Serving the Next Generation: A conversation with Timothy
Timothy, 4th Congre
Timothy
Caleb: Today we have an opportunity to hear from Timothy to come up here and we'll do a short segment. Come, come Timothy. Come, let's welcome Timothy, yeah. Yeah. We're going to do a short segment to really talk about kids' ministry and what it is and what Timo has done there. So, you know, as we started out 4th Congre, we really prioritised kids' ministry because we knew that there would be children amongst us.
With the help of our lead volunteers and also the kids' staff at Central, some of whom are here actually today joining us, we managed to see that happen. And since the first service, we've had uncles and aunties who have given their time and energy to love the kids by pointing them to the gospel. I'm an uncle here. But as we saw last week, We're still trusting God to provide labourers for us. Now this morning, we want to hear Timo share with us a little bit about how he has started serving our families in the kids' ministry recently. So, Timo, why don't you tell us a bit about yourself?
Timothy: Sure. Hi, I'm Timothy. You can call me Timo. I'm in Fourth Congregation. I've been at RHC for about six years, I think. And I think I started serving just in ministry in general and in kids ministry since 2023, but mostly started with Creche. So I'm also quite relatively new to kids, kids ministry.
Caleb: So why did you start serving kids ministry in Fourth Congre?
Timothy: I think for me, as I was preparing to move to 4th Congregation and I was thinking about my serving commitments, I think it seemed to me that Kids Ministry was one of the ministries in this new congregation that was in a lot of need, that was lacking volunteers. So I decided that I wanted to help in this way. And I think for me also, I was personally quite interested in learning more and growing in being able to share the gospel and discipling the children in this age group.
Caleb: That's wonderful to hear. So what has surprised you as you've done this?
Timothy: I think when I went to the 4th Congregation Kids Ministry, the biggest difference is the size. So if you all know, 1st and 2nd Congregate Kids Ministry, it's pretty big. It's like exploding. But when I went to 4th Congregation Ministry, it's a bit smaller. And in fact, the older kids ministry, which I am now in, is only about three kids. Yeah, and the age range is quite large as well.
So it's interesting to see the way that different kids respond, especially from four to 12 years old, when we play the math games and when we do our worship. For my first lesson, I was also quite nervous because when I was the main kids teacher, there were like two or three girls in the class and then young girls. And I was like, I don't know whether they will feel comfortable opening up to this old uncle or something, right? Yeah, and it seems it's their first time getting to know me. But thank God, I think during the lesson, I think God helped the lesson to go well and also helped me to learn more about the kids. And also hopefully they felt comfortable that they learned something about God during the session.
Caleb: Thanks, Timo. I hope you feel better about yourself now. Let's go, maybe. That the kids are warming up to you and are happy with you. So why do you feel, why do you find that kids' ministry is so important to the mission of our church?
Timothy: So I think kids' ministry is very important to the mission of the church because it's really about the Great Commission. So the mission of the church is for us to make spirit-filled disciples of Jesus through the gospel. And actually being involved in kids' ministry is an important way to do this because our kids need to hear the gospel taught and they need to hear the gospel modeled to them in ways that they can understand. And we must remember that the kids in our church today will likely be the adults in our church in the future. So kids ministry is a place where kids, where children can learn and grow so that they can become not just followers of Jesus now, but Spirit-filled adult disciples of Jesus in the future.
Caleb: Great. Thanks so much, Tim. You know, I'm sure there are many in this room who are thinking about serving in kids' ministry, but maybe are wondering and making that decision. So what would you tell them about making this decision?
Timothy: Yeah, thanks for the question. I think it's... um I also want to address some fears that maybe some of you have. Maybe some of you think, oh, I'm not naturally good with kids. And I think I also have the same fear as well because I'm not a mom. I'm not used to interacting with kids in the age group at the start. But I would say that you don't have to be naturally good with kids or anything to start serving kids. You just have to come as you are and trust that God will enable you to serve with the strength that he supplies. In kids' means, you will definitely feel weak, you will definitely feel inadequate in many ways, and that's actually a good thing, right? That's actually God's grace to us. It teaches us to rest on Him and also to boast in our weakness.
A second thought also is that as a member of the church, for those who are members here, if you've taken the members' covenant, we actually promise each other that we will endeavour to raise the children and youth under our care in the training and instruction of the Lord. And that means actually, if you think about it, we have all committed to be involved in kids' ministry in some way, shape or form, whether formally or informally, because the kids in our congregation will actually observe and learn from us as adults. So kids' ministry is one way where we can have the opportunity each week to actually point them to Jesus in our words and our actions.
Caleb: Thank you so much, Timothy. I realized I called you three different names while you were here. So whatever you prefer to be called, okay? Well, thank you for that and thank you for sharing your heart. And it's really so sweet to see how you are thinking about this. We are a community on mission, right? And one of the biggest mission fields around us is really the kids. just having the kids there and allowing us to speak into their lives. So if you're wondering where to serve in RHC, in 4th Congregate, we are asking you to really lean in to what God is doing in the kids' ministry and to pray for God to provide labourers and also prayerfully consider your own role in this mission to the children.