November 2008

Welcome to Connect, the monthly e-newsletter for those who minister to children in small Sunday schools, midweek programs, and new church plants. Click here to invite your ministry staff members and volunteers to receive Connect!

Telling Stories

I was five when I killed my pet fish. It was an innocent mistake. My brother and I had no idea that fish need water to survive. We scooped Goldie out of her fishbowl and laid her flopping body on the couch between us so she could watch TV. Our first funeral experience came later that day when we placed Goldie in a little matchbox, sang a hymn, and buried her in our mom’s flower bed. Have you ever had a pet that died?

One of my kids was born with a severely dislocated hip. Before the doctors could operate we had to stretch her muscles, so she spent the third week of her life with her little legs strung up in the air, attached to a bar placed across the width of our crib. A lady from my church stopped by one day during that long week. She handed me and my husband money and told us to go to Dairy Queen while she would sit by the crib and watch the baby. A small act of kindness that meant so much. Has someone ever been the hands and feet of Jesus to you?

Stories are powerful; Jesus knew that. Whenever folks couldn’t get a handle on something he was trying to teach, he’d whip up a story and make his point. God loves stories too—so much that God gave us a Bible full of true stories about real people and a perfect plan of redemption. And, although we can’t invite Joseph or the Samaritan woman over for coffee and conversation (wouldn’t that be great?), we can read their stories, wonder our way into them, and make powerful connections to what God is doing in our own lives.

As a Kid Connection leader, you’re a storyteller too. During large group you bring Bible stories to life. During small group you connect life to the Bible stories. And, since telling stories should be as fun for you to do as they are for the kids to hear, we’ve devoted this newsletter to sharing some simple tips to give you storytelling success!

Large Group Leaders:

Try the “Once-a-Day” Plan. Read the story for the first time on Monday morning—not Saturday night. As someone who could serve as President of the Procrastinators Club, I feel your organizational pain folks! But here’s the thing—reading the story out loud once a day the week before you tell it saves your Saturday night and improves your presentation 100 percent! It’s a win-win situation!

Look at yourself. Practicing your story in front of a mirror lets you see what the kids will be seeing and helps you figure out which facial expressions and body movements will help the story come alive. Sure, you’ll feel a little silly at first, but your mirror won’t tell anybody.

Imagine you’re there. Think about the story during the week and consider the sights, sounds, and smells that surround it. Wonder about the height of the burning bush that Moses saw. Consider the facial expressions of the people who watched as Jesus called Matthew the tax collector. Consider the wind and the rain that pelted a lurching boat before Jesus calmed the sea. Putting yourself into the story will help you tell it in a way that encourages kids to jump into it too!

Make “Cheat Sheets.” I have a terrible memory—even after I’ve read the story each night for a week and could probably tell it without my notes, I always bring them along. But, since holding up a Leader’s Guide can be distracting, I hide my “cheat sheets” by attaching a copy of the story to a clipboard, stapling a copy onto a sheet of colored cardstock or a plain file folder, or by tucking a copy into an open Bible.

Small Group Leaders:

Prepare in advance. Read through your session as early as possible in the week so that you’ll have time to remember a personal story from your life that will connect with your kids—and the Bible story. Think about subjects to which your kids can relate like pets, the first day of school, moving away, not getting something you really wanted, getting into trouble with your mom, learning to ride a bike, or childhood struggles with siblings.

Think like a kid. Prepare by reading the Bible (you’ll find the Scripture reference on the first page of each session) along with the “Get Connected” devotional. Then jump into the story from the perspective of the kids in your group. Anyone taking swimming lessons? Naaman having to “bob” seven times in the dirty water might get their attention! Got any kids who go camping? They’ll be able to imagine the sights and smells of an outdoor crowd eating fish and bread. Some of your kids struggling with peer pressure? They’ll connect with how Peter felt when asked if he was a friend of Jesus. Reading the stories through the eyes of your kids helps you plan the best way to discuss it with them.

Find out what’s going to happen. One of the reasons we’ve put both the large and small group sessions into the same leader’s guide is so you can work as a team. Reading what the large group leader will be doing allows you to anticipate what kids will know about the story before you dive deeper into it together. Above all, pray! Ask God to help you present the story in a way that puts the focus on God, not you!

Speaking of stories… How will your kids be participating in your church’s celebration of the Christmas story? In October I told you how at my church we did a play last year from the Quick & Easy Christmas Programs series. We all enjoyed the program (and the easy prep) so much that we’ve chosen another one for this year—it’s called Born for You and Me. We have fewer kids than are required for the play so we’ll be deleting some characters and combining their lines, but we’re excited about putting it on. (How often can you say that about preparing for the church Christmas program?) At a recent trip to the dollar store I found fabulous shiny gold paper crowns for the wise men and some giant plastic candy canes to paint black and turn into shepherd’s crooks! It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Blessings,
Karen DeBoer

P.S. Got any stories to share about how a particular Kid Connection session went with your kids? We love to hear what God is doing in your children’s ministry! Email us at Editors@FaithAliveResources.org.

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