This post is meant as a supplement to our April newsletter. To catch up on what happened in March and April, read our newsletter here.
As we mentioned in our newsletter, we helped lead the kids of one of our partnering churches in an activity that they then used to reach out to their friends and invite them to church.
Here are some of the stories from the kids’ outreach efforts:
1. THERE ARE NO ACCIDENTS
One child meant to invite a neighbourhood friend with their butter tart, but they accidentally went to the wrong house, and invited someone they didn’t know. The neighbours were really excited and their kids ended up coming to church and hearing about Jesus for the very first time on Easter!
2. WE DON'T GET TO PICK AND CHOOSE
There’s a song by Casting Crowns that, when I first heard it, convicted me. The lyrics go like this:
In essence, the decision on who we should share our faith with is not ours to make. We are to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and let Him direct us to the people whose hearts He is preparing.
One of the kids demonstrated this principle in a rather wonderful way. Her brother (we’ll call him Jude) had a friend (we’ll call him Jacob) that he wanted to invite to the Easter festivities.
Jacob tends to be rambunctious and disruptive in general, so Jude hesitated to invite his friend, and and finally decided against it.
However, his younger sister (Jenny) thought, Maybe Jacob really needs to hear about Jesus, and maybe that’s why he sometimes acts the way he does.
In the end, Jenny would give away both of her butter tarts to invite two kids to church—one to Jacob, and one to Jacob’s sibling, so neither one would feel excluded.
Both Jacob and his sibling came to church, and everyone had a blast!
3. A CREATIVE APPROACH
As the kids prayed for boldness, and for God’s guidance on whom to invite even before they made their butter tarts, one little girl (we’ll call her June) had a beautiful idea. Not only would she invite her friend (“May”) to the Easter outreach, but she would invite May to come and make butter tarts as well!
Before the cooking session, I’d been introduced to May. I tried to give her a little extra attention to make her feel welcome, without being obvious about it and possibly embarrassing her.
Two weeks later, May returned to church for Easter, along with her entire family.
4. A SELF-FORGETTING PASSION
One child decided not to eat her butter tarts and instead give everything to friends she wanted to invite to the Easter Sunday outreach. I feel convicted by this one. Would I give up all of the treats I’d worked hard to make, without even a taste, for the good of my friends?
5. HEALING AND HOPE
One of the kids invited the Smith family to come to church with her butter tarts. They all came. It turns out that the Smith family has been going through an extremely difficult time, and is in profound need of relational healing. After the Easter service, they relayed that their time at the church provided them with a great sense of comfort, and even some initial healing for their wounds.
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