Martha is a pediatrician and member of St. Luke’s. For many years, she’s been teaching the Bible lesson in our 2-year-old Sunday school class. Our 2-year-olds love Martha and look forward to her arrival each week!
Ms. Twila is a homeschool teacher to her daughter, Abbey, and a member of St. Luke’s. For many years, Ms. Twila has been teaching our 4-year-old Sunday school class. Our preschoolers love Ms. Twila and enjoy her lessons very much!
These are just two of the many volunteers who serve in Children’s Ministry at St. Luke’s Downtown Campus. Both ladies have busy family lives and responsibilities, but they recognize their God-given teaching gifts and use them to share His love with others. Our St. Luke’s children will grow up and move on, and it’s unlikely that Martha, Ms. Twila, or any of the other numerous volunteers will see the long-term results of their teaching. So why do they do it? They love the children and want to help them be all that God created them to be!
Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” The phrase “train up” in the original Hebrew refers to a midwife dipping her finger into crushed fruit and then putting it in the mouth of a newborn. This stimulated the infant’s thirst for milk. From this example, we can understand that “train up” a child means to create a thirst within him or her. That is what God has called us to do. We are working to develop within our children a hunger to know and love God.
Have you ever not been hungry at all, but then you smelled something like french fries, or maybe cookies right out of the oven, and suddenly you were starving? Just as the smell of food can create hunger in us, the best thing we can do to create a hunger and thirst for Christ in others is to live it ourselves. If others see something in us that they want for themselves, they will gravitate toward it. In the Beatitudes, Jesus told the people in Matthew, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Don’t we all want to be satisfied? Don’t we want that for our friends and family members?
Even if you aren’t a Martha, Ms. Twila, or one of the many other St. Luke’s volunteers, you are an influencer. Children observe adults! I pray that they’ll see Christ in us and have a ravenous hunger to know Him, too!
Susan Easttom, Director of Children’s Ministry
