Pat Paris-Childrens Ministry

I have been very blessed over the past three years to be able to work with children ages 3 to 11 in a village Bible Study. I never know how many children will be here, but it’s usually between 15 and 30. We meet once a week at my house and sit out on my back porch.

We start off with prayer. They are always enthusiastic about volunteering to lead in the prayer time.

They love to sing, so following the opening prayer we spend 15 to 20 minutes singing and dancing. They laugh at me when I’m dancing with them because I make a fool of myself. At 77 years of age, I don’t swing to the music like I used to.

They are little sponges when it comes to learning scripture and reciting stories that we tell from the children’s Bible.

I have a local lady who translates for me because it would be impossible for me to do by myself. She’s a godsend.

Following our Bible story, I either have them draw a picture of something or someone that we studied that day. For instance, Moses, in a basket going down the river, or Noah and the Ark. There are some really good artists in our group. It fascinates me to see how they interpret what they’ve heard.

Even though most of them don’t speak English, I love to find a video from the beginners Bible that relates to our lesson and show it to them. They’re very attentive. I always have questions for them about the lesson and about what they’ve seen on the video.

We end our study with the closing prayer led by one of the children.

As the kids arrive, and as they leave, they love their Huggies. What the kids call Huggies are a must at the beginning and before the children leave for the day. They about knock me down trying to have me hug them. It’s so endearing. Many times the kids will start home and then they’ll run back for another huggy just before they say goodbye for the week.

As I said, I am so blessed. These children have taught me so much more than I have taught them. Their love, tenderness toward their siblings, sharing, and laughter make my day.