One area of concern school teachers have noticed about children returning to school after months of virtual schooling is the delay or regression of social skills. Time away from in-person interaction has caused a lag in the social and emotional development of many children. With summer at hand, your church can help bridge the gap by offering opportunities for safe, outdoor, in-person gatherings. Don’t forget the opportunity to bring Christ to the party with devotions, stories from the Bible, prayer and worship. Here are some ideas for you to consider.

Many ministries in the church see the summer as a break, a time to take time off and regroup.

However, children’s ministry leaders have a simple response to this thinking: “Not!”

Summer is our go-time, a time to raise the bar on creativity, fun and sharing the gospel. Through Vacation Bible School (VBS), sleep away camps, day camps, sports camps and fun activities, churches have opportunities to directly share the gospel with children and their families.

As you see God work through responses to follow Him and a desire to make those decisions public through baptism, I hope you and your church will join our statewide initiative to “Fill the Tank”.

“Fill the Tank” is a call by our new executive director-treasurer, Todd Unzicker, to fill baptisteries with water and new believers on Sept. 12. Wouldn’t it be spectacular to know that churches all across North Carolina are unifying under the banner of Christ through new believers being baptized on Sept. 12?

Churches have opportunities to directly share the gospel with children and their families.

How can your children’s ministry be part of “Fill the Tank”?

Pray
Pray for God to be in the middle of all you do this summer. Pray for a mighty work of His Holy Spirit to be with teachers, leaders and those presenting the gospel at your events. Pray that hearts are open and receptive to the message of the gospel. Pray that parents are impacted through the message of forgiveness, hope and eternal life shared at VBS, camp and other events you are planning this summer.

Train and equip
Train and equip leaders, teachers and parents to share the gospel with children so that opportunities to present the gospel are not missed.

Three resources available from the Baptist state convention to help share the gospel with children are:

Know that if a person can clearly share the gospel with a fourth grader, they can clearly share with anyone.

Join ‘Fill the Tank’
Ask your senior pastor to enlist your church in the effort to “Fill the Tank” at www.fillthetanknc.org. There you will find a count that is updated every time a church joins the initiative. There are also resources, graphics and other information to help your church in its efforts to reach people with the good news of Jesus.

We look forward to hearing stories of the changed lives of children and families because you have shared the gospel this summer. Let us know your stories by submitting them to [email protected].

Praying for a miraculous summer of opportunities to share the good news.