Connect Kids offers a prayer-based ministry for children aged 3-12 years.
As children grow, they learn and store up information in their memory banks to help them interpret and tackle new experiences in life. Some of this information is neutral (facts or skills), but some of it is not (beliefs about themselves, others, God and life that can have positive or negative effects).
Caregivers usually bring children for ministry because the child has problem feelings (e.g. depression, anger, anxiety) or behaviors (e.g. tantrums, social withdrawal) that they may or may not know the cause of. We believe that these feelings and behaviours come from beliefs the child has developed during different life experiences, some traumatic. These problematic beliefs feed painful feelings which, in turn, motivate problematic behaviours.
The Connect Kids’ process will aim to identify these behaviours and feelings and then trace them back to the thoughts and beliefs behind them. Then, as the child is enabled to engage with God, they receive a personalized revelation of positive truth from Him that challenges the problem thoughts/beliefs. In the Connect Kids’ process, it may also be necessary to facilitate the child forgiving others or rejecting oppressive spiritual ties that have developed.
The entire ministry process may be between 4-8 sessions. The length of a session varies with the age of the child.
In the first session, parents/ caregivers are given the opportunity to share background information about the child and their reasons for seeking help. The child is not present. This will enable us to determine if Connect Kids can offer the kind of help that is most suitable for the child right now, or whether alternative help (E.g. counselling, pastoral input, medical referral) would be better.
The next 2-7 sessions involve connecting with the child, identifying and exploring the problem and facilitating healing encounters for them.
The Connect Kids’ process is not counselling or any other kind of therapy. It is an interactive, prayer-based process through which the child is enabled to personally engage with God’s presence and receive spiritual input that brings inner healing. Team members may ask exploratory questions; use creative and age-appropriate activities to facilitate the child’s engagement; and pray with them. Team members always aim to encourage the child to have an active and personal relationship with God themselves.
The ministry process ends with an empowering session with the parents/ caregivers to discuss helpful resources and approaches relevant to the child. We strongly recommend that parents/caregivers book for their own prayer ministry. Freedom in the home is largely dependent on those who lead the home. It is also helpful to experience the process that your child will experience. We also encourage families to be an active part of a supportive community and to have a trusted person they can share this journey with and be accountable to e.g. Pastor, counsellor. We also encourage parents/ caregivers to be intentional about growing in their own relationship with God through involvement in the local church, Bible-reading, prayer and other good spiritual habits.