Training — Ministry Leaders

I prefer window seats in airplanes and always request them. I love watching the clouds and bird’s eye view of the world below. Probably most important, when I’m turned toward the window, people in the row rarely talk to me. I get precious hours of silence. I boarded a plane to Arizona. A woman in a business suit was on the aisle and a little boy traveling alone was in the middle seat. I love window seats, but I love kids more. So I offered him my seat. “No thanks,” he said. “I throw up when I look out the...

The ministry focus with children is often mostly targeted to evangelism; presenting God’s plan of salvation and offering children opportunities to accept Jesus as their Savior. This is all well and good, but unless there is effective follow through, children may drift away from a godly lifestyle when going into their teens or adult years. Salvation is only the beginning of a lifelong spiritual journey and walk with God. Children need to be “taught up” in the principles of the Christian life. Prayer goes hand in hand with salvation. Children need to experience a new relationship with God. Prior to...

Children often make things when they come to church. But what kind of making is happening in your ministry? Are you more interested in what things the children make, or in what they are experiencing as they make those things? Focusing on the products of making may yield Instagram-worthy photos, but focusing on the process of making facilitates discipleship. If children are thinking about what they have heard or read in Scripture as they make things, questions and conversations will naturally accompany the activity. If children realize that their results do not need to look a certain way, they will...

Teachers can expect much of the middle elementary child. He is able to work with diligence and should be challenged with more in-depth projects and questions. He is able to work steadily on research projects or crafts that would have lost his interest just a few years earlier. And he can even start assuming responsibility for cleaning up after himself! If your students do not match that description, remember that almost 10 years of training have gone into this child’s makeup. What he can do and what he has been trained to do are different things. Know that your students...

Previously in Entre Ninos, we looked at excuses people use to not assertively multiply their efforts in a ministry context. Then we considered starting points for handing off responsibilities. Today we will walk through the steps to training others to take over those responsibilities. Multiplying yourself in ministry is the biggest win. But it doesn’t come easy. Step 1 - Watch me. Invite someone to observe you doing the very task you would like them to do in the future. Before they come to observe, be sure they know the endgame of this observation. You want them to step up...