Children and faith

 

I am the Sunday School teacher in our church. I have one helper who lacks the knowledge or confidence to teach, assist with crafts, or run games. He is, however, very willing and will follow clear instructions. I have been teaching in our children’s ministry for thirty-plus years, twenty of those employed (with many voluntary hours), the rest as a voluntary leader and helper. We had a vibrant and large Sunday School, as well as a successful after-school programme that attracted mainly non-Christians and children living in vulnerable circumstances, alongside other children’s programmes. I don’t say this with pride in myself! We had a committed and passionate team of volunteers who led and helped in these programmes. I believe they made a difference in these children’s lives. However, eventually these volunteers moved on. Some to university, some to work in other cities, some to train as pastors, and some were just getting older and tired.  Since I ‘retired’ from ministry, we had one paid leader who was extremely disorganised and ineffectual – she is a wonderful mum and wife, but children were not her ministry area. However, the church leaders were desperate and asked her to consider it. Our children’s programmes were the casualty. She left, and since then we have had no one leading the children. We couldn’t even find enough volunteers to help in Sunday School. So here I am at age seventy-two years, back leading Sunday School. I love the children, but sometimes feel as if I am talking to a brick wall. An example of this was when I asked the children who prayed regularly. They all sat and looked at me. I asked who read their Bible at home—they sat and looked at me. This made me wonder how their parents are making God part of the normal rhythm of their children’s day. It appeared that these children had a Sunday faith. Maybe their parents do too? I know these parents, and I am surprised that their children are not regularly praying or reading scripture. I have developed a pamphlet to give parents ideas on how to incorporate faith and worship into their children’s lives and pray they will find it helpful. I found myself reflecting on my grandchildren and their faith. They regularly take turns saying grace; they are comfortable praying any time. They read their Bible. Their parents take them to a weekly prayer meeting on a Wednesday at 7 am. During this time, the eleven and eight year olds write prayers in their prayer journals, the five year old draws pictures about Jesus. My daughter-in-law jokes that they mainly go for the yummy breakfast that follows the prayer meeting. However, prayer is being modelled as important and normal in their household. The family movie night is either Christian movies or movies modelling Christian values. The children see their parents actively living out their faith, and they are following. My eleven-year-old grandson was given a Gameboy. For every five minutes of time on the Gameboy, he is expected to read his Bible for the same amount of time. He doesn’t complain about this, as Bible reading is normal for him. One day he brought his Bible out to me and sat and read it aloud to me for twenty minutes. What a blessing! I asked him if he understood what the scripture was saying, and he gave me a very simple yet accurate summary. After we had a little conversation about the Bible, he happily wandered off to have his twenty minutes on his Gameboy. I am so proud of the way my grandchildren are being raised, with a strong faith and God a part of their every day. That would be my prayer for all children.

God bless you each, as you ponder these reflections.