Teaching children how to grow as disciples through service to others.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” Matthew 5: 6,7 (NIV)
As Christians, it is important that we commit to serving others. Why is service so central to Christian belief? Because we follow a God who serves. Even more, we follow a Christ who loves others. We have within us a Holy Spirit who has endowed us with gifts expressly for the purpose of serving others. We dare not squander the riches the Spirit has given us.
Some people complain that they would gladly serve others, but they don’t know how or where. Others have made a habit of serving others and always find themselves with tons of opportunities. Once they start, they can’t stop. Make serving others a habit. Develop this habit in your children.
I incorporate an outreach or mission project into my Sunday School lessons every 2 months. Here are some of the projects that I have tried:
You're It. Pass It On
Teach your kids to make kindness a habit. HelpOthers.org helps you do this with a fun game. I like to play this game with 4th and 5th graders, but it will work for any age. It's a game of pay-it-forward: anonymously make someone smile with an act of kindness, leave behind a card asking them to keep the ripple going. It's easy and fun. They will even send you printed cards for free or you can download and print them yourself. Their website has stories and kindness ideas to help get you started.
Shoe Drive:
Immediately following the earthquake in Haiti, our children’s Sunday school classes hosted a shoe drive for Soles4Souls. Roughly 30 children made posters, collection boxes, and flyers. They collected 356 pairs of new and gently shoes. They even convinced OKA b Shoes to donate one new pair of shoes for every pair they collected, bringing their grand total to 712 shoes. Visit http://www.soles4souls.org/ for more information on this wonderful organization and to find out how you can host your very own shoe drive.
God Loves You:
Our church hosts a weekly soup kitchen. On a regular basis, our children make “God Loves You” cards to give to the patrons. Our women’s group puts together and distributes hygiene bags that are filled with tooth brushes, tooth paste, soap, shampoo, etc. The cards are added to the bags.
Bible and A Buck:
The children collected unused Bibles. They asked all donators to include one dollar (or a buck) inside the front cover of each Bible. The money was used to ship the Bibles to Bible Foundation, an organization that distributes Scripture all over the world. They made posters, flyers, and collection boxes. They even made a “Minute for Mission” announcement during the Sunday service. Visit Bible Foundation at http://www.bf.org/index.htm for more information.
Souper Bowl of Caring:
On Super Bowl Sunday, 140 million Americans will tune in to the Super Bowl football game. There will be parties with abundant food, friendship and fellowship. At the same time, there will be people worrying about staying warm, finding shelter and a warm meal. Each year our children join young people around the US as they demonstrate God’s love by loving their neighbors through the Souper Bowl of Caring. It’s a simple, yet significant act of caring for others. The children stand at the sanctuary door’s with a giant soup pot. As congregants arrive for the service they drop $1 (or more) in the soup pot. For more information on this great program visit http://www.souperbowl.org .
"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in," Matthew 25:35
Easter Goodie Bags:
This Sunday our 4th and 5th grade classes stayed after church. They brought $5 each and walked to the local Wendy’s for lunch. Then, they returned to church and made Easter goodie bags similar to something you would receive at a birthday party. The bags were donated to a group home for boys. They will be handed out with dinner during the week of Easter. In addition to showing God’s love to the boys, this activity was a fun, special event for this group of children, who are too young to participate in the youth group activities at our church.
Living Water
Fill an ice cooler with bottled water. Take the cooler to an outdoor event like a parade, fun run, air show, or busy park. Hand out free water with small cards printed with:
John 7:38 “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”
Or
Revelation 7:17 “For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; ‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’ ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’ ”
