Johannes' teaching on the NEXT GENERATION!

Freedom Valley Kids Staff!!

Our good friend and world-wide evangelist, Johannes Amritzer, did an amazing leadership training this morning on the next generation and why youth and children are SO important!

I will list my notes from the teaching below (sorry they are a little scattered, but you can see all the scripture references in there somewhere and see his points and follow along), but please go here to either listen to it or watch it!  http://freedomvalley.org/audio-video.  It's called "Friday Morning Young Leaders"

• 27% of the worlds population is under 15 years old.
• Hebrews 11:20-22

1. We need to be a church that lives for & blesses the next generation!

• PASSION communicates!
• don't try to act like something you are not! (i.e. a "big kid")
• Psalm 8:2 - children should be in the front ranks! They have POWER in their innocence!

2. We need to be a church that's young and aggressive!

• Psalm 110:1-3
• plan 10 years in the future. LIVE now and in the future, but NEVER in the past.

3. We need to be a church that prepares for a young army from all nations to arise in the US!

WHY YOUNG LEADERS ARE SO IMPORTANT:

1. Youth have a certain power & strength.

• Job 20:11
• 1 John 2:14

2. Youth have visions & ambitions for the future.

• Acts 2:17 - It's important that we listen to the young!

3. Youth are creative & they are trendsetters!

• 1 Timothy 4:12 - (LOVE this verse!!!)

4. Youth have a certain joy and inspiration!

• Ecc 11:9-10

5. Youth are given special visions & tasks.

• Luke 1:26

Teaching the Bible to Kids: Making the Bible History Instead of Stories

Check out this great article about Teaching the Bible to kids! I've been really fascinated lately by the concept of a Biblical Worldview and how to teach it to children. This article helps a little and even has more links that open up the WHOLE world of the reliability of the Bible!

Teaching the Bible to Kids: Making the Bible History Instead of Stories

Ideas for Talking to Kids

I found an awesome article on Ministry-to-Children.com by Wayne Stocks about talking to kids that lists ideas for conversation starters!

Check it out here: http://ministry-to-children.com/100-conversation-starters/

How Babies Learn!

I'm currently looking into a very simple curriculum for the infant nursery, but I came across this, to help get us started!  Nursery Staff, please read!

How Babies Learn

Babies have to be physically comfortable before they can learn.
If babies are hungry, sleepy, in pain, sick, they cannot pay attention to any learning activity. Watch for babies who seem content. Then take a safe activity to them that matches their level of ability. Offer the activity, using a duplicate toy in a way similar to what you want the baby to learn to do--eventually. Wait to see what happens.

Babies learn through repetition.
Rather than changing the lesson every time the babies come to church, repeat lesson ideas and activities. These little ones need the repetition to give them time to respond to the activity. For this reason, consider making lesson activities, complete with instructions, that can be stored in and taught in the baby room during every service for a month, several months, or permanently.

Babies are dependent on adults.
Generally, nursery helpers will need to be sensitive to babies' needs to move to new positions, to have toys within reach, to have interesting pictures or objects to see.

Babies learn through their senses.
Seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling--all add to what babies are learning. Babies like to handle and mouth everything. So every nursery toy needs to be safe and cleanable. After one baby finishes with a toy that has been in his mouth, teachers should remove it until it can be washed and disinfected.

Babies learn from imitation.
If a teacher shakes a bell or moves a toy in a way related to a Bible story, eventually babies will probably imitate that part of the lesson.

Babies learn to talk when they hear talk.
The more often a baby enjoys eye-to-eye "talks" with adults, the more quickly she learned to understand and communicate. At first babies will begin moving their mouths, then making coos, then jabbering, and finally repeating a word or two.

Babies need to be protected from one another.
Crawling babies may climb over other babies in their path. Babies need help to learn to go around, not over, other babies. Teachers can help babies learn to use gentle touches. Teachers can also distract babies from exploring one another to exploring interesting books or toys.


Babies are learning to trust and love.
When babies receive tender, loving care during the first year of their lives, they learn to love other and to trust that their needs will be met. Learning to love and trust adults, whom they can see, can be the first step in learning to love and trust God, whom they can't see.

First Impressions

I've been catching up on my http://www.childrensministrytalk.com/ podcasts lately, and I came across one about First Impressions that caught my eye.  One of the speakers was saying that you have 10 minutes, when a family first walks onto your campus to make them go "Wow!"  If they don't, you've already lost them.  10 minutes!  It's got to be about 2 minutes for a child, and even less than that for a preschool or toddler.  Here's what he had to say about his experience:

"When my son Tim was 3 years old, we walked into a church and checked him into the 3-year-old class, and boy, the lady at the door was friendly, welcoming, used his name several times when she opened the door to let him in. He looked in the room and saw the kids having fun, playing with play dough, building with blocks, playing with cars on the floor, he ran in, no problem!

"I went to a friend of mine's church the next weekend, a large church, church with a brand new facility, we went to check him into the 3-year-old classroom, and the lady didn't talk to him at all, she only talked to us (my wife and I), he looked in, and grabbed my leg and starting crying.  Why?  Because kids were sitting on a tape line on the floor. They were waiting for class to begin.  There were bins full of fun toys to play with, but they didn't have any of them out yet.  Kids that age, boy, if you don't impress them in the first 5-10 seconds, you have a problem with a kid crying the whole service, wanting his parents.  With elementary kids, you can have up to a couple minutes, when they walk in to check out Children's Church. You gotta have kids welcoming kids, something for them to do! Appeal to the child, to that culture, IMMEDIATELY when they walk in the room."

Good word for all of us to get a hold of!  Please help make families and children feel comfortable and happy! I can only do so much with the environment and classrooms, I need your help, FV Kids Staff, to do the welcoming!

How To: Response Time With Kids

Hey Kids Connect, 56ers, & Explorers Teachers!

In the past, we haven't done a whole lot of response time to our lessons, but I think it is vitally important that we do some!  Kids should know that they have a responsibility to DO something when hearing the Word of God, and they NEED to respond in some way in their daily lives.  The Team Leader can't always be the one to offer this response time in Kids Connect, because of other outside-the-classroom responsibilities, but I really need you to help me offer one of these options in some way, shape, or form for every lesson you teach.  Please use simple words, easy to understand, and please end every lesson with prayer and response.  

I have discovered that children don't need dim lights and soft music to respond to Jesus!  When they want to, they aren't ashamed!  And they almost always want to! We just need to give them the opportunity.  I'd also like the names of the children you lead to the Lord.  I will send their parents a letter or e-mail with information for them.

Below are listed some options for you to consider when asking the children for a response (taken from a book by Dick Gruber, called, Focus on Children: A Handbook for Teachers):

Altar Call

An altar call is the traditional approach. Have the children close their eyes and think about the theme of the day. Sometimes I just tell them to close their eyes and think about Jesus. Those that wish to respond to today's lesson raise a hand. After the hand is raised, encourage them to stand and step to the front of the room. When up front either lead the children in a prayer or urge them to pray in their own words or in their own way.

Altar Service

An altar service is more of a group activity. Invite the children to gather at one point in your classroom. Typically, the front of the room is used as an altar area. In the altar service, children are encouraged to worship and pray as a group. The class can kneel, stand, or even sit together. Children may even pray one for another.

Group Prayer

Divide your class into smaller groups. If you have four children, make two groups of two. In the larger class, groups of three or four is effective. Assign a location i nyour room for each group. children in each group should pray one for another. Sometimes they may even hold hands and pray.

Prayer At the Chair

When beginning the response time, ask the children to turn and kneel at their seats. Those wishing prayer for specific needs are asked to raise a hand. Circulate through oyur class praying for those with special needs.

Prayer Circle

The entire class stands and makes a circle around the room. Children may or may not hold hands in this circle. Take turns going around the circle with each person praying out loud. If a person does not know what to pray, they may pass to the next. Have them pass by speaking a key phrase such as, "I love you Jesus," or "Thank you God."

Prayer Partners

Have the children pair off with one or two friends. The prayer partners spend time sharing and praying for each other in the classroom. The children may then exchange phone numbers and call one another for special prayer throughout the week.

Written Requests

Children are given paper and pencil. Ask them to write down their specific needs. Papers may be collected and prayed over. In one church I visited, children pinned these requests on a cardboard cross in the front of the room. After requests are written out and prayed over, keep a record of the answers that God provides. You may want to begin a prayer notebook. Lists of prayers and answers can be kept and read occasionally as an encouragement to the children.

Prophecy = Easy Recruiting

I just read a list of the top ten obstacles to recruiting for a Christian Education Ministry.  Number one was obvious, a lack of prayer!  We don't have because we don't ask!  

But it was the last one that really got me: "People's lack of confidence in themselves."  Recently, we've had a few different people join our church (I didn't ask them if I could share this, so I'll leave their names out), and when asked why they they joined, why they decided to keep coming, they said that it was because of the encouragement they felt when they were around!  They had never been encouraged like that in their entire lives!  They said that it was no one person in particular, but that it came from every side, all the time.  They got addicted to it!  They loved being around the church and started to get really involved, because for the first time in their lives, people weren't condemning them all the time, telling them everything they were doing wrong, being negative about their lives!  They were surrounded by people who built them up, and told them what a great job they were doing!  Therefore, they got more involved, and more involved.

That's called Prophecy!! 1 Corinthians 14:1-3, says that prophecy is "strengthening, encouragement, comfort"!!  When the American church gets a hold of that concept, the church will explode!  What a contrast between God's people and the world!   If we become a ministry that can prophecy over everyone that walks through our doors, we will never lack for volunteers.

I need your help to do this!  I need you to see your job as a Children's Ministry worker, not only to minister to the children in your care, but to every parent, every helper, everyone you come into contact with.  Prophecy over them by strengthening, encouraging, comforting.  People won't be able to stay away!