“TEAM = together everyone achieves more”. This thought was beautifully modelled by our team of 18 Kids Quest leaders and embraced by 32 Kids Quest participants last Monday. The day was filled with activities that encouraged and celebrated teamwork and the children, aged 4-11, rose to the challenge! 23 of the 32 children attending Kids Quest are connected through community contacts (e.g., playgroup) and friend invitations. Many of them have no other church connection. By the end of the day, our key verse was memorised by everyone, with children eager to take a turn to recite Ecclesiastes 4:9: ‘Two are better than one. They can help each other in everything they do” (NIrV).
Our generations pastors, Chris, spoke to the kids about Teamwork, sharing examples from the Bible to illustrate the importance of this value. The Old Testament records the story of the Israelites defending an attack from the Amalekites. While Moses holds the powerful staff of God aloft, the Israelites are winning, but when his arms drop as he tires, the Amalekites start winning. Aaron and Hur step in to hold Moses’ arms up and the Israelites win the battle.
Our default is often to be independent and self-sufficient, but God made us for relationships and working together. Jesus is a great example – he invites us to join his team. Even though he had the power to do all he needed to do by himself he chose disciples to be a part of his team and carry out God’s mission together. In the same way, Jesus invites us to be a part of his team and mission. We don’t have to do it ourselves – we have the privilege of putting our energy, talents, gifts and creativity together to do more than could be imagined on our own. I am certainly grateful for our Kids Quest team who made our holiday program possible by working together. I am also grateful for our staff team here at the church, and for all the teams of volunteers that contribute to the many ministries our church is privileged to be a part of.
When I asked the children to share something they learned from the day, one six-year-old said: ‘Jesus invites us to be on his team’. May you hear and receive this invitation and be encouraged by being part of a great team!
Blessings,
Sarah
Photo by Vlad Hilitanu on Unsplash