I recently returned from our second preteen mission trip this summer. On this trip, the preteens (3^rd thru 6^th graders) were released to share the Gospel through music, sharing their testimonies, and teaching Bible studies, games, and crafts. Before they arrived on the trip, they went through special training to prepare them for their ministry.

One leader shared what she observed on Monday when Kenly (11-year-old) was teaching: “She told me after she taught that she was so nervous she forgot what to say. She prayed and said, ‘God, please help me, please help me.’ You could not even tell she was scared.” 

If you are like me, you find yourself collapsing across the finish line at the end of the school year in your children’s ministry. Before I could catch my breath, I quickly moved to Vacation Bible School, camp, and all the other summer activities.

In the midst of the craziness, is it difficult to find time to evaluate and process your successes and failures from the school year and your midweek program?

Here are several questions you might want to ask:

If you are like me, you find yourself collapsing across the finish line at the end of the school year in your children’s ministry. Before I could catch my breath, I quickly moved to Vacation Bible School, camp, and all the other summer activities.

In the midst of the craziness, is it difficult to find time to evaluate and process your successes and failures from the school year and your midweek program?

Here are several questions you might want to ask:

1. Did I see the lives of children in my ministry change through the school year?
2. How are their lives different now?
3. Is the direction I am heading going to have a lasting spiritual impact on the children in my ministry?

In the classic movie “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” they were searching for the lost Ark of the Covenant.

Indiana Jones was asked to find the Ark of the Covenant by the U.S. government before the Germans found it. To do so, he needed the headpiece of the staff of Ra.

Once he located the headpiece, he traveled to Cairo, Egypt.

He went there to find a person who could translate the language on the headpiece.

The headpiece was designed to reveal the location of the Well of the Souls in the Map Room at Tanis.

As the translator looked at the bronze medallion, he translated the inscription on the front.

Then he turned it over and found specific instructions on the back that showed the length of the staff and the location where to insert the staff in the Map Room in Tanis.