when we remember but also when we share what Jesus did with others. It is so important that we have friends in our lives that we can talk about what Jesus did.

Church needs to be an exciting place. When we understand that God loves us no matter what it helps us trust him and when we trust him we want to spend time with him. We want to spend time with people who share our love for him. Our love for Jesus should be an uncontrollable unstoppable force that spills into every area of our life. If we don’t feel that way we need to stop and ask God to fill us with passion for the things He is passionate about. One of those things is the church. Lord help us be passionate about your church.

EZRA SMALL GROUP

Activity –

Have the kids write a note and draw a picture thanking the Pastor and his/her family all that they do. Telling them that they are thankful for church, their church.

Questions –

1. What do people put before God?
2. Why is church important?`
3. Do you like church?
4. Church helps make you strong.
5. When it’s time for church are you happy or sad?
6. If you were given a choice between your favorite thing to do (watch TV, play with friends, play Sony Playstation) and going to church what would you do?
7. Why?
8. What do our friends at church help us do? (Our friends in church help to make us strong.)