Parenting for Faith success in Canada
Jan Mutter, Pastoral Associate at Wentworth Baptist Church in Ontario, Canada, shares how the Parenting for Faith course has had a powerful impact on her church community:
The Lord has been “blessing our boots off” at our Moms’ group, and I am standing in AMAZEMENT at what he is doing!
We gather each Sunday morning under the cross at our church to pray for this outreach. Members of this ministry team form the nucleus of the prayer group.
Starting off
In Week 1 of the Parenting for Faith course – despite the chaos of late arrivals, electrical cords draped across the floor (grab that baby!) and a couch that was held up with kids building blocks – we got through all the material. The discussion was very good and rich.
At the end of the first session, several of us had the privilege of praying for one of the moms who’s having a hard time. The other moms started coming around in a larger circle to join us. Wow!
Continuing to grow
The following week, three new moms walked into the room. One seeking mom said she had started praying with her kids and wanted to know how to frame an explanation of what they were doing. She also asked if her own mom could come next week too!
One newer Christian mom has a teenage son with autism, so I shared with her the Parenting for Faith podcast on autism. They both loved it! She gave feedback about what her church family meant to her as a parent. It was humbling.
That day we had to extend our time together because the moms didn’t want to leave!
Concluding the course
When it got to week 7 of the course (Prayer Ministry for Children), despite the challenges of having preschoolers at our feet, we broke into groups to try this ourselves.
In my group we each heard God speak to us specifically about a problem we brought to him. In another group, women reported experiencing a deep sense of God’s peace.
We had a visiting “grandma” who I knew to be a godly woman. I put her in a group where I knew her influence would be positive. She helped the younger women through the exercise. I was so pleased to see a visible change on the face of one who had come with a heavy heart that day.
As the course came to a close, one young mom shared with me her realisation of the importance of her children being able to worship with songs they know more often. She has organised a Friday night worship time at her house with several other families of young children.
Another mom shared that she is using prayer ministry with her daughter before she leaves for school.
Feedback
Some appreciative comments from our group members:
Rachel was fun to watch and made things easy to understand.
The idea of letting our kids hear us pray – making our faith visible – had a number of us deep in thought. It came up in conversation throughout the entire series.
I liked how practical the material was.
I especially enjoyed Session 7 – Prayer Ministry for Children.
Rachel clearly explained how to bring our children to God, then get out of the way! We guide them to tell God their problem and support them as they wait in silence to hear what God wants to say to them.
Our Moms group tried this [prayer ministry] exercise in small groups. God met with us by providing direct answers to our concerns and giving a deep sense of peace. We were energized to try this in other contexts!
We talked about ways to encourage our children to talk to people after church – to know and be known by both adults and other children.
We had a budget enough to bless the women with Rachel’s book “Comfort in the Darkness” which we gave as a gift. They were most appreciative.
“We need all the help we can get!”
I can’t say enough positive things about the way that BRF staff have supported us, prayed for us and given us a place to express what is God is doing here as we run “Parenting for Faith”. I appreciate the supportive, encouraging blanket that you are putting around Christian parents. We need all the help we can get!