Since 2009, when I’ve been taking Kidsong World seriously, God has used it to teach me amazing things. And I’m loving it! Last week was the 25th Hillsong Conference. As usual, I was serving as a kids leader in our kids conference Kidsong World.

This year was different because I was a tribal leader instead of a group leader and didn’t have a specific group of kids allocated to me, but a group of about 7 leaders who were leading a group of 100+ kids. And I had two electives to present. In addition, my friend and leader Dave had a great idea during conference and needed my help to execute it. As a result, I didn’t spend as much time as I wanted with the kids.

However, this lack of time didn’t stop God from using me to impact the lives of a few children, which made me happy. I love when God does that! I love when I see the smiles of children after conference, and how much fun they had, and how sad they are to leave (ok, this part is not fun, I also feel sad when conference ends and I have to say good bye to the kids who live far away and whom I might never see again).

After Conference, when I stopped to thank God for everything, He reminded me that even though I feel good when He uses me to change children’s lives, He is the one who makes it happen, and it is all for His glory. He also reminded me of the great honour and privilege that it is to be trusted as a leader to the little ones whom God loves. And He reminded me of the impact my life has in these kids.

While being a children’s leader with influence is amazing and is a blessing, it is also a great (and I cannot stress this enough) responsibility, because the kids watch every step I take, and my decisions can have a positive or negative impact in their lives. As it is written:

“But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around your neck.” – Mark 9:42 (NLT)

Now, I definitely don’t want to be thrown into the sea, or, even worse, make the kids I lead to fall into sin, or stumble. Of course, that doesn’t mean I have to be paranoid about everything I do, but I must live a life that honours God and leads people to God. And it is not supposed to be very hard, because the Holy Spirit lives in me, and all I have to do is listen to Him and do what He tells me.

And this is one of the great things about God: when He reminds you of something, He already has all the tools you will need ready to go! What an amazing God!

Cadu

PS: By the way, you should watch the video Dave, FMD and I made during conference (this was Dave’s great idea):