A big responsibility within children’s ministry is equipping and encouraging those who are directly discipling boys and girls. On this episode of “Better Children’s Ministry,” David Jesse talks with Krysten Norkaitis, EGM’s Leadership Developer, about some of the most effective strategies for training volunteers and encouraging them in their own spiritual lives.

Krysten shares about the impact that simple acts of love and kindness can have on a child’s spiritual growth and how the most important qualification for any KidMin participant is their love for God and for children.

Highlights:

0:50 – Getting a little too creative with the Creation story

6:05 – What it takes to be involved in children’s ministry

8:30 – The impact of Mr. Dennis

10:00 – There’s nothing more important than love

11:30 – Reminding them how important the work is

14:08 – What does God’s Word say about equipping volunteers?

16:49 – Tips to Pastors/Directors

19:33 – Tips for volunteers

“Creativity” can be a scary word for some of us. Many people don’t feel equipped to teach children because they don’t feel like they’re creative people. On this episode of “Better Children’s Ministry,” Krysten Norkaitis chats with David Jesse about what “being creative” really means.

Highlights:

4:20 – That 8 year old in your class might grow up to be in your shoes

6:20 – What’s the worst way to teach the Bible to children?

7:59 – Common misunderstandings of creativity

8:28 – An exercise for cultivating creativity

12:33 – What does God’s Word say about creativity?

13:39 – Why is being creative so intimidating?

15:28 – Practical tips for teaching the Bible creatively

18:05 – Encouragement for the discouraged

As VBS season continues, David Jesse sat down with Tara Thomas to talk about her experience this year. Her church designed a VBS program with differently-abled children in mind.

In this episode, David and Tara talk about the inherent value of every person created in the image of God and what a blessing it has been for her church to minister to special needs children and families in the local community. Tara offers encouragement to children’s ministry leaders – or anyone, really – who wants to create a welcoming environment at church for people with special needs.

Highlights

3:19 – VBS looks a little different at Tara’s church

7:03 – Why are some families with special needs children reluctant to come to church?

10:42 – Immeasurable joys

13:53 – Welcome partners in the life of the church

15:52 – A wake-up call and an opportunity

17:43 – We have a gift from God coming into our churches

19:27 - God equips the called

Experiential teaching – helping children experience the feelings associated with a Bible truth – is not a method invented by EGM. In fact, it is modeled by Jesus himself and takes its cues from Deuteronomy 6. In this episode of “Better Children’s Ministry,” David Jesse and Daniel Watts talk about why experiential teaching is a crucial element of ministry when our goal is life transformation.

Download a FREE Bible lesson that follows the biblical principles of discipleship found in Deuteronomy 6: https://egmworld.org/bible-study-for-kids/

Highlights:

1:12 – The “them” in “Talk About Them” is really important

3:13 – Creating an experiential activity

7:14 – There’s 500 children in Chile who think Americans hold their chairs during church

10:44 – Experiential activities in the EGM office

14:00 – Bringing the everyday experiences of life into Sunday morning

16:12 – This isn’t a teaching method invented by EGM

18:52 – Encouragement for the discouraged

“So in a lot of children’s ministry work, there’s Bible stories told, Bible communicated, then there’s some questions and if the kids can get the right answers, then the kids are happy, the teacher’s happy, the parents are happy….but underneath the surface is all this real life stuff that’s going on with children that never gets touched.”

In this episode of “Better Children’s Ministry,” David talks with Daniel Watts about why it is crucial to create an environment where boys and girls can talk about what’s happening in their everyday lives and how God’s Word relates to that.

Highlights:

5:15 – Bridging God’s Word into our real lives

10:20 – It’s super hard!

12:19 – You can say what you really think at church

14:00 – If it’s meaningful to them, it’s meaningful to us

18:15 – Children are formulating views that will carry into adulthood

19:46 – Become comfortable with the awkward and the messy

As we disciple children, as we model our Savior, as we try to live out the life that he would have lived, as we model Christ and help children become more like Christ, praying has to be a big part of that. In this episode of “Better Children’s Ministry,” Tara Thomas and David Jesse share about the honor and responsibility of leading children into the presence of the Lord.

Highlights

2:00 – A children’s prayer conference in Egypt

5:20 – When prayer time gets real

6:45 – Kids have real problems just like us

8:03 – As disciplers, we must build prayer into our Bible lesson time

11:57 – The children we lead will teach us about God as we pray together

16:20 – Leading kids to the presence of the Lord

19:08 – Encouragement for the discouraged

Have you ever been personally transformed by the Bible lesson you prepared for KidMin? Spending time with God’s Word before presenting it to children is an important aspect of biblical leadership. In this episode, David is joined by Tara Thomas, EGM’s Mobilization Coordinator and a former Children’s Ministry Director. Tara shares about the challenges we face trying to prepare our hearts before Sunday morning and the importance of weighing the “urgent” against the “important.”

Highlights

4:34 – Spiritual transformation in the life of a child starts with spiritual transformation in our own lives

5:16 – Weighing the urgent against the important

8:20 – Scheduling time to sit before the Lord before we lead on Sunday

9:49 – It benefits children to watch their leaders be transformed by God’s Word

14:06 – Discipleship is about more than teaching

14:51 – Encouragement for the discouraged

If we only do one thing in children’s ministry, it must be helping boys and girls connect God’s Word to their real life. Even if we have a super creative Bible lesson, a fun craft and the best snack prepared, we haven’t done our jobs if the children leave church unsure about real-life Bible application. We want to help them answer the question, “So What?” This episode of “Better Children’s Ministry” is about how to do that.

Highlights

2:00 – What is the “So What” issue?

5:40 – “So What?” is not just a struggle in the KidMin world

8:42 – Knowing the real lives of the kids we serve

12:48 – “Talk About Them”

17:45 – Getting the right answers isn’t the goal

18:40 – Encouragement for the discouraged

If we only do one thing in children’s ministry, it must be helping boys and girls connect God’s Word to their real life. Even if we have a super creative Bible lesson, a fun craft and the best snack prepared, we haven’t done our jobs if the children leave church unsure about real-life Bible application. We want to help them answer the question, “So What?” This episode of “Better Children’s Ministry” is about how to do that.

Highlights

2:00 – What is the “So What” issue?

5:40 – “So What?” is not just a struggle in the KidMin world

8:42 – Knowing the real lives of the kids we serve

12:48 – “Talk About Them”

17:45 – Getting the right answers isn’t the goal

18:40 – Encouragement for the discouraged

Is there a kid in your church who might be more difficult to love than others? When you see them coming, do you cringe inwardly? In this episode, David and Daniel discuss the importance of ministering to boys and girls with a Gospel mindset.

Highlights:

2:18 – The sister of Attila the Hun

7:44 – We can be hopeful that God will use and transform troubled children

10:02 - Misbehavior can be addressed differently in church than in school

12:35 – Practical tips for managing a misbehaving child

14:20 – When spiritual transformation is our goal, motive matters

18:06 – Approaching misbehaving children with a Gospel mindset

20:02 – Ministering to misbehavior requires more people

22:00 – Encouragement for the discouraged