As I walked upstairs to the classroom that Sunday morning, the teacher stepped out in the hallway.

She took me aside and said,

"I need to talk with you for a minute. I'm afraid I have to disagree with this.

My dad was a pastor, and he taught us that we were not mature enough to serve in the church until we turned eighteen."

Needless to say, that was not a very fun Sunday morning.

However, after a few weeks of opposing it, she began to see the light.

I desire to help kids discover their spiritual gifts.

The crazy thing is that most adults do not even know they have spiritual gifts.

We talk about them but don’t allow believers to express their faith through them.

So, it is even more challenging, to say the least, to let kids serve.

I remember years ago when a young lady came and knocked on my office door.

She said, "Is there anything you need me to do for you?"

I thought to myself, “The resource room is a dump! I will have her clean it up."

We walked down the hall, and I showed her the room. I left her there on her own.

About two hours later, she knocked on my door and said, "I am finished!"

We walked down the hall, and I looked into the room. It was perfect!

It was just as good as or better than any adult could have done.

She had the gift of organization/administration.

Wow! I was totally caught off guard.

She was 9 years old at the time. (From that age through her teen years, she proved herself.)

It was fun after that.

I began to train small group leaders and teachers to involve kids in their groups through teaching, prayer, administrative tasks, and whatever else they could think of.

We discovered that many of our kids had the gift of teaching. 

Yes, that's right! The gift of teaching!

All spiritual gifts are essential to the church.

But the gift of teaching in a child helps you grasp the magnitude of the work of the Holy Spirit in kids. 

It is evident when you hear them teach.

Watching the Spirit of God teach through them is so incredible. You know that it is Him!

They step up, fear leaves them, and they let go.

To my surprise, other children respond to their messages in powerful ways.

I have seen hundreds of kids come to Christ through a Gospel presentation by a preteen.

So, what do you need to do?

Here are a few suggestions:

1. Pray about where kids can serve in your ministry.
2. Cast the vision to your leadership. Sometimes, doing this without sharing with your leaders first can backfire on you.
3. Give clear instructions to the kids you are allowing to serve.
4. Follow up! Sit down with those who serve and ask them about their experiences. You will be surprised by their responses. Numerous kids have said, “I felt like I was part of the church for the first time.”
5. Have them take a spiritual gift test. When you get the tests back, do something with them. It is a disservice to give a spiritual gift test to a kid and then just file it away without ever allowing them to use their gifts in ministry.
6. Start small. Don’t try to push this through your whole children's ministry at first. Be patient and give it some time.

Remember, spiritual gifts are given to all believers, including our kids.