Why Teach Mission to Children?
By Shirley A. Wu
1. Children are created in the image of God.
As God's children, they too are called to be in partnership with God. In age-appropriate ways, we must teach children that they are partners with God and provide opportunities for them to be in partnership. (See 1 Corinthians 3:9; 2 Corinthians 6:1.)
Children can relate to the story about a farmer/gardener. There once was a farmer who had inherited a piece of land that was in terrible shape. Big stones and tall weeds covered the land, but the farmer gratefully received that land and went to work. He removed the big stones, cut the grass, tilled the land, planted seed, and carefully looked after the growing plants. At harvest time his pastor came to visit. Observing the beautiful harvest, the pastor said, "God certainly has given you a beautiful crop." Remembering all the hard work that he had put into this plot of land, the farmer replied, "You should have seen it when God had it all by himself." This story reminds us that, just as it takes God and people working together to have a beautiful garden, so it is that God depends on the partnerships of children and adults to carry out the mission of God.
2. The need to achieve and to serve is one of four basic human needs for spiritual growth/formation.
There are four human needs that are basic to spiritual growth:
- The need to be loved and to love.
- The need for security and trust.
- The need for acceptance and forgiveness.
- The need to achieve and to serve.
We must provide opportunities for children to experience the joy of giving, "to achieve and to serve." Educators need to provide sharing opportunities that derive from a sense of gratefulness and obedience to God and the wonder of being in partnership with God. Children need to experience sharing, not from a sense of guilt or pity, but out of love and obedience. Motivators such as "You have so many toys and the children in Africa or China don't have any; you must share" or "Eat your spinach — the children in Africa are starving" only foster giving out of pity or guilt. Pictures of starving children with bloated stomachs may help adults understand the realities of this world, but they are not appropriate for children, especially when used as a tool for mission education. We can help children develop habits of giving through their relationship with a God of love. By providing age-appropriate hands-on mission opportunities, regular educational experience for learning about people's needs, and continued awareness of expressions of caring, we can help children experience service each day. By acknowledging when they spontaneously act caringly for others, we help children develop habits of caring and sharing with others.
3. Children are part of the church of today.
Many of us have heard, "We need to take care of our children because they are the church of tomorrow." This attitude does not acknowledge that children are part of the church today. As full participants in today's church, children need mission education and opportunities to give of themselves to others.
Most Scripture references to children are citings of attributes of children that Jesus lifts up for adults to follow. One exception is the story of Jesus and the children. Here Jesus indicates that children are the teachers of the day. This story is found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, an indication of its importance. Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem for what he certainly must have known was the end of his earthly life. Even at a time such as that, he took time to bless the children, and he rebuked the disciples for not understanding how important children were.
We can help children be leaders through mission projects that are organized, planned, and promoted by the children for the whole church. In this way, they gain leadership skills, grow in knowledge of the mission they are promoting, expand their commitment to helping others, and deepen their respect for their own God-given abilities.
4. Mission is not a story, but a way of living.
Often we promote missions as a separate program or event, isolated from the rest of Christian education and children's ministries. Christian educators and mission educators can and should find ways to work together on their unified calling. (Cooperation and teamwork are skills children learn at a young age that we sometimes need to re-learn as adults.) Christian educators can include mission content in the scope of their planning, and mission leaders can support Christian education staff and volunteers by providing resources and articulating mission priorities. When this happens, children will learn that mission is a part of all of life, not reserved for a certain time and place.
Including parents and families together in mission projects and mission education events not only helps children develop their compassion as a life-skill, but helps whole families to develop the habit of thinking about others. It is through the day-to-day interactions and discussions that children and their parents develop the lifelong habit of helping others. It is through the study of Scripture and practice of intercessory prayer that children and their parents experience service to others as a spiritual gift. It is by including God in their day-to-day activities that children and their parents practice serving God by serving others.
5. Mission is about mutuality.
Without great care, educators may indirectly teach that we, in wealthy America, are the givers and "the poor in the faraway places" are the takers. As we find ways of hearing and sharing stories from children in faraway places, our children learn from stories of courage and faith of others who are in the midst of great difficulties. Our children can know how children around the world are also in partnership with God and experience the feeling of mutuality with others around the world.
In any service or learning opportunity in which we involve the children — helping serve a meal at a soup kitchen, collecting for the food pantry, discussing how the lack of rain affects crops, or reading about a school in Africa — it is important to engage them in conversation about the experience and about what they learned about God and God's love and grace. How have the experience and the interactions taught them to be better servants/ missionaries for God?
Being compassionate, sharing our God-given gifts with others, receiving God-given gifts from others, learning and growing as children of God, and providing opportunities to grow as leaders does not just happen. It is up to us, as educators who plan experiences for children, to be deliberate in helping children grow as missionaries, servants of God.
Shirley A. Wu, Executive Secretary for Resourcing Emerging Churches, General Board of Global Ministries, 475 Riverside Dr., Room 1341, New York, NY 10115; 212-870-3615; swu@gbgm-umc.org.
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