There’s tons of items online and even here at Cory Center about working with and teaching digital natives. The children in our classrooms don’t know what it is like not to be bombarded with information, images, and messages. They interact differently with technology than their teachers.

Rather than fight to get them to be more like you – which will never happen – be creative, see how you can leverage the world that they live in to help pass along the message you have.
One idea, inspired by the RSA Illustrate people is to augment your talk with drawings…here’s a sample that I’ve used:

The week I used this, the student’s were captured. I had their full attention for the length of the video and several moments after – not a peep. I used the moments after to clarify the message and drive home a few points….

And believe it or not, this video only took about 2 hours to create. I’m sure that my next one will go from brain to screen much quicker since there will be less of a learning curve on my end.

Here’s what I used:

1. Story – we’re using Tru, but any story will do
2. iMovie – Windows movie maker may work as well
3. Garage Band – any way to record your voice so that you can import it into your movie software
4. ScreenChomp app on my iPad – I’m seeking another app, but this one will serve me for now. It’s possible to do the entire talk on ScreenChomp, but their server seems to have issues with large videos.

Here’s the process:

1. Record the story. (This is where I used Garage Band)
2. Using screen chomp, illustrate a point. It’s helpful if the illustration is longer than what you are saying.
   * With screen chomp, you have to save the movie to their server, then download the mp4…another app may save the file locally.
3. Import into iMovie.
4. Using the clip adjustment, adjust the speed of the clip to fit the portion of your talk.
5. Repeat 2-4 until you’ve illustrated everything
6. Show the movie

As you can see, with the right tools, this is a simple process that enables you to make a quick video to get a point across or to illustrate an entire talk. Just don’t over use it, the natives will get restless.

What are you doing to facilitate native learning in your classroom?

Imagine having had this amazing experience on your first mission trip.  As you returned home and began showing pictures and sharing stories of how your faith was renewed and how you served others, they don’t seem to get it.  Listeners try to share your enthusiasm but cannot grasp the life transformation that took place in your life.  You wished they could have lived it with you…

If you’ve ever been on a mission trip, you’ve likely experienced that dilemma.  If one individual shared that much life change, imagine what would take place for the family unit when they serve on a mission trip together.  The conversations and moments of caring for others would be amazing.

Parents want nothing more than to have their kids carry on their faith in God.  According to Eugene Roehlkepartain in his book, The Teaching Church, if you want to double the chances that your child will continue to live for God, then they will do three things:  have caring conversations, family devotions and family service.   Providing opportunities for families to serve together or experience mission trips could provide each of these faith milestones families need to strengthen their faith TOGETHER.  Although not limited to summer, it is a great time of the year for such experiences.

You may be thinking, at this time of the year, with this amount of responsibility how could I possibly organize family serving opportunities or a mission trips?  Remember, our role as church leader is to equip the saints to do the work, not to do all the work alone.  The idea of a family missions experience can be as elaborate or simple as you need it to be.  The benefits of the work put into family missions experiences will out way the work put into pulling the ideas together.

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As we journey toward Easter Sunday I thought I would share with you the ‘Seven Symbols of the Passion’ that we have prepared for our Good Friday family experience.  Each family will be given a black coin bag that contains the items pictured to the right.  Families will pull out each symbol and pass it around as we retell the passion narrative from The Message Bible.

As you read through these scriptures I pray that you remember deeply the passion of our savior as he gave up his life so that we might gain life.

KB

Coin
The Betrayal.

 Then Jesus went with them to a garden called Gethsemane and told his disciples, “Stay here while I go over there and pray.” Taking along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he plunged into an agonizing sorrow. Then he said, “This sorrow is crushing my life out. Stay here and keep vigil with me.”

Going a little ahead, he fell on his face, praying, “My Father, if there is any way, get me out of this. But please, not what I want. You, what do you want?”

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We’re excited to provide a great resource to set you up with tremendous resources as you prepare for Easter.  We want kids to know Christ has chosen them to follow Him.   He made a way through His choice to give His life for us on the cross.

This lesson will provide media support, hands on experiences, and relation building opportunities for kids to choose Christ.  The format of this lesson makes it easy for large or small group settings.You may choose to utilize the lesson notes as a whole curriculum for Easter or take pieces of it and adjust it for your group’s size and length.

Easter Lesson

We don’t live for this world, but we can make a difference in it.
While I know I will enjoy eternity, there’s so much to do here that I am in no hurry to leave. If that sticks true with you, then I think you will enjoy Alice Herz-Sommer’s story.

Alice, at 109, is the oldest living survivor of the holocaust. I was first captured by her story through her interview with Anthony Robbins where she shared many tidbits of wisdom from her lifetime – some of which I am convinced have contributed to her longevity.

Perspective
“I know about the bad but I look at the good thing.”
Alice is optimistic. She lives for music – it is her religion.
Her positive outlook has brought joy to countless others, helped her, her son, and many others survive the hell of a concentration camp. She admits that there is bad things and even catastrophes but they’re not something to live for.
We’re called to keep our eyes on Jesus Christ, “the good thing” our hope is great, our perspective should be as well.
“Sometimes it happens that I am thankful I have been there. Because…I am richer than other people.”
“All that complain, this is terrible…it’s not so terrible.”

Forgiveness
“I was always loving. We’re laying two years on the floor with my son. And there is only loving. How can a child not love if the mother loves?”
Alice shows no anger toward her captors. She doesn’t hate them, in fact, it seems that she forgave while she was still in the camp. She knew that the secret to survival was not to become embittered at her situation. She also knew that her outlook would be passed on to her child.
“Hatred eats the soul of the hater not the hated.”

Gratitude
“Complaining doesn’t change people. When they complain…..[nothing changes].”
I’d add to this, but I think Alice sums up this point better:
“Everything is a present.”
“I have lived through many wars and have lost everything many times – including my husband, my mother and my beloved son. Yet, life is beautiful, and I have so much to learn and enjoy. I have no space or time for pessimism and hate.”
“Smiling helps a lot.”

Even if you are not interested in a long life, watch on of her interviews and see how joyful she is; you’ll have to ask yourself that if you have a better hope, why aren’t you just as joyful?

Books are central to our families identity so I was particularly stuck by the story of Laurence Brewer who was diagnosed with MND (the same disease that Steven Hawking has). Rather than one day simply rely on a voice synthesizer Laurence is recording his voice so that his 6 month old son will be able to hear his dad’s real voice when being read a bedtime story.

This story not only shows a dad that wants to make sure that he will be leaving a lasting legacy but also shows alludes to the importance of children hearing a human voice. In this information age, children are exposed to tons of ads and media – at home, at school, and even at church. While video venues are not inherently wrong I think our temptation is to rely on video and other media to teach and entertain. When we over rely on this medium, the personal stories, the realness of the gospel message gets lost.

Our family’s frequent trips to the library and two stories a night routine has shown me how easy it is to meld storybooks, my story, and the story of the gospel on a regular basis. It’s something that has helped my ministry maintain that personal touch as well.

If you’re using stories (from storybooks) in your ministry, share some successes – if you’re not, why not share why you don’t?

Several weeks ago Seth Godin wrote on his blog,
“Wasting time is not a waste. In fact, wasting time is a key part of our lives. Wasting time poorly is a sin, because not only are you forgoing the productivity, generosity and art that comes from work, but you’re also giving up the downtime, experimentation and joy that comes from wasting time. If you’re going to waste time (and I hope you will) the least you can do is do it well.”

Maybe I’m the only one that struggles with this, but it is so hard for me to just rest.

This past week my family and I spent four days camping with several families from our church. It was an incredible time of rest. No agenda, sitting around the campfire, enjoying each other’s company, fishing, just wasting time. It was beautiful.

But the whole time there was that nagging voice in the back of my head convincing me that my rest was a waste. That I could be doing something productive. I could be working.

Ruth Haley Barton writes,
“When we keep pushing forward without taking adequate time for rest and replenishment, our way of life may seem heroic but there is frenetic quality to our work that lacks true effectiveness because we have lost the ability to be present to God, to be present to other people and to discern what is really needed in our situation. The result can be “sloppy desperation”: a mental and spiritual lethargy that prevents us from the quality of presence that delivers true insight and spiritual leadership.”

We work hard because we are passionate about the Gospel, but even the most noble of passions can wear us thin if we are not careful. It is helpful to remember that we are most valuable to the Kingdom when we are working from our rest instead of resting from our work.

May you waste your time well.

What’s your story?

KB

While praying for a weary young woman at the front of our church last week an unexpected hand landed on my back.  It was Nathanial’s hot and heavy hand.  Nathanial was a young man with special needs on the front row.  Perhaps it was the shock of his unexpected touch but I likened it to energy leave my body.  While giving to the woman, Nathanial wanted prayer too and took the opportunity to get it from me as well.

My grandfather said when people have needs, “will we give to their need or make them take it from us?  Either way they’ll likely get it.”  The difference is how we feel meeting the needs of others.

How are you feeling while meeting the needs of others? Are you giving or making them take from you?

by Rhonda Haslett

Part of the challenge in teaching children the transforming truth of God’s Word is keeping it simple.  Images help kids to understand the message, symbols embed the message.  One of the characteristics of digital learners is that they prefer to interpret images BEFORE text or audio.  So finding the right image to convey your message can be the difference between hitting home with a group of 5^th graders and engaging a sea of blank stares.  The Noun Project might help you find what you’re looking for.

The Noun Project collects, organizes and adds to the highly recognizable symbols that form the world’s visual language, so we may share them in a fun and meaningful way.  The images are free, simple, fun, and high quality.  Check them out!

I remember when my parents brought home our first wood console television. This hefty monstrosity never moved from the room my parents placed it in.  Like many families, the television served as the “first screen” in our lives.

Not long after the television took up permanent residence in my childhood living room, the Macintosh Classic became part of the family.  After this computer, I have never lived without a “second screen” in my home.

And while years later in college I did begin using a cell phone, the phone did not dramatically change my life.  It was a simple tool used primarily for emergency calls.  It was not until four years ago when I bought my first truly mobile device (an iPhone) that the “third screen” arrived in my life.  Now I am addicted and I’m not the only one.  As my wife and I have migrated to newer mobile devices, our old devices ended up in the hands of our two daughters.  Take a long drive with us in the Pontiac Vibe and you’ll see a family engaged in Angry Birds, Facebook, Twitter, Pandora, and YouTube on a range of mobile devices.  A simple car ride demonstrates a tremendous cultural shift from the wood paneled RCA television I grew up with.

This “third screen” as author Chuck Martin refers to it, is “the present and the future.  It is profoundly changing human behavior.”

The kids in our churches are children of the “third screen.”  They are always on, always plugged in, always in control.  Sometimes I get concerned that children’s ministry leaders are pretending that we still live in a world where the “first screen” is the only screen.  In this “first screen” world, television is thoughtless entertainment.  We need to make strides to take advantage of the other two screens through websites, web tools, games, design, and media creation.  Matthew May lists some key takeaways from Chuck Martin’s book The Third Screen on the Open Forum that relate to children’s ministry.  Check them out and comment on how you think we can make ministry more mobile.