How do we teach children about evil without scaring them?

A few years ago, I agreed to speak for two consecutive weekends at a church on the topic of spiritual warfare. At the time, a friend of mine was going through a difficult situation, and I was seeing firsthand how the enemy circles around the wounded.

Her children were under attack, and she was fighting for them, teaching them to hang onto the truth and reject lies that were easier to believe. Prior to sharing, the leadership called to tell me that one of the weeks was “Family Sunday,” and children would be included in the service.

“You can still cover the same topic, just keep it PG,” they requested.

I decided to share openly with these young families in an attempt to decaricaturize Satan.

Carrying a flashlight into the sanctuary, I turned off all the lights, as we talked about how the Enemy loves the dark and the ways he stokes our feelings of fear or anxiety at night.

I told them despite what Disney has shown them, evil doesn’t always drip in blood and cackle with a sound you recognize as scary at first. He doesn’t just live in caves and closets. He wants us to feel alone in our own homes, insecure at school, and far away from God.

We talked about conflict and how our spiritual enemy is a third-party who is present in every struggle, trying to separate us from those we love and who love us. This devil actively tries to destroy us and all that’s true. We need to learn to look for him and call him out when he uses us to further his agenda.

I told them I love the teaching in Ephesians about putting on our spiritual armor but was tired of not explaining why we need it in the first place.

Spiritual Warfare Is Real

I wasn’t sure how my message would be received. The biggest shock coming out of those weeks was the response of the congregation. Mothers and fathers came up to me and sent messages asking how they could protect their families and themselves.

The question I was asked over and over was, how do we teach children about evil without scaring them? These are the strategies I use:

• Teach them he has no authority over God’s kids.

• Teach children how to use the weapons of prayer, Scripture, and worship.

• Remind children they aren’t alone in the fight.

• Teach children what’s in the dark has no power over those who live in the light.

People were hungry for straight talk about spiritual warfare and its implications for our marriages, families, children, and friendships—and I was eager to give it to them.

I eventually wrote a book for adults called Throw the First Punch, outlining strategies to defeat evil and live in spiritual victory and strength. Still, the questions came, how do I share this with my child? What kind of spiritual power do children have?  

There is no junior Holy Spirit—children have all the same power those of us with more years and bigger bodies have. They might not have the experience in how to use their authority in Christ, but that’s where we can guide them.

Jesus Calls Children to Himself

Jesus has always called children to Himself and longs to strengthen and comfort them amid their battles. We can lead our children to grow strong hearts in Him, teaching them to call out for Him who is always present. 

I wrote The Heart Who Wanted to be Whole for the son of that good friend who struggles with overwhelming and hard feelings about his story. I wanted him to understand no matter how attacked his heart might feel, or how loud the voices are, God is more. He’s more big, more strong, more present, more powerful.

I taught him to say this prayer when he felt darkness:  Jesus, I am ___________________ (scared, confused, lonely). Help my heart to feel Your peace. Come for me. Amen. 

It’s my prayer you can have your eyes open to the children around you who need discipled with the same truth.

Ideas for Sharing Spiritual Warfare with Kids

If you have 15 minutes this week, try this activity with the children in your life.

• Bring a piece of tile and tell the children it’s a piece of flooring. When they are holding it in their hands, they “have the floor.” No one will interrupt whoever has the floor. Pass it around and ask them to share a time when they were scared. Tell the rest of the room it’s their turn to listen, and even if what is being shared doesn’t sound scary to them, they can listen with empathy—or at least do their best to understand why the person who is sharing felt that way.

• What do they think God was doing or saying while the scary moment was happening? Was He far away? Was He watching? What might He have been saying to them?

• Take a sheet of paper with the following promises typed up and cut them into strips. Ask the children to pull one of the strips of paper and read it aloud (or have it read to them.)  Then ask them to draw a picture of someone else’s scary story and draw God in that moment, saying that truth.  Afterward, share.

Reminders for Spiritual Warfare

I see you. You are precious. (Isaiah 43:4)

I hear you. I know your voice. (Psalm 64:1)

I love you. Just as you are. (John 15:9; Romans 15:7)

You are mine. Nothing can separate us. (Romans 8:38–39)

I will restore you and heal your hurts. (Jeremiah 30:17)

When you ask, “Where does my help come from?” you can know this: “Your help comes from God, who made heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:1–2)

Jesus said, “I am who I am.” He is everything from A to Z. He’s the One who is now, who was, and who is coming. (John 8:58; Revelation 1:8)

I will always be with you, even to the end of all time. (Matthew 28:20)

More Articles by Beth

• Sunday School Matters: Encouragement for Children’s Ministry Leaders and Volunteers
• Creative Ways to Care for the Children You Serve
• The Need for A Rescuer (Elementary Lesson)
• Why You Need to Serve Kids in the Foster Care System
• Racial Injustice and Reconciliation: An Interview
• Giving Kids a Heart of Compassion in a Me-Focused World
• 42 Exciting Service Project Ideas Tested in the Real World

You have value as an influencer in the life of children in Sunday school that still matters because you get to tell them the truth.

Editor’s Note: This article was transcribed from a webinar given by Beth Guckenberger to Sunday school leaders and teachers. Edits have been made for readability.

I grew up as a church kid my whole life. My heart has always loved Sunday school and vacation Bible school, youth group, and being old enough to be a volunteer in whatever age bracket was just below me. I have taught Sunday school, I have led youth groups, and I’ve functioned as interim senior pastors. And now most weekends I’m in a church sharing the kinds of things that we’re going to talk about here today. I am just a great lover of the ‘capital C’ Church.

And today, Sunday School still matters. I think it’s really important that we help children understand truth. My husband and I have grown our family in various ways. We have had biological children, we’ve adopted children, and we’ve participated in foster care.

There are all kinds of ways in which we’ve been involved in growing our family. And a number of years ago, we began the process to adopt an 11-year-old boy who was living in another country in a government orphanage. And I knew how important it was for us to just really quickly begin to facilitate attachment and connection with him.

I talked the social workers involved in the adoption to allow us to Skype with him as a family several times a week so that we could just start to build some rapport with him.

Imparting Truth

And about halfway through that 18-month process from when we decided to adopt him to when he was able to come home with us, he turned 12 years old. He got on one night on Skype and that night our normally upbeat kid was just not himself.

And I asked, “What’s going on, buddy?” And he said, “Oh, I got moved today from an 8-to-11-year-old dorm into a 12-to-18-year-old dorm.” I said, “That sounds hard.” He’s like, “I don’t even know anyone. And it’s really scary.”

And I could tell at the end he didn’t want to hang up. He felt really far away from me. And I said, “Listen, here’s what I do. When I have big feelings, I remind myself of the things I know are true. What do you know for sure is true?”

And he is like, “I don’t really know anything for sure is true.”

Sharing What’s True

And I said, “Okay, you can borrow what I know for sure is true here. Here’s what I know. You’re our son. We are coming for you. God has a plan. And we can trust it.” He was listening to me, so I said, “Why don’t you just repeat what I said?”

So, he said that back to me, “Yeah, I’m your son and you’re coming for me and God has a plan. I can trust it.”

And I’m not even sure that night he felt that much better, but I did. And that became the way we would sign off on our times together. He would just repeat that before he hung up. Eventually, 9 months after that, it was time to go to court. And we were there with all of our extended family ready to bring him back to our hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Testimonies

And in his country, there’s a law that, because he is over the age of 12, he had to testify in his own voice in court that it was his desire to repatriate and be with our family. So, we walked into the courthouse and, all of a sudden, I could tell he was getting triggered from trauma.

He’d been very excited on the way to the courthouse. But I realized he’s been in this space before, and the last time he was in that space, a family fell apart. It didn’t come together. And nobody had helped him process those emotions. So, he was walking in with all these big feelings, but we had a court date to attend. So all of us started just doing the things that we already knew we had to do—social workers, attorneys, and his dad and I were testifying as part of the proceedings.

And at some point, the judge looked at him and said, “It’s your turn, buddy. Is this what you want? Would you like to go with this family and permanently relocate to their country?”

All he really had to do was say yes. But he just wasn’t there. He was what we would call dysregulated. He was highly triggered. So he wasn’t saying anything, and we were trying every trick and tool we knew to get him to say something.

Not knowing what else to do, I start to negotiate with the judge. And I’m like, “Hey, can you clear some people out? Can he be allowed to write it down? Can he go with you back into your chambers? Do we have a workaround?”

Then the judge said, “I’m sympathetic about what’s going on, but this is what I need from him in this setting.”

Waiting

And so, we sat there for what felt like a really long time. It was probably around five minutes. And I’m thinking, I wonder how long they’ll let me sit here. And then suddenly, our son Tyler lifted his head and he looked at the judge and he said, “I’m their son, and they came for me. God has a plan, and I’m going to trust it.”

I told him later that night that this is exactly why we put truth in our hearts—so that it’s ready for us, like right there at the ready for us when we most need it.

A couple of months later, he was getting ready to go into junior high in the United States. The night before school started, he was having all kinds of big feelings. And I said to him, “Hey, what do we do when we have big feelings?”

“Remember God has a plan, and you can trust it.”

The Good Gospel

And later that fall, it was time for me to unfold the basics of the gospel to him. And I’m like, you already know it. You know the truth. You know that God had a Son, and that Son came for you, and you know what that looks like. And He has a plan, and you can trust Him for it.

Today he’s 19 years old, and we still get big feelings in our house, right? About like the internet and girls and driving and pizza and soccer and school and Xbox. And there can be moments when one of us might be escalating. And there are plenty of times when I see him starting to get dysregulated that I remind him of the things that he knows are true.

You are my son and we came for you. And God has a plan. Just trust him.

And there are times when his mama gets all dysregulated, and he’s like, “Hey, don’t forget I’m your son. You came for me. God has a plan. You can trust it.“

Growing Roots

I think about what truth does, how it literally lands in our hearts and grows roots. And the way in which we then equip children for circumstances and feelings that they’re going to have when they’re not around us. They need to reach down and hold on to something that feels right and true and good.

These are the kinds of content that you teach in that safe and trusted environment of your church. The stakes are really high for kids. And the importance of what you teach them walks with them forever.

I had the same Sunday school teacher for 4 years in a row in my little Presbyterian church when I was growing up. And I hadn’t seen her for a long time because I spent a couple of decades out of the country. Recently I was at a speaking engagement, and she was in the crowd.

When I saw her, I said, “Do you understand that you are a critical part of the foundation of my life? That some of the truths that I talk about now to other people, I learned in your classroom? That every time I go out and share the gospel, it’s fruit born off of your tree?”

And when I think about trees, I think the first thing I wanted to talk about was this:

Tamarisk Tree

I travel a lot to Israel. I think biblical horticulture is kind of interesting.

That might not be your area of interest, but there’s a particular tree that I learned about in Israel. It’s called a tamarisk tree. And a tamarisk tree is most interesting because it takes at least 20—sometimes 40—years for it to come to maturation and bear fruit. So nobody is actually going to plant a tamarisk tree for their own benefit.

Everybody plants the tamarisk tree for the benefit of the next generation, which is why there’s a rabbinic saying that you should plant a tamarisk tree every day. This is a way to say you should do something on a regular basis that’s for the benefit of the generation that’s coming behind you.

But the place we find this in Scripture is in Genesis Chapter 21 and the story of Abraham. Abraham plants a tamarisk tree in Beersheba. And what makes that so fascinating is this is the guy who got two promises. You’re going to have as many descendants as stars in the sky and this is the land in which they’re going to dwell.

By planting this tree, it was actually an act of faith. He was trusting and believing that God would fulfill His promise and that there would somehow be as many descendants as stars in the sky. There’d be someone in 20 or 40 years who would benefit from the tree that he was planting today. It was his way of declaring to the Lord, I trust you. And then where it is that he’d planted it was right there on the edge of the promise land.

He was saying, I believe that you’re going to give this land to me and to mine.

The Stats

You all know these statistics, right? There are 2 billion children on the planet today. 50% of them—or 1 billion of those children—have experienced trauma in some way. Barna estimates that kids have a 32% probability of accepting Jesus between the ages of 5 and 13.

We have got to get that third of the generation to know who Jesus is in that critical window of time because that number drops in half when you’re talking about ages 14 to 18. And then, of course, it continues to drop as they age. The right time we have to plant those seeds in their hearts are during that 5 to 13 age.

I love stories. In my bank of testimonies are also the stories of other people who have gone before me.

In all the days and moments when I feel like the assignment seems too hard, when I feel weary about what God’s of me, when I feel like I’m not good enough—strong enough, smart enough, clever enough, funny enough, young enough, energetic enough—all the “enoughs”, those are the times I pull into that bank of testimonies and remember what God has taught me before and what I’ve seen from examples of people who have demonstrated the kind of faith that I need in that moment to express.

Henrietta Mears

One of the most famous Sunday school teachers of all time is a woman named Henrietta Mears. She was a Sunday school teacher who go started in 1928 in First Presbyterian in Hollywood. And she wrote a book called What the Bible Is All About. So this is not someone who was trying to be gimmicky or demonstrate whimsy. She knew what her mission was. She wanted to teach children what the Bible was all about, and she wasn’t fancy, but she lived and taught the Bible.

Among some of her students were Bill and Vonette Bright. They’re the founders of Campus Crusade for Christ. Underneath that crew umbrella lives a tool called the Jesus Film that’s now been seen by 8 billion people around the globe.

• One of her students was Dawson Troutman. He’s the founder of the Navigators. Navigators now has staff in 103 nations.
• One of her students was Jim Rayburn. He’s the founder of Young Life. Young Life is how my husband came to know the Lord.
• One of her students was Richard Halverson. He was the US Senate chaplain for over 15 years and Chairman of World Vision for over 21 years.
• One of her students was Ronald Reagan, who was our 40th president of the United States.
• One of her students is famously Billy Graham, who shared the gospel to over 80 million people.

Sharing Jesus

Henrietta is a woman who understood that the kind of impact she was going to have on the world was going to be through the children who she made sure understood the things that God said for sure were true. That they would understand what the Bible was all about.

And where God took those people with the faith that she helped cultivate in them, those results are up to Jesus. Her job was to be obedient.

Recently, I found something that she had written inside of her Bible. She wrote,

“I will win the personal allegiance of everyone in my class to the Lord Jesus Christ.

I will walk, I will write, I will pray.

I will remain close to them until they are established.

I will associate with them in fellowship.

I will make myself available to them always.

I will see they are committed to some definite task.

I will put the cross back into my Christianity, and I will pray as I’ve never prayed before for a new vision of God.

I will spend and be spent in this battle and will not seek rest or ease.

I will seek fellowship with a man of sorrows as he walks through this stricken world.

And I will not fail.”

And even though these words were written almost a hundred years ago, this is so relevant for us today. These are not programs we establish; these are relationships that we cultivate.

Life-on-life engagement is how God designed for the truth to be transmitted. The role that we play as Sunday school teachers is critical because it’s relationship rich.

In that relationship-rich environment, you have such opportunity for influence.

Moses and Joshua

I love this passage in Exodus 33. It’s the story of Moses. I always say I have a Bible crush on Moses a little bit, because I like to find myself in the book of Exodus. And there’s a passage where he goes up into what’s called the tent of the meeting because he needs to get a couple of things from the Lord. He needs direction; he needs to download. He wants to know what’s next … Where do I go? What do I say? What do I do?

And in Exodus 33:11 NIV it says, “The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.”

The idea that the Lord is talking to us face-to-face, nose-to-nose, just like you would talk to a friend is awesome. And then it goes on to say that Moses would return to the camp because now he got what he needed from the Lord. He got all filled up.

He got his direction and his download and what he’s supposed to do and right aligning of thinking and a touch of that anointing from being so close to the Lord. Moses got everything he needed, so he returned to the camp. And then it goes on to say that his young aide, Joshua, did not leave the tent, which meant Joshua followed him up there. Joshua was essentially in his Sunday school class.

And when he saw what it was like for Moses to be face-to-face with the Lord, like one with a friend, he didn’t want to leave that spot.

The Effects of Seeing

Moses went on to do his assignment, but Joshua wanted to stay in that tent. I want to experience that fellowship. I just have got to, I just got to see something that’s unbelievable and want more of it. And if you just turn your Bibles a couple of chapters later, you read some of the most unbelievable stories of Joshua.

But I would argue Joshua couldn’t have fought that battle of Jericho, he couldn’t have gone into the land like a spy to check it out, he couldn’t have done some of the things that God had for him to do later on, if he hadn’t spent time in the tent of the meeting.

And how did he figure out how to spend time in the meeting?

Because he had someone who led him there, someone who was older and more experienced in their faith journey. And really, if all we ever did was show kids what it looked like to talk to Jesus face-to-face as a friend, the rest of it, they’ll figure out. That’s the power of what we get a chance to do.

Influencers

I lived in Mexico for about 15 years, and in my neighborhood, there was this woman who made a living breeding dogs. And one of her dogs who was pregnant ran out into the street, and she got hit by a car.

Most dog owners probably would’ve put the dog down because she was hurt pretty bad. But this dog owner—because this is a form of income for her—had the back two legs amputated from this dog and decided with the vet that they would keep the dog alive until she delivered the litter.

And, at that point, she’d make a decision about that dog’s quality of life. So, the dog got around by using its front two legs to just drag its little behind everywhere.

Eventually, that dog delivered her babies. And for the first several days, her litter only walked around using their front two feet and dragging their behinds because that’s the only example they’d ever seen.

How It Relates

For Sunday school teachers and church leaders, your kids might be coming into your classroom and you might be one of the only examples they’ve ever seen of someone who knows how to run on their metaphorical “four legs.” They might not have any other examples. And when you see behavior that’s disruptive or challenging for you in a classroom, there’s always meaning behind that behavior. That child is trying to say something but just doesn’t have the skills to tell you what they’re trying to say.

When you show them what it looks like to communicate, to love, to serve, to engage in a completely different way, you open their eyes to a whole new way of living.

I remember the first time I was in an orphanage, and I had asked some people to come serve alongside of me in this orphanage. And the kids had a bunch of really hard stories.

The Paper

And I held up this piece of paper for the volunteers, and I said, “I want you to imagine that every child you see, every single one, regardless of what they look like … I want you to imagine that at some point they might have had their heart stripped in half. Maybe they’re disappointed by something from home or something might have happened at school or in their neighborhood.”

And then I went through a bunch of scenarios. I started to rip the paper each time I described something that might have happened. And I then I held up just a fraction of the original paper.

I then said, “When they engage with you, they might be just a portion, a fraction, of who it is that God created them to be. And so what our job is, what our privilege is, what our calling is, is to can pick up these pieces and deposit them back into that heart. Not in the name of ourselves or our church or our ministry, but you just deposit those in the name of Jesus.

I’m going to remember your name from this week to next because Jesus knows your name. And I’m going to sit with you and listen to your story because God cares about you. Constantly depositing what I know for sure.”

Value

Eventually some kid looks at whatever lucky safe adult has been depositing in them and says something like, who are you and why do you care so much? And in that moment, that adult gets the privilege to say to that child, I love you because Jesus loves you. He loves you, and He has a wonderful plan for your life.

You have value as an influencer in the life of children in Sunday school that still matters because you get to tell them the truth.

Joshua 1:8

Joshua 1:8 (which by the way, I learned as a child in a Sunday school classroom) says:

“Do not let this book of the law depart from your mouth, meditate on it day and night. So you can be careful to do everything that’s written in it. Then you find yourself prosperous and successful.”

That word meditate we translate into English kind of sounds like a soft word to me, like think quietly about your Bible in the morning with your coffee or something.

Hagah

That’s not a very strong word. It’s not what Joshua originally intended. In fact, that word we translate into English as meditate comes from this Hebrew word hagah.

Hagah is a Hebrew onomatopoeia. Remember those from high school English classes? Those are words that sound like what they are. These are words in English, like pop, boom, or hiss.

Hagah literally means the sound the lion makes when he consumes his prey. So, nobody would say in Hebrew hagah the way I say it, they would literally sound like they were eating something.

So, Joshua 1:8 is saying, “Do not let this book of a lot apart from your mouth, but consume it like a lion with its pray. Then you can be careful to do everything that’s written in it, and you’ll find yourself prosperous and successful.”

When we teach children to put the truth of God’s Word in their hearts, to consume it like a lion of its prey—not just hear it, not just read it, but if we can give them a taste of the appetite we have for God’s Word and they can metabolize that—then it’s theirs forever.

We know what the Bible says about the Word not returning void.  It divides bone and marrow. There are all kinds of good promises we have about Scripture. We’ve got to make sure that in our Sunday school classrooms that we are teaching the truth.

Back to the tree theme from earlier.

Change Hits the Roots

I was parenting a foster child, and she was a tremendous challenge. She’d been in my house for about three years, and it had been really difficult. And I invited some third-party experts to come in and just help me figure out what we could do different or better.

We were watching things deteriorate with her pretty fast. So this expert observed a couple of days in my home, and on the third day watched me parent her as she came out of her room at 15 years old in inappropriate clothing. And I redirected her to change, and she came out again. On and on it went until, finally, I sent her back to her room until she would wear something appropriate for school.

She found something to wear and left my house. But then I looked at this psychologist who was there, and I said, “Listen, we both know that she has on underneath those clothes exactly what she wants to wear.”

She won, and I knew she won.

Mental Picture

And this counselor drew for me a picture that I just want you to draw in your mind. And it was a picture of a tree with three parts. At the top of the tree where the foliage is, he wrote the word attitude and actions.

And on the trunk of the tree, he wrote the word self-image—how we see ourselves.

At the root system of the tree, he wrote the word truth and then wrote (or lies).

And he said, “Beth, it seems to me you’re awfully focused on this young woman’s attitude and actions, just all the stuff you can see with your eye. She didn’t walk out here in a mini skirt because she was trying to offend you. She walked out of here in a mini skirt because what comes into the top of our tree is directly derived from our trunk and that self-image is from when somebody told her that her value is from how she looks.”

Try Sharing Truth

So, her choices, her attitude and actions came from her idea of herself. And her idea of her self-image comes directly from the roots. And that’s a lie. Her self-image is not tied to how she looks, but our job is to take out those lies and replace them with things that are true.

And so he said, “I have a prescription for you. Why don’t you spend the next 90 days thinking only about things that you know for sure are true.”

And I was like “I mean, can I talk to her about like her curfew and her homework and boys and the internet and cell phone and her dishes.”

And he’s like, “Why don’t you think about what it would do to her tree if she had a steady diet of truth instead of always just looking at her attitude and actions. I don’t know if you know anything about horticulture, but if you cut off a tree branches, they grow back twice as strong.”

Go to the Source

It was hard. We had been kind of repellent for at least a year at that point. I had to really go to my Bible and look for things that were true that I could then populate into the conversations I had with her. The Bible says that God’s Word is sweet to the taste like honey. And I made sure that the words coming out of my mouth aligned with the things that my Bible tells me are true, I literally attracted her to me like honey.

And I think about the kids that are in your classrooms—kids whose attitude and actions might be difficult for you to manage. The truth that I learned in that testimony is to look beyond their attitude and action, to try to understand what’s driving that behavior and what role might I be able to play.

Our brains don’t know how to discern the difference from being loved and being listened to. It feels exactly the same to us. And so, when I think about the chances that we have to love kids well by listening to them, it’s so powerful.

Xbox

Sunday school still matters because we need to commission our kids to go back out. God has a long history of using children in His storyline, and He loves us more than He wants to use us. One more story I want to share with you before we are done.

I was giving a talk to a group of people and there were children in the audience, and we were talking about David and Goliath. I was telling them how David used stones to kill Goliath because he had been a stone thrower already as a shepherd, keeping animals away from his sheep.

And I was saying to them, what are your stones like? What’s the thing that you do? What do you already know how to do? And how could God use that in the kingdom?

And this fourth grader wanted to get out of my message. He raised his hand and interrupted me, and he’s like, “Hey, I’m not that good at anything. Can I go?” And I said, “Well, I’m sure you’re good at something.” He’s like, “No, I’m not really actually good at anything.”

And I said, “What’s your special skill? What do you spend time doing?”

And he’s like, “Xbox.”

I said, “Okay, well you ask Jesus what you can do with your Xbox.”

And that was enough to keep him in the room.

See What God Does

About two and a half months later, we got a letter at Back2Back, the ministry that I lead for orphaned and vulnerable children. It was a letter that he had written me, and he and enclosed a money order for $410.

He had organized an Xbox tournament that had a $10 entry fee, and there were 41 people who participated. He got some local businesses to donate prizes. This boy wrote me a letter telling exactly how he wanted me to spend his $410 on behalf of orphans.

And at the bottom of the letter he said, “I guess God can do something with an Xbox.”

And I thought to myself, oh buddy, you have no idea what God’s going to do with you. Because if He’s decided at age 10 to teach you that lesson, He’s got a big life for you.

Seeing Kids as God Does

And if we can just continue to see our little people who God has asked us to invest in as the kind of people who might grow up and preach the gospel to 80 million people like Billy Graham did, or as people who will grow up and be workplace ministers and live with integrity in the middle of the jobs that God gives them to provide for their family, or who knows, we don’t actually measure success the way the world does.

We’re just called to be obedient. And so, on this day and in this hour, what I want you to hear most is encouragement to continue to do what you’re doing because it makes a difference. Hear this challenge to continue to make God’s truth the center of the story.

And just know in the meantime that there’s a whole bunch of people who love and appreciate the tamarisk trees that you are planting for the generation to come.

Children, like adults, are complex. Caring for them well requires us to think holistically. They walk through our doors carrying with them the stories of their lives.

How can we hold their stories well? What kind of strategies can we use to meet their needs spiritually, physically, educationally, emotionally, and socially?

However we engage in this important work, it’s clear the stakes are high. Consider these creative and thoughtful approaches to supporting the children you serve.

Emotional

Be fully present and actively listen to one another. It’s important to take the time to hear their concerns and answer their questions with developmentally appropriate answers. We know from science that being heard by someone who has given you their full attention and is without judgment is profoundly healing. 

We can care for children emotionally by carefully explaining changes. Make sure children have warnings and explanations on what to expect, whether it’s about schedules, vacations, or teacher changes.

Uncertainty can cause even otherwise emotionally healthy children to feel insecure. Answer their questions, give them time to express themselves, and infuse your language with gratitude. Consider hanging an emotions chart where children can regularly identify what they are feeling.

Connection Helps Regulate Emotions

Think through how to create connections between the children themselves and between them and the adults within your ministry. Are we talking at children, or with them? Are we remembering important details and being relationally intentional? That intentionality fosters connection and connection equates to care.

A regulated adult helps inform a child’s response in any new and unsure circumstance. Staying calm when talking about a situation is critical. When the adult has big feelings, the children follow.

As a result, ask yourself: What can I do when my emotions are out of control, and I feel dysregulated? Who can I share them with safely? What information do I need? What is my own pathway to regulation?

Offer Choices

When some things in life may feel out of control, offering choices can help. What should we do for a game? What snack should we try today? Is there a song you were hoping we’d sing? Would you like to do a craft?

Sharing power goes a long way in caring for children.

Have a Quiet/Calm Corner

When kids are having a hard time emotionally, this kind of intentionality sends a clear message. I want you around no matter how you are feeling or behaving. I care so much about you; I’ve made a special space for you to be when you are having big feelings.

Spiritual

Before we think about teaching children what we think they need to know, have we shared with them what God has taught us? Being vulnerable and giving children the impression that God is good, and we’ve found He can be trusted, goes a long way in caring for them.

Give them the opportunity to serve. Zechariah 4:10 says, “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.” Don’t measure the size of the project, or who it will help. Pastor Andy Stanley says, “Do for one what you wish you could do for them all.”

Think about what interests the child and how you can turn that gift or skill or energy into something they can share with others.

Social

Maintaining routine increases felt safety. We need to do all we can to keep activities predictable, so adults and children sense stability. Have a plan for the day. Communicate it right away, so everyone can share the same expectation. Even simple details will give the day/class/small group a sense of certainty.

Stick together. What are some ways we can minimize a child feeling isolated? Think about how the tables are set, teams are selected, and free time is managed. We want to care for children who feel on the fringe by incorporating them into every aspect of our time together.

Words and experiences build healthy belief systems, so facilitate social interactions where people can give each other good words and share meaningful experiences. Your environment may be one of the only places they are receiving a continual diet of positive words and spiritually significant experiences.

Physical

Stress weakens our immune system, making us more susceptible to illness. During our daily activities, we can pay attention to the tone of our voices and the condition of our hearts.

We can ask ourselves: Am I taking care of myself? Am I adding to, or reducing, the levels of stress in my environment?

A dehydrated brain is an irritated brain. We know hydration is an effective intervention for aggression. Am I paying attention to how much water I am drinking? How much they are drinking?

Children need food, water, and physical activity every two hours. Am I creating space for that kind of physical care?

Educational

Foster creativity. It’s a gift we give children when we ask questions about what interests them and listen to their wonderings. Oftentimes, learning to learn is more important than any actual knowledge we may pass along.

How can we model our own learning and foster curious environments?

Play is one of the greatest tools we have for learning. Fun and delight release good dopamine and serotonin in our brains. Make education fun by connecting it to play!

We can always learn how to care for ourselves better and how to care for the children we serve. This is not a checklist or a course to follow, but a posture of thinking of their needs from their perspective.

In the end, if we can leave them the impression that we, who love Jesus, also care deeply and practically for them, that’s a job well done.

More Articles by Beth!

• 42 Exciting Service Project Ideas Tested in the Real World
• Giving Kids a Heart of Compassion in a Me-Focused World
• Why You Need to Serve Kids in the Foster Care System
• Racial Injustice and Reconciliation: An Interview
• The Need for A Rescuer (Elementary Lesson)

Based on: (Luke 8:22-25)

SESSION OVERVIEW

Supplies

Bible Story
Jesus Calms the Storm (Luke 8:22-25)

Bible Memory
Hebrews 10:23, 24

Tales of the Ones He Won’t Let Go Story
“Forever Family: Who Will I Trust?”*

Overview

Welcome to the first of six sessions that go along with the book Tales of the Ones He Won’t Let Go by Beth Guckenberger. This session is designed for families to experience together. It will help families continue important, life-changing conversations in the weeks that follow!

Note: The story for this session, “Forever Family: Who Will I Trust?” is a story found within the Introduction to Tales of the Ones He Won’t Let Go.

Hopefully this series will spark an interest in your students and their families to consider their need for our Rescuer God, someone who keeps holding onto them, no matter what life brings. Kids will wonder about a world bigger than their own communities and become curious how they can connect with that world. They will begin asking questions such as these: Who will I trust? How do I pray? What can I give? Where can I go? Who will I serve? How can I love?

Encourage each family to sit together. For children who are present without family members, arrange for them to sit with families they know and are comfortable with.

INTRO ACTIVITY

Cube Making

Supplies

Card stock

Scissors

Tape

Activity

Before class, print on card stock one Discuss-It Cube per family. Cut out the cubes, fold on the dotted lines, and tape the edges together.

Give a big welcome to everyone, especially families who have joined your group today. During the next several weeks we’re going to focus on stories. Not just any stories, but stories of people around the world and from the pages of the Bible. We’ll hear stories of people’s lives that were being held by God, the Rescuer, all the time–even when they didn’t know it.

Hold up a completed cube. Each week your child will bring home a Discuss-It Cube like this one for you to use at a mealtime or whenever your family is together. There are questions in each square that relate to things we’ve been talking about and learning. As you toss the cube and take turns answering the questions, it will hopefully spark some great discussions.

Distribute one cube per family. Take the next few minutes and practice using your cube. The person tossing the cube can answer the question that lands on top. Tell everyone that there are a few questions that will be easier to answer after the lesson.

INTERACTIVE BIBLE STORY

Jesus Calms the Storm (Luke 8:22-25)

Supplies

• Bible
• Roll paper
• Markers (or paint pens) in blue, green, gray, purple, and black tones
• Scissors
• Extra paper (or drop cloths) to protect surface

Before class, cover the floor or tables with extra paper to protect the surfaces and set out the markers. Cut one long piece (at least 5′) of roll paper for each participant. Families may work together on one piece of paper.

Pass out the papers and markers for all the participants. Then say: God made us many promises in the Bible, but he never promised us smooth sailing every day. As we listen to this Bible story, track the path of the story with your marker on the paper. Start your line on the left short side of your long paper, in the middle of that side. Then draw your line up or down or straight as the story indicates directions. Let’s listen to the Bible story from Luke 8:22-25. 

Bible Story

Jesus got into a boat with his disciples and said to them: “Let’s go over to the other side of the lake! Far, far away.” As they sailed, the waves went up, the waves went down. The waves went up and up . . . and then down. Jesus fell asleep. Deep, deep, asleep.

The storm came down. Down, down, down on the lake. The water rose up, up, up inside the boat. They were in danger! Deep, deep, danger! The disciples came to Jesus, and woke him up, up, up! And they said, “Master, Master! We’re going to drown in the deep, deep water!”

Then Jesus got up, up, up. And he calmed the wind down. He calmed the raging water down. Down, down, down.

“Where is your faith?” Jesus asked. And the disciples were amazed. They asked one another, “Who is this man? Even the winds and the water obey him!”

Bible Story Continued

After the story is finished, ask a volunteer to read the actual Bible account as everyone looks at their pictures. Then talk about the story and drawings together. Look at how your lines go up and down and all over the place! That’s often how the stories of our lives look. No one walks a smooth, straight path for all their days. The disciples definitely had their ups and downs! Just think about how it might have felt to be in that boat in the middle of a big storm. Would you have been scared? How would you have felt?

The disciples were afraid, but Jesus was holding them all along–they just didn’t know it. Jesus had the situation under control. As we continue with our lesson, think about the times in your life when you’ve felt afraid or like things were out of control. Even in your deepest downs, God is there. And in your highest ups, God is there. Our Rescuer God always has the situation under control. We need to remember that, and to get to know him better, so we can see him working in our lives even more.

BIBLE MEMORY

Supplies

Bibles

Optional: computer, projection equipment

Activity

Before class, decide how you will show the Bible Memory poster. You can project it or print it out.

We all have a need for a Rescuer, someone who will hold onto us through hard times when we can’t hang on by ourselves. Ask everyone to turn to Hebrews 10:23, 24, the Bible Memory verses. Have a volunteer read aloud the verses. We can hold tight to our hope and faith in God because we know he is faithful. He will never let us go. And since we know that, we can encourage each other to live lives of love, doing good things for each other.

Then teach everyone the following signs based on American Sign Language that will help them remember these important verses. (If you aren’t familiar with these signs, there are several good websites that demonstrate how to do them.)

Project or show the Bible Memory poster and ask everyone to stand. Invite a family to volunteer to come to the front to lead everyone in saying the Bible Memory verses together while doing the signs.

Hold: 

Make a grasping motion in the air with your hand, ending in a tight fist that you shake a little from side to side, with palm side facing you.

Onto: 

Place the right hand palm down onto the back of the left hand, also palm down.

Faith/Hope: 

(Faith) Touch forehead with index finger, then form an “OK” sign with both hands, bringing down the right O on top of the left O. (Hope) Bring both hands up slightly to the left side of the body and with palms facing each other, with the right hand slightly higher than the other (right hand at forehead level). As soon as you bring them up, bend the fingers of each hand forward together quickly twice, as if the hands are simultaneously waving at each other.

Because: 

Bring L hand-shape in right hand up to forehead (palm facing forehead), placing tip of index finger on forehead and then quickly bending the index finger and pulling it away in the air.

God: 

In one smooth motion, raise right hand up to the heavens with fingers pointing up and palm facing the left side of body and then bring hand downward past chin, following center line of face.

Faithful: 

Same sign as faith, but repeating the action of bringing the right O down on top of the left O once.

Love: 

Cross arms in an X shape over chest.

Good Deeds/Works: 

Make sign for good by touching tips of fingers of one hand to chin (palm facing chin), then bringing that hand back away from you down onto the palm of the other hand. Then quickly turn both hands around in fists, palms facing out, with one fist behind the other, and move both hands around in little circles a few times.

TALES OF THE ONES HE WON’T LET GO STORY

“Forever Family: Who Will I Trust?”

Supplies

2 copies of “Forever Family”

Optional: computer, projection equipment

Note: The story for this session is s a story found within the Introduction to the book Tales of the Ones He Won’t Let Go.

Activity

Before class, decide how you will show the photos. You can project them or print them out. The story “Forever Family” will be more effective if two good readers read the story. Give them each a copy of the story: one person will read Beth’s story; the other person will read the parts of the girls. If desired, you can print the two name signs and display them close to where each reader stands.

Cue the readers to begin. Show the photos as prompted in the story. When the story is finished, thank the readers.

REVIEW ACTIVITY

Have each family sit together. As you ask the following questions, tell families to come up with their best answer. They should join hands together and raise them as one unit when they want to answer. Call on different families to answer.

Questions

1. In the story, what needs did the twin girls have? 
2. When Beth was facing her big decision about the girls, she wanted to be in the driver’s seat. Why? 
3. That was what she wanted, but what did Beth need? 
4. What is a missionary? Do you have to go to another country to be a missionary? 
5. In what ways do you think missionaries have to trust in God? 
6. Who did the girls have to trust, and for what reasons?
7. When was a time you had to trust God for something?

Bonus Video Option

Show students this “163 Million” video, in which Beth Guckenberger talks about meeting the needs of orphans around the world.

INSPIRING KID STORY

Supplies

Before class, print a copy of the Inspiring Kid Story document. Give the story to a student who is willing to read it aloud.

It’s time to listen to an Inspiring Kid Story. This is a true story of some kids who saw a need and figured out what they could do. Invite the student who is reading this to begin.

Kid Story

A boy named Leo grew up in an orphanage in Monterrey, Mexico. At age 20, he wanted to go to another state and serve for the summer in an orphanage in Mazatlan, Mexico. The only problem was that he needed money for the plane ticket and for his meals during the month he was going to serve.

Meanwhile, a youth pastor named Chris Cox was speaking at a summer youth camp. He told the youth about Leo–about how God had healed Leo’s heart so much that it overflowed and he wanted to offer that hope to other children growing up in an orphanage.

The youth decided to fast for lunch every day during the week of their camp, and the camp wrote a check for $1000 for Leo’s month in Mazatlan! Together the youth and Leo sent a powerful message to the fatherless in Mazatlan that God sees them and won’t let them go!

APPLICATION ACTIVITY

Supplies

• Inflatable globe ball (or use a regular beach ball and draw a basic world map on it with permanent marker)

Does anyone here know the song “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands”? (Take a minute to teach the song to children and their parents. You can search online for the song lyrics and tune.) Let’s sing the song’s chorus once through.

After singing, ask the kids: If God has the whole world in his hands, what countries does that mean? Listen for answers and then show them different countries.

If he has the whole world in his hands, what does that mean for those who have lost their biological families? Does he have them in his hands? Listen to the discussion, talking about how it looks for God to have orphans in his hands. Sing the song through again, replacing the phrase the whole world with the phrase orphans and their families.

If he has the whole world in his hands, what does that mean for all of us, whether we are adopted or foster kids or living with our biological families? Listen to the discussion. Sing the song through again, replacing the phrase the whole world with the phrase you and me. Meanwhile, depending on the age of the classroom, bounce the globe around the room while you are singing.

PRAYER TIME

Supplies

Card stock

Pencils or pens

Before the session, print out on card stock one Prayer Time Card for each family or small group you think you will have, or one for each participant, as needed. Pass these out along with pencils or pens.

Then say: Each session we will craft a prayer together as a class and then take it home and use it for family prayer times. Look at your Prayer Time Card. Can you help me fill in these blanks? 

Let people have time to fill in the blanks on the card. Then pray together.

GIVE AND SERVE OPTION

Supplies

Offering container

Pens

Tape

If you did not view it already, show your group the “163 Million” video. Then draw everyone’s attention to the Serving Hands Wall (see instructions in Overview & Extra Resources lesson in the Give and Serve Option section) and tell the group about their ongoing opportunity to get involved in Back2Back’s ministry to orphans (as described in the Give and Serve Option section).

Describe the orphan needs you’ll be focusing on and the giving goals you’ve set. Pass out serving hands and pens and, based on the option you’ve selected, explain how kids can add hands to the wall.

WORSHIP OPTION

Wrap up with an upbeat time of worship! Play Yancy’s “Shine and Serve” or “Live Differently” video and invite families to sing along.

Shine and Serve

Live Differently

SEND HOME

Supplies

Challenge kids to answer the questions: How do I pray? What can I give? Where can I go? Who will I serve?

Want your kids to take service to heart?

In Tales of the Not Forgotten, students follow real-life stories of other kids as they take you on a journey to faraway lands. See the hand of the great Storyweaver writing endings you’d never imagine!

Filled with fun, interactive learning experiences and kid-inspired service projects, the Tales of the Ones He Won’t Let Go Super Simple Mission Kit will open kids’ eyes (and grown-ups’ too!) to the needs in their community and around the world—then challenge them to do something about it!

Understanding the Call

There is a meaningful Hebrew phrase I learned a couple of years ago: tikkun olam. It translates “to repair the world.” I was on a trip to Israel, where they also defined tikkun olam as making crooked roads straight.

The idea is to see where something is broken and apply your gifts, talents, and treasures to straighten it.

An Illustration for Us All

To illustrate the point, the guide told us the story of a Polish pediatrician named Dr. Janusz Korczak. In addition to practicing medicine and writing children’s books, in 1912 Dr. Korczak started the Orphan Society—an orphanage for 200 Jewish children.

It was revolutionary and before its time in that he organized children into family units, instead of housing them in a warehouse-like facility. He rightfully understood that when children create healthy attachments in family-based settings, they are more emotionally stable and secure.

However, in 1939, Poland was occupied and the Nazi’s moved the Jews into the ghetto. The children were forced to leave the beautiful home he had created for them.

Dr. Korczak decided that if the children couldn’t live there, he wouldn’t stay either, so he moved to the ghetto voluntarily for the next few years.

On August 5^th, 1942, a knock at the door revealed a Nazi officer who escorted 12 staff, 200 children, and Dr. Korczak on a train to a concentration camp. One of the Nazi soldiers at the gate of the camp recognized Dr. Korczak as his child’s favorite author and offered to spare his life if he could help get the children through the gate.

Dr. Korczak’s last remembered words were to this officer as he rejected the offer:

“You don’t leave a child in distress.”

Children being orphaned is an old story. We have biblical examples of it going back to Moses. History tells of it through war, famine, and crisis.  Currently, we as a Church must face the reality: there are 400,000 foster children in this country.

Where do we begin? What are the first steps we can take as a church to tikkun olam, or repair the world?

First Listening

Intentionally Connect with a Foster or Adoptive Parent

There are most likely some experts already within your body. God calls people to bring “the lonely in families” Ps. 68:6.

Invite a Foster or adoptive parent into a conversation where you listen to what they have to say.

What are their needs? How can you better see their needs?

What challenges have they faced within your church? Do you have some opportunities for improvement?

What do they dream your church would do for them?

If the church isn’t supporting them, who has been their support?

They will be your richest source of information, so don’t skip this step. If no one in your church has any experience as foster or adoptive parents, ask some pastor friends if they could share the names of someone in their church who you could buy a coffee and gain needed insight.

Reach out to Your Local Authorities

Set up a call with a social worker from your county’s child and family services. There’s a church in Washington that did this and learned there was no safe playground in their county where children could play, and a social worker could visit with an at-risk parent or a foster parent in a shaded area.

The church decided to make a major investment in a play structure and seating area. And now in this community, if you are going to meet with a social worker, it happens on their church grounds. Meeting practical needs opens doors.

Once you understand what the needs are in your body and in your community, it’s time to bring it to the leadership of the church.

Taking Next Steps

To get passionate advocacy at the highest levels of leadership in your church, you will need to present the problem as well as ideas for the solutions. This means:           

Get Trained

There are plenty of powerful trainings developed to equip church staff and volunteers in trauma informed care. It’s the kind of training you don’t know what you don’t know, until someone points it out.

Caring for kids from hard places and their vulnerable families isn’t always intuitive. Training mitigates the risks and minimizes the mistakes that relying on only good intentions make. Outline a plan to get yourself equipped, then propose staff training, volunteer training, and even provide the service of parental training. Information is power and the more you have, the more manageable ministry to foster and vulnerable children becomes.

Children who have complex developmental trauma are, on average, developmentally about half their biological age. This kind of information is helpful for classroom teachers and foster parents who may have unfair expectations of the children in their care.

Trauma alters brain chemistry, damages the nervous system and sensory processing development, and damages the body’s ability to handle stress. As a result, when a child perceives a threat, they use protective strategies that can suppress the conscience and the result might appear as bad behavior.

As the late Dr. Karyn Purvis taught, there is always meaning behind behavior. When a child doesn’t know how to say what they need, they act out. Understanding how to respond to behavior goes a long way in relationship construction, not destruction.

Partner Together

Who in your community is already ministering to foster kids, adoptive families, or vulnerable children? A first step might be to see how you can serve them, or join with them in a limited project.

Do they need funds? A hosting location? Volunteers? How can you offer what you already have and learn more about the needs in your community?

How can you tell their story to your congregation? What lessons have they learned that will help advance community outreach and your church’s understanding of this area of need? Inviting people to join in work that is already ongoing turns a “come and see” church into a “go and do” church.

Why We Serve

Throughout biblical history, God has called us to go after the least, the lost, the defenseless. He built a kingdom on leaving the ninety-nine and finding the one who has been separated. God has written promises in Scripture to orphans—the most vulnerable population of all.

He asks His family to fulfill these promises in His name. So, as His child, I am defended by Him, but now I may defend others. I am remembered by Him, so I can remember others. I am heard by Him, so I can listen to others.

Together, we are an extension of Jesus, showing a lost world His passionate pursuit.

If we don’t know where to start, looking at the Bible and its many promises for orphans is a good place to begin. In Psalm 82, God promises to defend their cause, deliver them, and rescue them. He promises to lift them up and be their father and give them a home in Psalms 113 and 68.

He promises to not forget them and give them compassion and give them justice and be their helper (Is.49, Hosea 14, Psalm 10.) The list goes on and on.

Of all the things in the Bible we can debate, helping orphans is not one of them. God is for them, and we look like Him when we flesh out His promises, especially when they require sacrifice and unconditional love.

Outlining this for your leadership or your Church body will go a long way to laying a foundation for this work.

What to Do

1. Be Willing to Serve

Make sure the foster and adoptive parents in your children’s ministry know you are willing to understand the unique needs of their specific children. Ask them when you might be able to connect to better understand what makes them feel comfortable.  Ask what you can read or learn to serve their kids better.

2. Make Care Packages

Immediately activate some volunteers to make baskets or care packages for kids new to the children’s ministry. It can have fidget spinners, church spirit wear, or sensory-sensitive toys. Right away these gifts say, “Who are you?” “We see you.” and “You belong.”

3. Be Trauma Informed

Make a sheet with a few basic principles to give to volunteers as a step toward making your ministry trauma informed. In the organization where I serve, Trauma Free World’s trauma competent care training teaches principles that can be passed along to volunteers.

One example is “Connect before you correct.”  

This means when you see behavior in a child that needs addressed or re-directed, get down on the eye level of a child and take the time to make them feel seen, not just disciplined.

4. Make Transitions Predictable

When you have kids from hard places in your classrooms or big room settings, giving them predictable patterns that they can count on will increase felt safety and security. This brings out the best in them.

It might mean you give verbal warnings like, “In five minutes, we are going to go to our classrooms…” It might mean you have posted the order of events; it might mean you don’t change up teachers, knowing new faces can cause anxiety for foster children. However you remove the unknown, the result will be better adjusted and secure classrooms.

Share the Power of “Yes”

Share the power of “yes” and give kids choices. Think of how often you can purposefully say yes to kids.

“Teacher, can we have our snack now?”

Instead of “No, not now.” Try, “Yes, as soon as we finish our story.” I know gifted teachers who carry stickers, smelly lotion, or healthy gummy bears—little items they feel comfortable doling out as liberally as they can, knowing every time they answer “yes,” connections are created.  

Giving as many options as possible will empower children who typically feel situations are out of their control.

“Do you want to use a pencil or a pen?”

“Would you like to sit or stand during the lesson?”

“Would you like to help pass out papers or stay in your seat?”

By regularly depositing good words and experiences into children, we invest in their healing. We co-labor with parents to create emotionally safe environments where children meet adults who care about them and hear about our Jesus who loves them.

When there are success stories to share, share them wide and loud—to the foster parents and to the other volunteers and staff. “Jenny asked a question after the story.” “Stephen completed his craft without redirection.” “Diego sang along with the class during worship.”

Foster parents are used to hearing stories about their kids, but they are not usually good. Celebrating success (regardless of how insignificant it might sound to you) will leave parents with the impression you are for their family.

Sustaining a Culture

Five years ago, my family welcomed an eighteen-year-old young woman into our home. She was aging out of her foster family and lacked a sense of permanency. Several years later, on her 21^st birthday, I was gently asking her questions regarding her actual birth date.

Do you know what time of day you were born?

Has anyone given you any details about your birth?

It was the first time someone had asked her these questions, and she was very uncomfortable. My husband, Todd, who was in the room with us, but not in the conversation, said from across the room, “Don’t worry about those answers. Some people make a big deal about where you are from … I don’t think it matters most where you are from, I think it matters most that you know where you belong. And in case you were still wondering—you belong here.”

After he said that, everything changed in our relationship with her. It’s like she had held some lingering questions:  How long am I welcome? Am I one of them? And once we settled those questions with answers she liked, she blossomed.

If our churches and children’s ministries will spend more time helping people settle the question of belonging in their minds, we will see a healthy culture bloom where people feel welcome no matter where they’ve been or how they act.

And that is when healing happens.

Challenge kids to answer the questions: How do I pray? What can I give? Where can I go? Who will I serve?

Want your kids to take service to heart?

In Tales of the Not Forgotten, students follow real-life stories of other kids as they take you on a journey to faraway lands. See the hand of the great Storyweaver writing endings you’d never imagine!

Filled with fun, interactive learning experiences and kid-inspired service projects, the Tales of the Ones He Won’t Let Go Super Simple Mission Kit will open kids’ eyes (and grown-ups’ too!) to the needs in their community and around the world—then challenge them to do something about it!

More Articles You May Like

• 42 Exciting Service Project Ideas Tested in the Real World
• Giving Kids a Heart of Compassion in a Me-Focused World
• Racial Injustice and Reconciliation: An Interview
• 9 Ways to Pivot Outreach for Life Beyond Quarantine
• Have We Forgotten the Fundamentals That Make Outreach Work?

Beth Guckenberger:

Welcome to the Vineyard. I wanted to address right off the bat, this weekend, the injustice that we are all grieving about—that’s happening in the country right now.

As we mourn the loss of George Floyd, who is part of one of many stories like this, I invited a friend of mine to have a conversation.

This is Michael Sickles. He works at Back2Back Cincinnati with me. We have these kinds of conversations all the time about racial tension and racial reconciliation—this subject.

And I wanted to have this conversation in front of you. If it helps you gain understanding, if it helps start conversations in your homes, if it helps you put words to things that you’re feeling—then I feel like as a church we’ve served you in that.

So, thanks for joining. Michael, tell me a little bit about what was it like for you when you heard about this most recent injustice—the death of George Floyd.

Michael Sickles:

Yeah, so it was tough. It was hard to hear that—to see that—to have the truth that sometimes is out there kind of be thrown in your face. And it kind of hit me hard. Because at that time I really had to start thinking about my children.

I’ve lived through a lot of different things and in that moment, though. It became: what if that’s my son, what if that’s my daughter? And it just really kind of sat with me.

And I struggled, I wrestled, because it was:

How do I speak to my children about a truth that’s out there, a reality that exists, but also not jade them to the point to where they grew up in a place where they are having hate for other people or certain people groups?

And so, it was really tough. It was tough to see that there is a lack of love for human life.

You know, in looking at that video it was the point of even if things go the way they go—when somebody’s not moving, when somebody’s pleading and begging—there’s other options. And it was just that moment of “I’m focused on what I’m focused on” and nothing was done, and so it hurt.

It grieved me—it was hard for both parties that were involved with that.

It was hard.

And it was just hard to see, it was hard to watch, it was hard to have the conversations. It was hard to see how everyone reacted on both sides of the spectrum—because there’s so much loss that’s involved in this one situation.

George has lost his life. You have a country—a nation—that is grappling with where do I stand on this. And then you have the officers that are involved that are going through whatever they’re going through. It’s hard to reconcile all those situations in just one moment.

And to think that we’re going to solve it in a conversation or we’re going to solve it in a movement is not possible. But there’s options out there for us. And so, it was definitely hard for me to see that.

Beth:

And why is it important for us to have conversation? Why do we need to gain understanding?

Michael:

Yeah, it’s important because when you don’t know something, you don’t do anything. Right? And there’s a phrase I’ve heard all time: you don’t know what you don’t know. It’s that simple.

And the way we begin to move or change a narrative is by learning about something, sitting with individuals, having a conversation. So, when you learn, now you have more ability to do something about it.

Beth:

Yeah, when you know better you can do better.

Michael:

Absolutely. But the problem that I see a lot is that we’re not willing to be intentional enough to have a conversation, to learn from somebody, to hear their story, to hear where they come from, so therefore I can have a better understanding of the value of life.

We’ve seen in American history that the marginalized population—no matter what group it is—it has been prevalent in our history.

And that is just a group that we put somewhere else to say that we have power over, and that’s just the marginalized.

So, we know that it exists and it’s a sin that we see that is prevalent. It’s about I need to have power with something because I’m trying to cover something up. There’s something that’s there that I need to cover.

And I know about that because I was once in that same position to where I grew up hating. I grew up not knowing the gospel. My father was present, but he wasn’t. We were like strangers in the same house, and that’s because he didn’t know his father.

And so, me not knowing, I learned to hate. I decided, you know what I’m not going to deal with this. And so, then it became about me trying to take over and take what I wanted. I grew up hating and hating situations that happened to me.

Finding God.

I’ve been arrested. I’ve been pulled over, I’ve been thrown in handcuffs, thrown on top of the hood. Yes, I’ve had all these situations happen to me.

So then at one point I was I was like, man, I hate all cops, I hate all white people, and that was my stance. If I look at the record of my life and the way it went up to the point where I met God, it was a train wreck.

In the wake of my ignorance, I hurt many people and there was just a lot of things that I did wrong that didn’t help until God said, I’ve got a way. There’s a way to do this, but I need you to commit. At that moment that’s when I met Christ.

And when I met Christ, it was love that transformed my heart—not my degrees, not my athletic ability, not the people I knew, not the fame, not the money—it was love. Love is what came into my life and completely transformed me, and helped me see people the way He sees people.

Beth:

I love that. This weekend, the message is all about judgment. And the antidote to judgment is love, is understanding why. Going from thinking what’s wrong with that person to what happened to that person.

When you wonder and are curious about what happened, then you’re in a posture where you can begin to love.

Well, tell me—as a church, what are our options? What can the church do to be a place of peace, to be to be agents of reconciliation, to be biblical? What are our options as a church?

Michael:

I think one of the things that I had the pleasure of being able to go through was Undivided, and that was an amazing journey. But I had to get in the right space first—heart wise.

As I was going with that journey, I was able to have those conversations. I was able to see people intentionally for who they were and have a conversation.

And that was one of the biggest challenges for me. Because, for instance, I was looking through my phone, I’m going through the people around me, and I didn’t have much diversity. Groups that I was in, guys I played ball with, whatever the case was—I wasn’t intentional enough to be in conversation.

So that was one of the first challenges: to create a space that’s safe to have open conversations, because what we know is that where you grew up is not where I grew up.

And so because of that—not a bad thing, not your fault, not my fault—we all have our own individual silos, our unconscious bias that has existed from whoever has taught us from the time that we were little until now: uncles, grandmas, extended relatives, whatever the case might be.

That’s what they’ve given you to help you survive. And so, because of that, you automatically operate in its unconscious state.

Making space.

Without the intentionality of having a space where you can say, hey, oh, I always thought it was this way and not having to be condemned or judged, that allows you to put that fear aside. That allows you to even be vulnerable enough to say I’ve kind of got this fear I always thought that “this”.

And, again, it will be offensive. It’ll come out the way it comes out, and it’ll hurt. But it’s when you have that safe space that people can start to say, oh, I didn’t look at it that way.

I can’t tell you how many conversations Kris and I have had around despair and division. Conversations around how we have four pillars that we work in: equality, unity, division, and disparity. Right?

We want to say—where’s our story trending? We know disparity and division exist, but we want to move toward unity and equality.

In the middle of that, we know that the race conversation is real—we know it exists. We’re not taking that away. It is prevalent; it is real. We see that with millions of black people that are killed, millions of Asians, millions of Jews. It’s prevalent. We know the race conversation is real. Socioeconomic status, history, cultural norms—that’s the story in the middle.

We don’t want to get caught in the middle—we want to figure out how do I go from equality to unity disparity to that piece of it. Right? We want to be able to merge these things together—equality and unity is what we want to come to.

Beth:

That sounds like God’s family—that’s what God’s family sounds like. A place where we see each other in all of our fullness and fellowship. I think that sometimes people don’t know how to get in a place where they can be vulnerable.

They don’t understand how to look at their phone or their life and recognize. Maybe you take the first step and say: “okay maybe I do live in a silo. I do only have people around me that reinforced the same things I’ve always thought.”

Do you recommend that people take the first step? What is a practical thing that somebody can do this week that just moves them toward that equality in unity?

Michael:

1. The church has to be a safe space.

So first it’s got to come from the church.

The church has to be the pillar of the doors being opened to invite people into a safe space to be able to say I can do this. It’s the confidence that we have to have.

2. You have to be willing to learn.

Then the next part is to learn.

If you’re unsure of something, learn about it. You don’t have to post, you don’t have to do anything special, just learn about it—read articles. If you know somebody, ask them questions. Learn. Learn as much as you can about what that is.

3. Share information based on what you’ve learned.

And then share. Write and share information.

Because when you share information, as we’re doing now, you engage in conversation. When you engage in conversation, you get to see somebody. You get to realize, man, we’re more alike than we are different.

4. Be present. Be available.

Then the last part is to be.

And that’s usually the hardest part because in order to be, the first piece you have to do is be present, which is to acknowledge—to bring something into attention. I have to bring to my attention that there is a disparity. There is a difference. There is inequality, there is injustice, that I do see that a certain people group is being targeted.

So, once you are able to bring that to attention, then you can get proximate, you can draw that near. And that may look like people on your street, the mailman, whoever it might be who’s around you that doesn’t look like you—that you can try to be engaged in intentional relationship with. Just start having a conversation.

It doesn’t mean that I go out tomorrow and knock on somebody’s door like hey, I want to be in relationship with you. But it’s just being present over time. It’s showing up every day.

Be intentional.

I remember there was a time in my neighborhood maybe three weeks ago. I was in the backyard and again it’s nerve-racking because it’s hard to talk to people you don’t know. Right?

So, I’m in my backyard doing some work and I see my neighbor over there.

I’m in my head like, okay, talk to him. But I’m like, nah, because don’t do it. You know, it’s the struggle that we grapple with, it’s the realness of it.

And so, finally I said, okay, if I’m going to be intentional, I’ve got to be intentional. I said, “Hey, how’s it going today?” And the next thing I know we just start talking, he’s witnessing about God, and next thing I know tears are shared.

And I’m like where did this come from! It just left me in a space where I was like, this is what it can be like if somebody takes the initiative, the vulnerability to just say, “Hey, how are you?”

Beth:

What I love about what you just said is that I’m always saying, we need to make room for God. We need to get in the middle of something that maybe we’re uncomfortable with. Maybe it’s a risk or a faith step of ours.

We need to get in the middle and then just create space for God, because God’s been telling us since He told Moses to build a tabernacle, if you make room for Me, I’ll fill it.

So, I like how hopeful that sounds that God’s never going to not show up. He’s never going to not grow us, He’s never going to not create, He’s never going to not be God.

So, if we can just get ourselves into places where we’re unfamiliar, or uncomfortable, or risk taking, or faith stepping, and make room for God—then He’ll come and bring His presence. Which will ultimately create connection.

Michael:

Yes. We have to be careful because there’s an enemy that’s present. And when we start to do these things you’ll get reinforced with some negative things. If somebody might say I don’t want to talk to you that’s okay.

Right? We know the enemy of learning is arrogance and ignorance, and so you’re either trapped in one of the other.

We have to be really careful when we do those things because it’s the intentionality that we have to have to be able to say I need to learn. Because we know the Bible tells us that every man is right in his own eyes based on his own understanding.

And again, if I look at my own understanding before I met God, oh man, it was horrible. It wasn’t good.

When I’m learning from other people who have lived experiences, when I’m learning from other individuals who are currently doing the work, when I’m learning from other people about their story and about where they come from—about their pain, about their trauma—I get to see them.

Getting to the root.

And it’s not based on my understanding, because I might see somebody and say oh, well, they’re typical, that’s what they do, that’s them, that’s the system, that’s what they do. And, we know that there are systemic issues.

We know it exists. We’re not taking that away. But we’re talking about the root of what’s causing this—and that’s the spiritual root.

We have to get back to our roots. We have to realize that love is the way we’re going to change this thing. God is the one who’s going to make things change and that in order to merge and melt hearts, an encounter with Jesus is the best thing to have.

So, when you’re in that space of understanding, when you’re in that space of I need to learn—not my understanding, God, but Yours. Help me see this person the way You see them. Because God sees everybody.

Jesus died for each one of us.

The other day I was talking to my brother about this. When we look at what Jesus did on the cross, it just constantly reminds me that He went to the cross for everybody’s sin to the point where He was willing to make Himself the most arch enemy to God for you and I.

No matter what color we are. Jesus wasn’t saying I’m dying for the blacks, I’m dying for the whites—no He didn’t say that.

Jesus went to the cross and said I’m taking on sin because I know that there’s something’s going to come against you later, and I want to make sure that when you come to My Father you have the seal of approval.

I want to make sure that you are welcome. I want to make sure that when you get lost, as the prodigal son did, you know where to come home to.

Because that father didn’t say hey, you went out and got lost. Jesus could come get us, and we know He chases the one.

But He leaves space for us to come home. No matter who you are, no matter what you’ve been through, no matter what you’ve done, no matter how much you think you’ve done in your life—He always has space for you to come back to.

And He says I love you no matter what, and I’m your Father.

Beth:

That’s the best sermon you’re going to hear at this church for a while—I’m not kidding you.

Thanks for being with us and for that good word. I just pray that these stories—this conversation—continues on in your household and in your community.

Resources You May Be Interested In:

• 10 Posts on Racial Injustice that You Need to Engage
• How to Overcome Racial Issues in Children’s Ministry
• Church Re-Entry Roadmap: Creating A Plan for Your Ministry

“I don’t like wheat bread,” demanded one.

“I don’t do crunchy peanut butter,” another chimed in.

“I only eat jelly without fruit chunks.”

The requests continued, and I thought (the way we tend to do before we have children), “When I have children, they will eat any peanut butter and jelly combination someone offers them.”

When we started a family, I knew what I wanted for my kids. So, I executed a funny strategy and reverse-engineered my choices.

One week I bought wheat bread—the next week I bought white. We had crunchy peanut butter one week, but creamy the next. Now, as a result, my young adult children can come to your house and eat any pb&j you offer.

My sandwich strategy is a silly example. But it illustrates that when we start with the end in mind, we are more likely to hit our goal.

If we want mission-minded, compassionate, others-centered young adults, it’s going to mean embracing intentional strategies like these.

1. Acknowledge the Tension Between Our Spiritual Intuition and Our Culture.

If we make a child’s world all about them—the right shoes, practices, activities, vacations, electronics, fashion, opportunities, camps, classes, and choices—doesn’t this reinforce over and again the world revolves around them?

How then can we possibly expect or hope to raise children who mature into adults who are missional, others-centered, and ready to go out into all the world?

Mark 10:45 says, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

We can start by setting our compass to the Word. As a result, we discover that life is best when it’s less about self and more about service.

2. Show Children We All Have Something to Offer.

We can teach how to share what we have. This reminds children that we have more than just objects to give. Everyone has time, a smile, ideas, a listening ear, prayers, relationship, gifts, influence . . . the list is endless!

Andy Stanley says, “Do for one what you wish you could do for all.”

This is a great place to start with kids.

Kids don’t understand causes, but they understand stories. So what stories can we tell to introduce them to what’s going on around the world?

Children will understand themes like injustice or loneliness. They can imagine hunger or danger when we tell them about a person who has experienced it.

When we tell kids about a need in the context of a story, we can set up Jesus as the Hero. We can invite them to engage on His behalf.

If we can help make their next steps personal, we encourage a lifestyle—not a duty—of reaching out to others in His name.

3. Model Our Own Heart for Others.

Paul writes in1 Thessalonians 2:8, “We were delighted to share with you not only the gospel, but our lives as well.”

We most effectively teach children about compassion when they see us, as adults, building relationships and experiences versus having a charity and a checklist.

It will be when they witness our desire to share our faith that the message will be heard, loud and clear. What we know about God can change someone’s life, so share it.

Do they see us talking to the clerk in the store? Offering to help a neighbor? Praying for, and sacrificing for, and listening to the people in our lives?

Process with them organically after they overhear a conversation.

Let them know what you were thinking. Share how you were hoping it might go, why you are excited about a response or are feeling discouraged, and know more prayer is needed.

Make those kinds of conversations a regular rhythm with children.

When children raise questions, offer insights, or sound unsatisfied with how someone is living, it’s our chance to walk with them. We can help them shift their focus from their kingdom to God’s.

It is a joy to explain that what they feel in their spirit is a piece of God’s heart deposited in them. And, just like you, they can do something about it.

4. Cheer on Small Steps.

I was speaking to a group of families about how to engage their gifts for the kingdom one time. I asked them, “What are you good at and how can God use it?”

A young elementary boy mentioned he wasn’t good at anything and asked if he could be excused.

After pressing him and telling him I was certain he was good at something, he responded, “Just Xbox.” So, I asked him, “What could God do with an Xbox?”

Months later, we received a letter and check for $410 from this boy.

He had hosted a charity Xbox tournament—with a $10 entry fee—in his elementary school. Some local businesses donated prizes, and he had 41 participants.

His note told us where he wanted the money spent and that “he guessed God could do something with an Xbox.”

Zechariah 4:10 says, “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.”

How amazing is it for children to grow up looking at what is in their hands and asking God, “What can you do with this?”

Here Are a Few Other Ways I’ve Seen Kids Take First Steps

• Some kids bought seeds and planted them, tending to the seeds until they were small vegetable plants/flowers. Then, they sold them after church and sent the “seed money” in for missions.
• One girl hosted a book swap. For every two books you brought, you could take one home for free. She sold the rest of the books for $2. She used the proceeds to fund a literacy project for an orphanage.
• A group of students had a “dirty water” stand. They mixed clean water with a little iced tea powder to make it look dirty. They sold the slightly sweet water and handed their customers a flyer on the clean water project they were raising money for.
• Another group of kids hosted a movie night in one of their homes. They charged a slight admission cost and had concessions available for purchase. They paused the movie for an “intermission” where they took a moment to share why they were raising money.

For more great service project suggestions and ideas on how to provide a natural path for kids to experience and act on compassion, check out 42 Exciting Service Project Ideas Tested in the Real World.

(Also check out 10 Uplifting Ways Kids Can Bless Others This Thanksgiving and learn why Hosting a Food Packing Event Is One of the Best Things You Can Do for Kids!)

Motivate by Love

There is no limit to the creativity of a child’s mind.

Once kids are unleashed to dream, the ideas they generate will bless everyone involved. They will bless themselves, the adults cheering them on, the donor who gives, and the receiver who hears: God loves and sees them.

That’s a lot of Kingdom advancement, as God always has more than one mission going on at a time!

As we teach children about how to represent God to a broken world, let’s balance the message of “God wants to use you” with the stronger message: “God loves you.”

This will help train even the youngest kids to remember that the energy, vision, and passion we feel when we get involved in God’s work is driven first, and most, by love.

Kids Serving Kids Super Simple Mission Kit

Tales of the One’s He Won’t Let Go

Want your kids to take service to heart? Filled with fun, interactive learning experiences and kid-inspired service projects, this curriculum will open kids’ eyes (and grown-ups too!) to the needs in their community and around the world—then challenge them to do something about it!

 Kids will find answers to these challenging questions:

• Who will I trust? 
• How do I pray? 
• What can I give? 
• Where can I go? 
• Who will I serve?
• How can I love? 

Now, maybe you’re taking the summer off from your normal kids’ ministry programming. Or maybe you just want to add some activities to keep kids engaged and connected over the summer. Either way, these service project ideas can help.

Every child—from toddlers to teenagers—can be taught to serve God by serving others. All through the Bible, God used children to further His kingdom. He delights in their creativity and blesses the efforts of their innocent faith.

Overcoming Obstacles to Serving

Two of the biggest barriers to adults being engaged in serving the body of Christ are these feelings: “I don’t have anything in common with those I want to serve” and “I don’t have anything to offer.”

Actively involving children in the planning, preparation, and practice of service project ideas from a very young age is the best way to overcome these obstacles.

Serving others provides children a natural path for experiencing and acting on compassion. Serving with a variety of people can also help children learn to get along with those who are different from them and see the value in all kinds of skills.

As children help come up with and implement service project ideas, they will discover that even very small and humble acts can make a big difference in the lives of those who need help and hope.

As we guide children in activities designed to overcome mental and emotional obstacles, we will open them up for a lifetime of service. Soon you might find the kids you know asking, “How can I help?” or “When’s the next service project start?”

The list below supplies a few ideas to help children realize what gifts or abilities they possess and how they can offer them to others.

Through the work of Back2Back Ministries, we encourage children to support and serve children in need in their own communities and in other countries.

But we also challenge orphans in care homes to see beyond their own needs and imagine how they can use what God has given them to help others. Most of the projects you see listed here were created and led by children.

Fundraising Service Project Ideas

Have a Plant Sale

Some kids bought vegetable and flower seeds, planted them, and then tended the seeds until they became small plants. They sold the plants after church on a Sunday. Then they sent the “seed money” to Back2Back to invest in vulnerable children.

Sell Crafts

Other children used their crafting skills to make items for sale. Two sisters started a soap-making business and donated the proceeds from their soap sales.

Make Weighted Blankets

Weighted blankets have a scientific effect on children with sensory deprivation. They are expensive to buy, but not that hard to make. More than half of orphans and vulnerable children struggle with sensory disorders. Some students had an all-night marathon and made weighted blankets—that was a huge benefit to the kids who received them.

Host a Book Swap

One girl hosted a book swap. For every two books you brought, you could take one home for free. She sold the rest of the books for $2 each. The girl sent the check in for a literacy project at an orphanage.

Organize a Blanket Drive

One girl heard about homeless kids we serve who deal with really cold winters. She organized a blanket drive. We shipped some of the blankets down, and we used some of the donated money to buy blankets. (See the note below regarding monetary vs item donations).

Do a Birthday Gift Drive

Many children have held birthday parties but asked for donations for Back2Back or other organizations they support, in lieu of birthday gifts for themselves. They might organize a poster or other items to explain about where and why they want to send the money. They then participate in sending those donations to the specific place they are supporting.

Host A Gaming Tournament

A video game fan hosted an Xbox tournament and asked kids to pay $10 to enter. He got local businesses to donate prizes for the winners. Then the boy donated the $410 he raised to a marginalized community.

Organize a Movie Night

Movie nights can be a fun way to gather people together, serve one another, and raise funds all at the same time. Some people have organized movie showings at their churches. They charge a small fee or ask for donations to participate. Then children help operate the “concession stands.” During the movie, the organizers can pause for an intermission so students can explain why they want to raise money and how the funds might be used.

Have a Fun Run

Some energetic children have hosted runs or walks of 1–3 miles. They asked participants to get sponsors to donate money for every mile completed. In addition to organizing the run and the list of participants, children can be involved with providing water for those walking or running, making encouraging signs, or creating stops along the way where participants can learn about the cause they are supporting.

Run a Lemonade or “Dirty Water” Stand

Some children have raised money to donate through operating their own lemonade stands, or even “dirty water” stands, where they serve drinks slightly colored with ice-tea powder and talk about the fact that many children in the world do not have access to clean water.

Organize Parents’ Night Out

Some kids and churches have organized “Parents’ Night Out” events—older students watch children at the church while parents go out and enjoy their time. They request donations or charge a small fee for each child who comes to the event, and they use those funds to help others.

Have a Car Wash

A classic way of combining service with fund-raising is the student-run car wash. Students can create signs, hold the signs beside roads to get attention, prepare the washing materials, actually wash and rinse the cars, and then clean up everything afterward. They can send the donations for the car washes to whatever group they choose to help.

Make Giving Tree Ornaments

Children can be involved with creating tags or cards to be hung on a Christmas tree at the church. On each tag is a specific item and/or donation amount, and people are invited to take an “ornament” from the tree and supply either the item (for a local charity) or the funds to allow someone else to buy that item (best for missions in other countries).

Donate from Other Earnings

Some young people have chosen to donate a percentage of their earnings from service-oriented jobs, such as mowing lawns or babysitting.

A note about the value of raising funds vs. giving items

At Back2Back we are often asked whether people can donate clothing or books or other useful items to children.

The best and most thoughtful way to serve anyone is to first think about what is going to be most useful to that person or group. And the best way to learn that is to ask the people you seek to serve or ask people who are already providing care for them.

For most missions in other countries—and even sometimes for those in your own communities—it’s better to offer funds instead of item donations.

There are many reasons for this. Some of them have to do with logistical issues, such as shipping and delivery. But other concerns might be related to the cultural context, or to the systems that are already in place to provide services, or to the perceptions of the people involved.

Missions organizations who have been embedded in communities for a long time often are trying to develop the integrity and dignity of the people they serve. Offering donated items—no matter how beautifully made—can sometimes not be the best solution for providing compassionate care.

However, this does not mean that your children cannot serve kids in need in other countries.

As shown in the examples above, kids can play a significant role in fund-raising opportunities. They can also write letters to children in the places where their donations will go. Sometimes it may even be possible to set up online “meetings” with groups of children in other countries so a connection can be established that way as well.

A little creativity and imagination are all it takes to perform compassionate giving.

Want your kids to take service to heart?

Filled with fun, interactive learning experiences and kid-inspired service projects, the Tales of the Ones He Won’t Let Go Super Simple Mission Kit will open kids’ eyes (and grown-ups’ too!) to the needs in their community and around the world—then challenge them to do something about it!

Church Service Project Ideas

There is a wealth of opportunities for children to serve in their own churches. Serving their home church body can help to create a strong sense of belonging and responsibility in children’s hearts.

Check out some of these church service project ideas below and think about where in your church kids could offer a helping hand (with some adult supervision, of course).

Service in Kids’ Ministry

Serve as a Teacher

Kids naturally gifted at explaining can learn assigned Bible stories and prepare to teach the children in a large group teaching time.

Be a Classroom Helper

Children can be helpers within classes by holding up props, reading Scripture, writing memory verses on a board, and many other ways.

Become a “Buddy” for a Child with Special Needs

If you have children with special needs in your ministry, appoint kids who are calm and helpful to be “buddies” for those children who might need a friend to sit with them. Children can go through a simple training on how best to help each child.

Organize Supplies

With a parent’s permission, children can come to church during the week and help organize crafting or other supplies for the children’s ministry.

Welcome New Families

Kids can be official “guides” for services—showing new families the way to the appropriate rooms.

Serve at Special Events

Older children can help during special events (such as VBS) by being group leaders, helping guide children from one activity to another, or just by being available to run and do whatever errands the children’s ministry director needs.

Service Throughout the Church

Help Set Up

Children can come early and help with setting up chairs, hymn books, offering plates, or other equipment for services.

Help Clean Up

Children can stay after church and help pick up litter left behind and straighten up the rooms, so they are ready for the next use.

Be Greeters

Pairs or teams of kids can offer their services as cheerful greeters. A group of funny faces shouting out “Good morning!” may be just what your church needs. Polite and calm? Probably not. But joyous and sure to produce smiles on every person entering the building? Definitely.

Prepare Bulletins

Children can come earlier in the week and fold programs or bulletins, or even type up the information. Many kids these days are taught typing and layout skills even in elementary school. You might be surprised to find out just how much your kids know how to do!

Pass out Bulletins

Children can pass out bulletins and help newcomers find seats.

Run the Tech Booth

We can train older students to help with technical services. These might include lighting and operating the sound board, running slides, or recording the services.

Lead Worship

Musically talented kids can help on the worship team or even lead children’s worship.

Run a Snack Station

Kids can help with the coffee and snacks station at your church. If you don’t have one, consider letting kids offer one starting once a month. Give the kids a small budget at first and have parents help them buy items within their budget. Then the kids could run the snack station as a free service before or between services. Or they could request donations and use those donations to fund further acts of service.

Community Service Project Ideas

Serving others in your home community (or places nearby) offers both an opportunity to improve the lives of those around you and a chance to show kids how they can make a real difference even when they are young.

Some service project ideas involve making things that can be given to others, but children can and should be included in acts of service that require interaction with people they are serving.

As mentioned before, always check with any organization or individuals and find out what they need most before arranging service activities. And when you can, involve parents and whole families—serving together strengthens our connections to one another.

Bags for Children in Foster Care

Children can create simple overnight bags or backpacks for foster care agencies to give to the kids they serve. Sometimes children in foster care situations have to be moved very suddenly into a different living situation. This can be jarring and unsettling. Also, these children sometimes only have a trash bag to carry their belongings.

Providing simple drawstring backpacks or tote bags with a few comforting items can make a world of difference to a child in a stressful situation. Check Pinterest for ideas for making tote bags or backpacks out of T-shirts or pillowcases. Ask care agencies what items would be most useful. But the bag could include things like an encouraging card, a storybook, a small stuffed animal, toothbrush and toothpaste, a snack, and a flashlight.

Giveaway Bags for Homeless Individuals

Children can organize giveaway bags for homeless individuals. These bags might include useful items such as clean socks, granola bars, and water bottles. The bags are then given out to every family in the church with a note encouraging them to give the bags away when they encounter homeless people on the street or in their daily commute.

Flowers for Housebound Church Members

Children can plant flowers and decorate flowerpots. Then they can go with trusted adults to deliver the gifts at the homes of those who have not been able to attend church due to illness.

Share a Love of Reading

Children can read stories to groups at church, at their local libraries, at a children’s hospital, or even in a nursing home.

Visit Elderly “Orphans”

There are elderly “orphans” who need care and cheer as well. Many people in nursing homes do not have family to visit them, and many elderly people love seeing children. Children can draw pictures for nursing home residents and then go with a trusted adult to deliver them. A children’s choir group could perform a few songs as well.

Help with Yard or Housework

People who are older or who are dealing with an injury may not be able to do simple tasks around their homes as easily as they used to. Find out who might need help in your church and then organize a team of kids to go and take care of yard work or wash windows or perform other simple manual tasks.

Form a Community Cleanup Crew

Children can form cleanup crews and designate a day to walk around their town picking up bits of litter along paths in parks or along sidewalks.

Create a Public Mural

There may be blank or unsightly wall spaces in your area that need some love. If you have an artist in your community—and you get permission from the wall owner—ask for help to create a public mural. Some collaborative mural projects allow each child to paint a small piece or tile. Then you can join all the parts together to create a beautiful picture.

Use Skills You Already Have

Find out what skills the children (and their related adults!) in your ministry have, and then think creatively about how to use those skills in the community. For example, if you have several good soccer players in your congregation, you might organize a free soccer clinic and invite kids from the local schools to come and play. Crafty kids can offer a craft fair. There are many possibilities!

Serve at a Soup Kitchen

Children can help prepare food, serve, and clean up for a local soup kitchen.

Give Away Scarves

If your community has cold winters, teach children to make simple fleece scarves. Then tie them around poles in the community with tags telling those in need to take them as a free gift.

Hand Out Water

Children could show up at local sporting events, runs, or other outdoor events on hot days and offer cold bottles of water to participants and spectators.

Host a Yard Sale

Have a church-wide cleanup weekend. Encourage kids (and their parents) to clean out their closets and garages and attics and donate any gently used items. The church could then offer those items for free or at very low prices in a community yard sale, which the kids could help organize.

Write Thank-You Notes

Have a thank-you-writing marathon. Kids can design, color, and write thank-you notes to teachers, bus drivers, policemen, nurses, garbage collectors, and other service workers in your community. There are many people who may appreciate some recognition and encouragement. You can do this as an ongoing activity, selecting a different service area to focus on each time.

Service for Life

Creating children with hearts ready to serve for life is not hard to do.

You don’t have to organize big projects or raise large amounts of funds in order to make a difference.

Just supply frequent, consistent opportunities for every child at every stage to serve others.

The more children are exposed to the needs of others and realize how much they can do to relieve those needs, the more they will want to serve and begin thinking of their own ideas for how to provide helpful, compassionate care.

Jesus said that whoever welcomes a child in His name, welcomes Jesus Himself (Mark 9:37). When we welcome children into serving the kingdom, we are welcoming the heart of our Lord—a servant’s heart—and allowing that heart that loves others so well and completely to be shared and multiplied in the heart of every child.

Challenge kids to answer the questions: How do I pray? What can I give? Where can I go? Who will I serve?

In Tales of the Not Forgotten, kids and parents follow real-life stories of kids as they take you on a journey to faraway lands. See the hand of the great Storyweaver writing endings you’d never imagine!