An email to the GNC Leader about counseling results.
When I asked the children, while in line, why they wanted to come [to talk about trusting Jesus], they each (except Tim*) whispered that they were either sorry for their sins or needed prayer because they’d done something wrong- one child said she had hit her sister and needed to talk to God.
My thinking is that they somehow picked up that the little boy in the story was sick because of sin [the message – that when sin entered the world, the perfect world God created was broken, with sickness and death was a result]. They must have become worried that they might also get sick because they realized they had done bad things. They never said that, but they all, even Tim, wanted to know more about sin.
When I sat down with them, I asked them who had prayed and asked Jesus in their hearts, and they all immediately raised their hands. So, I then said something like, “It sounds like everyone here wants to pray to God about something that’s happened lately, and they want God to forgive them,” … they all nodded.
I talked about how we all sin, we are all sinners, but Jesus took that sin, the sin of the whole world, and when we trust in Him, we are forgiven. Tim brightened with a thought, “Jesus acted like a magnet to all the sin?” YES! Another little girl… asked, “So how do we get rid of sin?” Which led both Rita and I into telling them how you grow up in Christ, reading His word and going to church, learning more about Him and becoming more like Him, and then the bad stuff falls off- to which Tim said- “Like a bug on the windshield, squished and washed off!” Lol!!
We also had a question about what happened to Adam and Eve after they sinned, and Rita spoke up about the promise God made about sending a Savior. I then led a prayer to ask for forgiveness, giving a pause so that the kids could silently confess their sins, and asked for and received forgiveness. After the Amen, there were smiles all around. I asked if everyone felt better and got lots of smiles and nods.
Carolyn D. and Rita D.
GNC Bible Teacher and Counselor
*Name changed to protect privacy.
