As I study the story of King David (A man after God’s heart: the young shepherd), I began to ponder upon the concept of ‘Children Mokja'. How can our children be raised ‘To know God’s heart and follow His heart’ like David? As the pastor of Hanmaum church, this is a question that I have been dealing with and trying to solve. However, even if I do find out the answer, I will not be able to initiate anything if the children themselves are not interested. If they do not love God, then they would not care about God’s heart nor would they read this message in the first place. Because they themselves hold the keys to their hearts, no matter how hard I try, there is a limit to the things I can do if they do not open up their hearts. Nonetheless, this does not mean that we should stop here. I will try to find things that both I and the church can do on behalf of the children. I will try to draw our childrens’ hearts towards God by making a communal effort on a whole church scale. This is because it is our responsibility to bring our children closer to God’s heart.
The first step is to raise 'Children Mokja’. The childrens’ Mokja we are trying to raise are not just babysitters who take care of younger children during Mokjang. We want them to become real Mokja just like their adult counterparts. It may be more appropriate to call them ‘Young Mokja’ rather than ‘Children Mokja’. ‘Young Mokjas’ will be raised up as partners of the adult Mokja and share the same heart and goal. These ‘Young’ Mokja will pray for the ‘Souls in their Mokjang’ and serve them within their capacity. They will be treated as fellow servants working with God. Taking care of kids is only one of their services in their ministry as Mokja. I will mentor these ‘Children Monjas’ so they will know about God’s heart and learn how to follow God’s heart in their daily life.
As the youngest child, David naturally became a shepherd just like his older brothers did. For David, taking care of sheep was a natural thing that he had to do without c hoice. He could have easily complained about this and just could have worked in a lackadaisical manner. However, David’s heart was different from his brothers. He knew that he had to partner with God to be a good shepherd. By faithfully serving, he discovered God's heart and he became a man after God’s heart. The same goes to ‘Children Mokja’ as well. They may choose to ‘Hate the service’ they have to provide as Mokja, or they can treat it as an opportunity to ‘Work with God’. I will be their mentor and teach them that the work they are doing at Mokjang is ‘God's work’. I will also lead them to experience ‘God’s heart’ in the process.
For the children who volunteer themselves to be part of this blessing, I will raise them as ‘children Mokja” during Sunday service on June 11th. I will pray and work with them that their minds will be renewed. I hope this will be a blessing which can transform all other children in Mokjang as well. (To be continued...)
Following the shepherd…
Pastor Jiwon Choi