Kids @ InVia!

A Contemplative Spirituality for Kids...!

Jesus was concerned for kids. He felt like they needed to be nurtured and cared for and used their open teachable spirit and simple trust as examples to be modeled.

When you look at the way Jesus shaped lives he did what all great communicators have always done, they start with the real-life world and make applications from that into real-life situations. Jesus was constantly drawing the attention of the disciples to weeds, and trees and fruit and seeds, and dirt and lilies and birds and wells. He used the creation around them to teach them observation and then reflection.

So much of “Sunday School” today betrays a “school” orientation. Sit in chairs, study a text, discuss the texts, possibly do a project around a text and hopefully then apply the text. At InVia we don’t want to be too critical of that approach, because many of us are products of exactly that model. But … there might be a better way.

What if we allowed all of our children to experience the earth, dirt, seeds, weeds, water, grass and the rest of the vast sweep of creation and use that as an entry into the biblical truth; organic to textual, experiential to cognitive, hands-on to book learning? That is what we are trying and do.

Our vision at InVia is to facilitate transformation through dialogue and contemplative practice. The spirituality we are learning about and trying to practice is based upon awareness. We want to teach our children the very same thing

Taking our four values, which you can read about here, leads us to invite children in age appropriate ways to experience those values as they are fleshed out in observing creation and reflecting on what they are learning. In other words we want to create...

a spirituality of awareness for kids!

With age appropriate journey guides we want to invite our kids to become aware and reflect on the fantastic world all around them. We invite the kids to ask four questions every week and for those old enough, to capture those reflections in a a journal.

The first line is one of the InVia distinctives. The second line in all caps is the question our children/students will be asking every Sunday with their journey guide. Four questions, four steps into an awareness based transformation. Four questions that will serve them well the rest of their lives. Four questions that will forever sensitize them to what is going on around and within them!

read the world arising within and around. (Our adult value)

–WHAT DO YOU SEE? (question led by adult journey guide for student)

recognize the image of God within

-WHERE IS GOD AT WORK?

resonate with the pain of the world.

-WHAT DOES THIS TEACH YOU?

retell their story to others.

-WHO SHOULD I SHARE THIS WITH?

We are really excited about this!

And just so you parents know we aren't leaving you out! If you have kids involved in the children's ministry you are also welcome to serve once a month at the kids. This serves two important functions. First, as a parent it is your responsibility to train your child. Our role in the church is to assist you in that process. Too many kids ministries end up being baby sitting services with the parents dropping their kids in a ministry for a couple hours of "peace and quiet." Well that IS what babysitters are for, but that is not what children's ministry is for. With that in mind, those who have kids involved will be the first line of workers for that ministry.

Second, it enables you as a parent to actually learn, engage and experience the model of how we are helping you train your children. Believe me you will learn an immense amount as you master they four journey questions. I have seen it over and over again, adults that get to do creational contemplation with their kids are never quite the same.

Wie is welkom by Kids@InVia?

Enige kind vanaf 2 jaar tot graad 7. Ons maak voorsiening vir afrikaans sowel as engelse kinders. Ons is tans besig om ook voorsiening te maak vir die hoërskool leerlinge - ons sal julle op hoogte hou!

Kyk gerus na die volgende artikels oor Contemplation in the Classroom, asook voorbeelde van Contemplative Activities for Kids. Geniet dit!!