How Cooee Kid’s Ministry Came to Be
How Cooee Kid’s Ministry Came to Be
Cooee Kid’s Ministry has been years in the making. I grew up attending Sunday School. A one hour traditional service with All Things Bright and Beautiful. I began volunteering in Children’s Church from age fourteen. In the midst of the Charismatic Movement we were up on our feet and declaring God’s Not Dead. Now in my fifties, I love Kid’s Church, singing and dancing along to the lyric videos projected onto the big screen.
But over the years the one thing that has not changed is the search for relevant Bible lessons, stories, crafts, games and plays. In the early days it was especially difficult to find affordable Aussie curriculum. So I wrote most of what I needed. Some stories have fallen by the wayside but others have been rewritten or updated and used many times. I collected a lot of material. A lot. Early in 2015 I began to think about a website that would offer lessons and stories to Kid’s Church volunteers and leaders free of charge. But it wasn’t until the end of 2018 with the help of family and friends who donated money and skills that Cooee Kid’s Ministry became a reality. And boy, have I been enjoying myself!
Why Cooee?
A cooee call is so quintessentially Australian. It’s the call of the Aussie bush. A cooee can travel over a long distance. It’s used to attract attention, find lost people or let others know where you are. It was part of my childhood. And I was delighted to hear it at a recent children’s theatre performance. The sound of the cooee continues to travel down the generations. But that’s not the only reason. I took a week to wait on the Lord about a few things. In particular a name for my new venture on the internet. It was the last day of my holiday and I looked out the window and said, ‘Lord, you still haven’t given me a name for the website.’ Then I heard the melodic two note call of the Cooee bird. The Eastern Koel (its scientific name) is my favourite bird because when it migrates from Indonesia to South Eastern Australia, its call announces warm weather is on its way…and that means swimming and BBQ’s, school holidays and Christmas. ‘Perfect!’ I laughed to the Lord.
What’s ahead for Cooee Kids Ministry?
Well, I have to take you back to December 2015 when a prophet from India visited the house meeting my husband and I were attending. He said…
‘…I see God giving you a golden Bible and God is going to reveal to you His glory in His Word. Every time you open the Bible an anointing is coming on you and I see the Holy Spirit seated next to you like a teacher, teaching you the things of God. And He’s taking you deeper and deeper into His Word.’
And that is exactly what God has been doing. To use another Aussie colloquialism I’ve got more lesson ideas than I can poke a stick at. Six journals to date, full of stories, plays and at least one school holiday program, to pursue. I write most days and think about writing every day. I’m getting faster but I feel an urgency to complete more lessons. So this will be my last weekly blog. (I think it’s easier to find information about how to run a Kid’s Ministry than it is to find lessons you can use to teach in one.) Once a month I’ll post the titles of the new lessons available and a short description. I’m sure I’ll still share on a topic here and there. Anyway, I’ll remain within cooee.