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Step Two: Taking Your Small Group to the Next Level—Allowing Kids to Serve
Here comes the difficult part for some educated folks. We took a group of preteens on a mission trip several years ago.
I trained the children to do everything including leading songs, teaching a Bible story, teaching crafts, and counseling lost children. I taught my adult leaders on the trip that this was our preteens’ mission trip and that we were going to release them to lead and teach.
Each day, I would drive to each site to check up on our preteens and leaders. The first apartment I went to had a lot of children attending.
As I walked in the room, one of the adult lady leaders was teaching and had taken over the Bible study. I pulled her aside and said,
“Remember, we are letting the kids do everything.” She said, “I know, but it is so hard.”
Recent research indicates that of all students who regularly served in the local church, 60-70% stayed because they were allowed to serve and be a part in ministry.
The problem today is that most churches don’t have enough places where children can be engaged in ministry.
That is why what you do as a Disciple Group (small group) leader or Sunday school teacher is critical now.
The norm is that they just sit and listen as they grow up in the church, but does this really work? The answer is no.
If this is your model, I would say the majority of the kids in your group are checking out during your small group time.
So, how do we get past this? Like I shared in my last blog post, we must model for them what the Christian faith is by our actions and our lives.
They can recognize a fake a mile away. Once you have that down, you are ready to take the next steps in moving them deeper in their walk with Christ.
Here are nine steps you can take to engage children and preteens in your group and to allow them to use their spiritual gifts.
Remember, the goal of small group is twofold: to make disciples and to equip the disciples to minister and make disciples themselves.
In my next blog post, we will cover Step Three—taking children into the depths with God (“You Do, I Help”).
You will find more and more that as you engage them in your group, their faith will excel to new levels.
See you next time!