What do I mean, Kids' Ministry?

I am not talking about childminding, babysitting or kids care. These words are all about keeping kids entertained and safe while the adults do important things like learning from God's word and growing in Christ. If I'm asked to do this kind of thing, I usually respond that it's is not what I came to Japan for, and invite them to find some capable teenagers.

It is not 'kids worship'. I am not recreating the worship service for kids so that they can skip out on worshiping with the adults. I am also not training them to be able to sit through the church service. It's good for kids to worship with the adults, and we can be accommodating about what that looks like at different ages. Our goal is not to produce people who can tolerate listening to boring sermons. If kids are going to learn to love God's word and look forward to hearing Him speak, we can't acheve that by cramming their learning into a liturgical format that mimics what the adults do. This approach has had long enough to prove itself.

I am not talking about 'church school' either. We don't want to be mimicing an approach to learning that is centred on one-way transmission of information. If our goal is transformation, we can't be satisfied with kinds merely being able to regurgitate bible facts.

So what am I talking about?

I am focussed on gospel centred ministry with kids up until the end of primary school age. They fit roughly into brackets from 0-5, 6-9 and 10-12.

The ministry is for them. It puts children at the centre of their learning, which is shaped to their needs rather than some other standard. It is also their ministry. Children are in the process of becoming agents of ministry (as every christian is) and the expectation is that as they take steps as disciples of Jesus they will begin taking the word to others, and welcoming others in.

Kids' Ministry is where kids can come and hear from God. God speaks to kids and works through kids (think of Samuel, and the servant girl who saw Laban get healed). We create vivid, age appropriate opportunities for kids to hear God's big story, to see how He has acted in history for the salvation of His people. We don't crowd out the Word with all the things we want to say about it. We tell a bible story or teach a passage vividly, expound 1 main point about the passage and show kids how hearing from God challenges us to live differently.

We teach all different kinds of kids; kids who love to read, act, sing, move, calculate, draw, reflect, lead, welcome, garden etc. In our teaching we actively avoid favouring any of these modes above the others. Jesus has no favourites and neither do we. Thinking of different active modes of teaching the main point is harder than simply reading a talk, printing a worksheet and singing a song. But if we believe that Jesus is for all kinds of kids equally, we will put in the effort to make sure that no child is made to feel that their preffered mode of learning is less important to Jesus.

Kids' ministry looks both inward and outward. We challenge our kids from all of scripture to know the Lord and live for him. At the same time we look outwards to our community, creating opportunities to draw kids in so they can meet Jesus too. We normalise telling stories from scripture and prepare kids for the challenge of unbelief. We show them the apostles who stood for Jesus and knew his presence with them in the midst of suffering.

Does it work? Is it actually too risky to abandon old approaches for something that is yet to prove itself?

The effect of this ministry over the long term is yet to be seen. We have certainly seen the word of God at work in kids as they apply it in their classrooms, in their playground scuffles and in their struggles at home. Our big question is whether the Word will continue to live on in their hearts as they go on to middle school and beyond, facing the challenge of living for Jesus in systems that seemingly have no place for him.

But we trust God who promises that the word He sends out never comes back empty. We trust that those who've heard Him will keep on listening for His voice; that having cried out to God and known his comfort, they will continue to cry out to Him; that having taken the word to others, they will be prepared to be the lone voice for Jesus in even more hostile places.

Pray with us now for Kids' Ministry in Japan, that God would hold on to his little ones and add to their number.