The Child Who Knew Jesus

We held a number of children's camps in Africa. One girl, Kathy, had been to all four camps. She knew all the right answers and could have told the gospel story backwards but she never made any visible response. As the camps were drawing to a close, one of the leaders asked her if she wouldn't like to be a Christian. She seemed surprised and said she was a Christian already. The leader was concerned to know if she had really made a commitment to Jesus and so asked, "If God said, 'Why should I let you into my heaven,' what would you say?" She stared blankly and didn't answer the question or say anything about forgiveness and repentance, the answers that were expected. The leader asked again. Still no response. Finally, one more time: "If God said, 'Why should I let you into my heaven,' what would you say?" She seemed quite distressed to be asked again and blurted out: "Why should I have to say anything? He'll recognise me. I'll just run into his arms!"
Kathy had seen something that the leader, for all his training, had not seen. She understood what it means to be a disciple. Though only in her twenties, Kathy died last year. I know she didn't have to answer silly questions, she would have run straight into his arms.
-From "Chapter Six: Some Stories" in Toddling to the Kingdom, ed. by John Collier. London: Child Theology Movement. 2009. Website: www.childtheology.org

Don't waste time thinking about the poor work of the teacher. Reflect instead of the capacity of the child. Remember an incident in your own life in which a child taught or inspired you to deeper levels of comprehension...


And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple and He healed them. But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they became indignant and said to Him, "Do you hear what these children are saying?" And Jesus said to them, "Yes, have you never read, 'Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies You have prepared praise for Yourself'?" -Matthew 21:14-16.

Trigger Moment

I had a teaching inspiration this morning. What we know from brain and psychology research, problem-solving is creative, memory is longer lasting and compassion is triggered by emotion and thought working together, not thought over emotion or emotion instead of thought. Damasio and Immordino Yang call it, "emotional thought."

Mimi Michaelson did her doctoral research on adolescent moral exemplars who have developed far-reaching activities, such as what Ryan Hreljac did in building wells in Africa. She found each of the youth she interviewed had experienced a "trigger" incident--something that caught their attention. In my research on the processes of compassion within children, ages 6-11, I found that an emotional reaction triggered their recognition of the needs of others. In a way, re-writing my dissertation and re-thinking Michaelson's work was a trigger incident for me just this morning.

When we teach, what is our "trigger incident" for the students? Do we bring in a desert tortoise, do we sit around a campfire together, do we listen with all of our heart and mind?

What trigger incidents have you found to be a great teaching tool, for you? Please share your ideas as a "comment" to this post.


"As he (Saul) was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice, saying to him, "Saul, Saul! Why are you persecuting me?" "Who are you, lord?" Saul asked. And the voice replied, "I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! Now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do." Acts 9: 3-6 NLT

Read: Acts 9: 1-19

When he was six at a local Catholic school, Ryan Hreljac of Kemptville, Ontario heard from his teacher that children in Africa were dying for lack of clean, safe drinking water and that it only cost $70 to build a well. Ryan went home that night and told his parents he was going to earn $70 to build a well. He raised the money, only to find it was really $1,000. Undaunted, he earned the $1000 and built a well near a school (to entice children to receive a primary education) in Uganda. Ryan's Well, a non-governmental organization has raised over one million dollars and has even purchased well-drilling equipment for Africa. His friends who play soccer with him say "He's just a normal kid."

http://www.ryanswell.ca

What do you think drew Ryan to have such a global world view and such a persistent compassionate response?