Children seem to be born with a desire to serve others. Even a
2-year-old will automatically comfort a crying baby by sharing a
toy.
In 2004 when the tsunami hit Southeast Asia, and again when the
hurricanes hit the southern United States in 2005, kids were among
the first to get involved. Children are pre-wired for service!
And Christian children have an added motivation to serve God.
They serve the same God and have the same spiritual gifts as the
rest of us. And they've been given the same challenge and promise
from God: "You will be my witnesses, telling people about me
everywhere -- in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to
the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). For children, that might sound
something like this: "You'll be my witnesses, telling people about
me everywhere -- at home and school, throughout your town, across
the country, and to the ends of the earth."
Let's take a look at the many ways you can incorporate service
into the fiber of your ministry from home to church to community to
country to the world -- just as in Acts 1:8.
Service at Home
It's not as exciting as a missions trip to Africa, but
contributing at home is truly the foundation for a lifetime of
service. Here are ideas you can use to get kids serving at
home.
- Helper's Hints -- On slips of paper, have kids write or draw a
picture of a way to serve each family member. Then place the slips
in a decorated shoebox. For example, kids might write, "Make Mom's
bed," "Give a hug," or "Do the dishes." Each morning kids can
choose a slip of paper and use the "hint" to serve someone that
day. Periodically have kids come up with new ideas to add to their
boxes at home.
- Flower Power -- Younger children can create six
construction-paper flowers, while older kids may enjoy arranging
six artificial flowers in a decorative plastic cup. Have kids write
one way they'll serve their families on each flower. Kids can place
the flowers at home where they'll see them every day and remember
to serve.
- Love Language -- Discuss with kids how service is doing what
someone else needs, not simply doing what we like to do for others.
Then ask kids to identify meaningful ways they can show love to
their families. Have kids create a service plan for the following
week and keep a short journal of people's reactions to their acts
of service. Share reports the following week.
- Service Celebration -- Challenge kids to complete one act of
kindness for each family member during the week. In your classroom,
have kids share ways they served their families so other kids get
new ideas. Then serve the kids snacks as a celebration of their
service.
Service at Church
Provide opportunities for kids and their families to serve at
church with these ideas.
- Sneak Surprise -- Have preteens wash all the car windshields in
your parking lot during worship services. Leave behind preprinted
notes that say, "Jesus Loves You!"
- Toy Wash -- Children can help your nursery staff by washing
toys. Preschoolers and preteens can work together to scrub plastic
toys according to your nursery policies.
- Birthday Party for Jesus -- Have an "after Christmas" party
where children can give their gently used toys to your children's
ministry or a shelter in honor of Jesus.
- Family Workday -- Announce a workday for families at your
church. Make a list of chores such as vacuuming, painting,
gardening, or spring cleaning. Provide coffee, juice, and
doughnuts. Create "To Do" and "Done" columns on a wall, and write
instructions for each job on a sticky note. Post the notes on the
"To Do" side. Families can choose their projects and celebrate by
moving the sticky note to the "Done" column when they finish.
- "I'm Serving God" Buttons -- Have kids design buttons that say,
"I'm serving God!" Make the buttons by cutting out 3-inch diameter
card stock circles and having kids decorate them using stickers,
markers, and glitter. Use a hot glue gun (adults only) to fasten
clasps (available at craft stores) on the backs. Discuss the
various ways people serve in your church, then have children thank
these people with a handmade button. Give every child a button,
too, as you celebrate their service at church.
Service in the Community
Seventy-three percent of kids believe they can make a difference
in their communities. We only need to provide opportunities for
children to act on this belief. Try these opportunities.
- Volunteer to read. Libraries and schools are always looking for
volunteer readers. Offer to staff your public library's reading
hour with families from your church, or encourage kids to help
younger readers at their schools outside regular classes.
- Start a Chronicles of Narnia Club. Draw families into your
church by hosting a family reading night. Let younger children
"host" while older kids read. With the recent interest in The
Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, this is the perfect story to
use to kick-start a new outreach.
- Be a good neighbor. Older kids can help neighbors by weeding,
mowing, painting, house-sitting, or pet-sitting. Preschoolers enjoy
leaving flowers or handmade cards on doorsteps.
- Give something special. Encourage families to clean closets by
giving gently used clothing and toys directly to less fortunate
families or organizations supporting families in need.
Service Across the Country
As children get older, they gain more understanding of needs
outside their communities. Elementary and preteen kids love to get
involved with national projects.
- Stuff Envelopes -- Most nonprofit organizations or church
denominations have regular mailings requiring hours of stuffing and
labeling. Ask your church or favorite charity about their
needs.
- Pray for States -- Pick one location each month and have kids
pray for the people living there and those who need to hear about
Jesus. Share stories from missionaries your church supports in the
regions you choose.
- Help in Hardship -- Kids hear about needs within our country
and want to help. When natural disasters occur, kids and families
can get involved with well-known national relief agencies such as
these.
American Red Cross (www.redcross.org) has a number of ways kids and
families can gather funds or needed items during national crises.
Contact your local chapter for more details.
Salvation Army (www.salvationarmy.org) has many ways for
families with younger children to serve, including serving holiday
meals, ministry to the homebound, clothing drives, bell ringing,
and special needs at times of national disaster. Check with your
local chapter to see how your kids can serve.
Celebrate your kids' service on National & Global Youth
Service Day. Youth Service America sponsors this day to focus on
youth involvement in lifelong service.
Service Around the World
The world is a big place, but children better understand their
impact when service projects are tangible and practical. Kids'
vision and comprehension of the world expands when we involve them
in hands-on, meaningful projects.
- Prayer Aware -- When kids pray for other
children, they make a deeper connection to those in need. Have kids
choose a world region to learn about and pray for the children
there regularly.
- Special Operations -- Samaritan's Purse's
Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes have children gather and send
practical items such as school supplies and toys to kids around the
world.
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HELPFUL HINTS
Use these pointers to keep your children's service projects
running effectively.
- Plan ahead. Even the best-intentioned service projects can
backfire if they're not properly planned. Take time to map,
coordinate, staff, and evaluate every service project you sponsor.
Your extra effort will pay off in the form of repeat volunteers,
happy staff, and fruitful projects.
- Prepare adults. When adults have realistic expectations about
children's service projects, working alongside -- not over -- kids
is more productive and meaningful for both groups. Explain to
adults that by serving with children, they're helping children
learn to serve. Encourage adults to focus on the goal of mentoring
kids for service -- not frustrations and inconveniences.
- Be specific. Go over what's expected of children -- and what
isn't. Everyone -- adults included -- needs to know what each job
involves. Be clear about behavioral expectations for children and
what jobs may be beyond children's abilities.
- Give everyone a task. Kids feel valued when they're given
responsibility, and they'll rise to the occasion. Structure tasks
so children can do as much as they're able.
- Provide for needs. Plan for transportation, supplies, and
snacks.
- Encourage kids. Help kids be excellent representatives for
Jesus by encouraging them and honoring their contributions.
- Structure projects so they're age-appropriate. Younger children
need more hands-on projects. Instead of a canned food drive, have
younger kids deliver the collected cans to the food pantry and
stack them on the empty shelves so they can tangibly see the impact
of their service.
SERVING MAKES KIDS DIFFERENT
Kids benefit from serving others. Children for Children
(www.children4children.org), a nonprofit organization promoting
hands-on volunteerism and giving for kids, identifies several
benefits children reap when they serve. They learn traits such as
responsibility, leadership, critical thinking, problem-solving,
self-respect, self-discipline, self-motivation, and tolerance.
When we teach a child to serve, we're also teaching that child
to become a servant for life because children who serve become
adults who serve. Consider these statistics from Engaging Youth in
Lifelong Service (Independent Sector).
- Adults who volunteered as children give more money and
volunteer more time than adults who began serving later in
life.
- Two-thirds of adult volunteers began serving as children.
- Those who volunteer as children are twice as likely to
volunteer as those who don't.
- Across incomes and age groups, those who volunteered as
children give and volunteer more than those who didn't.
- Those who volunteered as youth and whose parents volunteered
became the most generous adults when it comes to giving their
time.
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Gordon and Becki West are the founders of KidZ Kan!, a
ministry of KidZ At Heart International (www.kidZatheart.org).
Please keep in mind that phone numbers, addresses, and prices are
subject to change.
