“Are you ready for fun?!?”
“Louder! We can’t hear you!”
“Who’s ready to sing some songs!?!”
Lifeless and relatively apathetic faces stared back at us as we did our best to breathe life into a 3 day children’s program we came up with on the fly at the church we’re working with here in Moldova. We pulled out our best songs, made fools of ourselves doing drama’s and at the end of the day only recieved a small burst of enthusiasm from the audience of 3 to 14 year olds when we decided to play games outside with them.
There was something almost disturbing about the silence of the kids as they sat up straight and uncomfortable to listen and sing songs. It was discouraging, we had never had so much trouble with a children’s program before. More than anything else we wanted to reach them. We wanted the stories we were telling to become alive and exciting so that they would remember them and think back on them their entire lives. We didn’t want to just be boring especially when serving God and seeing him act has become such an interactive part of our daily lives this past year.
Our translator told us as we were trying to encourage the kids to answer questions, do crazy hand motions and sing really loud that they just aren’t comfortable doing stuff like that. Especially in a church. Later as I prayed it over I began to realize that was probably our biggest problem. The Orthodox Church in Moldova is the only church that most families will be familiar with. Through out the generations the values of the traditional church are the ones that stick and although most people will attend church on special occassions they have never heard of engaging in an active, living relationship with God.
For these kids the idea of a loving, approachable God who would invite them to play with him, delight in their laughter and love to hear them singing loud songs and having fun in his house just doesn’t exist. They were uneasy until we let them out of the church to play. Watching their serious faces made me think about the story in the Bible where Jesus rebukes his disciples for keeping the children away from him. He tells them to let the children come to him. I couldn’t help but think that it broke God’s heart to see kids so uncomfortable sitting in a church to learn about him.
I was given the opportunity to be the one to choose and tell the Bible story at the final club. For two days I prayed into it and finally decided to tell them the story of how Jesus calmed the storm. We started off talking about what we are afraid of. The kids threw out typical things like mice, snakes and chickens; then one girl said she was afraid of God…
Now please put all theological stuff about the fear of God aside. Little kids don’t typically know that stuff. We were talking about our worst fears, not reverent fear. She was scared of God. The kids in the Bible story I mentioned before WANTED to come to Jesus. They were attracted to him. They weren’t afraid of him. He was a safe person, a fun person, someone they were comfortable going to and that was the way Jesus wanted it to be.
Jesus died to restore perfect relationship with us. He died to take away all of the sin, fear, guilt, shame and pride that keeps us from walking by his side in true freedom. He died to make us sons and daughters who go to their Father knowing he gives good gifts not performance driven slaves who do good out of the fear of their master.
I continued the lesson sharing a time when I was very scared and Jesus comforted me. Then our team acted out the Bible story along with several kids who were brave enough to help us by acting as the disciples in the boat. At the end of the drama we were able to tell the kids about why the disciples didn’t have to be afraid – they had Jesus in the boat. We related it back to them saying that because God truly loves us and is all powerful, all knowing and in control we can trust Him to take care of us too and we don’t have to fear anything. And because we don’t have to fear we can be bold and do great things for God. Things like slay giants, move mountains, or even raise the dead. After all that is their destiny, it’s who God created them to be.
At this point a change had come across the room. The kids were listening. They were engaged in what we were presenting and they looked happy and relaxed. As I wrapped up the Bible story Jamie came up and built on what we’d just learned to tell the kids about making declarations. Then we did it…
In true World Race fashion every kid in that room screamed out declarations at the top of their lungs with huge smiles on their faces.
WE ARE LOVED!!!
I AM FREE FROM FEAR!!!
GOD IS FOR ME!!!
I AM KIND!!!
I AM GOOD!!!
I AM BLESSED!!!
GOD HEARS MY PRAYERS!!!
I AM BOLD!!!
FEARLESS!!!
