By David Dawson
ddawson@tnbaptist.org
MARYVILLE — The children from Madison Avenue Baptist Church have been all around the world in the past few months. Yet they’ve always made it home well before bedtime.
Participating in a missions-based program called “TREKK” — which was held each Wednesday night at the church for several months — the children “visited” about a dozen countries, learning about the different cultures, languages and cuisine of each new place. In the process, they also learned songs and Scriptures that allowed them to gain a better understanding of God’s love.
The purpose of the program was to combine missions education with a passion for missions, said Brad Paradis, children’s pastor at Madison Avenue.
“We really tried to focus on four elements,” he said. “And those were: Teaching Scripture, memorizing Scripture, singing Scripture and teaching them about God’s heart for the nations through a different people group or country. Each week, we looked at what God was doing in that particular place or among that people group.”
The “curriculum” included games, songs, arts and crafts and many other activities. The program was well received by the participants, and the church plans to continue to host TREKK for the foreseeable future.
Joe Sorah, harvest field leader for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, said the model being used by the church is a great teaching tool — and has the potential to have a long-range impact on the participants.
“I am so encouraged to see what Madison Avenue is doing,” said Sorah. “They are helping children understand the Great Commission and letting the children have fun while doing so. I would not be surprised to see some future missionaries come from the church due to their efforts.”
Paradis said the concept for the program at Madison Avenue began to take shape during a series of group meetings among the staff and children’s workers. “It really started with us asking ourselves some questions like ‘what are the priorities?’ and ‘what are the things we’re trying to instill?’ and ‘what are the ways we’re trying to partner with parents?’ ” he said. “Soon, we began to put a game plan together.”
Using the book “Windows on the World” as a guide, the children studied 12 countries and people groups, along with a couple of “extra” places that were particular to Madison Avenue’s mission partnerships, Paradis said. The program started in February (a little later than originally planned due to some COVID complications) and ran through the end of the school year.
One of the drawing points of the program, Paradis said, was a giant map on the wall. The children put stick-pins on the map on the places they had studied. “That was a big highlight for the kids — just to see where all those pins were,” Paradis said. “We also hung flags of all the places that we had talked about.”
Paradis said having Godly and loyal volunteers was the most important element in the program.
“The reality is that we just have some really, really good volunteers that are faithful, love the kids and love the families,” he said. “And they make a world of difference. I think the Lord really used their faithfulness through a difficult season (with COVID and other hurdles) and their joyfulness coming out of that season. I think that’s what made the partnership with parents and families and kids so good.”
Sorah said he would love to see other churches develop and implement similar programs. He said the importance of doing so can’t be measured.
“If we hope to see our children follow in the vision to reach the world for Christ, missions education is imperative,” he said. “Many current missionaries relate how missions education played a vital part in their call to missions. If we want to see our missionary movement expand, we must expose our children and youth to mission opportunities and education. Our children need to hear about the lostness of our world. They need to know that there are many places where the good news of Jesus Christ has never been shared.”
At Madison Avenue, singing is a big part of the program — and the children seemed to especially enjoy that aspect of TREKK, Paradis said.
“We tried to pick out songs that were pointing to the world,” he said. “They were singing Scripture (that focus on) God’s heart for the nation. That was true for the majority of the songs that we did over the course of the semester.”
Sorah said churches can go many different directions with their children’s ministry, but he said it is his prayer that churches will strive to make missions a high priority.
“Churches have lots of options and choices to make concerning children’s programming,” he said. “Many of these choices are excellent options. When deciding, I would encourage churches to think biblically and missionally.
“If we want to reach the world for Christ, one place to start is through educating our children and youth about the great need for the world to hear the Gospel,” he said.
Sorah said that helping children develop a love and appreciation for missions can make an eternal impact on the lives of countless others.
“That boy sitting in your church may be the one to take the gospel to an unreached people group, or that girl may be the one to go where no one else has ever gone,” said Sorah. “But first, they must know of the need. That’s our responsibility — to expose them to the need.”
From there, God does the calling, Sorah said, but the groundwork needs to be laid by the churches.
“It is an important part of the process that we are called to do,” Sorah said. “And that’s what Madison Avenue is modeling. It’s exciting to see.” B&R