What do I mean to God?

One of the great privileges of our schools work is having the opportunity to explore life’s big questions with children. Through our RE and PSHE sessions, we encourage pupils to think about faith, relationships, forgiveness, self-worth and what it means to be loved and valued.

Recently, our schools lead, Ellie, spent a day with Year 5 pupils at Swanmore Primary School exploring the theme: “What does it mean if God is Holy and Loving?”

Throughout the session, the children engaged thoughtfully with the topic, asking insightful questions and sharing their ideas. At the end of the session, they were invited to respond creatively through artwork. With just the a simple instruction that their artwork should reflect their understanding of “Holy”, “Loving” or “Forgiving”, the children produced a wonderful range of thoughtful and imaginative pieces that demonstrated both their understanding and creativity.

Yet sometimes it is not the artwork that leaves the biggest impression, but a single question. As part of the day, pupils were encouraged to record their thoughts and questions in learning journals. One child wrote: “What do I mean to God? Does God know who I am?”

It was a beautiful and profound question, one that touches on something many people wonder, regardless of their age.

The question gave Ellie the opportunity to share with all 60 pupils the Christian belief that God knows each one of us personally and loves us deeply. We talked about how every person is precious, valued and significant because we are all children of God.

At the end of the day, the child who had written the question came to speak with Ellie personally. They had more questions and wanted to continue the conversation. Ellie spent a few minutes talking together about faith, prayer and how Christians believe it is possible to hear from God.

Those conversations are one of the reasons we love serving in schools. While we aim to support schools in delivering RE and PSHE education, our hope is always that children leave knowing that they are valued, loved and important and their life has worth and purpose.

We are grateful to Swanmore Primary School for welcoming us, and we continue to be encouraged by the curiosity, honesty and openness of the young people we meet. Sometimes, a simple question can open the door to a much bigger conversation. And perhaps there is no bigger question than this: “Does God know who I am?” The Christian message is a resounding yes.