Each week I like to ask different ministry leaders to write a blog about what’s happening in their area of ministry or discuss a strategy for their area of service. This week I heard some awesome stuff happening in OneLife Kidz and wanted to make sure you heard it! So check this out below, written by our Elementary Kidz Leader Cris Patterson.

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As we approach the Celebration of Easter Sunday, are we aware of the opportunities to share hope with our kids this week? At One Life we get so excited to hear about Life Change because of the Holy Spirit working in us & through us! This excitement has been moving in our kidz area as well.

Each month in kids we are focusing on a virtue of God. This month is HOPE: believing that something good can come out of something bad. This past Sunday in our small groups we played a game with our Bible verse for the month, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 While reciting the verse we passed around a beach ball, and when we got to the word “trouble” the child with the ball shared a trouble they or someone close to them was having.

This quickly turned into honest real spiritual conversations with our 1st-5th graders, sharing such things as the trouble is ME, the trouble is my parents are divorced, trouble is I fight with my sister, trouble is I wish I could spend more time with my dad. This kind of transparency, vulnerability, and openness can only come from Jesus touching these children and giving them the courage to share.

We only get 40 hours per year with the average child in OneLife Kidz, but if we leverage that time to share the hope of Jesus overcoming the world and sacrificing his life for us with One Life Kidz, then they can see that He will love them through their problems as they mature into our future leaders & disciples. As a mom to 3 young men, I love when my boys open up & share how God is working in their lives, and I can’t wait for other parents to experience the same thing.

This Sunday we will have the opportunity to share the story of salvation with our kids. Please be in prayer and look for opportunities to ask questions, listen and share your hope in the Lord with your own child or a child you know. Leaders, Parents, OneLifers, God is ALIVE and Jesus is all the evidence we need to believe that God can do anything and that He keeps His promises! See you on EASTER!!! LOVE ONE LIFE KIDZ!!