4 minute read
Little leaders
Little leaders
Even when they’re just in primary school, children are a valuable part of God’s kingdom, with an important role to play.
That’s why CRU is committed to helping young students come to know Jesus and grow in their faith, so that they can play their part in the kingdom - both now and into the future.
At Nowra Christian School, students as young as 10 are encouraged to take the lead in the CRU Group, doing talks and running activities.
One such student is Chloe Cochrane, a Year 5 student. Chloe’s family are dairy farmers, and though her family has some Christian affiliation, they struggle to get to church each week because it conflicts with their responsibilities on the farm.
Chloe decided to follow Jesus when she was in Year 3, after hearing about Him during God Space – the classroom Christian program at her school. “It was understanding the miracles that He did, and the stuff that Jesus did, and the stuff that was happening in the Bible,” Chloe cites as the reason she decided to become a Christian.
After becoming a Christian, Chloe started attending the CRU Group at Nowra Christian School. “At CRU Group, it’s all about God,” Chloe says. “We sing songs, play games, and there are actions to the songs. It’s nice learning more about God and listening to the talks.”
Being part of the CRU Group has been crucial for Chloe’s growing faith, as she explains, “One of the reasons why I like going to CRU, is because of my parents’ job. We don't get to go to Sunday church, so CRU is sort of like my church.”
Now that Chloe is in Year 5, she is a leader of the CRU Group. “I wanted to be a leader because I like following God and learning about God,” Chloe explains. “It’s great because we get to sit with the younger kids, we get to lead the games, and sometimes we get to do the talks.”
Chloe was recently inspired in her leadership by attending a FIT (Followers in Training) event run by CRU for young CRU Group leaders. At FIT, students are taught how to run activities and learn some core skills for leading a CRU Group, all while having lots of fun and meeting new friends.
Chloe was particularly struck by the talk at the most recent FIT event. After hearing the talk, she has commented, “I want to learn how to be a leader, but also be a servant like Jesus.”
The primary CRU Group at Nowra Christian School is facilitated by teacher, Emily Thuaux. Emily loves the fact that even at such a young age, the students in the group, like Chloe, are being taught to be leaders. “We find that CRU is really helpful for our kids to learn how to be Christian leaders. They’re doing things like practicing a talk, or leading a game, and equipping them with those leadership skills is really important. They carry those skills on to high school. Lots of our leaders move on from primary CRU Group, go to high school and continue that leadership all the way through.”
Pictured: Chloe sharing at her school's CRU Group
As a busy teacher, Emily appreciates the support she receives from CRU to help her run the group. “I absolutely love the resources CRU provides. It really helps to know that there are talks written for you to use, that are theologically sound. It takes the weight off me having to prepare something from scratch. It’s so hard to write a talk every week so it’s great to be able to use or borrow ideas from these resources as I run the CRU Group each week.”
Like Chloe, Emily is also a big fan of FIT. “We love it. The kids come back and they are just pumped to be able to put into practice the things that they've learned, whether it's games, or welcoming, or just how to pray.
They come back with all these strategies and they're keen to get involved.”
Both Chloe and Emily have big hopes for the future of the CRU Group at Nowra Christian School. Chloe says, “I hope that more people will be able to come, and that we might get more ideas of what we could do and maybe get a bit bigger. And I hope we might get to do more of the things that we did at FIT!”
Emily is hoping that “we can really equip our Christians to be little evangelists in our schools. I hope we can keep helping them to be leaders in their faith and not be afraid to stand up and talk about God.”
