Starting Young(er)

It was really a blessing and a privilege to attend the Every Nation Campus Conference: Ignite 2015 last June 2-4 at Smart Araneta! Honestly I still have my coarse voice due to too much singing and shouting hehe :)

Ignite season again!

Not only that, but I was also blessed to attend the Ignite Pre-Con last June 1, 2015 at the CCF Center in Pasig (thank you CCF! God had really blessed you with awesome facilities!) Got to spend time with my "great cousin" and some delegates from Victory Cagayan De Oro and finally met again my friends from Cambodia! ♥

CDO and Cambodia represent!

We have this sort of war cry, "Change the campus! Change the world!" for we believe that when we reach the students for God in the campus, who are the future leaders and decision makers of nations, then we can mold and change the world as early as today!

But this post will be more about the connection between Campus Ministry and Kids Ministry. :) I used to volunteer in Campus Ministry in our church for a time but today, I'm more involved in World Missions and yes, Kids Ministry. :)

Few days before Ignite 2015, I got to talk to a friend and co-volunteer in Kids Ministry who is also greatly involved in Campus Ministry in the university where she graduated. Now she's having this dilemma if she have to let go of this ministry so she can focus more to this other ministry. I told her to pray more about it, that she will really hear God's voice and guidance about it. I also added that Kids and Campus Ministries are not really from different "planets". Kids are more of like Campus only that you are starting to reach out the students in their much younger age.

Then fast forward to Ignite 2015 Day 2. The speaker was Ms. Rachel Ong, Founder and Chief Executive of ROHEI, a management consultancy based in Singapore and who is also involved in our Every Nation church in Singapore. This woman has a string of achievements, and one of them is she got a scholarship in Harvard (wohow!) But she told the crowd (around 15,000 of us inside Araneta) that when she was still a child, she wasn't really doing well in school. She shared to us that whenever her mother introduce her and her sister to people, her sister would have a 10-minute introduction because she's good in a lot of things. But to her she will just say, "This is Rachel. She has a good heart." :) Her teachers would always comment that she's a "good girl but very slow".

Some words of wisdom from her last Ignite 2015

So what happened to her? From being this "good but slow" girl to becoming a successful and wise lady that she is right now, influencing many people from different nations?

Then she continued her story. One day she approached her Sunday School teacher (Tadah! That's Kids Ministry in there!) and asked how can she do better in school for she just entered highschool. And what her teacher said, I believe, was her turning point in becoming the bright student (can't still get over with that Harvard scholarship!) that she was. She told her that if she wants to do well in school, she have to read the Bible, memorize Scriptures and meditate on the Word of the Lord. She did exactly what her Sunday School teacher told her-- read the Bible, memorize Scriptures and meditate the Word... and the rest is history. :)

I can somewhat relate to her on that part. I was not really doing well at school when I was a little girl. I can still remember a classmate of mine before bullying me and calling me "stupid" during that time. But then I remember my mother telling me to memorize Bible verses, not so because I can do well in school, but because it is the Word of the Lord. She told me that there's power in it, that I can quote the Bible whenever I pray. So to do that, I should memorize the Scriptures then. So, I started memorizing Bible verses. I remember reading them aloud so I can easily remember them. Then eventually, I started to do well in school. I remember myself being surprised seeing my name in our school's bulletin board being the top 3 of our class. From then on the class and teachers would assign me to lead, they would make me represent our class in some competitions and get awards. I was doing well until I went to collage while still being active in extra-curricular activities. Now I firmly believe that this had happened, not because I'm so great but because God's Word is faithful and true.

"Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
    whatever they do prospers."
-Psalm 1:1-3

It is good that we reach the students when they are in campus, but it is better when we start reaching out to them when they are younger. :)

Start them young!

Ms. Rachel's story about her and her Sunday School teacher was just a tiny-winy part of her whole session, but it struck me and reminded me being a Kids Ministry teacher myself that I could be raising some Rachel Ong today. What could be the result if her Sunday School teacher's answer was different? What could be the result if my mother did not tell me to memorize Bible verses? We maybe remained as the "good girl but very slow" and "a girl bullied as stupid in school" (only that we are bigger and older now hehe). God is faithful for He put godly and grown-up people to guide us. You could be that "godly and grown-up" person for many kids around you. Who knows what could that kid be when he/she grows up? Remember that David was only a shepherd boy when he was anointed as king of Israel. :)

For the whole session of Ms. Rachel about "Influence The World" (which is really powerful by the way!), you can hear it here by clicking the image for the link:

Session 5 by Rachel Ong

So there you go, whether you are in Campus Ministry or Kids Ministry... You can change the world now! :D