Imagine traveling to a foreign country where no one speaks your language. Think how defeated you would feel as you tried unsuccessfully to communicate or express yourself to others. It wouldn’t take long before you felt demoralized and began to withdraw. Many Christians venture out into the world this way every day. In this article, though, I’m talking about a different type of fluency – biblical fluency.

I love the times when I can see on the faces of kids when they are having their own personal encounter with the Spirit of God. If we as Kidmin leaders fail to jealously pursue these sacred moments, we will easily move forward with simpler things each week and miss opportunities that can leave an indelible mark for a lifetime.

This is the first in a series of eight articles on the 8 Goals of Children’s Ministries. The following focuses on “Powerful in Prayer.” Because of the importance of being intentional in teaching and modeling prayer for children, this article offers three simple steps that will help build confident, praying kids: present, participate, and provide.

David Boyd was once a bus kid in crisis, but the call of God and David’s obedience to follow allowed him to not only be a thriving children’s pastor for 17 years, but also serve as the national director for BGMC for the past 18 years. His life passion to disciple kids is clear and consistent as he shares in his book "Strong Enough to Last: Building Spiritual Depth into Our Kids."

The New Year is almost here! As we enter 2017, we have the opportunity for a brand-new start, a year full of new possibilities, new goals, new dreams, new lessons, and new memories. However, while the thoughts of new are incredibly exciting, the lessons of our past are what will help us continue to personally grow. So as we approach this New Year, I encourage you to reflect on a few personal questions—ones that will help launch you into 2017.

In the world of children’s ministries, there are milestones each year—summer camp, back to school bash, fall festival, Christmas programs and parties. Hopefully, those events are “in the books” and you are looking forward to the great things God has for your kids’ ministries in the days to come.