In 2019 I stopped having Bible clubs at church during the week. This was because most parents (understandably) wanted the children to come straight home after school. Also, only a small number of children who lived in the area of the church were able to come.
During the pandemic I began to hold Bible clubs during the week in communities of Barrouallie in front of children’s houses. This allowed me to personally bring the children from their home to Bible club, and back. It also meant parents could see what was going on since we were nearby.
I started with one Bible club….
and how I have three!!!
With the expansion of Bible club my needs are also expanding. Each group has about eight children (so around 23 total) and so finding comfortable seating for each one of them is difficult. We began using a large tablecloth and sitting down on the ground, but soon outgrew that. Currently we use chairs which the children enjoy. However, the chairs themselves are beginning to show wear from extended use. Also I prefer to walk from area to area, and cannot do so with ten chairs.
So yesterday I went into Kingstown, and began looking for new seating options.
The Lord helped me find small stools that are quite sturdy for a reasonable price. The best news is these stools can be easily stacked on top of one another and transported!
The Lord though these stools taught me an important lesson….
we must let ministry grow.
There were a few different problems with my church Bible club, but the greatest one was it didn’t grow. The ministry itself had gone stagnant with the same people doing the same thing. So it was necessary to completely change things and create a ministry that truly grew.
It is hard sometimes to walk away from a ministry that has stopped growing…..
but it’s always worth it when the new ministry explodes in growth!!
May the Lord help us all sacrifice our current plans so we can grow in the future.
Johnhwilburn.org 