MIM EZINE, FEB 3, 2005

CONTENTS

– Guest Column - The Need to Be Needed

– Children's Ministry Checkup - Buying Classroom Bibles

– Book Review  –  Find it In the Bible

– Classified Ads

To read this ezine in its entirety click here

Guest Column - The Need to Be Needed

By Nancy J. Ring

People in treatment for mental illness often find that anxiety or depression can prevent them from participating in everyday activities.  They lose friends, jobs, and a sense of purpose.  After treatment, transitioning from dependence on others back into meaningful participation in a community is a challenge.  Regaining a sense of contribution to others restores confidence, motivation, and relationships.

Several church groups in my area have helped meet this need in an interesting way.  They regularly contact the mental health agency where I work and ask if any of our clients are interested in volunteer experience.  We then match clients to opportunities based on their abilities and interests.

For example, one small group wanted to do a special music event for their church, but didn’t have enough sopranos.  Instead of recruiting someone from the congregation, they called our agency.  Their volunteer has since become a member of a women’s group and is a frequent church soloist.  Another client helped with a singles’ car wash.  When that group discovered he could play the piano, he filled in for the church’s pianist.  He was seeking employment and used this experience on his resume.

If you would like to begin this kind of outreach with your church or small group, here are some tips.

Before Your Event

• Brainstorm volunteer opportunities such as craft or bake sales, luncheons, and drama or choral events.  Do you need someone to set up and take down tables, or help with serving the meal?  What about expertise your group doesn’t have, such as sewing costumes or making minor church repairs?  A specific need clarifies expectations and helps the therapist make a wise referral.
• Call your community mental health center.  Explain that you would like to recruit a volunteer who is recovering from mental illness and interested in returning to work.  They will refer you to the right program and professional.
• Appoint one of your group members as the contact person to work with the volunteer and the therapist.  The therapist may suggest that the three of you meet.  Discuss the length of the event, the assistance desired, the number of people who will be involved, and the degree of independence or teamwork required.

During the Event

• Make sure your group member communicates frequently with the volunteer.  Rather than asking vaguely if the volunteer needs anything, ask specifically if he'd like a restroom break or needs to use the phone.  Periodically ask if he has any questions or concerns, and offer your undivided attention when he responds.
• Maintain privacy.  Your small-group members will know your volunteer’s background, but let him decide what to share with other church members who may be at the event.

After the Event

• Thank your volunteer for his help and expertise.
• Give him a certificate or letter stating the number of hours volunteered under your supervision.
• Ask if he would like to attend an upcoming worship or fellowship event or be contacted about future volunteer opportunities.

Nancy Ring is a Chicago area writer/mental health therapist/student.  She has written for Young Salvationist, Light and Life, and several other publications.  You can reach her at NJRing121@yahoo.com

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• Suggestions for how your Benevolence Board might operate

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Children’s Ministry Check-Up

Buying Classroom Bibles

By Karen Wingate

Our goal, as Children’s Ministry workers, is to teach our children about the Bible, right? We do this in many ways through interesting Bible stories, interactive activities, and modeling the Christian Life in front of them. Another important goal should be to teach our children how to use the Bible for themselves.

As exciting as we make our programming, we always need to keep in front of our students that the content of our lessons comes from the Bible. “Give a man a fish and he has food for a day,” so the saying goes. “Teach him how to fish and he has food for a lifetime.” When we teach a Bible lesson, we’re giving our students a meal of spiritual food. When we teach them how to use and read the Bible for themselves, we’re teaching them how to find their own spiritual food even when they are away from our classroom.

In this and my next column, I want to share ways you can teach your group of children how to feel comfortable using and reading the Bible. Next month, we’ll look at some strategies on teaching children how to use their Bibles. In this column, we’ll look at how to select Bibles for classroom use.

When I was a child, our Sunday School teachers always encouraged us to bring our Bibles, even giving awards for those who did. Children brought an assortment of ragtag Bibles, loudly complaining if their Bible was different than the person next to them. The teachers wasted precious moments helping everybody find the passage we were studying. Then there was the kid who didn’t bring a Bible. The teacher either loaned her Bible or found an old dust-covered Bible buried in a cupboard that looked like something her grandmother had given the church.

While it might sound costly, having a set of classroom Bibles is well worth the expense. It will streamline your teaching time. Kids don’t have to feel different because their Bible is different. You provide Bibles for those who don’t bring their own Bibles and you can point kids to the same page number if they are lacking in Bible skills.

With so many translations, paraphrases and specialty Bibles available, choosing the best Bible for your class can be daunting. Remember, your goal is to choose Bibles that are appealing, not frustrating to students. You want your kids to be excited about the Bible so they will go home and use it on their own. Here are some tips to guide you.

1. Choose an easy to understand but accurate paraphrase or translation. Kids cannot understand King James English. Even the big words of the New International Version can be stifling to a slow learner. On the other hand, you want to move children from the easier children’s paraphrase to the more accurate translations. I personally suggest using the International Children’s Version (ICV) or the New International Reader’s Version (NIRV) for children third grade and under. For older children, or if you need to purchase only one kind of Bible for your entire department, I suggest graduating to the New International Version.

2. Choose a Bible with a few study helps. In a classroom setting, you won’t have the time to use many of the study helps and devotions found in some children’s Bibles. These Bibles would be better as gift Bibles at baptisms or confirmations. However, a simple, easy-to-read set of maps within the Bible is a great study aid, something you can have your class use within a classroom setting. My personal favorite is The Adventure Bible which is available in NIV or NIRV.

3. Choose a Bible with a user friendly table of contents. Feel free to refer your kids to the table of contents to find books. Use the table of contents if you are in a hurry, if you are initially teaching your kids how to find books in the Bible, or if you have a newcomer who doesn’t know how to find passages in the Bible. 

4. Choose a Bible with readable type. The eyes of young children are still developing. They need larger print than what is found in most Bibles. Also, check the size of the chapter and verse numbers. Make sure that page numbers are in a prominent spot on the page.

The total cost for a set of bibles is not as expensive as you may think. Bookstores and online sites such as International Bible Society are often willing to give a discount for Bibles by the case. If a case is more than you think you can use, buy it anyway. You never know when you may have an opportunity to give away a Bible to an unchurched child who does not have one.

Next month, we’ll look at strategies and activities to teach children to find Bible references. If you would like to share creative ways you teach the books of the Bible or finding Bible references, email me at kwingate@neo.rr.com

Internet sites where you can find inexpensive Bibles:

Christian Book Distributors christianbook.com

International Bible Society ibs.org

Allbibles.com allbibles.com

Biblesbythecase.com biblesbythecase.com

Karen Wingate is a teacher of teachers.  She is known for her off the edge activity based teaching that is still solidly based on the Word of God.  Currently, she is writing curriculum for the Salvation Army’s new Sonday’s Cool programs, teaches a high School Sunday School class and oversees the Youth Ministry Team at her local church near Canton , Ohio .  You can reach Karen with comments or questions at kwingate@neo.rr.com.

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Book Review – Find It in the Bible

By Bob Phillips, Howard, 2004, 1582293988, 244 pages

Reviewed by Shane Parker

“Lists, Lists, and More Lists.”  This is the fitting subtitle to Bob Phillips' helpful text, “Find It in the Bible.”  Phillips is a marriage and family counselor, as well as the author of over seventy works.  In addition to these credentials, Phillips has presented leadership seminars across the globe. 

Having utilized countless Bible reference tools, ranging from the basic to the highly technical, the reviewer applauds the author for offering a text which can be an often-used reference for both the layman and the academic alike.  The work includes 51 brief lists that include “26 Attributes of God” (5) and “Christ in Every Book of the Bible” (30).  While there are lighthearted entries such as “101 Q & A of Heavenly Humor,” the text primarily serves as a handy reference to biblical categories and themes.

Unlike the detailed format of most Bible Handbooks, Phillip’s work provides the reader with a desk reference tool for personal study, as well as Bible teaching or sermon preparation.  There is no commentary or prose within the work, only successive lists.  It seems that the author’s counseling focus proves beneficial in the formulation of lists that can be quickly referenced.  This appears most prominently in the entry entitled “125 Counseling Helps from the Bible” (157). 

As with any strong Bible reference tool, Phillip’s offering makes the Word of God more accessible to the student, whether he/she is a novice at biblical study or a seasoned theologian.  In addition to this strength, the work also presents themes which will be new to the reader, and should spur on further study.  For these reasons, students of the Bible should make space for Find It in the Bible on their bookshelf or desktop.

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One of the needs we have perceived at Ministry in Motion is a service to help connect qualified ministers and church workers to ministry related and church staff positions.  If you are presently in job search mode, or if you have a ministry position you are looking to fill, be sure to visit this page. ministry openings

Important Links

Ministry in Motion Bookshop. Ministry resources developed by Ministry in Motion 

Ministry in Motion Christian Bookstore.  Order Christian books online while comparing prices

Ministry in Motion Christian Jobs. Search for and post Christian jobs & ministry related jobs  

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