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Septemer 2017
When I first started teaching children at my local Methodist Church, I was 17 years old. I was passionate about teaching children to trust in God with all their hearts, to talk to Him every day and to know the supernatural empowering gift of His Spirit in them. That was 37 years ago.
I am still passionate about the same things, maybe a few more, but the way I now teach those same things has changed so much that it looks and feels completely different to what it did in the past. This is thanks in no small part to the authors of the lessons found here - Roselyn Owen and Margaret Ranchhod. Ministering to children with Roselyn and Marg over the last 10 years has been fun and has profoundly impacted the way I now approach any session with kids: I have learned to disciple children, not preach at them; to inspire and motivate children to live a life that pleases their Heavenly Father out of a growing love for Him instead of simply obeying a set of rules; to empower children, no matter how young they are, by showing them that they can know God's thoughts and to embolden them to pray for their family and friends and tell people that God loves them. We all agree that the most profound moment in every session with children is that moment when we make space for them to encounter Jesus for themselves and allow Him to teach each individual child what they most need to know from what we have attempted to teach them. Every lesson creatively uses that moment to enable children to hear from God.
Roselyn and Marg know children well - they know they need to move, especially boys, so each lesson is full of creative ideas of how to get the kids moving; they know children need connection, so each lesson provides for opportunities for relationship building; and they know that children need to be engaged and so these lessons have plenty of creative ways to present ideas and lessons to make learning about God's kingdom fun and inviting and living in God's Kingdom exciting and powerful.They know that the best way kids learn is to put what you teach them into practice - Roselyn and Marg are my go to people when I need an activation! Their ideas are always effective, fun, engaging, creative, realteable and memorable.
One of the most important lessons I've learnt is to rely on Jesus. He is the most effective teacher as He is the One who gives wisdom and revelation and only He can transform our hearts. Roselyn and Marg rely on Him for their ideas and will happily abandon lessons and run sheets when prompted to do so by the Holy Spirit. They also listen to what the children are saying and are willing to be led by them when the Holy Spirit nudges them to do so.
Roselyn and Marg are both endlessly creative when leading children to experience the heart of the Father, in knowing their identity in Jesus Christ and empowering them to hear from God, knowing that their prayers are powerful. They love seeing children and teenagers feeling connected - being part of and participating in the wonderful Body of Christ, the church.
They tirelessly and relentlessly pursue ways to unlock all the riches of God's kingdom available to each child. Roselyn and Marg love Jesus with all their hearts.
Bev Bekker, Central Coast, NSW, Australia
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August 2017
“Thank you so much to you and the team for coming along on Sunday, we so loved having you with us and we so loved seeing how you enable the Children to hear from God for themselves!! I’m really looking forward to making this a regular part of our mornings in Shine.”
Pastor Melanie Battistella, Mt Clear Church of Christ
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July 2017
“I highly recommend Roselyn Owen’s teaching on ‘Show, tell, give’. It is extremely practical and easy to follow but most of all - it works!! I still remember back to our first day at Stairway helping as a parent in the prep class with my 5-year-old son. The kids were sitting opposite each other at tables with crayons and paper in front of them. They were encouraged to ask Father God to show, tell or give them something for the child sitting opposite them and then to draw it in a picture. As I saw every child participate and draw a picture for the child opposite, I realised that these kids were learning to prophesy. I went home and that week we started incorporating this into our daily devotions for my kids to hear, feel or see something from God for themselves. My children are now teenagers and they use this method to teach the kids in their care at church how to hear God. I incorporate this into my teaching for adults learning to hear God for themselves and to prophesy as it also works with adults.”
Jane Berry Homeschooling Mum
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June 2017
There is nothing more beautiful than seeing your kids explore and discover the Lord’s heart for them and their journey to know Him. I have watched in awe and wonder as my kids have had encounters that I didn’t know were even possible when I was their age. These are incredible encounters full of child-like faith and wonder and yet, for them, it’s just been normal life. That is priceless! To see them move closer into the heartbeat of the Father as He has revealed himself to them has been so stunning to watch. Fostering this heart to heart relationship between our kids and the Lord is the greatest privilege we have as parents. Not only that, it’s an absolute joy!
Fiona Silby , mother of three