Visit to NCC’s Rock Kidz

A team of our church's children ministry leaders visited Singapore's Rock Kidz, New Creation Church's (NCC) children ministry, in March 2011, to see how one of the largest grace-based children ministries are run.

We met up with children ministry head Pastor Lim Lian Neo; Madeline Wong, assistant manager of the primary section; and teacher Ronnie Lew; who gave us a “tour” of Rock Kidz during the first service and answered some questions we had about their ministry.

a.         Rock Kidz Ministry Overview

Rock Kidz has 2,500-2,700 children, aged 1 month to 12 years, over four services.

The children are divided into different age groups:

·         Champions (ages 1-2)

·         Beloved (ages 3-4)

·         Treasured (ages 5-6)

·         Mighty (ages 7-8)

·         Alive (ages 9-10)

·         Fearless (ages 11-12)

·         Faith Kidz (for kids with Autistic Spectrum Disorders)

Each service is 2 hours long. Class programme includes pre-service games for the early birds, praise and worship (with computer-assisted musical accompaniment), Holy Communion, a short message and activities/games.

After lessons, there are different activity corners, e.g. Beyblede and Nerf gun sections for the boys and a craft table for the girls, as they wait for their parents to come.

b.        Resources

Pastor Lian, Ronnie and some others write the materials for each group about one month in advance. They are still in the process of compiling their lessons, and there are currently no off-the-shelf grace-based children materials.

For each lesson, they start with a “hook” to interest the kids on the topic, then teach what the Bible says about the topic, and then help the children to lay hold of the truth.

The younger groups have simpler lessons, e.g. Trip to the zoo — various animals — this animal reminds me of how big God is — God created this beautiful world because God loves me.

One helpful tip we learned was not to speak adult talk to the young children or ask too many questions — instead, just go straight into the next activity and get them to join in. E.g. instead of “Shall we sing some songs now?”, say “Now we’re going to praise Jesus!” and start the song. Having little jingles, e.g. “Now it’s time to keep our toys”, helps to cue the kids that it’s time to switch activity without having to give too many instructions.

The Beloved group had handouts for the kids to bring home so that parents can follow up and reinforce the lesson taught.

The older ones go through the Jesus’ Storybook, among others. When we visited the Mighty group (7-8 year olds), they were going through a series on Psalm 23. That week’s lesson was about how the Shepherd is always with us, even if we do not always see Him.

c.        Helpers’ Role

Because of the size of the church and the children ministry, everything is super organised, with a lot of resources and manpower put in. I think they have about 1,000 servers in this ministry, with helpers, teachers, overseers and supervisors. 

The kids are divided into smaller segments based on gender and age, with a helper in charge of each segment. While a teacher is leading in song, the helper will mirror the same enthusiasm and actions to the kids in their segment. While a teacher is teaching, the helper will help ensure the kids pay attention and do not act disruptively.

d.        Class management

One area that we were keen to learn from was how to manage children under grace.

Rock Kidz does implement some disciplinary tools such as time-out boxes, but they also ensure that there is a helper to counsel every kid who's in the time out box before restoring them back to the class. Disciplining kids who are a little more difficult to manage is done with the parents’ cooperation as the leaders believe that parents are the ultimate authority over a child.

Pastor Lian explained that many of those who are used to having their own way at home and in school are often just crying out for someone to lay down boundaries gently yet firmly for them. They also shared how over time, many of these kids have grown to appreciate the teachers’ invested attention in their lives and changed for the better. 

Some other things she shared: 

• Having had a revelation of the new covenant, we realise that we just need to help children see that God already loves them and that the character traits (e.g. responsible, self control, kind etc) that we desire to see in them don’t constitute the root of their salvation, but rather, are the fruits of their salvation, as they know they are loved by God.
• A good way to approach teaching about their walk is to help them see that they are eagles, champions, new creations — and that character fruits, like love and self-control, are characteristics of eagles, champions and new creations. When they realise this, they will know that it’s in their DNA, their real nature. They are beautiful butterflies, so they don’t have to act like caterpillars crawling on the mud! It’s good to show them that when they truly believe they are new creations, these behaviours will surely manifest.
• It’s wonderful when children realise they are Jesus-boys and Jesus-girls and that they are like their Heavenly Daddy! But should they fail, should they act contrary to who they really are, they must know they are still loved by their Heavenly Daddy. The grace of God is there to help them and give them strength to become what they really are — overcomers!
• It’s important for them to realise that people who are rude, lazy or disobedient find it hard to be successful in anything they do in school, at work and at home, even though God still loves them. But when they allow the nature of God to manifest in their lives, they experience success everywhere and in everything they do — they really enjoy the abundant life because they allow the life of God in them to manifest.
• And just because God still loves them when they do wrong, there are still human consequences for them to face up to, e.g. if they act in an unbecoming manner in class, they have to face up to the consequences, e.g. time-out or whatever might be appropriate. These consequences must be enforced firmly but lovingly; in a manner where they recognize that because they are loved, they are also disciplined.
• Children need boundaries and discipline, and these are to build them up and not to bring condemnation to them.  

e) Fruit

Based on testimonies shared, it was encouraging to see that children brought up with the right image of a loving and giving God come to expect Him to work in their lives, whether it is healing or answer to their prayers. They would remind their parents about Jesus' finished work in their lives and proclaim His promises over whatever situations they face. 

We are grateful to Pastor Lian and her team for their assistance and help during this visit. As we continue to grow our children ministry in His grace, we look forward to seeing the fruits of a generation of kids who know how much they are loved by God and what He has done for them on the cross.