There are several Bible verses that I have known for a longer period of time than I have been a Christian. I became a follower of Jesus in 1994 when I was still young (14 years old.) And yet, I’m sure that Genesis 1:27, Acts 1:8, 2 Corinthians 5:17, and 1 John 4:7-8 were in my head before that time. Also, there are many, many stories (Jesus, David & Goliath, Moses, etc.) in the Bible that I knew before I trusted in Jesus as my Lord.
Why?
Well, in some cases it was a Sunday School lesson. I can remember Pat Stanley teaching me about Moses in second grade. I don’t remember the words of the lesson, but I do remember this little paper prop she used where you could flip up these pages (that looked like the Red Sea) and underneath it was a page that looked like dry ground. If I remember correctly, Mrs. Stanley pushed a little paper cut-out of Moses across the dry ground paper.
In other cases, it was a lesson I learned at the Christian school I attended. In the case of Acts 1:8, I remember having to learn it for an Awana program. Once I recited enough verses, they gave me a special patch to put on a vest. Please note: I no longer have the vest, but I still know that Bible verse! In other cases, it was because my mother purchased cassette tapes of people singing the words to Genesis 1:27 and 1 John 4:7-8. I can still sing those songs (from 36-40 years ago) today.
As I said, all of this was in my head before I even placed my faith in the Lord Jesus! But now that I do follow Him, I’m glad I had years of learning that had already begun to stack up beforehand.
I am presenting all of this as evidence that children’s ministry matters. And therefore, children’s ministers matter. In the case of Pat Stanley (she’s actually the bookkeeper at Good News Church now), she had no clue that she was training someone who would become her pastor three decades later. And the current volunteers of our KidZone program, similarly, have no clue what the fruit of their labor will be.
But that doesn’t change the fact that children’s ministry matters. Just because you can’t see the harvest at planting time, doesn’t mean that planting time is meaningless. Planting time is incredibly meaningful, even if the harvest can’t be seen. In fact, planting time is meaningful even in the cases where the planter dies before harvest time. Someone will be around for and benefit from that harvest, even if it is not the planter.
I’ve decided to end this article with a letter that came in from a kid at our church several weeks ago. It was on a 3x5 card and in a youngster’s handwriting. It was left on the counter in KidZone and it said this:
To all KidZone workers, God has truly blessed me with all of you guys from when I first came to KidZone to now. Next week is Move-Up Sunday so I’m going into 6th grade. I’m looking forward to helping out when I can. Words cannot express how grateful I am. God bless all of you!
Wow. This is one of those occasions where the fruit of the work can be seen earlier than usual. Great job, KidZone workers! And if you would like to be a part of a ministry that will still be making a difference three decades from now, feel free to volunteer here.
