by Charlotte Harris
I can’t say it was more than I expected. I knew going into this that this “project” was going to consume my life for at least a year. I had worked in ministry before doing special events, then just the 5th and 6th graders. But this was my first time as the head honcho, the boss, the Children’s Director! I’m fairly young I turned 26 in July so although I feel like I’m on the fast track to thirty, some people still see me as a baby. To be honest I felt like a baby. I don’t have kids of my own and here I was in charge of over one hundred of them. I was a little nervous.
I can’t even remember most of my first year. The church that took a chance on this young kid to oversee the rest of the kids didn’t have much. Each classroom had a box of markers and some paper. They where painted a dull, dirty yellow with adult furniture. Nothing in the rooms was age appropriate. Did I ever have my work cut out for me.
I quickly joined a group in my area who called themselves CCMA (which stands for Christian Children’s Ministry Association). It’s a group of Children’s Directors in my County. They get together once a month, have a speaker, eat lunch, pray and fellowship. They talk about what they are doing at the different churches; what curriculum they are using, what VBS they will be using, and ways to save money. They would talk about things the kids and families in our area are struggling with and how we as the church could come alongside them to help.
I was so encouraged by this group and meeting with seasoned Children’s Directors that had been doing this for years. It was so encouraging to be able to go to them with my questions and partner with them in sharing props for VBS. How do you encourage and keep your volunteers? How do you do children’s baptisms?
Like I said, I don’t remember much about my first year. What I do remember is the relationships I built with my brothers and sisters in ministry. I have now taken it upon myself to call or e-mail all the churches in my area to introduce myself and invite the children’s directors to our CCMA meetings. It’s so important that as we are training our kids to learn, love, and follow a savior that loves them. We do the same for our comrades at the surrounding churches. None of us should be doing this alone. If every Children’s Director held a corner of the net, how many kids do you think would fall through the cracks?
I encourage you this week to find the churches in your area and call up the children’s Director. See if he or she wants to go to lunch. If you start there God will bless the rest.
