As the children’s speaker rounded up her teaching, she issued the invitation: “Who would like to invite Jesus into their hearts to be their Lord and Saviour?”

One little girl raised her hand, along with several other children. The children’s worker saw her but brushed the response aside because “this one always raises her hand”.

This is a familiar scenario in churches and children’s evangelistic events.

Children often respond to altar calls many times over, “but it is taken lightly and no one actually finds it odd or finds a need to help the kids understand what that moment is about”, noted Esther Foong, co-founder of Christian children’s resource company The Treasure Box SG (TTB). 

Hence, just in time for Children’s Day, Ready Set Go! is a follow-up material by TTB that takes a child past that initial “yes” to Jesus to begin their journey as a child of God.

Priced at $24, the starter kit can be used by parents, teachers, mentors and churches for children who take the step of faith to become Christians.

Jesus is Lord

When Esther’s own son, Nathan, 12, decided to commit his life to Jesus, it was a momentous occasion.

She recounted: “He decided that this was something very serious. We put away everything that we were doing to answer his questions quietly and then we prayed together.

“Then we took a celebratory photo. So it was very significant.”

Elvin with his children Phoebe (left) and Nathan (right), who both tested out Ready Set Go! before it went to print.

It’s a sacred moment when a child makes a decision to follow Jesus, said Esther, and the need to treat it as such weighed upon her heart.

Said her husband and TTB co-founder, Elvin: “You never know what is going through the heart and the mind of a child.

“Many times, they’re simply expected to come back for Sunday School the next week so that they can jump in and continue learning about Jesus, with very little context about the magnitude or importance of the decision they just made.”

In the years that Elvin was a full-time children’s worker in church and in the five years since they started TTB, the Foongs have also personally encountered children who respond repeatedly to altar calls.

The reason? “They thought that Jesus had left them because they have been a bad boy or a bad girl,” he said.

Added Esther: “The concept of sin is something that actually affects children quite easily. That is why the assurance of salvation becomes so important.” 

Said Elvin (left), seen here with Esther (right): “Sometimes we get very happy when we have big numbers in outreaches. But discipleship is what makes sure that they don’t drop through the cracks and fall off the edge.”

Kingdom co-labourers

Ready Set Go! is the fruit of four years of labour. While the Foongs came up with creative activities to engage the children, the one who lent the book its content was David Leong.

(From left) David Leong and his wife, Cynthia, have been mentors to Esther and Elvin, guiding them in their work in the children’s ministry.

David is an itinerant children’s and families’ educator. He also worked previously with Scripture Union Singapore where he was its Executive Director.

Both he and his wife, Cynthia, have decades of experience in children’s ministry. Since TTB started, they have been mentoring the Foongs.

Said Esther: “We’re really blessed to have Uncle David and Aunty Cynthia as our advisors since 2019. They are both giants of the faith and trailblazers in the local and regional children’s ministry scene.

“They have guided and advised us on many things and through that we saw their hearts for children’s discipleship.

“We shared the same burden. It came very naturally that we simply pitched the idea to Uncle David and he readily jumped on board.”

In the over 30 years working with children, David has seen a few follow-up materials. But many of them have since gone out of print. Although he had never written a book before, he knew how important such follow-up materials are.

(From left) Illustrator Tran Ha Thien An and the Leongs receiving their copy of the final product. Thien An’s art teacher used to tell her she could not draw. But throughout the creative process of Ready Set Go!, she saw how God the Waymaker guided her.

“I felt very honoured and humbled because other people can probably do it better than me.

“Working with Elvin and Esther was a joyful process. I see their hearts for children and families, and their Kingdom perspective.

“They are very teachable and there is a lot of mutual respect, and unity of purpose in providing this disciple-making tool.”

Ready Set Go! comes with a sticker sheet plus add-ons like a certificate and a woven bag.

Of the many times Elvin and Esther willingly took David’s contributions on board, one stood out for him: When the Foongs showed David the almost-complete product, he noted that there was nowhere for a child to write his name.

Almost everything had been finalised and the Foongs could have easily brushed aside this detail but they did not. They found a way to incorporate what David’s sharp eyes had picked up.

Let the race begin!

The discipleship resource is for children 12 and under, and uses the analogy of a race to visualise the new Christian’s faith journey.

Each chapter is dubbed a “milestone”. Each covers one topic: the assurance of salvation, God’s Word, prayer, worship, fellowship and telling someone about the faith.

The six milestones covered in individual chapters are the six basics of the Christian journey.

“These six are basic foundational tenets of the Christian faith that every disciple of Jesus needs to know and be equipped in,” explained David.

“We narrowed it down to six because six weeks is a reasonable time for someone to be taken out of the Sunday School system.

“Too long and they may feel out of touch with the main group. Too few and we won’t be able to cover the basics.”

Each milestone uses the 4 ‘R’ methodology:

1. Read
2. Reflect, where they think about God’s Word in relation to their lives
3. Respond, where they put into action the things learnt
4. Reinforce, which summarises the key learning points

Esther elaborated: “The material is crafted with the perspective of somebody who has zero prior knowledge. That is why we are very careful to avoid certain jargon.”

The material’s orange hue was chosen by the team because it is a happy, gender-neutral colour.

Colourful illustrations help to keep the children interested and there is a sticker page that lets them place a sticker each time they complete a milestone, to help them track their progress.

Stickers help the children track their progress.

The material can be used as a starter kit for new believers, as discipleship material within the family, or as part of the children’s ministry curriculum or cell group teachings.

“Winning souls is important but discipleship is equally important,” said Esther. “However, discipling children in the basics of the faith requires more effort.

“The cognitive ability, scaffolding requirements, interest, engagement or even flexibility of time when it comes to teaching children can be a challenge.”

That is why the booklet includes word searches and a page for doodles and crafts.

Ready Set Go! comes with a bookmark craft that the children can personalise.

Added Elvin: “Some may take to simply telling the children what they should do but do not explain to them why we do some of these things. As a result, kids don’t have a solid foundation to build on.

“So, when the winds of doubt begin to blow, especially when they grow older, their faith becomes easily shaken and might even fall apart. These made us realise that we need something to help ground our kids in the fundamentals of the faith – a sort of ‘spiritual onboarding’, if you will.”

Of their hopes for Ready Set Go!, David said: “The hope is that parents, children’s pastors and teachers will use the material as an intentional disciple-making tool to build a strong faith foundation in generations of children.”

Interested to get a copy of the Ready Set Go! starter kit? Visit The Treasure Box Singapore’s website here. Each kit costs $24.

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