6 Simple Reminders for Engaging Kids in Conversation

If you are in #kidmin or work with children in any capacity, then you talk to kids all the time. As you "talk" with kids, don't miss opportunities to engage them in a deeper conversation. Here are 6 simple reminders for engaging kids in conversation from Henry Dutton. Henry is a CentriKid camp director who excels at training camp staff & modeling how to have intentional conversations with kids.

1. Call children by their names. This is very important because it communicates that you care. For all of us, our name is one of the best things we like to hear...its how we are wired.
2. Ask open-ended questions (about family, friends, interests, school, etc.). If they can shake their head or answer yes/no to your question, then you won't go very deep with this conversation.
3. Ask appropriate personal or spiritual questions. Too many times, adults shy away from asking kids personal questions. Remember, kids don't have the same awkward filter that adults do...so they are happy to answer personal questions and talk about spiritual things.
4. Share appropriate personal stories with kids. It can be a big relief to find out someone they look up to has been through the same thing. The story can help solidify the point you are making with them too.
5. Strive to be honest, genuine, and caring. If we are genuine with kids, we model how they should be when they grow up. They will begin to reciprocate that genuineness now, and it can become a part of all their conversations.
6. Have fun! Smile! Strive to foster a responsible sense of childlikeness. It’s okay to be a big kid and express to a child that you enjoy hanging out and chatting with them!

A Captivating, Powerful Video

It's a great reminder to look at people through the eyes of Jesus.

CLICK HERE: http://youtu.be/cDDWvj_q-o8

 

 

What does it mean to see people through the eyes of Jesus?

What are some things that hinder us from seeing people as Jesus sees them?

 How can we be more intentional about seeing people as Jesus sees them?

Tuesday with Tiff: It's all about the kids

TRUTH ABOUT SERVING IN THE GREENHOUSE: It's a great place to meet and make friends!

TRUTH ABOUT SERVING IN THE GREENHOUSE: It's a great place to build on those relationships!

MYTH ABOUT SERVING IN THE GREENHOUSE: It's a great place to meet and make friends and build those relationships WHILE serving.


We are a team and it's our goal that we build relationships with those that we serve with and do life together. But when we are serving, we are ON.

What does that mean? It means once that pre-service meeting is over, it's go time! It's no longer about us. It's not about us making friends or building those relationships. Our focus, attention, and energy transfers over to the kiddos in the room.

When those kiddos enter the room, it's about them... their safety, if they're having fun, if they're discovering Jesus, and if they are building relationships--with others and with YOU!

If you are focusing on interacting with another leader in the room then you are missing out on a great opportunity to love on the kids, to help them feel accepted and to build trust with you... a chance for them to see Jesus through you!

I like to use the "20 second" rule. If you find yourself talking to a team member more than 20 seconds than that means you are having your focus gone for far too long on the real reason you are there to serve.

But Pastor Tiffany, I joined a serving team so I could meet people and make friends. GREAT! I want you to and I want those to build and grow. But that can happen in the context of a lunch or play date outside of service or being in a small group together or communication throughout the week.

Once you step onto the playing field, so to speak, it would be so beneficial for you to back each other up and look out for each other to make sure each other's focus is where it's supposed to be.

From infants, toddlers, preschoolers, to 4th graders: each area has a great opportunity to make the most of the opportunities God is bringing your way to reach these kids.

It's usually a good rule to be on the kids level---height I mean. If you serve with toddlers, sit on the floor with them. Did you catch that? With THEM. Play and engage with the kiddos. That's a perfect time to get to know them, encourage them, and be Jesus to them. Do what you can to stay away from just sitting there, engaging in conversation with fellow team members. It's not about them.. it's about the kids. It's about fully giving your attention to the kids.

Same thing with 4th graders... when they are spending time together in pre-service activities, what a FANTASTIC time to engage them.. to play with them.. to be silly with them.. to build that trust and relationship with them where when they leave, they can't wait to come back because they want to see YOU. They invite their friends because they want them to meet you--cause you're just so cool!

For 5 years I was a nanny to 2 kids, Alex (now 9) and Charlotte (now just shy of 6). One day, Alex was off to school and Charlotte and I were playing in the living room. Well, Charlotte was playing and I was probably surfing facebook on my phone. Something that she said to me has stuck with me ever since. Simple really but so eye opening. She came up to me and said, "Tiffy, be with me." I said, "I am with you Charlotte." She said, " No. Be WITH me." Wow.

Here I am in the room with her but not engaging her.. doing my own thing.

We are missing the mark and the goal of what God wants us to do if we aren't WITH the kids.

We have an incredible opportunity to see these kids grow... to help them get closer to God each time we are with them... So many people who come to Freedom are newer to a relationship with Christ. What an amazing opportunity we have to show and tell these kids about Jesus NOW... at a young age!

So remember this the next time you serve... it's all about the kids.

 

Where You Should Place the Oldest Kids in the Room

Check out what this ministry does!








This is a picture of our Stuart Campus.  We currently meet in a high school while we are building a permanent facility.

At this campus, grades 1-5 meet together.  Notice where we place the 4-5th grade boys.  Front and center.

This is intentional.  Why?

• Always target the oldest boy in the room when you teach and prepare programming.  Catch the 5th grade boy and you will engage all the kids.  Cool rolls down hill. 

• Don't place older kids behind younger kids.  If older kids see younger kids in front of them, they will think "this is babyish."

• Make the oldest kids the leaders.  This will bring engagement and ownership.  Get them on the praise team, let them be greeters, help take the offering, etc.

Still not convinced?  Here's a quote from the master at engaging kids...Walt Disney.

"We're not going to talk down to the kids.  Let's aim for the 12 year old.  The younger ones will watch, because they'll want to see what their older brothers and sisters are looking at."

Tuesday with Tiff: The Power to Change the World

 

Therefore GO and MAKE DISCIPLES of all nations.

Matthew 28:19

 

An excerpt from John Maxwell:

All the training in the world will provide only limited success if you don't turn your people loose to do the job. The way to do that is to give them responsibility, authority, and accountability.

 

For some people, responsibility is the easiest to give. But what is difficult for some leaders is allowing their people to keep the responsibility after it's been given. Poor managers want to control every detail of their people's work. When that happens, the potential leaders who work for them become frustrated and don't develop. Rather than desiring more responsibility, they become indifferent or avoid responsibility all together.

 

With responsibility must go authority. Winston Churchill said in an address, "I am your servant. You have the right to dismiss me when you please. What you have no right to do is ask me to bear responsibility without the power of action."

 

Once responsibility and authority have been given to people, they become empowered to make things happen. But we also have to be sure that they are making the right things happen. That's where accountability comes into the picture.

 

Do you struggle in giving responsibility, authority, or accountability to others?

------------------------------------

 

Pastor Tiffany's Response:

 

One thing that I love about God calling me to Freedom to be a pastor is that I get to serve with an amazing team- the Pastoral Staff. I love that we get to help Pastor Shane carry the vision that God has placed on Freedom and that he trusts us to help build it.

 

I also love that I get to serve alongside incredible people and lead you all.

 

I also enjoy the culture of Freedom and how we are always constantly changing and striving to become better and do what it takes to reach ONE MORE.

 

I love that we have the mindset that "The Goal is more important than the Role." We all have a very vital role to play to help us carry out the vision of Freedom.

 

I love that we don't function as many other churches do, or as many people think that we should--where the pastor does everything, has a hand in everything, and should make all the decisions.  Or that the pastor should be the one to make house calls, hospital visits, be at all the things they are invited to, and I could keep going but I'll stop myself there.

 

I love that this is a safe place to fail, to succeed, to walk into the unknown without knowing what's coming, and to raise people up. I love that we're not meant to do ministry on our own. That's not what being a leader is.. it's about raising others up and giving things away. It's about trusting others.. equipping, empowering and encouraging them to step into more of what God has for them.

 

It's a personal passion of mine to help others discover and live out their potential by inspiring them to seek it every day.

 

I take my calling as a pastor very seriously... Ephesians 4:11-12 says:

 

"And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ" Ephesians 4:11-12

 

It's my job as a pastor of Freedom to equip others to do the work of the ministry. To provide vision and oversight and to do only what I can do. Then we will be able to build up the body together, effectively and efficiently.

 

Roles change. Responsibilities change. They always have at Freedom and they always will.

 

I. LOVE. THAT!

 

I love that, for seasons at a time, things are given away and team members are trusted to carry out the vision.

 

Let's chat Greenhouse specific real quick.

 

It would be real easy for us to function as many other churches out there who buy curriculum and read the bold words and go by the book to lead in the classroom.

 

Wow. What an injustice that would be for YOU and for the kids.

 

God has made it very clear that I am supposed to pull out your God-given talent and for you to be stretched and grow as a leader by developing the time that we get to spend with the kids.

 

This is why I give the vision of the series and what each week should be about but allow and TRUST you to come up with how that time is spent and how we can reach these kids in the most beneficial way.

 

Childcare--- WE ARE FAR FROM IT! Do you agree?

 

We are a (say it aloud with me) SAFE and FUN place for KIDS to DISCOVER GOD.

 

What a mantle for us to carry.. a weight to carry.. such an important thing.

 

--if we aren't safe, then they won't come back.

--if we aren't fun and relational, they won't come back.

--if we don't do our best to help the kids get one step closer to God, they shouldn't come back.

 

We only have one or two hours a week to reach the kids that God brings in our doors. That's not a lot of time to pour into them the TRUTH and things that go against the culture of the world. That's not a lot of time for us to be a godly influence and provide a place where they can be comfortable and free to be themselves where we don't know what their week has looked like.

 

We don't know if they were just fighting with their parents or beaten or told they are mistakes. We don't know if they are bullied. We don't know if they have been neglected or emotionally abused at home. We don't know if they truly know what love is. We don't know if they are hearing about the Word and Truth any other time than what we have with them.

 

And what's sad and scary and makes me angry--- the new norm for people to attend church is once a month. ONCE. A. MONTH.

 

And I am sad to say that this statistic is very true for many who come to Freedom.

 

So there's many kids who we don't get the opportunity to see each week, or twice a month even.

 

We have a problem that needs a solution because there's urgency there.

 

What's one problem that our ministry was created to solve?

 

How about when we are trying to reach the kids with no godly male figure in their lives--let alone a male figure? That's our problem.

 

What's the solution? US. We need more males in the Greenhouse to be that for these kids.

 

Why? What's the urgency? We don't know if they will come back next week--or ever.

 

We have one chance to reach these kids. To give them and show them Truth.

 

Wow.. What an incredible thing that we get to do by serving in the Greenhouse at Freedom.

 

And what's so cool, is that YOU ARE THE ONES DOING IT! By me allowing myself to get out of the way and allowing and trusting others to lead and take responsibility, to fail and succeed, it's raising others up and is carrying out the vision.

 

INCREDIBLE.

 

So know this.

 

I'm not meant to do it all. I'm meant to be in tune with God and where we're going and to find the right people to help us get there. That's you.

 

I am trusting you.

 

Lead well team. We're in this together. We have an amazing opportunity to reach ONE MORE or we have the responsibility of letting opportunities pass us by and missing out on all God has for us and this ministry.

 

We can do this.

 

All for ONE MORE.

 

 

 

I love you guys,

-Pastor Tiffany

 

 



Tuesday with Tiff: A Time to Heal

Hope for the Wounded

 

Have you ever scraped yourself and looked down only to be surprised by the amount of blood? The injury may not have been painful at the time, but suddenly you're looking at a wound that needs a bandage fast.

   The goals of any first aid effort include protecting a person's life and giving the wound the best chance of healing quickly. But every wound heals differently. The person's age and health as well as the size and location of the cut and its susceptibility to infection all affect a wound's ability to heal. Plus, some people simply heal faster than others.

   While wounds on our physical bodies may take a while to heal and may leave scars, the wounds on the inside-those unseen-often are the hardest to overcome and heal. The physical wounds can be alleviated with modern first aid practices or a trip to the doctor, but the wounds on the inside, whether emotional or relational, can be more complicated to heal.

   All of s have been through hard times in life. Maybe we had to make a tough choice and we felt like something inside of us died. Maybe someone said something to us that cut us to the core. Maybe we experienced a loss or moment of pain that left us torn apart. We live in a fallen and imperfect world, and sometimes life throws painful punches.

   But the good news is that God draws near to those who are wounded and brokenhearted. God not only remains with us but longs to renew us. God's first aid kit looks a bit different than a medical first aid kit. Instead of using gauze and antiseptic, God draws near us with His presence. Through the Holy Spirit, God comforts and encourages and heals us in areas of our souls and spirits that medical science can't explain.

   Just as physical wounds heal in different ways over different time frames, God's healing touch in each of our lives differs as well. For some, God's healing may come in a single moment, but for others it may come over a span of months or years. God is the Great Physician of our souls and we can entrust ourselves wholly to Him.

 

1) Which do you tend to heal from more quickly, the scrapes and bruises of life that people can see or the scrapes and bruises of life that people can't see?

 

 

 

 

   Throughout His life and ministry on earth, Jesus healed many people. The eyes of the blind were opened. The deaf heard. The crippled walked. Jesus healed not only people's physical bodies, He brought healing to their hearts and minds. That's important to remember because God doesn't limit healing to our physical bodies, but He also wants to heal our hearts and emotions.

   The theme of Psalm 147 is a prayer to restore Israel's main city: Jerusalem. The psalmist began by praising God for His wondrous works of healing and restoration. God was physically restoring the city, but He was also healing the people emotionally and spiritually.

 

 

2) Read Psalm 147. When in your life have you experienced God as Healer of your emotions? (vs. 3)

 

 

 

 

 

   In the Old Testament, one of God's names is Jehovah Rapha, which translates to "The Lord Who Heals." In Exodus 15, God led His people, the Israelites, into the wilderness. As they desperately searched for water in the desert, God miraculously provided. In the wondrous provision, God promised not to plague the Israelites like He did the Egyptians in Exodus 7:14-11:10.

 

 

3) Read Exodus 15:22-26. What steps did the Israelites have to take to experience God as their Healer?

 

 

 

4) Look up the following passages. According to each passage, what are some examples of the healing available to us from God?

Psalm 41:4

Jeremiah 3:22

Luke 4:18

 

 

 

5) Which of the areas listed above do you most long for God to heal in your life?

 

 

 

 

 

 

   God knows that we need healing in many different areas of our lives. One of the great moments we have to look forward to is described in Revelation. In the new heaven, God will have trees specifically designed for spiritual healing.

 

 

6) Read Revelation 22:1-5. What comfort do you find knowing this is a snapshot of heaven?

 

 

 

 

   The prophetic book of Ezekiel describes God's desire to restore Israel during their exile in Babylon. But a new king wasn't going to do the trick. Instead, Israel was in need of a full, head-to-toe makeover. God promised to heal them from the inside out.

 

 

 

7) Read Ezekiel 36:26. What new work does God long to do within us according to this passage?

 

 

 

8) Spend some time praying and asking God for His healing in the areas of your life that need healing.

 

 

 

 

 

Digging Deeper:

Read Mark 6:30-32. Jesus instructed His disciples to come away from the hustle and bustle of life and ministry in order to be restored. What role does rest have in your own ability to experience God's restoration and healing? In your life, do you tend to heal more quickly when you stay busy or take time to rest? In what area of your life do you sense God nudging you to embrace rest more?

 

 

 

Bonus Activity:

Reflecting on this lesson, make a list of people you know who need healing, whether physical, emotional, or relational. Each day this week, pray for the people on your list and consider dropping them a note of encouragements in the mail.

 

 

 

 

Let's heal, together.

-Pastor Tiffany

200 New People in 1 Week Signed up to Serve!

Check out how this church got over 200 new team members in one weekend:


Last weekend, we signed up over 200 new volunteers for our children's ministry.  Want to know how?

It wasn't from a pulpit announcement.
It wasn't from an ad in the bulletin.
It wasn't from a tear jerking video during the service.
It wasn't from a live testimony during the service.

So how did we do it?

Personal, 1-1 invites.  Every one of those 200 new volunteers were personally asked if they would join the team.  Our staff and volunteers simply got out among the people and made the ask.

Were we desperate?  Yes.  You see we were just about to launch two new services and needed a ton of new volunteers to make it happen.  So we went with the most effective, proven method of building a volunteer team.  Individual asks.

If you need more volunteers (which you and I always will), go with what works.  1-1 invites.