bye F A B I A N

Over the past 6 months, I have watched a children's ministry volunteer grow in a mighty way. We don't currently have a special needs ministry, but God has blessed us with several children who would benefit from this type of ministry. This volunteer seems to have a huge heart for these kids, and I have been blessed watching the transformation of two children in particular.

Daniel
Daniel has Down's Syndrome. He is high functioning and is integrated with the other students. The first weekend I was there was tough for him. Change is hard for Daniel, and there was a lot of change that weekend. We completely redesigned the room to accommodate more students, that was a change. We started a kids worship team with high impact, less traditional music. Oh and I was there, that was a change in leadership. This all weighed heavily on Daniel and as I was teaching I looked over and he had started to remove clothing. Luckily we had a video to show so without missing a beat we turned the lights off and took care of Daniel before any of the other students even noticed. That was also this volunteers first day. She decided to get to know Daniel after the large group lesson was finished. He doesn't say much until he really knows you. So she put quiet music on for him, asked questions that were not answered and tried to play catch with him. He watched her closely, but didn't really respond. After two months of taking the time to just hang out with him, (he doesn't go to small group, he stays in the large group environment where he is comfortable) a breakthrough. As Daniel was leaving, he told his mom to tell this leader he likes to watch animal planet and he growled and said lion!!! The smile on this leaders face was ear to ear! Every week since, Daniel runs up to his leader and hugs her! He talks to her about animals, plays catch, dances to worship music, and they even eat an occasional doughnut together. That's first hour for this volunteer, now it's time for second hour.

Fabian
4 weeks ago Fabian arrived. Fabian is hearing impaired. Fabian's sister helps him to understand what is happening, but the same volunteer felt like his sister should go be a kid and she would help Fabian. The first week after meeting him, she immediately bought "The Joy of Signing" from a garage sale. She learned to say; "Hi my name is" and she brushed up on the alphabet. That next Sunday she put her new found skills to work. Fabian's eyes lit up! Her learning has continued. Yesterday, she worked with Fabian on his memory verse, using ASL. 4 weeks!! Just 4 weeks! He knows 2 Peter 1: 5-7. The volunteer gave him a doughnut for remembering his verse and working so hard with her. He wanted another one, so she asked his sister how to say "No more doughnuts, if you eat too many you will get fat." Fabian's sister taught her that and more!

What an amazing blessing to see this transformation take place right in front of my eyes!! You see, I'm doubly blessed. This volunteer happens to be my 17 year old daughter Sophie. As a leader, seeing other leaders grow in their service brings great joy!! As a leader and a mom, this great joy brings tears as well. Thank you child for your amazing example to be all things to all people. Paul would be so proud!! (maybe not as proud as your mom though!!)

As we were leaving church yesterday, Sophie waved and signed; "Bye F A B I A N," she showed us each letter and said we should try next week. Good idea!