Children's Church: it's the foundation to our program and a “one-room schoolhouse” experience: the older children help the younger. Prayer, healthy snack, Bible lesson and a coloring exercise are the usual activities. In 2025, as we study Christ's ascension and Pentecost, the children will be challenged to think through what it takes to run a church. Elders. Deacons. Membership. Offerings (and budgets). Squabbles. They are not too young to start preparing.
Interested in joining us? Come as you are to worship, participate in the liturgy and singing, then follow us into the Children's Church room when dismissed. Family of any age is always welcomed to attend.
Mid-week. Sunday morning isn’t enough. And a one-room schoolhouse isn’t always the right setting to explore and personalize faith. So, we are developing:
- Do-at-home exercises —
- Weekly reminder sheets summarizing the Children's Church lesson, with recommended memory verses, designed for display on the refrigerator (Food for the soul while getting food for the stomach! )
- Object lessons the children, and their parents, can play with at their own pace, including a short question-and-answer exercise (“catechism”) to make the teachings clear
- Small-group tutoring sessions. These midweek meetings provide the quiet setting and personal attention our children need as they grapple with adult questions, the most important being Who is Jesus?
- Introduction to career skills: hands-on teaching and a possible first step towards a profession. Photography and Web development are our initial goals, though we hope every child gets to experience a professional skill they are good at. We will be expanding this based on individual interests, recruiting experts to help us from the tribe and across Nebraska and Iowa.
Vacation Bible school (VBS) Pastor Justin and volunteers from Iowa: thank you for organizing our first vacation Bible school in years, July 5 to 9, 2023. VBS is a great opportunity to bring new people into the church, and it is a time God often uses to grow faith in little ones. We look forward to planning the next VBS.
We need you... The youth program touches dozens of kids, and their families, on the reservations. If they all showed up on a Sunday morning — and that's our goal — they would overwhelm us. We have a list of unfunded needs, and we will eventually face expensive replacement costs just to keep the program running, so please:
- Take a peek at our special needs page, to get an idea of some of the specifics, then...
- Consider going to our gifts page, to make a donation as you are led.
- Might you become a partner with us? That is what we are praying for, above all.
- Whatever your response, use our contact page to start a conversation. To communicate directly with the youth program, email us at [email protected] or message (402) 802-3089. We will follow up in person. You are needed.