TEACHING THE PARABLES OF JESUS

I never dreamed I’d go from delivering the U.S. mail to delivering boxes of miniature, wooden parables of Jesus to the doorstep of families at my church. I retired from the post office and began serving at my church. I work with children who learn about Jesus using a Montessori-style of learning. Everything is hands-on, and experiential. For example, through the use of a hand-painted, wooden Jesus figurine, a dozen sheep, and a green pasture with a fence, the Bible story of Jesus as the Good Shepherd is discovered by children through play manipulation of the materials. Many other parable stories, such as the mustard seed and the leaven, are in this same format. When Covid-19 hit, our church classrooms were shut down. Parents were calling me asking how to continue their child’s faith learning at home. I took it to prayer. The Holy Spirit inspired me to design a home-delivery program which included all the materials a child would work with in a classroom setting, but now I packaged them up in a box and delivered them on a rotational style basis to the families to use at home. I sanitized all of the pieces once they were returned and delivered the pre-packaged parables to the next family eagerly waiting for their box to arrive. Whole families were engaged in the lesson. Children who were familiar with the parable from earlier experience were teaching it to their parents. God brought significant faith transformations in parents and children through these efforts. Belief in God was deepened in many homes and there was an enthusiasm for continued Bible reading, all while society was being banned from attending Church services. I simply wanted to deliver materials to homes and give access to the materials to these families, but in looking back, I believe God’s bigger picture lesson was to instill more meaningful prayer time in families—the first domestic church children are entrusted to. When forced to come up with alternative solutions to remaining connected to Jesus and each other, God provided an answer beyond what I could have ever planned on my own.