Select Page

This past Sunday was our monthly Family eXperience.  It just happened that we had with us on Sunday a missionary who has been doing children’s ministry for a very long time, so I asked him to stay and speak at our FX in addition to the morning service.

We had all of our usual elements.  When it was the missionary’s turn to bring the Word, I didn’t totally know what to expect.  I have heard him speak since I was a kid and I know that he has incorporated some very visual methods, puppets, illusions, etc.  He walked to the stage with…a chair.  Just a metal folding chair.  And he began to tell a story. 

For nearly fifteen minutes, he told a story using his body and his voice as his only props.  The audience was mesmerized.  Nearly everyone, from the youngest to the oldest kept their attention on him the entire time.  Truth be told, the story itself was not all that exciting, but the presentation was exceptional.  (I should clarify, it was a good story, just not a guns blazing, angel warrior type story.)  I watched as the audience laughed at the funny parts and reflected on the more serious parts.  His application was brief and to the point, but it stuck because it was tied into the story.

I believe we are, myself included, often too quick to discount more traditional methods because we believe kids are not that interested in them.  Maybe, kids just aren’t that interested in you (me).  Maybe the problem isn’t the story, or the puppet, or the illusion, or the character, or the fill in the method here.  Maybe the problem is the teller, the puppeteer, the illusionist, the actor.  Whatever you do, whether you use one of these methods or a video or a flannel graph, do it well.  Do it with all your might.  Practice and prepare.  Be captivating and people can’t help but be captivated.

Serving Him together,
-Jared