Cru, one of Marshall’s University’s campus ministries, is seeking to help Church Baptist by developing a program directed toward younger children to help parents feel at ease while in bible study.
Many adults want to have a bible study, but that is difficult to have when those adults have one or two kids to look after, a member of Cru, one of Marshall University’s campus ministries, said.
“As a result, we decided to volunteer and help with that situation by leading their kids in a separate bible study,” Mackey Gaskins said. “That way the parents know their kids are being watched by responsible young adults, all while they and their kids learn about Christianity. We have about 15 students from Cru or Baptist Campus Ministry go to First Baptist Church in Kenova every Wednesday to watch about 85 to 90 kids and lead them in a bible study.”
Gaskins said the main goal of Cru and Baptist Campus Ministry involvement with childcare is that not only do they want to have a bible study that appeals to a younger audience, but to also let the children roam around and have fun.
“We usually separate the kids and have two different bible studies between Kindergarten to 2nd graders and 3rd graders to 5th graders,” said Gaskins. “We usually have them watch a bible lesson cartoon, we then talk about it and go into detail about it for about 20 minutes, and they get to play afterwards.”
“We want kids to know that God loves them with all of his heart. We want them to realize that they are forever not alone in life and have somewhere to go when life is tough if they confess their love and faith to Christianity.”
Despite some kids being shy and scared of older people at a younger age those children are at, the kids at Church Baptist are eager to learn and grow in their faith, Gaskins said.
“They absolutely love it,” Gaskins said. “They look forward to it; when it gets closer to when the college students have to leave, the kids do not want them to go.”
Gaskins said many of the kids have formed bonds and close connections with the students due to what the parents of the children have told him and his colleagues.
“They have gotten so comfortable with the college students from not only Cru, but Baptist Campus Ministry as well,” Gaskins said. “Many of the parents have told us that certain kids are sad when particular students cannot come due to schoolwork. That alone shows they are forming connections and building relationships with each other.”
Cru and Baptist Campus Ministry will continue to volunteer for childcare every week from 6:15 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. at 1120 Poplar St. Kenova.
Aaron Dickens can be contacted at [email protected].