Intentional Faith Development
Becoming a Family That
By Andrea Czartoryski, Children and Family Ministry Director
God’s gifts of grace come in many forms.
Each of you has received a gift in order to
serve others. You should use it faithfully.
1 Peter 4:10 (NIRV)
Serves
5. Line up your resources. Have all of your supplies
ready and be clear about roles and expectations before
you begin your project.
6. Have fun. If children enjoy serving others, this will
help to instill a lifelong interest in mission and service.
The world around us, through
media, advertising, and
entertainment, sends us the
message that greatness is defined
by our own power, possessions,
and prestige. What Jesus taught,
however, is that greatness is
measured in terms of service, not
status. In Mark 10:43 Jesus said,
“Whoever wants to become great
among you must be your servant.” (NIV) In other words,
God determines your greatness by how many people
you serve, not how many people serve you.
Children need to not only see parents and other family
members involved in service to others, but they need
to also participate themselves. When children have this
opportunity they will grow spiritually and over time their
experiences will evolve into a lifestyle of service. For
information on service opportunities, please visit the
Children and Family Ministries page of our website.
In her book, “Teaching Kids to Care and Share,” Jolene
L. Roehlkepartain lists these six keys to keep in mind
while thinking about meaningful mission and service
opportunities for your family:
Upcoming Events
1. Make projects concrete. Children can relate most
easily to and get excited about projects that allow
them to use their senses. Examples include picking up
trash, collecting canned food, or playing games with
residents at a nursing home.
Please contact Andrea Czartoryski at
[email protected] or 412-364-3613
ext.320 for more information about our Children and
Family Ministry Events.
Good Friday Event for Families of All Ages
Theme: Walk with Jesus
Date: Friday, April 18th
2. Work with existing networks. Don’t try to start
from scratch! Contact the Ingomar Church office or
one of the local organizations listed below to find out
how you can help!
3. Empower children. Allow children to suggest
ideas, plan, or vote between suggested projects.
When projects are meaningful to children they will have
the most impact.
VBS 2014 – Jungle Safari
June 23-27 9:00 AM to noon
4. Debrief children about experiences afterward.
Have a conversation with children about their thoughts,
feelings, and about what they learned by completing
the project. Remember, even difficult experiences can
have teachable moments.
Campers and volunteers can register online.
Deadline is June 1st – ingomarchurch.org
4
Join us for another life-changing VBS adventure at
Ingomar Church that leads kids in search of a priceless
treasure! We need volunteers! Please consider helping.