Here are some questions you need to ask:
- What can I do to prepare the kids for youth ministry?
- What do strong Christian fifth graders look like?
- What types of skills do they have? Your list may differ from mine, but this is the list I came up with.
These are the skills I want my Sunday school fifth graders to have:
- Salvation
My kids have a real relationship with Christ. They are confident in their salvation experience. They remember the day they asked Jesus in their hearts.
2. Devotions
My kids have the ability to read the Bible for themselves and get something out of it. (Without this skill, they are doomed.)
- Prayer
My kids have confidence in their prayer life. They know how to pray and get answers to their prayers.
- Church
My kids attend church weekly because they want to.
- Friends
My kids have strong Christian friends in the church.
- Worship
My kids are passionate worshipers of Jesus Christ. They are not concerned about what their peers think.
- Love
My kids experience the love of the Father and walk in love toward one another.
- Holy Spirit
My kids know how to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, and they want to obey Him.
My kids have a heart for the lost. They don’t just focus on their friends at church, but they reach out to new kids. They know how to pray the prayer of salvation with a peer.
- Leadership
My kids know how to think for themselves and make wise choices. They don’t run to their parents for every decision.
- Ministry
My kids are actively involved in ministry using their gifts in the church.
If this were where I want my fifth graders to be when they graduate to youth ministry, then I need to build my programs and my curriculum around these goals.
I realize that these are high goals for fifth graders, and I realize not every child will reach these goals; but please don’t tell me it can’t be done. I’ve seen too many kids that have graduated to youth with these skills to believe that it’s impossible.
Get a vision for the kids in your Sunday school class. See them accomplishing great things for God.
If you don’t have a vision for them, then who will?
This is an excerpt taken from The Red Book by Mark Harper.