College Students Give of Themselves to Serve Living Hope’s Children

Behind the scenes at every church are committed people doing their part to help build the Kingdom of Christ. At Living Hope Church, two such people lead the children’s ministry each week. While they often go unseen to members without children, their work is critical to the life of the church.

Christine Carter (left, in the photo above) and Michaella Vance are both students at Trinity Christian College, the campus on which Living Hope meets, and both juggle their responsibilities as students with their work at Living Hope. Carter first began attending Living Hope in 2008, her freshman year.

“Listening to Pastor Sam preach (my freshman year), I just realized that this was going to be my church home while I was at school,” Carter said. “After three years with Living Hope, I was feeling strongly led to get involved further, and knew that God was leading me toward working with kids.”

After discussions with the leadership, and seeing their visions and goals align, Carter agreed to lead the Kingdom Kids, Living Hope’s ministry for school age children. Carter, a senior social work major from Wheaton, Illinois, will graduate in 2012, but until then, continues to create an environment for kids where they can, in Carter’s words, come, expect to be loved, be safe, have fun, and learn.

“I want nothing more than to be a part of creating a place of open and honest acceptance of others and earnest searching after God,” Carter said.

Since September, the children have worked through two units of a curriculum from Elevate Pastors. The first was themed around karate, using children’s interest in martial arts as both a means of drawing the children in and creating meaningful examples of how one can live out Jesus’ calling for our lives in practical ways.

“The best part about my job has been getting to know the children and seeing my colleagues in a new light,” Carter said. “I have been pushed in new ways to see skills and talents that I never dreamed existed.”

Leading the Tiny Tots (pre-K) has been Vance, a sophomore biology major from Glendale, Arizona. Vance began to attend Living Hope last year, and “fell in love with the church and its community atmosphere.” She worked in children’s ministry at her church in Arizona but did not think about working in Living Hope’s ministry until she began to interact with Pastor Chris Cano’s two children; with that positive experience, she took on the role of leader for Tiny Tots.

“My goal is to provide a fun environment that encourages the kids to learn about God,” Vance said. “I hope to see all of the kids grow in Christ.”

Given the young age of the children she leads, Vance said she has been teaching them simple lessons like following God, loving one another, and being helpful.

“Rather than simply teaching them a lesson,” Vance said, “I make sure to repeat things throughout class so the kids can relate what they are learning to something they are doing.”

This coming Sunday, December 18, the Kingdom Kids and Tiny Tots will come together for a Christmas program. Join Living Hope at 10 a.m. in the Ozinga Chapel on the campus of Trinity Christian College.