3 More Quit-Yippeee

OK, so Yippeeeee was not exactly my initial reaction. I found our on Sunday that one of the members of my 3rd Service children's ministry team was stepping down for a while, and then, on Monday morning I got an email from two more volunteers in the 3rd service, letting me know that they were stepping down for personal reasons as well. Normally, 3 volunteers would not be a very pleasant loss, but in 3rd Service, those 3 Volunteers represented half of my Kids church Staff.

SO, what am I to do? Well, the only thing that I can do is practice what I preached for almost 2 weeks in Kenya. I have to begin recruiting like Jesus did, find people who will be the right fit, and then work hard to train and grow them into the people that God has for this group of kids. It will not exactly be fun, but it will be a challenge, and I love Challenges!!! So here we go.

Just a few of the pictures that I can't seem to get off of my mind! Thanks God for allowing me the opportunity to serve you in Kenya for the last few weeks.

Struggle #2

The Next major struggle that every kid's ministry faces is the struggle for validity, let me explain. Often times in ministry, the leadership and membership of the church tends to see the real ministry as what happens within the Adult Sanctuary. They have a heard time viewing children's ministry as important or even anything more than a "necessary evil". By evil I mean that it is looked at as a ministry that they have to have, but one that is just a sort of money pit. Leadership realizes that they must have a Children's ministry, but only so that the adult ministry will be more successful, or so that the church will be more appealing to visitors.

I would argue that this way of thinking is not only wrong, but unbiblical. Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me and do not forbid them for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven." How often do we put children aside so the "real ministry" can happen? Jesus himself wanted us to make sure that kids were ministered to. He understood what we sometimes forget, "Christianity is only one generation from being extinct!"

I am thankful to serve at a church that values kids and kids ministry. Hope has been a great church that cares for the spiritual health of the entire family! I pray that we can lead the way for other churches to follow and truly validate Children's Ministry!

Struggle #1

As I have spent the last few days in Kenya, I am becoming increasingly aware that all churches face the same problems. It really doesn’t matter the location of your church (or even the time zone you find yourself in), it comes down to a few basic struggles that we all face.

Struggle #1 Volunteers- I have yet to find a church that has every volunteer it could possibly need. I have found a few that think they do, but that illusion is usually dissolved rather quickly when you begin digging deeper into their situation. On the surface, it is easy to appear to have it all together, but most of the time there is more than “meets the eye”!

I have been spending time with the leadership team of a church here in Nairobi called ICC (International Christian Centre). Their leadership is struggling to develop teams of volunteers, and I have been helping to guide them through some discussions on how they can better minister through teams.

Jesus worked on a team. He knew that nothing great is ever sustainable if it is built on the shoulders of one individual. Think about it, not even Michael Jordan ever won an NBA Championship without the help of an incredible supporting cast. Too often in ministry we see people with the “Lone Ranger” approach. They think that a ministry built on them will serve them best, but who wants to see years of hard work crumble when they leave for another ministry opportunity? Does that bring honor to God? Or would God receive greater honor from a ministry that doesn’t skip a beat when a key leader steps aside?

I know that God has called me to lead teams. It is part of who I am and it is what I love to do. I pray that my passion for teams will spread through ICC and churches around the world so that we can reach even more kids and families with the love of God through teams of people who are committed to serve!

Important Relationship #1

The Single most important relationship that any kids pastor can have is his/her relationship with God. Bottom line is you can't continue to pour from a well that is dry. If I am not feeding my relationship with God daily, I am in danger of burnout, frustration, and a genuine dislike of people.

Sam Luce does a great job in an article for the latest article of K Magazine of discussing the importance of the Kids Pastor's relationship with Christ.

Important Relationship #2

The next important relationship that every CP should have is with his/her family. I have two little girls (and a little boy on the way) who call me daddy. I have come to realize that there are a lot of people who can minister to the boys and girls in my church, but there is only one person who can be daddy to my kids.

Old school thinking says, "God, you take care of my family and I will take care of your church." Lots and lots of ministers went through life following this philosophy. Unfortunately many of them laid their families down on the altar of "the church".

I believe that God wants us first and foremost to be the shepherd of our own homes. What kind of kids pastor can I be if my own kids grow up resenting church and God because I couldn't keep my priorities in line with God's word.

I as a Kid's Pastor have to make sure that my relationship with my wife and kids is where it needs to be before I can even begin to worry about the church. To learn what the Bible says is expected of a person in leadership with regards to his/her family, just check out 1 Timothy 3. Pretty powerful stuff.

God help me to make sure my kids and my wife know that I love them.

Important Relationship #3

The next vital relationship for every CP is that relationship he/she has with other Children's Pastors. I have a group of friends who are CP's in churches all across the country. My relationship with each of them is different. Let me give you a few examples of what I get from these relationships:

1) Friendship- I can't tell you how important my friendship is with these other Children's Pastors. It is awesome to know that I can always pick up the phone and ask any one of them to pray for me or my family. We do our best to make time for one another. If I am going through a rough patch in ministry or in my family life. I can call on one of them not necessarily for advice as much as for an ear.

2) Mentoring- I love to learn from my friends. I also enjoy sharing new ideas with them when they come along. We make it a habit to learn from one another on a regular basis.

3) Accountability- There are usually very few people in a pastor's life who will call them up and ask them the hard questions (questions about motives, thoughts, and integrity). It is nice to have a few people who aren't afraid to do that for me.

Scripture is clear, "As Iron sharpens Iron, so one man sharpens another". We need relationships with other Children's Pastors that will challenge us and encourage us to be all that God is calling us to be.