INTRODUCTION
For any venture, event or
activity to be tagged or concluded as effective, the “3Ms” of administration
need be collaborated. These include Man,
Material and Money. The principle of 3Ms
involve the “Man” who is natured, called and nurtured to achieve the desired
goal of the sponsor of the activity or venture as the case may be. The individual or person called or chosen as
worker(s) however need or require the application of the “3RW” principle
towards achieving success. These are:
(i) Reading (ii) Recognizing (iii) Researching
(iv) Writing.
Moreover, in the Christian concept
and setting, apart from the basic human capacities required, the individual
must have a personal relationship with God through the salvation experience of
new birth in Jesus Christ. The would be
effective worker must be “born-again” – John 3:3f.
To bring the message of salvation
to Children and effectively work in this ministry would definitely involve
divers’ kinds of persons. An extrovert
personality with artistic ability, a sense of humour and good story- telling
skills does not necessarily qualify one as an effective Children Ministry
Worker. God can use people who are
introverts yet very capable with little natural ability for the Children
Ministry. The making of the effective
Children worker comes as an eventual process – as a clay in the hands of the
potter Rom. 9:21. Therefore, whoever
comes into the ministry with full submission to God and mentor from the Saviour
Jesus and information of the Holy word from the Bible, being guided by the Holy
Spirit shall become an effective worker.
The supply of the 2Ms i.e the
Material and Money required by the Man desiring an effective ministry also
depends. The divine owner of the work - God.
We are workmen for the Master and Owner of the Vineyard – John 15:1f. When we are called to be a worker in the
vineyard, we are equipped with something big or small within our domain. When we use this, we are enhanced by
training and enlarged by experiences as we continue the
ministry. See Moses-Rod, Joseph’s –
Dream and Peter’s fish net examples (Exo3:1 – 4:18; Gen. 37:1-24, Matt.
4:18-20). The needed materials
eventually come in cash (money) or kind (Material supply) Divers and
comprehensive training on the work will also inform on how to multiply our
resources in form of material and money.
QUALITIES ESSENTIAL FOR EFFECTIVE CHILDREN MINISTRY
There are various experiences,
duties and activities involved in the Children Ministry or work. An effective as earlier mentioned experiences
then by and by in the call and calling.
For emphases, we will consider seven (7) qualities towards effective
ministry.
1) Vision (2) Compassion 3) Prayer
4) Wisdom 5) Passion to know
more (Zeal) 6) Powerful information 7)
Perseverance and dedication to the Ministry.
For effective Children Ministry
to be realized, the worker must be ready to put in his/her total being, these
will involve the physical being – head to toe; the psyche – the unseen cells
and parts of the human body. The worker
must be physically fit, socially alert, mentally viable and spiritually sound
to become an effective children worker.
THE
SEVEN POINTS AGENDA FOR EFFECTIVE WORK |
1. VISION OPEN
EYE
When God created the first man –
Adam, He gave man a mission to take care and rule all His creation (Genesis 1:15, 26 – 27). When Adam and Eve disobeyed and distorted the
plan of God for creation, all the generations of men became sinners who seek to
do their own will rather than God’s counsel.
This disobedient trait in mankind is inherited by all human beings
including Children. We sometimes view
Children with a mere natural eye as “innocent” rather than Spiritually as soul
who were separated from God – Read Romans 3:11-12.
“There is none
who understands there is none who seek after God.
They have all
turned aside; they have together become unprofitable;
there is none
who does good, no, not one.”
We need to recognize Children as
God sees them and therefore get a clear “vision” of reconciling them to God
through our Saviour Jesus Christ – John 3:16.
This is the primary goal of Children Ministry and evangelism. Jesus instructed His disciples to let the
Children come to me, and do not forbid them; for such is the Kingdom of God
(Mark 10:14). These missions for Children came as “Vision”
to many. Amongst the promoters were
Charles Spurgeon and Revd. J. Irvin Overholtzer. Charles Spurgeon advocated that Children
should be “thoroughly grounded in the doctrine of redemption by Christ” which
will enable them become generations that will maintain the faith and definitely
become “better than their fathers”.
Revd. J. Irvin Overholtzer was
deeply “burdened by God for Children in need of a Saviour.” This prompted the beginning of his Bible
classes for Children in 1923. The vision
of these men and various mentors of Children ministry have led to organization
of effective children training for Children workers today worldwide. The Baptist Mission has also given us a great
legacy for Children Ministry from Cradle-Rod to Sunbeam towards Girls
Auxillary; Royal Ambassador; Lydia Auxillary and Men’s/Women’s, Missionary
Union in our Convention. Lottie Moon is
prominent example of Children Mission promoters.
2. COMPASSION
Love
God is full of compassion to save
mankind from the penalty of Adam’s sin including Children. During Jesus’ earthly Ministry, among the
crowd that came to him for ministration were Children (Mark 10:13-16).
The Children who were brought to Jesus sensed His compassion and richly
consented to being in His arms. When He
also needed a child as visual aid, Jesus beckoned to the child He used, the
child responded and cooperated with Christ (Matthew 18:1-14). When an individual especially Christian have
compassion for the salvation of Children, such is drawn by that concern to come
into the Children Ministry. The love for
the Children enhances such person to become an effective worker – read Matt.
9:36.
“But
when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them,
Because they
were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.”
This kind of compassion for Children
evangelism makes workers to be so dedicated to tender for the Children as the
shepherd – His sheep. They go all the
way to seek them at every point – Church, Home, School and Community such zeal
and concern bring about such programmes that go out to seek to win Children to
Christ outside Church premises. For
example the Sunshine Club; the Big “A’ club, the holiday Bible school and such
are organized.
3. PRAYER
“Prayer
is the Key/2x
Prayer
is the master key
Jesus
started with prayer
And
ended with prayer
Prayer
is the master key.”
A-C-T-I-O-N.
An effective Children worker
needs to pray fervently for direction, revelation and all necessary support for
the ministry. The guidance of God that
comes through prayer cannot be over emphasized.
The prayer lists are countless including conscientious prayer for the
Children and their needs. Surely there
are forces which war against such ministry.
Therefore, an effective worker needs to pray. The ministry also needs the teacher to
commune with God for the “Right word for the time. The gathering should be more than mere social
club or mere recreation for Children.
The goal should be towards their salvation – Read Romans 10:1
“Brethren, my
heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that, they might be
saved.
As the Lord desired to save Israel
so, He desire that Children in your ministry to be saved.
 |
4. WISDOM
Head Computer
“If any of you
lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that gives to all men liberally,
and
without reproach, and it shall be given to him. James 1:5
Children are still in the making
towards their perfect being or maturity.
Therefore, an effective Children worker needs the divine wisdom from God
to handle his ministry to perform his roles effectively. Each child is peculiar and each social/ethnic
group is unique for effective counseling, the wisdom from God is needed for the
choices of words. Relevant activities
and the likes for the Children to understand the goal of the message are needed
to be achieved. The Holy Spirit is need
for discernment to recognize the various need of the group of Children we are
leading. The worker should be patient to
observe the peculiarity and style of Children learning skills and methods. The Children worker must be creative to make
learning interesting.
The 3RW principle of Reading, Recognising,
Researching and Writing come into play here, “The effective worker need to expose his or herself to move knowledge
and skills for the work through reading books, journals, magazine and the
likes.”
Attending public lectures,
seminars, symposium and such educative forum we have now will definitely make a
worker effective. When a worker receives
a new revelation or revision, he should recognize it through the power of the
Holy Spirit. He should seek for more
information through research to ensure the truth of it and its relevance to the
Scripture in the Bible. We should beware
of teaching wrong doctrines. The new
revelation will also enhance the Children ministry when they are written
for others to share.
5. PASSION TO KNOW MORE
AND PASS ON THE MESSAGE
“Study
to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth.”
2 Tim 2:15
To effectively be a Children
worker, one should have passion to know more.
This will enhance the ministry.
The intelligence and understanding of the Children are different from
that of adults. Therefore, to teach,
presentation and demonstration of the object of lesson must be done with a
passion for all the Children to get the message and know more than before. Find out various ways of presenting the
information. Use divers’ methods and
access their effectiveness.
6. POWERFUL INFORMATION
RESOURCES
Resources needed for effective
ministry are numerous. More are also
discovered from time to time.
a) Books
and reference materials like commentaries, Bible concordance, dictionary,
encyclopedia etc.
b) Provide
teaching materials for story-telling, lectures, seminars and workshop. These will
include
chalkboard, flannel, easel boards, posters, charts, flash cards etc.
Photocopiers,
lamination,
scanner and computer are needed for this age.
c) Messages to the Children can be passed
on inform of playlets, play, drama, choreography and music formats, television,
CD ROMs, films etc.
d) Camps and retreats can also be
organized from time to time for Children workers information and fellowship,
workers and Children retreat can lead to new revelations from the Bible and
other Christian information resources.
7. PERSEVERANCE AND
DEDICATION
The Children’s effective ministry
can be likened to footprints on the journey.
The pilgrim needs to be committed and exercise patience and endurance as
the work progresses. There may be times
and moments of discouragement or failure.
The worker should be strong and of good courage at such times. He should see God as the builder and himself
as a workman. The result of the work
does not necessarily show forth immediately.
It is a foundational work which gulps much fund and resources yet does
not show the beauty of the intended structure.
God does not fail to see the work because He brings increase by and
by. Paul sows, Apollo waters, God gives
the increase. When the group of workers
works together in love as a body, God will definitely add His increase through
their dedication.
Conclusion
For our mission and vision to be
accomplished as a people desiring to propagate the gospel of Children, we need
the guidance and sustenance of the one who has called us to the mission –
God. The first qualification we require
is being born again ourselves. Being
reconciled to God, we submit ourselves as clay to the hand of the potter to
make us the kind of vessel He want to use us for.
We need become the kind of “Man,”
using our “Material” and “Money” as talents in God’s vineyard. As we answer the call to become labourers for
God’s redemptive purpose for Children, we need to enhance our calling with
training and by and by we are enlarged by experiences as we go on in the
ministry. The application of the seven
points agenda for effective ministry as taught by the Scripture – Bible, guided
by the Holy Spirit, with total dependence of the one who called us Jesus Christ
would definitely make us become an effective worker.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Akwa, Samuel Foundation Course on Children Ministry. Abeokuta,
Child Evangelism & Education
Outreach Publishing Co. 2007.
Doherty, Sam How to Evangelize Children.
Lisburn: Child Evangelism Fellowship Inc., 2003.
Howse, W.L. Guiding young People in Bible Study. Nashville:
Convention Press, 11955.
The Children’s Ministry Resource Bible. Warrenton:
Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1993.
No comments:
Post a Comment