Design for Life for Children: ‘God is speaking to children about their calling’

Divisional children’s workers share how Design for Life for Children is helping young people discover God’s plan for their lives.

Hannah Willis
Central and Southern Scotland

The division ran DFL for Children for the first time at the beginning of the year. We made Dennistoun Corps our home for the day, and eight children arrived, keen to start their DFL journey. We started the day expecting God to speak to us, and he certainly did!

Their first task was to decorate a plain white pillow with fabric pens. We would be sitting and laying on the floor a lot, so these pillows were essential for comfort. However, we also used them to doodle our thoughts, feelings and things God was saying.

We chatted through our journeys in life so far and worked through an activity to discover our spiritual gifts. We celebrated that we all have different stories and something unique to offer to God.

In the afternoon, we looked at people from the Bible called by God to do world-changing stuff. Then, it was time for us to respond.

We approached this time with certainty that God is calling all of us to something special. Our room transformed into a reflective space, and we used creative ways to practise listening to him.

This focused, holy space continued for 45 minutes as the children responded to God. I have no doubt that God was speaking deeply to the children about their calling.

He spoke clearly to me in this moment, also. I felt him say: ‘Hannah, do nothing. Let me do my thing.’

When organising an event, the temptation is to be busy all the time. But this was a time to practise stillness. I loved this moment of God affirming that there was nothing he needed the adults to do. The space was made. All we had to do was let the Holy Spirit work within it. In those golden minutes, God’s presence moved within and around the children.

God is speaking clearly to our children all around the territory. Our job is to watch, nurture and make spaces for them as they rise up. DFL is one of God’s great ideas! He’s using it to ignite a calling in the lives of his children. As we help make spaces like this, children are unlocking a sense of hope, opportunity and God-shaped passion for their lives.

Blair from Kirkcaldy said: ‘I liked playing hide-and-seek but also learning to stop and think about doing things to become who God wants me to be and not what others say they want me to be.’

Dee from Edinburgh Gorgie adds: ‘It was fun to learn about God and talk to him. And I liked Kat’s pasta!’

For me, I cannot wait to run another DFL for Children. I’m full of hope that more and more child leaders will rise up within The Salvation Army.

Captain Clare Davis
East of England

In January, we hosted the division’s first DFL for Children at Norwich Mile Cross Corps. Nine children aged between 10 and 12 explored who God created us to be, who we are becoming and what calling he might have for us.

Activities encouraged them to think about God’s calling and what it means to say yes to him. It was really encouraging to see how they connected with each other despite being from different corps, and some having never met before.

We firmly believed the leaders for the day should come from the corps the children attended, and it was great to see new leaders who hadn’t done divisional events before engaging and building relationships with the children. We hope that having the children’s own leaders there means the conversations can continue.

After the event, some of the leaders shared how it was a privilege to have calling conversations with the children. Through ‘I wonder’ statements we could really see the children wondering about what this means for them and could feel God among us. It was great to see the children curious to explore the prayer space and explore more deeply at their own pace.

Claire Highton-Nicholls 
West Midlands

After participating in the pilot DFL for Children, I was excited to implement this amazing resource! It was great to work with a full cohort of children from four different corps at our first ever DFL for Children. It’s had a great impact on the spiritual life journeys of young people in the division.

The children enjoyed exploring the different styles of calling found in the Bible and how to relate them to their personal lives through different activity zones.

It was exciting to hear how the children felt they were being called. Some felt called into full-time ministry, some into certain vocational roles. By the end of the day, one child recalled that she knew she was definitely called to be a leader.

They were encouraged to go back to their own church settings and share all they had learnt about the design for their lives.

Eight-year-old Arthur shared that DFL was a great fun day. He especially enjoyed creating his life journey picture.

We look forward to our next DFL for Children in October!