Amazing Stories About Some Amazing Young People

I’ve been thinking through what I’m going to say at the new “Neos” conference - a conference designed to "Equip all for family, youth + children's ministry". 

Aside from some sessions in the Additional Needs Alliance stream, I’ve been asked to do a 7 minute “Quick Insight” on additional needs.

What can I say in 7 minutes? 

What I want to do is to be positive!

Then I felt a blog post ‘coming on’. It wrote itself whilst I was in the bath…..! (I do some of my best thinking whilst in the bath!)

Update On How Our Prayer Activities Went

We’ve finally come to the end of a busy Summer of camps and conferences, so hopefully I should be writing a few more blogs in the coming months!

As you will know from previous blogs, we did the Beatitudes with two of the groups we worked with - quite an ambitious teaching programme!

I thought I’d let you know how the prayer activities worked.

The two groups were very different, and the selection of children within these groups was quite diverse as well! But all the activities seemed to work well in different ways.

The first group was a camp for 9 - 11 year olds (Our church camp, “Activate” at Hungarton), The children were from different backgrounds, with different abilities and many from totally unchurched backgrounds. We also had a couple of children on the autistic spectrum - so the challenge to explain everything clearly in a way they could connect with needed to be met.

The next was a group of well taught children from families who are involved in full time ministry. They were aged 5 - 13(!) Their ability was wide ranging, from a 5 year old who listened best when ‘sitting’ upside down on a chair with her legs in the air and head hanging, to a 13 year old who spoke English as her third language! Challenging in a lovely way.

Below are the links to each activity, and the update will be at the bottom of each of those pages.

Poor in Spirit - Zip Prayers

Those Who Mourn - Fizzy Prayers

The Meek - Explosive prayers

Hunger and Thirst For Righteousness - Scrabble prayers

Merciful - Speech bubble prayers

Beatitude Prayer Activities

Those who follow me on Twitter or Facebook will have seen my comments on purchasing strange things for creative prayer activities.

When we teach, we like to do a creative prayer that causes the children to stop and think about what they have heard and pray about how they can apply the teaching in their own lives.

We like these activities to be memorable, either using things the children will come across regularly or are so outrageous - they'll just recall them in those quiet moments when their minds wander.

I'm going to put some of them on here - just to spark a few ideas with folk who are (like me) keen to encourage both prayer and the application of Bible truth.

On camp this year we'll be looking at the Beatitudes. 

It's been tough preparing as I believe we often dumb down what these verses mean - turning them into a very light weight idea with wishy washy terminology. It's been tough because I want the children to have to full picture - not the 'pretty' version I was given as a child.

In our desire to make them understandable to children we have been guilty in watering them down by using words that culturally mean different things today - we've made them 'nice' rather than revolutionary.

The fact is - these words are hard hitting, active words that tell us how to live a Godly life. They are counter cultural and when applied will cause a revolution. There is nothing weak about them - they show strength in every area of our lives.

I'm up for starting a God revolution...... what about you? Care to join me?

Note: I won't be sharing them in order - I'm writing them up in the order the props arrive in the post!

Enjoy :o)

Women in Kids Work

Please be careful with the following blog post - The stories in it needed to be told because things NEED to change. I may disagree with the people in the stories but I don't want to cause them un-necessary hurt.
I am only telling these stories now because all around me I can see the damage this theology is doing. Godly women with God given gifts are being hurt, and some leaving kids work for good...... and that is wrong.

There’s a lot in the news about the decline of women in leadership roles across the country.

I’ve also spent a lot of time being cross at some points of view on women and leadership from some corners of ‘The Church’ where it is said that even out side of the church women should not take jobs that put them in charge of men.

I’ve had a bit of a journey in my own life on this, but a couple of incidents really stick out.

Having just started out in my role as a children’s evangelist, I was invited to go to a local church’s children’s outreach group - I assumed this was to do what I do! Apparently I  was only expected to tell I nice story….. Instead I did the whole gospel talk bit, presented in a way that was suitable to the age and stage of the non church children there. I was not aware that women are not allowed to do this - especially if there are men present. I was never invited back. At that time, I was also doing quite a few all age services, and the pastor of that church went to the minister’s get together and recommend that they don’t use me, mainly because I dared to share the gospel with men present. This hurt me a lot. I couldn’t get my head around it: I can tell a story, but I’m not allowed to explain to the children what it means? That didn’t make sense!

But the best was to come……

Since the age of 14 I had been helping on a camp for children with disabilities - a camp that shaped my life and where my passion for having an accessible church that is inclusive to any child began.

I had a couple of years out to do my nurses training and then returned. There was a new leadership team in place, which was fine. Circumstances came together in an unusual way: At the same time I started out as a children’s evangelist, the speaker on the camp stepped down. This coincided with my health beginning to fail meaning doing the one to one care was becoming difficult. I was invited to come as the person in charge of teaching the children. Wow! Everything I loved doing rolled up in one week. I really enjoyed finding ways of teaching the kids in a way they found accessible and fun.

Then one Sunday - a man walked into the meeting. This was a camp for KIDS, but people on holiday locally would come into to Sunday meeting because they thought it would be safe (Heaven forbid they went into a charismatic church by mistake whilst on holiday!!)

I had already raised child protection concerns on this - because of how vulnerable the children were, but what happened next came right out of left field.

The man (Someone I had been to school with - so it made it so much more painful) complained that he had been taught by a woman!! But…. This is a camp for kids said I, but to no avail. After that, the teaching was to be done by my husband  on the Sunday - just in case any men came in wanting a church service. I’d only just got married that year - and Steve found it both silly and maddening. So I prepared the teaching and Steve delivered it…. On the Sunday.

A couple of years later, one of the young leaders answered me back when I asked him to do some thing. I remember it as clearly as yesterday. He stopped reading his Oswald Chambers book “My Upmost For His Highest” and said “My dad says I don’t have to do what you say because you’re a women”. Each year it got more and more difficult, and I was afraid the children would start to be affected by the negative atmosphere. There were other women on the leadership team - but they weren’t teaching and were serving in the perceived correct way.

We eventually made the very difficult decision to leave the camp. We went to the next preparation meeting and explained that although it broke our hearts, we felt it was best for both the kids and the camp for us to step down. Steve had been the treasurer and handed over all the up to date accounts.

No one prayed with us, no one said thankyou. That night I walked away from that meeting sobbing -  after 20 years of serving these most precious kids I felt as though I had been thrown out like garbage….. Just because I was I woman.

God has brought out a lot of good from this situation though - that camp was, and STILL IS doing amazing work. People who go to it as leaders come back changed, and children hear and understand the gospel. And we have gone on to make a difference for many more children with disabilities and additional needs that we may not have done if we had stayed. Proof that God is above our theology debates.

Many years later, we still have people not comfortable with asking us to do all age services because of their position on women speaking. Some say yes, because I am under my husband’s authority. But some do actually recognise the gift that God has given me. 

I feel for my female colleagues - also gifted kids workers, who are told that they can’t do something because they are women. I feel even more angry when they are told that it would have been ok if they were married! Gender and marital status should have nothing to do with doing what God has called us to do.

I don’t speak and teach because I want to (I’m a shy introvert), I teach because God has compelled me to.

Additional Needs Alliance

Last weekend we had our first “Additional Needs Alliance” Forum.

It was a great success! Just over 50 people of like mind together in one room. 

The speakers were: Mark Arnold from Urban Saints. Me (Kay Morgan-Gurr) from Children Worldwide, and Paul Nash of the Paediatric Chaplaincy Network. There were others who came to help facilitate different areas of discussion.

The forum fed into the Children and Family Ministry conference (Hand in Hand), with the Friday night plenary being about “A Vision for Inclusivity” and an additional needs work seminar stream running throughout the weekend. This was also a great success.

What is the 'Additional Needs Alliance'?

The Alliance isn’t another organisation out to ‘get at’ churches. It’s primary aim isn’t campaigning but rather getting alongside people and churches to raise awareness in the area of working with children who have additional needs and disabilities. Ok, so some might see what we do as campaigning…..but that's just a side effect of our passion!

What we are aiming to do is start a conversation about how we care for children and families who are affected by the huge breadth of additional needs and disabilities out there. To raise a vision beyond just ‘catering’ for these children to creating a place where they and their families feel they belong and are wanted. We want churches to say yes to families who are so used to hearing ‘no’ when they ask if a church can cope with their child’s needs.

One of the things we have looked at is the vision for the spiritual walk of these children, their faith journey with God. We know they can have relationship with God - it may challenge how we view and understand faith, but we know that God understands and the power of the Holy Spirit works beyond our understanding. We believe the faith journey of these children should be a fundamental part of our vision.

1 in 5 children in this country having some form of additional need or disability, and it is obvious this number is not reflected in our churches.

There are small pockets of excellent work out there, usually stemming from people already in our church communities having children with additional needs. It’s a great place to start - but we can also see a much bigger missional picture.

Many people, when looking at this area often only see those children with ADHD, Autistic Spectrum disorders and dyspraxia, and although these are important, those with other conditions and disabilities are often forgotten. We want to raise awareness in ALL areas of additional needs and disabilities and make sure our churches are open and accessible. A safe place where they can belong.

What can you do?

You can join the conversation and spread it - Gossip this stuff around - Kids with additional needs and disabilities matter!

We have a facebook group  a twitter account (@A_N_All) and an email address (On the flier to stop spammers getting hold of it!)

We are planning more forums - join the facebook group or contact us for more dates.

Link to a copy of the flier below here

*This is a Children Matter! initiative. Currently run by an Urban Saints and Children Worldwide partnership

Horror Statements

A UKIP candidate thinks kids with additional needs should be aborted (http://bbc.in/ViUfBl), and a mensa member  referred to those with an IQ lower than 60 as ‘carrots’ on the BBC (http://bit.ly/VUmpsY).

Most of us gasped in horror at both of these statements - especially those of us who have family and/or friends with additional needs and disabilities.

It’s only right we should gasp in horror at these things!

But I have a provocative question for the Church and Christians in general - are we horrified enough? Or by our passivity in dealing with the subject of additional needs and disability, are we guilty of causing the same distress?

There is a wealth of info and training materials out there on making a difference for those who have additional needs and disabilities - especially in children’s work, and some are using them, and attending training events - but not enough. Some churches are engaging with these children and their families, but again, not enough. 

I speak at many conferences and training events. If we put on a seminar about puppets - the room is packed to over flowing. Put a seminar on about additional needs and we get a handful of folk (Strange when you look at the statistics of how many children have additional needs!) The only seminar that’s even less well attended is the one on prayer - which also says a lot!

There is a Biblical mandate to care for the vulnerable. We make lots of noise about caring for our communities, but if we can’t care properly for those who have additional needs and disabilities, we’re only caring for part of our communities. 

We also have a Biblical mandate to evangelize, but children with additional needs and disabilities are often overlooked in this too.

It’s a subject many in our churches prefer to skip over - and I for one would like that to change.

I’ve spent most of my (long) adult life wanting to change how the Church in this country cares for those with additional needs and disabilities - have you? The fact that you are reading this tells me you are of a similar mind!

Would you like to join a conversation on this? To create a vision for change?

Yes?

Well that’s the whole point of the forum we are holding on Feb 1^st in Eastbourne, which will be the start a longer, bigger conversation about this. But this won’t just be a talking shop - this will be a group of people with a passion and a vision for all these children are and can be. From this, I pray, will come change.

There will be further forums in different areas of the country, and an on-line forum to share ideas and work on a way forward.

This won’t be ‘my’ group - this will be a team effort, and the team will consist of anyone who joins.

Please - come join the conversation.

"Thankyou Jesus You're My Friend" Amazing Stories Series (#1)

Around 20 years ago at a  large event, I was charged with looking after a 9 year old boy who had Down’s syndrome - he was what we affectionately call a “runner”. He would have given Houdini a run for his money in the various ways he could find to try and escape! This was in the days before children’s groups had specialists on their teams, so it was rare to be given a role like this. I was given the role because the leader of the team knew of my training and vision.  

Because I was also a musician I had to sing/play in the band. This meant I had to leave my young charge by the OHP (That dates this story!!) with another team member, where he would help with the song words.

Looking from the outside, it appeared he had no interaction with the spiritual side of the programme at all, and very little with the rest of the programme. It was hard work!

We used a lot of makaton signs as actions for songs, but this young lad would not sing or sign for the whole week….. That was, until the last day. On the last morning, with a big grin on his face he signed “Thankyou Jesus, You’re my friend” along with the song we were singing.

For all his appearance of not engaging, he had taken a profound message on board.

There were other positive things that came out of this: That particular team decided to make additional needs carers a permanent position on their teams. I also wrote to the head of the event - it was a very ‘frank’ letter about the need for looking at better additional needs provision within the children and youth programmes. I didn’t expect to get a reply - but I did. And year on year the additional needs provision grew and improved to the excellent work they do today. 

I’m pretty sure that other’s wrote letters about this too, so the change wan’t just down to me…… but I am blessed by the fact that I am now the disability and additional needs advisor for that same festival. 

This is just one story of one child who has made a difference. He doesn't know it, and I doubt his family do either.

Over the next few days I hope to post a few more encouraging stories about working with children who have additional needs. I have so many to choose from.....!

The Story Behind the Forum

On 1^st February there will be a forum for any one who works with, or has an interest in, children who have additional needs and their families. (Details Here - Book Here)

Anyone who knows me knows I am passionate about facilitating children who have additional needs.  I want to make a difference. I want things to change. The thing is - I’m getting impatient and I want things to change more quickly.

I want people to catch the vision. Not a vision for tackling a problem but a vision for facilitating children who have additional needs to find faith, to grow in faith and be all that God has created them to be. 

And I’m impatient for more people to catch that vision and spread it.

I have story upon story of faith from children who have additional needs, I have stories of parents in tears because of the gratitude they feel when people ‘get it’. I have the written vision of a parent who wants their child who is severely autistic to walk with God and serve Him - a powerful missive!

Yep - I’m passionate about this….

It all started when I was 14 years old and helped on a camp for children who had physical disabilities. It was run by the church I attended at the time and children were turning to God. But - it was difficult to link them to churches local to them as those churches just couldn’t cope.

It also occurred to me at that time that when you looked at how many children had an additional need in our communities, it was obvious that this was not reflected in our churches and ‘The Church’ was poorer as a result. It is still the same today over 30 years later.

From that point on I knew what I had to do, I trained as a nurse and specialised in caring for children who have additional needs of every variety. There was an urgency to what we were doing on the camp I helped on as a teenager, as many of the children had a very short life span. Later, as a nurse I had the ‘privilege’ of being with some of them as they went to meet their creator - sad for me, but what was more troubling was those children we just couldn’t reach in time. 

I’ve held too many dying children for me to just sit back and do nothing.

21 years ago…. God called me to be a Children’s evangelist, and He left in my heart that burning desire to do something.

Whilst there are pockets of excellent work with these children and lots of organisations doing bits and pieces, it still isn’t enough. I still hear stories of children and their families turned away from churches, I still hear of evangelism policies and plans that don’t include intentional outreach to children with additional needs. I hear of schools work set up, but no one even thinking of going into the ‘special’ schools. I still hear of children treated as a problem rather that God’s creation. These children are in our communities, are in our schools and have families who are often in crisis with no help in sight.

I want that to change. 

This year the damn finally burst. At the Children Matter forum in May I poured my heart out about this. I wanted to pull together every one who would listen so we could do something. I want the best for these children!

Are you with me?

Well that’s why we are organising this forum. We want to start a conversation that will begin a process of change, not just for the children but for their families too. Yes, there are people out there doing some great stuff but we need to be talking together and working together to achieve even more…..to spread the word and make a bigger impact.

It Takes A Whole Church to Raise A Child

Yesterday I attended the Evangelical Alliance's council meeting, along with various others who have an interest or expertise in children's ministry. There were many excellent speakers too, who spoke with passion about their given subjects. Together, we were looking at the subject "It Takes A Whole Church to Raise A Child". (Do read Krish Kandiah's excellent article in Youthwork Magazine here, or get a copy of Christianity Magazine) If you are a twitterer, search for the hash tag #wholechurch where you should find lots of quotes from the speakers. Although, if my fellow attendees were like me, they were too busy listening and discussing to tweet, and not wanting to miss anything!

This is not a summary of the whole day - that would take a lot of blog entries! This is just about the part I had the privilege to play in the day.

As part of this, I was asked to prepare a 5 minute slot answering the question "Is Church Toxic to Our Children's Faith". Before any one complains that five minutes wasn't enough, I need to explain that this five minutes was to set the scene for further discussion - it wasn't a talk in it's own right as that wasn't what was needed. (It was also a good discipline for me to hone what I said and make every word count!)

As promised, this is a summary of what I said (Not word for word!):

Is church toxic to a child's faith? It was to people in my family, and that toxicity has gone on to affect them for many years. But I feel at this point, I should point that not every church is toxic to a child's faith.

Yes I do believe church can sometimes be toxic to children's faith!

Toxicity is often due to a combination of substances rather than just one, and in much the same way, I believe the problem of church being toxic to a child's faith is down to a combination of factors - but it's not always the same mix.

There will be a different recipe of toxins for each individual child - something that affects one child may not affect another and vice versa. But within that mix, that recipe, I believe there are a five constants - things that will affect the majority of children. 

They are:

• A lack of acceptance of and grace towards children in being fully part of the church, now, this minute. (It's not a case of waiting until children are 18)
• A lack of opportunities for children to serve
• A lack of a safe space for children to make mistakes and learn from them - as they serve, as they take their place in the church, whilst still being children (and we have to remember that they are still children and will be child like!)
• A lack of vision - for both the child and the children's work.... Or even the wrong vision (how we see it/how we wanted it to be for us), rather than allowing God to put His vision into the work we do.
• A lack of solid theology, taught in a child friendly way that takes into account the age and stage of the child;   We often either give the children a twee theology  (Tweeology) that only gives milk and no meat (wrongly assuming they can't manage meat), and  doesn't stand up to the rough and tumble of school life, or we give a thuggish theology that gives so many rules that a child just cannot live up to them. All of this, when actually, we should be giving meat, cut up into child sized pieces - the right size for their stage of the faith journey.

We also have children with additional needs to think about, where the above toxins can be amplified/made more toxic just because many question their ability to have faith - but that's a whole new topic on it's own. These children can also have faith.

But - there is an antidote to the toxicity! (because I can't help putting a positive point in!)

ACCEPTANCE , LOVE, GUIDANCE and  SIGNIFICANCE

In the discussion that followed - both in small groups and as a larger group it was said "that's the same for anyone walking into our churches". Yes - that's absolutely right! In this whole discussion, what we are talking about is 'community and family'. Not a group of children along side a group of adults, but integrated community.

Other comments and questions that came out of this section of the day we're numerous and helpful, including comments on how busy children are with their various activities and the difficulty of finding a night that churches can run clubs and activities.

It was also good to receive a question on the use of social media with children - something I may well blog on sometime on the future (including making it work from a safeguarding point of view). I do see a value in using social media in  the right context. Youngsters who often won't open up and discuss what is bothering them will often publish it to the world of Facebook. It's a good way to find out what interests them and what matters to them, and then use that 'social media relationship' to build community with them within the church. To be able to ask a young person how an activity they mentioned on Facebook went, can add value and significance to a relationship. 

We shouldn't be 'about' getting bottoms on seats on a Sunday morning, what we should be 'about' is building family and making our children feel valued and significant. That value shouldn't be based on how many times a child can make it to our activities - it should be based on the fact that our children are valued by and significant to God.

There was one thing that occurred to me whilst preparing for this (probably due to my dyslexia), and although I had it in my notes, I didn't have time to say it and 'unpack' it:

 It takes a whole church to raise a child, but could it be said - it takes a "whole" child to raise a church?

I'll probably blog some more on what some of the other contributors said at a later date, but I think my favourite quote of the day came from David Niblock (Abundant Life Church, Bradford): "Don't put a lid on your children"

Problem or Purpose & Potential?

Ok - I’m a kid’s worker and I believe in evangelism amongst children. I have a passion to see ALL kids responding to God and growing in faith.

But when we think of evangelism and work with kids, where do those with disabilities and special needs fit in? Are they even part of our thinking when we write our evangelism plans and goals? It is sad that in many churches, children in general are not part of the official outreach programme, but children with special needs and disabilities? Well…….

When we think special Needs and disability, are we tempted to see the problems? Or can we see beyond potential difficulties and see firstly, a child and then the potential for faith and a life lived with God?

It is always a temptation to not see the child, but the diagnosis instead. We’re tempted to recruit people to a problem that needs sorting out rather than asking people to catch the vision for enabling this child to be everything they can be in Christ.

When I run training days, I find people want me to fix the “problem” with a quick fix or a bandage. It takes a long time to shift the focus from ‘problem’ to ‘purpose and potential’

Let’s be realistic here - usually, the only children with disabilities in our children’s work are those whose families are already part of the church family. Our mid week clubs have children with special needs who come from families on the edge of church. With both of these groups - we struggle, so how on earth can we cope with bringing more in? (Rhetorical question!)

As a teenager, and for many years after I worked on a summer camp for children with physical disabilities - I loved it! Many children came to know Jesus in a very real way, but…… Where could they go after camp? For a child with severe cerebral palsy, whose parents don’t want to go to church - how do we get them there, and how do we keep them there? In rare cases - we managed it, but as a rule, we didn’t. 

I’m still in touch with these ‘kids’ - many of whom are now adults. They don’t follow God, some are into “crystals” (One even has an advanced degree in the use of them!) My heart breaks!!! 

So who is reaching out to the disabled and vulnerable kids in our communities?

I’ve already been ‘realistic’ - now I’m going to be brutally honest…… Many of these children have short lives - I’ve been to far too many funerals! Happily, some of those have been for children still walking with God and a huge witness to their friends, but equally - there are so many more who are not in relationship with Christ. These kids have less time to hear the Gospel than others - the need is urgent!

We believe in the Gospel, we believe in spreading it, but do we believe in taking it to some of the most vulnerable kids in our communities - is “The Church” brave enough to step up to the challenge?

Theology versus ‘Tweeology’ and ‘Thugology’

What do we think of when we mention theology and teaching children together in the same breath? There are many schools of thought on this. On one end of the scale there are those who say “Jesus loves you and that’s all you need to know”. They believe children don’t need theological discussions at their age - just let them enjoy everything God can give.” At the other end of the scale are those who want to give the kids every theological point in every children’s talk, and teach Biblical truths in a way the children cannot understand or are upset by. Only last year I heard of a leader who told children that they are enemies of God and they must repent to put it right. The theology was correct - but the way it was taught for the age and stage of these mainly unchurched children was completely over the top.

Neither of these ends of the scale is good. The first is what I call “tweeology” - warm and fuzzy with no substance. The latter I call thugology. It is also dangerous and can damage children in it’s delivery. I believe there is a case for teaching our kids good theology, in a way that they can understand, that prepares them for living in the real world as they grow physically, emotionally and spiritually.

In saying I want good theology for our children I am aware that some might think I just want to hammer Biblical truths into their heads. This is not the case. I come from a church background where I was taught how bad I was and very little about the love of God. My brother was held up as an example of what not to be to his peers, because he dared to go against the man made rules of the church (He left the ‘Church’ for good - not surprisingly.) It’s worth noting here that I no longer attend that particular flavour of church! My heart’s cry for kids is for them to have solid teaching - no tweeology, but no thugology either!

1 Peter 3:15 says:

……. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.……….

My questions are : Can our children and teenagers do that? Can many of our young leaders do that? And if they can, can they do it in a way that doesn’t appear thug like to the person they are telling?

We spend a lot of time looking at the theology of children – and that is great, but how much time do we spend on making sure we are teaching good theology to our children? Because I perceive “tweeology” to be the greater issue here, this will be what I spend the most time discussing.

I believe, that in an effort to make things accessible and politically correct for the children, in many cases all we have succeeded in doing is watering down vital parts of the gospel.

Over the last 10 or more years I have been told over and over again that we should not use the term “Father” when talking about God because we may upset those who, for whatever reason don’t have a Father. I firmly believe that we have done the children a huge disservice in teaching like this. Having been in children’s work for over 21 years, I have the pleasure of talking to young adults who have grown through this style of teaching. Those people where the Fatherhood of God was taught sensitively and well, say that being taught about God being their Father was their “saving grace”. The knowledge that God was the best dad ever, even when their own dad wasn’t around, helped them to grow in their faith with confidence. Those who had this vital piece of teaching withheld – for all the best reasons, often still struggle with relating to God in the intimate way that a father and child should relate. I know of two children’s workers who didn’t have a father at home, and both would agree with this. One was taught about Father God and one wasn’t. The one that wasn’t regrets the fact that he wasn’t taught this, and has spent many years trying to relearn how he can relate to God as father. The one that was taught about God as Father says this was what brought him to God and stopped him from slipping away again - in his words “It’s what saved me” Both teach about a loving Father God where ever they go.

Within that frame work of teaching, we have correctly tried to find a way of teaching about God’s love and Jesus’ death by teaching that God/Jesus is our “special friend” or a “friend that doesn’t fall out with us”. I would like to ask; when do we move the children on from this aspect of God and teach

them more? Being such an ancient Kids worker, I now have the children who were first taught in this way coming through as leaders, and find that many of them still have only that basic understanding of Jesus as friend. They have no realisation of redemption, forgiveness, and sanctification. (Yes I know they are big words!)

The knowledge that God loves them is a vital component in the teaching of children, and a good premise to start from. But sometimes we shy away from all the amazing truths surrounding this fact - the “what” “why” and “how” of that love. We think that we can teach the finer points later, only to find that later never comes. Conversely, going to the other end of the scale (The one my sunday school started from!) and start with the idea of being just a worm, sunk in the depths of depravity with an urgent need for repentance is not helpful either! Yes - repentance is necessary, but so is gentleness!

As the leaders who have only been taught the “Jesus loves me and that’s all I need to know” tweeology have grown into adulthood, they believe that they “chose to follow God”, whereas in reality – God chose them. Their faith is based on how God makes them feel, not on the reality of repentance, redemption, sanctification or even forgiveness. They often have no understanding of who they are in Christ. The true realisation that they have authority and have been forgiven has not been fully understood. Not knowing the full extent of God’s love has had huge implications in their Christian walk and is bourn out by the fact that I spend a lot of time counseling children’s workers about self image, guilt and assurance. If you don’t know the truth, then the devil’s lies are harder to refute! But we are expecting them to teach the truth to our children….

Like the Fatherhood of God issue, I believe our children are again being robbed of a true and full relationship with God by teaching in a tweeology or thugology way.

Children can understand these big theological issues using the right teaching techniques. We often teach children aged 5 -7 years old and have been amazed and humbled at their understanding when we have taught them. One young lady showed her understanding of sanctification by saying “I’ve already got Jesus in my heart - how can I get him in further?’ A prayer on a prayer wall showed how a child had understood repentance “Dear God, I am so so so so so so sorry”. I must note here that we don’t go heavy on the “degenerate little sinner” idea with the children - we just point out what stops us being really good friends with God - and that Jesus can be our rescuer.

As a child I was given the passage about the whole armour of God to learn off by heart, but no one taught me that these were my tools, given to me to use, always at my disposal. How much more could we give our kids if we together physically put each item on - explaining what protection each item gives! I have an amazing picture in my mind of a very small five year old holding a full sized sword, and then having it swapped for a Bible whilst being told that the Bible was even more powerful. The look on her face as she held that Bible and the realisation hit her was awesome.

We do a simple puppet sketch on justification where another character in the story takes the blame for something the puppet has done. In brief, the story closes with the character who has taken the blame saying to the puppet who fears they will get punished now others know; “It’s ok, I’ve already done the punishment - you won’t have to. Say sorry and mean it, and then say thankyou - and mean it!” The day after we did this and told the children to share the story with their parents for discussion, a parent approached us saying “could I speak to you for a moment”. Our heart always sinks when we hear those words, but this time we were greatly encouraged as he said “ yesterday I spent a whole hour in a seminar wrestling with the theology of justification. Afterwards my daughter taught me in five minutes, using words she could understand what justification is - and she was taught it by a large white rabbit! Thankyou!”

It is often those people who have only have a basic understanding of their faith who are now responsible for teaching the next generation. I hear stories mis-told, vital facts left out or misquoted, passages taken out of context and misunderstood. The greater issue is that of tweeology with these leaders. But on the other side, those who have been taught heavy theology without the balance of love and a true understanding of who they are in Christ are hammering the children either into a fearful relationship with God or out of the church completely.

In the distant past, revivals have begun with a young child claiming that people need to repent – do our children even know what this means now?

From knowing true forgiveness there flows the knowledge of no more condemnation, the ability to forgive and accept forgiveness, and the assurance of heaven.

As our children grow physically – we move them from milk to soft food to meat. Every parent will know that when a child is faced with a huge chunk of meat – we lean over and cut it up for them – we don’t take it away and give them a sloppy milk meal instead.

I’m all for teaching the gospel in an understandable way, but we do need to make sure that we start adding meat – by cutting it up, not mushing it up!

In Latvia, where I see the full message of God’s love and sacrifice taught, and leaders who don’t shy away from teaching all of God’s truth, I find young men and women who are secure and unwavering in their faith. Coming to faith is called “repentance” there, and that phrase is explained clearly. I see young people studying God’s word, fasting and praying, expecting great things from God and seeing them happen.

No, it isn’t all perfect over there – but God is moving! And I believe the fact that the children are given the full truth – cut into little pieces – is part of the reason why.

The Bible states in John 8:32:

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

Let’s set our children free!