Alison Pickering shares how Scripture Union’s Diary of a Disciple is opening up the Bible and getting children to read it regularly – even those with no church background. Now, through your support, we’ve developed Diary of a Disciple: Luke’s Story Holiday Club to help even more children discover Jesus!
Alison works for outreach charity The Urban Family in London. In partnership with four local churches, she runs weekly clubs to introduce non-church children to Jesus. When the first lockdown of the pandemic came, Alison decided to set up an online club for them called Live at Five, based around SU’s Diary of a Disciple.
‘We got a copy of the book to each child,’ says Alison. ‘Soon, the children were vying with one another to read the day’s passage to the rest of the group! They were so keen that Live at Five became a six-days-a-week session that also included prayer, worship songs and a game.
'Now, Ben just loves Jesus, and wants his family to get to know and love Jesus too.'
‘And children were reading Diary of a Disciple at home too – even children who weren’t from church families were sitting down and reading it cover to cover. Over the months, it became a habit for them – hopefully a habit that will last.’
The Live at Five group grew from 15 families to 50, many from outside London. Alison says, ‘Going online opened up the freedom for children to invite cousins or friends. Some of them moved schools the following autumn and invited their new school friends.’
One of the children was 10-year-old Ben. His family weren’t Christians and he had never read a Bible. ‘But he loved Diary of a Disciple and was at the club every day,’ says Alison. ‘And he was the first of the children to grasp that the Bible was relevant to his own life today.’
NEW Diary of a Disciple: Luke’s Story Holiday Club resources!
Our new Diary of a Disciple: Luke’s Story Holiday Club resources are aimed particularly at children who don’t have a church background, helping them to catch the Bible bug!
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