Each day we post challenges on social media to encourage and challenge you as you minister to children or teens and their parents. Here are the challenges from this week.
Monday: In order to do a great building project you have the best possible foundation. It’s the same for the young people your ministry serves and their spiritual foundation. Have you really analyzed everything you do with them? Are your classes and activities really helping them build strong faith foundations or are they mostly trying to entertain them? Or are Bible students bored to death because the content is too shallow or too dry? Finding the right balance takes time but it can make an eternal difference for some young people.
Tuesday: One of the most difficult concepts for kids and teens to understand is that a seemingly insignificant choice can have major repercussions. They have trouble considering what the various options could result in several steps down the road. Showing them examples like this and teaching them how to create decision flow charts can help them in long term thinking when faced with a choice.
Wednesday: This museum in another country had actual photos of the people who had been killed in a war. It made the story of the war come to life when you saw the actual faces of the people. We don’t have many images of the people in the Bible – a handful of ones from the Old Testament etched in stone and some coins of a few New Testament people. All are easily accessible online. Showing your students those images as well as photos or reproductions of unfamiliar items in the Bible will make the Bible more vivid and memorable. We often forget, but a large part of the Bible is a history book. Show photos and take them to museums. Help your Bible students understand the historicity and validity of the Bible.
Thursday: There is at least another month until schools begin. Many normal summer activities, like camps, have been cancelled due to COVID. Do your Bible students have access to activities that will keep them connected to God? Or help them meet felt needs for food, godly entertainment or preparation for school? You don’t have to provide entire bags – even an occasional activity, book or note can help. It also lets your students know you love them and strengthens emotional connections to your class, ministry and church.
Friday: Have you stepped into the daily worlds of your Bible students? It’s difficult to do so physically at the moment because of COVID, but you can still encourage them to share their lives with you verbally. The more you understand the challenges your students face, the easier it will be to appropriately differentiate your Bible lessons to help them. It takes extra time and effort, but can make your classes more effective.