Harvest Kids

At Harvest Kids, children play, sing, do crafts and have fun. They learn how to walk through life holding God’s hand. Kids separate according to their age group, where they grow together in community, and follow a fun and God-centered curriculum. We want kids to interact with the reality of God´s Word while making Bible lessons more memorable.

We believe children are people.
We believe that cute images should not define our children’s ministry. David facing down the giant with a raggedy slingshot, Daniel sitting in the corner petting a cuddly lion and Noah leading cutesy animals two by two up the plank-all make great bulletin board decor. Left without explanation, they become religious images void of power. We believe children need to understand the substance of a Bible story. Noah trusted God when the whole world laughed at God. David believed the promises of God covered even big, loud giants. Daniel prayed openly to God in front of lots of mean people. In each case, God proved to be reliable. Children need a God they can believe in just as adults do. Pictures don’t always rise to that task. We believe in communicating the meaning of the Bible story in a language and format children can understand.

We believe children can consciously make good choices.
Are we impacted more by events that happen to us or by the choices we make? The Bible is full of stories about real people who overcame real problems by making right choices. Making good choices will help defeat bad circumstances.

We believe in helping kids understand that lots of bad things can happen in this world, but their response will determine what quality of life they experience. Their choices of right and wrong will make the difference, even when circumstances rise up against them. We believe kids should know they don’t have to live under the dictatorship of circumstances and there is power in making right choices.

We believe children can make mindful decisions.
Is salvation a process or a decision? While none of us knew very much when we accepted the Lord, people aren’t absorbed into the kingdom of God little by little; they are born into the kingdom of God all at once. And it happens because we made a decision. At some point, we decided to trust Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Salvation is a decision.

We believe fear should not stop us from giving children the opportunity to make that decision. Jesus was the one who said “Do not forbid the little ones from coming to me.” Peter closed his sermon on the day of Pentecost by saying “This promise is for you and your children.” Jesus never told children to act more like adults to come into the kingdom. He said it the other way around. He told adults to be more like kids to come into the kingdom. There is power in making a decision. There is exceptional power in making a decision to put your life and faith in Jesus. We believe that kids should be given the opportunity to make their own decision when they are ready to receive Christ.

We believe kids can actually learn in Sunday School.
We focus on what kids learn, not what they are taught. Yes, there is a difference. You can teach Old Testament history, the life of Christ, church doctrine and even a bag full of Greek words, but if kids aren’t learning, none of it matters. What we then teach means nothing; what kids learn, means everything. We believe our teaching methods need to connect to your children. Often, traditional classroom methods might meet the expectations of parents but they will hardly reach today’s kids. We seek to discover what communicates best to kids in order to connect with them; this promotes an atmosphere of learning through relationship.

We believe children can have a meaningful ministry.
Are children the church of tomorrow or are they part of the church of today? While kids are still learning and growing that doesn’t mean they are in a spiritual holding tank until they grow up. Children are part of the church today. People who haven’t yet received the Lord are the church of tomorrow. You don’t have to grow up to serve God. Many kids in the Bible accomplished feats for God before they grew up. Samuel served God in the temple, a Jewish servant girl sent a military commander to a prophet to get healed of leprosy, David dropped Goliath, Josiah turned a nation back to God and a boy donated fish and bread so Jesus could feed a crowd. The only thing we know about Jesus between His birth and His baptism is that He had to be “about His Father’s business.” All were kids. And all served God before they grew up.

Could it be that one reason adults today act as though sitting in church is their service to God is because we trained them that way? “Sit up straight with your hands to yourself” is the only challenge many received in church as kids. We trained them well. We hope to train your kids better and let them “be about their Father’s business”.

We believe kids can know God.
What is our highest objective; to provide good values or to lead kids to an authentic relationship with God? Life skills are vital and should be taught. But knowing God is better than just having values. When a storm hits, a solid relationship with the living Lord is stabilizing, while values can get shaken. It is our knowledge of God that provides what we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:2-4). We desire to help kids know God. We believe they will be drawn to whatever we focus on, so we focus on God. It is the knowledge of God that will impact lives. If all we teach about are the evils of drugs, alcohol and sex we will draw kids to drugs, alcohol and sex. Teach them about God, His character, His promises, His plans and let Bible stories illustrate what God is like. If we teach children about God, they will get to know Him. And that will last them for a lifetime.