Clarity of Vision

Why do you volunteer in the church?

-- To give back?

-- To meet people?

-- To get involved?

-- To use your gifts?

-- The experience of it all?

All of these things are valid reasons to volunteer. But do you realize that whatever your role in the church is, you are a part of something much bigger?  You are a part of someone’s  chain of salvation.  When someone raises their hand at the end of service to accept Jesus into their heart, there is a whole series of people that has had a part in that ... from the smiling greeter at the door ... to the children’s worker who is caring for his child ... to the office volunteer who stuffed the envelope that invited him to church.  Always remember that what you do is eternally important.  

Video Game Voting

Recently, we polled the kids at our weekend services to vote for their favorite video games of the ones we have here at Journey Kids.  Our goal was to help filter out which games were unpopular and replace them with more fun games.  But it got me thinking about some of the questions parents have about video games, so I thought we could address some of them here.

Why do we have video games at church?  One of our values at our church is relevance.  In order to meet our mission of making it easy to find and experience God, we want kids to see God as relevant to their lives.  One of the ways we do this is by creating a fun, engaging enviroment where an unchurched kid can walk in and feel accepted and open.  Video games help kids view church as fun, and if used appropriately, can be a tool to bringing kids to hear about a life-changing God!

How do we choose video games at church?  Our video games must be rated "E," and they must not contain gun violence or even mild language.  Games for more than one player are preferred, as they help encourage relationships.  And finally, games must be old enough to match our systems.  (Example: we don't have XBox 360s, only Xboxes.)

Who won the voting?  Our top 5 video games were Mario Kart (53), Super Monkey Ball 2 (34), Sonic DX (18), PacMan World 2 (12), and Madden 2004 (11).  Our least popular games were SharkTale (3), Whirl Tour (3), Rayman (2), and NBA Live 2004 (2).

If you ever have questions or concerns about video games at Journey Kids, please let us know!  Your input helps Journey Kids be safe, fun, relevant, and engaging.

Jesus Has the Answer

I'm really excited for this weekend.  I think what we're teaching the kids is something they can grab hold of and build their future upon.  I know after working on the curriculum this week, my own perspective on some situations in my own life have been re-focused.  During the lesson, teachers will say, "I have a problem" several times during their teaching.  Each time the children hear this, they will need to stand up and shout, "Jesus has the answer."  WOW, did your hear that?  When you have a problem, any problem big or small, JESUS HAS THE ANSWER. 

Please don't think I'm saying that the answer is simple or the solution is instantaneous, but sometimes I think we live our lives like we don't even believe the statement on it's face value.  We look for answers everywhere and with everyone, until we finally remember that Jesus has the answer.  I'm so excited, because children from age three through fifth grade are going to leave church Sunday repeating that Jesus has the answer to their problem. As a children's ministry it is our job to help them find where to look for the answer and how to let God show us answers, but believing the simple statement is the first and most important step in the process.  

We Got a new Puppy!

Kids love pets! Often in children's ministry kids pray for the needs of their pets because they love them so much! They are a member of the family.  

So like many of the families in our church, we too, made the big decision to get a new puppy!  It was fun and exciting but we knew the days ahead would require teamwork and the kids would need to do their part.  So we had a family meeting to explain all the things the kids would need to do if we bought a dog.  As you might expect, they happily agreed to any and all commitments as long as we could just get a puppy. 

We expected the puppy to be work and to be fun but what I did not expect was how quickly the kids develop a deep love for the dog.  It reminded me of God's love for us because just like a puppy, God provides for our needs, and has a deep love for us.  But what amazes me is that even as great as our kids love is for this new puppy... it does not even come close to the love God has for us.  We go to great lengths to care for this dog but think of what God does for us!  It is so much more and makes me appreciate the fact that God has made a way for us to freely be a part of His family and be loved by Him forever!

On your hard days just remember that God adores you!

One Value of Diversity

Michelle Porcaro, our early childhood director, recently used 4 illustrations of "different" children as part of our application on Sunday.  We were talking about how Jesus can bring new life to anyone, no matter how they look or act.  The first picture was of an African man dress in tribal wear.  The second was of an Arabic woman in a burka.  The third was of a shaggy, scruffy homeless man.  The fourth was of a child in a wheelchair.  For the first to third pictures, the kids could immediately identify differences in clothing, hair color, facial appearance, jewelry, and (eventually) skin color.  For the fourth picture, none of the kids could identify anything different from the handicapped girl and themselves.  Nothing.  Michelle was amazed, so she didn't bring up the obvious difference that the girl was in a wheelchair.  The point was, these 3-5 year olds saw a handicapped girl as "just like them."  Instead of seeing her as someone different to make fun or ostracize or exclude, they saw her as one of them.  

I don't think this would be possible without regular exposure to handicapped kids.  We have at least 2 regularly-attending girls that use wheelchairs in our pre-school program.  Simply by coming to church, they are teaching and helping shape the perceptions and values of our kids.  And that will be invaluable as our preschoolers grow and learn to extend friendship, compassion, and care to all people - including the handicapped.