Late last year, my friend Trevor Lee and I spoke about me being included in his “How I Work” blog series, which is dedicated to sharing the tools, technology, wisdom and resources ministry leaders use to lead. Something about this was intriguing but I was very apprehensive. So apprehensive that I told Trevor – and this is an exact quote – “If you need an average, run-of-the-mill kidmin leader, let me know.” His response – “Average…LOL! Seriously, is there such a thing as an ‘average’ kidmin?”
So, I decided to do it. Trevor and I have connected on social media but it wasn’t until last week that we made a face-to-face connection (virtually – gotta love technology!) I even had a chance to meet his lovely wife.
If you have ever wondered what it would be like to get a peek into the life of an average kidmin leader, today’s your lucky day. You can learn more about how I work by jumping over to Trevor’s blog and reading all about it.
Thanks, Trevor, for a great conversation and for nudging me out of my comfort zone!
This past weekend, I attended the Justice Conference at my church, one of the many simulcast sites around the country. This was my first time attending, so I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. I had not heard of many of the speakers but I went with an open mind, ready to receive a word from the Lord. Here are a few takeaways from two speakers at the conference:
1. We have to commit ourselves to proximity. Proximity will show you things you couldn’t see if you were far away.
2. Change the narrative. There is a story behind every injustice.
3. We have to be hopeful to see change. Hope is at the center of justice.
4. We have to choose to be uncomfortable. Great moments in history occurred because people chose to be uncomfortable.
Lynne Hybels, Author of Nice Girls Don’t Change the World
Important questions to ask when considering what role we’ll play in the fight for justice:
1. “Is there a treadmill I need to step off of to more clearly hear God?”
2. “Is there a suffering that God might be calling me to?”
3. “What is the beauty that only I can be used to restore?”
One one of the key takeaways from Lynne’s talk was the question, “What’s mine to do?” What is my responsibility to advocate for those who need a voice? What is God calling me to do to fight for justice in my community and in the world?
For the past month, our church has been taking a look at ways that we can Live Just. In addition to studying what the scriptures say about justice, we provided resources for adults and children that could help them think more about justice. Here is a picture of the resource we provided for adults & families as well as bracelets that people could wear:
In addition, we provided a resource for children with practical ways that they could learn to Live Just. You can download the resource here.
It is our desire that our recent focus on justice will continue into the months and years to come, becoming a way of life for adults and children alike.
For more ideas on how children (and families) can reach out, take a look at the many resources I’ve pinned on my KidMin – Missions/Outreach Pinterest page.
Note from Kathie: Today’s guest post is from my friend Carla Adair Hendricks. I pray you’ll be blessed, inspired and challenged in the second of a two-part post. Read Part 1 here.
Lens #2: View our students from a perspective of hope and love.
A survey of the average school, neighborhood or community center could give a great picture of the state of our nation. We are a nation of brokenness – broken marriages, broken families, broken people.
Today, the image of family has changed much. Our churches are a great representation of this. Most churches are full of single-parent families, families directly impacted by substance abuse and domestic abuse, and families struggling with poverty.
Oftentimes children feel the greatest impact of this. Adoption and foster care are by-products of this brokenness, and each brings its own measure of trauma for a child. A child that has moved from foster home to foster home will struggle with interpersonal relationships and schoolwork. Some children will struggle with trusting the adults in their lives.
And yet, we mustn’t see these precious children in our classrooms as problem children. We mustn’t label them “the foster kid” or the “ADHD kid”. Practically, a better label for these children would be “children from hard places”. This phrase describes where a child comes from, instead of placing a judgment on the child.
Also, we must see these children through the lens of hope and love. We should be aware of tendencies and issues that they may face, but we must believe that each of these children can grow and learn and love.
With God’s intervention – through loving adults like us – they can even learn to love Jesus.
Lens #3: View our classrooms as a refuge of hope and healing.
With a little dose of education and a willingness to adjust, our classrooms can be a place where children receive hope and healing. In order to bring hope and healing, we have to be adaptable.
The way we learned about God decades ago may not be the best method to teach our children today. – Tweet That
For example, having children take turns reading from the Bible is a great way to promote Bible-learning and also literacy. However, what happens when one of your students has missed weeks of school and has just been placed in her fifth foster home? She’s probably not going to be able to read on grade level. An easy solution would be to have children raise their hands and volunteer to read out loud, instead of having each child read in order. This way, the challenged reader doesn’t feel shamed or exposed.
Last year I had a 6-year-old boy come to my classroom after being placed in a new foster home. Despite his squirminess, I had him sit close to me and allowed him to be my special helper. Although he asked for his foster mommy twice, he hung in there and I made sure he got the extra attention he needed. I knew I probably had a short window of time to reach this child with the love of Christ, but that didn’t stop me.
And it shouldn’t stop any of us from sharing His love with a child who may come from a background very different from yours and mine. If we can change our teaching “lenses”, we can impact the Kingdom of God – one precious child at a time.
How can you change your teaching “lens” to advocate for children from hard places? Please share with our community by leaving a comment below.
Carla Adair Hendricks is a pastor’s wife, mother of four, writer, speaker and orphan advocate. Two of her four children are biological, one was adopted from Russia and one was adopted domestically. Her husband Anthony leads the Conway campus of the ethnically-diverse Mosaic Church of Central Arkansas, where she serves the Mo Kids Children’s ministry as a teacher and teacher-coordinator for the K through 1st grade class. She also serves two orphan care ministries: The CALL and the African-American Church Initiative of the Christian Alliance for Orphans. A published journalist, Carla’s shares her heart at adoptionfostercareadvocate.blogspot.com and carlaadairhendricks.blogspot.com.
Note from Kathie: Today’s guest post is from my friend Carla Adair Hendricks. I pray you’ll be blessed, inspired and challenged in the first of a two-part post.
Photo Credit: duoduoflower.com
As an adoptive momma, an advocate for adoptive and foster children and a Children’s Ministry leader, I love when my passions collide. A few weeks ago, my passions collided when I had the opportunity to train the Children’s Ministry volunteers at my church, Mosaic Church of Central Arkansas, on the topic “Teaching Children from Hard Places.”
My main point? If we as Children’s Ministry teachers are going to impact the children that we serve – even those who come from challenging environments and backgrounds – we must remove the old lenses we’ve been wearing in our classrooms and replace them with new ones.
Lens #1: View yourself as an advocate for children.
Becoming a teacher – even an occasional teacher in Children’s Ministry – is a high calling. It’s a calling that involves more than teaching Bible verses and leading “sword drills”.
Don’t misunderstand me. Yes, we want our students to memorize Bible verses and learn to recite all 66 books of the Bible. Yes, we want them to know the difference between King Saul in the Old Testament and Saul-who-became-Paul in the New Testament. And of course, we’d love for them to be able to retell the great Bible stories of Esther and David and Moses.
Yet teaching children in Children’s Ministry involves more than filling their heads with information – even the great information from the Bible. Actually it involves much more than teaching. It’s really about reaching the child. Reaching deep down into the heart of the child – touching him or her with the love of Christ.
So yes, we teach the children in our classes, but we also seek to reach these young ones with the message of Christ – that they are valuable and precious. That they were created by a loving God who wants a relationship with them.
In order to reach the children that enter our church’s classrooms, we must view ourselves as more than teachers. We are advocates for our children, encouraging them to be their best selves and encouraging them to love Jesus, themselves and others.
Please come back tomorrow for Part 2.
How does your ministry advocate for children from hard places? Please share with our community by leaving a comment below.
Carla Adair Hendricks is a pastor’s wife, mother of four, writer, speaker and orphan advocate. Two of her four children are biological, one was adopted from Russia, and one was adopted domestically. Her husband Anthony leads the Conway campus of the ethnically-diverse Mosaic Church of Central Arkansas, where she serves the Mo Kids Children’s ministry as a teacher and teacher-coordinator for the K through 1st grade class. She also serves two orphan care ministries: The CALL and the African-American Church Initiative of the Christian Alliance for Orphans. A published journalist, Carla’s shares her heart at adoptionfostercareadvocate.blogspot.com and carlaadairhendricks.blogspot.com.
