Children are a vital part of the life of a congregation. Nurturing faith in future generations should be one of the most significant commitments of any Christian believer.

What could be a greater gift to the world than awakening the imagination and the spirit of God within a child. Inspirational poet Ann Weems puts it this way in “Greenless Child” from her book, Reaching for Rainbows:

I watched her go uncelebrated into second grade,
A greenless child,
Gray among the orange and yellow,
Attached too much to corners and other people’s sunshine.

She colors the rainbow brown
And leaves balloons unopened in the packages.
Oh, who will touch this greenless child?
Who will plant alleluias into her heart

And send her dancing into all the colors of God?
Or will she be left like an unwrapped package on the kitchen table?
Too dull for anyone to take the trouble?
Does God think we’re her keeper?

Another poet and one of the most prolific hymn writers of our time, Brian Wren (see more about him in Media Resource Center video #V507 — “Faces on Faith”), invited us to see the face of God in a child:

The light of God is shining bright
In every child of woman born
And in her fingers and in her face
Are heaven’s glory, power and grace.
So when she’s walking, running, leaping,
Sitting and thinking, talking and sleeping
Don’t ever treat a child with scorn,
But look and see the face of God
In every child of woman born.

The Media Resource Center features more than 500 videos/DVDs for children preschool through grade 5, all available for local churches to borrow. There are animated and live action Bible studies for children. There are videos that provide lessons about children in other cultures. There are videos about character and value issues, such as peer pressure, conflict resolution, helping other people, honesty, prayer, peace. A small sampling of these videos is highlighted on the accompanying pages.

And on the subject of displaced persons in the wake of Hurricane Katrina…

Who can forget the faces of people we have been seeing in the news, whose lives have been changed forever by this disaster. To me the most poignant images are the faces of the children. If you seek greater knowledge about displaced persons or about United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) or the United Nations High Commission on Refugees, we offer many visual resources to strengthen your understanding.

Here’s one more poem, “Prayer of the Children,” from another great contemporary hymn writer, Kurt Bestor. (You can hear the haunting music for this hymn, “Prayer of the Children,” on #V2414.)

Can you hear the prayer of the children?
On bended knee, in the shadow of an unknown room.
Empty eyes with no more tears to cry.
Turning heavenward toward the light.
Crying, Jesus, help me
To see the morning light of one more day.
But if I should die before I wake,
I pray my soul to take.

Can you feel the hearts of the children?
Aching for home, for something of their very own.
Reaching hands, with nothing to hold on to.
But hope for a better day ... a better day.
Crying, Jesus, help me
To feel the love again in my own land.
But if unknown roads lead away from home
Give me loving arms, away from harm.

Can you hear the voice of the children
Softly pleading for silence in a shattered world?
Angry guns preach a gospel full of hate,
Blood of the innocent on their hands
Crying, Jesus, help me
To feel the sun again upon my face,
For when darkness clears I know you’re near,
Bringing peace again.

Spotlight Shines on Children:The Face of God in Our Midst

Spotlight Shines on Children:
The Face of God in Our Midst