22 May God at Work: Why Serving Encourages More than Just the People We Serve
Written by Jay Hunsberger
Julie and I have been serving in kids ministry for eight years now. We started shortly after we began attending when we were meeting at Banting, and coming from a small church, it was a little overwhelming how many people were attending this church.
We only knew a handful of people and realized we needed to get involved to meet people. We had two kids, Jacob was six and Abby was four, and since we were taking advantage of the Kids ministry, we thought it was best to contribute to what we were using.
Julie and I started with assisting every other week, and then made the jump to facilitating together in a split grade 1/2 with Jacob and J/K with Abby. We both really enjoyed serving, being involved in what our kids were learning, and getting to know their friends from church.
Since I accepted Christ when I was 17, I missed all the stories that a lot of people may take for granted. God used preparing lessons as an opportunity for me to learn as well as the kids, and I always felt like I learned more in the preparation then I ever communicated to the kids.
As they got older, we followed, but as we did this I really enjoyed seeing the other kids grow and developed friendships with consistently seeing the same kids so often. I still serve in the grade 4/5 class even though our kids are in grades 9 and 6 and in youth now. Last year was Julie and my first year serving in youth ministry. We started at the beginning with me in grade 6 boys and Julie with the grade 6 girls. We co-lead with another couple who are very good friends, which makes it a little easier. I’m not sure how the kids feel about it, but I like having had a long relationship with them and knowing their families and individual personalities that they all have. Not all weeks are fun, and there are even some nights that I would rather stay home, but once we get to the church that all goes away and there are never any regrets about serving.
I would recommend this to any young parents with children in Kids ministry. It has been such a blessing to be involved in our kids lives and to see kids that we worked with when they were so young now in high school becoming strong and mature believers and being involved themselves in serving in all areas of our church. Thanks for reading!
