As I type, tropical cyclone Alfred is bearing down on the southeast coast of Queensland.  It is expected to make landfall between Friday evening and the early hours of Saturday morning and pass over where we live.  Since Monday, Queenslanders have been preparing for the oncoming cyclonic winds, tidal surges, intense rain and the flooding it will bring.  Preparations have included putting away or securing outdoor furniture and play equipment.  Storing at least three days’ supply of food and water.  We’ve made an emergency grab-and-go tub to hold important papers, medications and first aid.  We each have a backpack full of clothes and toiletries.  We’ve collected items we’ll need should we lose power.  We’ll hunker down in the laundry, a structurally strong part of the house with the least number of windows, to wait tropical cyclone Alfred out.  Will all these preparations be necessary?  We don’t know for certain.  We can’t avoid a natural disaster but we can be prepared for it.  So with preparation foremost in my mind let’s look at preparation for teaching and learning in the Kid’s Church space!

Preparation is a Skill

Preparation is a skill.  It involves the ability to plan, organise and gather necessary resources in advance to effectively handle a situation or task, which can be learned and improved upon with practice and discipline.    

Prepare Your Heart

19th-century American Christian author J R Miller wrote, ‘The real power in Sunday School teaching is not in methods, important as it is to have the best of these, nor in equipment, valuable as this is, but in the teacher’s own spiritual life.’

The attitude of your heart affects your relationship with God and your interactions with others on your Kid’s Church team.  The attitude of your heart is the source of your actions and thoughts! 

‘Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interest of others’.  Philippians 2:3-4

Prepare Your Lesson

Make the lesson you’re preparing for the children a part of your devotional time.   Pray about it, meditate on it and ask the Holy Spirit to help you in your preparation.  Don’t leave your preparation to the last minute.  Your lesson could be a total disaster, or you might do a good enough job to get away with it, but neither is beneficial to the children in your care.  I have experienced both and it pains me to think of them now. 

Ask the Holy Spirit for creativity in delivering the lesson making it as impactful for your children as you can.  Find engaging visual aids.  Use an object lesson, skit or puppets.  Do you have an age-appropriate testimony?  Is the photocopying done and are there enough craft supplies?   Preparation can feel like a chore and you may not even use everything but it’s better to be ready than to risk tempestuous conditions if your kids are bored or disengaged.   

Prepare Your Volunteers

Volunteers play an important role in how smoothly your Kid’s Ministry runs.  Make sure everyone is on the same page.  Is there any information you need to pass on?  For example, a child’s family situation may impact their behaviour.  Share any concerns.  Maybe you noticed something from the previous week and you need to revisit a policy or a procedure.  Remind your volunteers that they are influencing children’s lives even when they don’t realise it.  Kids don’t miss much!   

Prepare Your Kids

• Make your Kid’s Church fun and exciting so children love coming
• Engage with them  so they experience positive anticipation every week
• Provide a range of activities that show understanding that children have different ways of learning
• Link your Kid’s Ministry with ‘big’ Church by holding whole Church events that provide opportunities for interaction

Preparation is an Ongoing Process

There’s always more to learn.  Having lived in the subtropics most of my life, I have experienced cyclonic weather before. Those previous experiences have impacted my preparation and have given me a level of confidence because to some extent I know what to expect.  But cyclones are unpredictable and I’m sure I will pick up more preparation tips this time, too! 

UPDATE:

Praise the Lord we came through Cyclone Alfred untouched! Two trees toppled over without harming anybody or anything. We felt the whole house shudder twice but did not lose a roof tile. Living without electricity for five days was challenging but provided an opportunity to get back to basics. Now everyone has begun the clean-up. We are grateful for the Lord’s protection. ‘He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.’ Psalm 91:1 NKJV

New Preparation Tips:

Invest in a generator and extra fuel.

You need a radio and batteries to keep up to date when there is no power to charge phones and no signal even if you’ve charged your phones in your car.