Investing in Children As The Church of Tomorrow.
I remember on this one day I went to church, and after mass, the priest who had presided over mass gave instructions that no one should leave the church before the announcements had been read. And he gave a very important speech afterwards, one that lingers on in my mind 10 years later.
He had noticed that most of the young ones had not given offering, and if they had, most had given Kshs 10 or Kshs 20 coins. His address was to the parents, and he highly discouraged this, reminding them that the children were still growing, and what they learnt as young ones would grow up with them too. He advised the parents that it were even better if they did not give any offering themselves, but gave their children a good amount to offer during mass. Then they’d realise the value of offering even as they grew up.
Parents may really downplay their part when it comes to nurturing their children for the kingdom of God whereas, they have the most important role. Children will pick up habits from what they observe being done at home, and one of the most important things parents may unintentionally fail in is in lack of/ little time spent helping their children learn more about God.
“It is not very easy, I know, to preach Christ to little children, but there is nothing else worth preaching.”
Charles Spurgeon
THE ACTIVE ROLE OF THE PARENT.
Gone are the days when children were only nurtured by their Sunday School Teachers. The world keeps changing and with it new developments. Free resources are available and freely accessible so long as you have access to good internet connection. We literally have everything at the palm of our hands through our smart gadgets.
While I in no way intend to downplay the role of Sunday School and its significance, here are 5 things you can do to complement Sunday school teachings at home:
☆ Cultivate a church atmosphere in your home – Spend time with your kids doing Bible Study, pray with them and even allocate them duties during Bible Study. Have a specific time when you do this everyday.
☆ Maximize on animations as a fun way of helping their young minds understand concepts from The Bible – Children love cartoons. You can easily get these from YouTube Channels. Some of my favourite Kids Channel for Gospel are Superbook, Bible Stories – The Teachings of Jesus and The Holy Tales: Bible.
☆ A Bible Verse A Day Keeps The Enemy Away – Always teach your child a Bible Verse. It could be from your Bible Study Time. It could be from a Bible or a Moral Story. But always ensure that your child has learnt a Bible Verse.
☆ Supplement Animations with Children’s Bibles for ages 6 – 10, or as soon as your child can start reading – Oh, how I miss the days I was a child! My dad bought me a Children’s Bible at age 9 and I could hardly be parted from it. I carried it everywhere, to school, to church, I even slept with it!
The mind of a child is young. They are yet to discover what they like best. It is therefore important to implement a variety of methods to get through to them.
☆ Supplement Animations with colouring material for children ages 0 – 5 – Ensure you have adequate material in your house for colouring. You can get this cheaply from any bookstore near your home.
Got any questions, comments or enquiries? Please leave us a comment below and we’ll be sure to get back to you!
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