By Patricia Meyers

Do you often cry out for help with staffing? Do you find yourself asking God for more workers on a consistent basis? Do you question if God cares about this area of children’s ministry?

Well, you are one of a crowd! Rest assured … He does care.

I have a question for you. How many workers do you NEED? Specifically. What is the number? How many do you need for your Nursery to be fully staffed? How many for the preschool? How many for the grade school? Write down the numbers. Break them down for service times if you like … how many for Sundays, how many for Wednesdays, etc.

So often, we just keep asking (which is scriptural … don’t stop asking), but we are not asking in faith. We are asking out of frustration without a clear picture of our actual need.

Go through your schedule and find out exactly what you need to be comfortably staffed. Then write a prayer note to God with the specifics. Outline the situation specifically. And watch Him work. We need to know exactly what the need is, so we can ask specifically; and so we can know when the answers come and rejoice!

There are three steps to the process:

1. First, pray in faith. Matthew 9:38 “Ask Him to send more workers to his field.” Remember, Luke 6:38 tells us that He gives: “… pressed down, shaken together and running over.” “You have not because you ask not.” “Present your petitions to God with thanksgiving.” Do you believe that he hears your prayers? “We know you listen when we call.” Do you believe that he cares about you? “For He cares for you.” Then choose to trust Him in this need. Make a choice. Choose to believe the Bible. Sometimes we just think this struggle and frustration with staffing is just a part of the life of a children’s minister, and in some ways it is. The scheduling is a part of the regular life of a children’s ministry leader. The working with the fluctuation of people is a regular part. But the frustration does not have to be. We have a faithful God that cares about our needs. Choose to trust Him with this area of your life and ministry just like any other area. Make the choice right now and make that commitment before Him … tell Him that you trust Him to meet these needs.
2. Second, after you have prayed in faith. Then … sit back and ask Him to show you if an answer is sitting right in front of you. Look over the names on your schedules. Look over the attendance sheets. Sit back and really spend some time on this. Be relaxed and calm and stay in an attitude of prayer. Ask God to open your eyes if the answer is staring at you. Sometimes our answers are right in front of us, but because of the fog of frustration we miss them. Take some time for this. I have shared this with so many Children’s Leaders and they tell me it didn’t help. My first question is “How much time did you give it?“ Usually the answer is very small. Spend some time. If you being to feel overwhelmed or frustrated, take a break, get a cup of tea, and then come and sit back down again. Ask God to keep your heart in faith, not worry or doubt. If the answer doesn’t spring out at you after a good amount of time, put everything away and tidy up. And stay in faith … He is just going to bring it another way!
3. Third, keep your heart and mind open to His answer. The Amplified Bible in an effort to capture the full meaning of the Greek, states Matthew 7:7 this way “Ask and keep on asking, knock and keep on knocking …” Don’t slam your Bible on the desk and decide that God just doesn’t help with this area … because He does. I have seen it hundreds of times. Keep on asking. Keep your mind open to Him showing you an answer at any given time, day or night. Expect Him to bring about the answer.

At a recent seminar, two lovely women came up to me after I finished speaking and wanted to talk about a serious problem they were having with a severe ADD child who came on the bus. I mention that he came on the bus, because the parents not being in the building changes their options on how to handle him. They were at their wits’ end and didn’t know what to do. They wanted to not allow him to come anymore because of how it was affecting the other children in the classroom. After a few questions it came out that three people have come forward and offered to assist with this child. They each offered to take turns being his guardian. They would take him out when needed and work puzzles or whatever and then come back for story time and basically be responsible only for him, freeing the teachers to teach and relieving the other kids from being hassled. I was shocked! I told them that they have been the recipients of a miracle! But in their frustration, they had missed the miraculous answer God has provided for them. It’s okay … we all do that sometimes … but I share that to challenge you to look around and stay open-minded for an answer that may already exist or that may pop up suddenly once you are looking for it. Watch carefully, the answer may look different than you originally expect it to look.

Don’t decide HOW God will answer, just trust that He WILL.

I think I have grown more in faith because of the worker issue in children’s ministry than any other thing. And I believe it is because I have chosen to absolutely trust Him to help with that area. This cannot happen with lip service only … it has to be a heart issue.

Allow God to work this into your faith walk, into your heart-felt belief system. If you change your thinking about your volunteer needs from one of frustration to one of an opportunity to see God work, you will start to find joy again in the search, in the recruiting, and even in the times of need. I have seen God do so many amazing things in that area, that it has become a joy to me. Twelve years ago I would never have imagined feeling this way, but it is completely true today.

It was a process, it took time to get to the joy part … but it happened. And it can happen for you, too. There is joy awaiting you … in the staffing area of your ministry. Believe it … pursue it!

The End ... with blessings.