Sharing the Gospel with Children - November 16 Meeting

This message is sent with great joy at the progress I am observing in our team.

During the training session yesterday, team members had to submit their support letters in which they ask for a team of prayer, encouragement and finanical supporters. While Jocelyn, Daisy and I read the letters, the students met in their small groups and began to share what they had gleaned from the gospel of John over the past week.

It was very encouraging to hear the students leading each other, encouraging each other and exhorting each other to be faithful in their study and meditation of the Bible.

Yesterday's session sought to address two critical issues: What is the Gospel? And, how should we communicate the gospel to children? (Much of our work in Senegal will be with children).

Jocelyn led the team in a deeply meaningful demonstration of sharing the gospel with children. She shared the principle of "Hook, Book, Look, Took.: "Hook" the children with a common object or story; "Book" refers to the telling of the story or explanation of the object; "Look" refers to the transition from the object or story to the person and work of Jesus; and "Took" refers to the appropriate response of the child to Christ.

In Jocelyn's demonstration she asked all the students to sit on the floor and pretend that they were young children. She shared the story of a Butterfly, explained how a caterpillar undergoes metamorphosis then demonstrated how Christ enables a type of metamorphosis in a person's life as he takes a sinner and makes that person a Child of God. Finally, she invited the students to respond by believing in Christ. It really was a very moving time to watch our senior students become like little children as they listened to and prayed with Jocelyn. The students were then assigned to craft three different gospel presentations using a picture book or common object which follows the "Hook, Book, Took, Look" model. They have 2 weeks to prepare this.

In closing, I am humbled by the reality that God allows us to be his ambassadors at home and around the world. The gospel really is the greatest gift in the world. Would you please pray that our students would be both students and heralds of this gospel?

Thank you for taking the time to read these updates. Thank you also for taking the time to pray for our team.