The Power of One
I got to do something last weekend that I don’t normally do as a children’s director. I stood up in “big church” and addressed the adults! Launching into a 3-week recruitment campaign across four campuses for our Spring serving teams, my campus pastor gave me ONE minute to cast a vision for serving in “The Great Adventure,” our children’s ministry. One minute? How can you possibly begin to convey the opportunities and the reasons and the rewards of serving in children’s ministry in ONE minute to a group of people who have never even darkened your doors?
I do need to admit that I was set up well going into the whole thing. I wasn’t in this campaign alone. We’ve got an incredible Central support team who created multiple banners and a ticket booth prop that decorated the lobby with our adventure theme: “All Aboard!” People had to walk through it all just to get into the sanctuary. We also had an insert in the weekend program with all the many serving opportunities that was handed to everyone when they walked in. Of course, there’s also the fact that our co-senior pastors see the value of children’s ministry AND the fact that one of them produced the compelling call-to-serve video that I got to immediately follow.
And, then, my campus pastor, Matt, gave me the kindest of introductions, thanked me for my leadership and called me friend. So, one minute? No big deal, right? I just had to say, “So there you have it. Come and serve. It’s a great ministry. Badda bing badda boom. Sign up.” Not so.
Casting clear and compelling vision in ONE minute was imperative. If I could not cast clear and compelling vision in one minute, then MY vision was cloudy. And, if my vision was blurred, how could I boldly ask people to join me in what I was doing? Sure, I could recite “The Great Adventure’s” purpose statement of “joining parents on The Great Adventure of raising up kids who are Livin’ It” forward and backward in my sleep. But, that didn’t provide the fuel I needed to raise up 50 new volunteers at my campus.
I needed to look at why I was there -- why I give up every single weekend, Saturdays AND Sundays to do what I do. I needed to identify with the source of the inexplicable joy I have when volunteers and kids start flooding through our doors. I won’t tell you what I said. But, I will tell you that we live in a dark world where a real enemy prowls around ready to devour. And, children are particularly tasty targets. Kids need to know the God who loves them more than they can imagine, who forgives them no matter what, who is bigger than any problem, who gently leads them, and who will never leave them. What a privilege it is to BE the people that are the very hands and feet of Christ to kids! That stokes my fire! That’s what I am passionate about. I want to see kids know God, love Him and live for Him, because HE will make all the difference in their lives. He is the ONE. There is power in that.
Kim Huffman is the Children's Director at the Libertyville campus of The Chapel, located in Grayslake, Illinois.
Last week I went to the Magic Kingdom at Disney World – it really is the most magical place in the world. My first trip to Disney World was when I was 10 with my family and every minute was magical as I experienced the Pirates of the Carribean and It’s a Small World for the very first time. 