Preparing Volunteers for the Kids Who Need Us Most

Grace and Anna are cousins who attend Sunday School together each week. Anna is a delight. When she walks in on Sunday mornings, staff and volunteers can’t help but smile. They know she’ll be helpful, easygoing, and ready to participate.

Grace is loved just as deeply, but her arrival can feel a little different. Volunteers know they may be walking into a morning with some challenges.

The girls arrive during “free play” and head off to their favorite activities. Anna notices her favorite puzzle is already being used by another child. She’s disappointed, but she’s able to move on and find something else to enjoy.

Grace heads straight for her favorite doll, a doll she’s likely been thinking about all week. But when she sees another child holding it, everything changes. The disappointment feels overwhelming, and moving on doesn’t come easily.

The teachers step in, offering alternatives and trying to redirect her, but nothing seems to help. In fact, each suggestion only seems to increase her frustration.

Does this sound familiar?

Have your childcare volunteers experienced moments like this, where a child struggles to recover from disappointment or a change in routine?

Children need the church. Children from hard places especially need to be loved for who they are and cared for in ways they can truly receive.

As you prepare for summer programs, VBS, camps, and other activities, are your volunteers equipped to support children like Grace? Did you know that Project 1.27 offers a FREE, on-site Trauma-Informed Training for children’s ministry staff and volunteers?

In this two-hour training, we explore how early childhood trauma impacts brain development and behavior. More importantly, we equip your team with practical tools to better understand, support, and connect with children from hard places, so they can truly know they are loved by you and by the God who created them.

So what happened with Grace and Anna?

The Sunday School team took time to connect with Grace’s aunt and caregiver. They learned that Grace had experienced something deeply difficult early in life, and that certain situations, like losing access to something important to her, felt much bigger than they might for other children.
Together, they made a simple but intentional change. They set aside Grace’s favorite doll so it would be available when she arrived.

Did it take something away from the other children? Not really. 

Did it make a difference for Grace? Absolutely.

Because sometimes, the smallest adjustments can communicate the biggest truth:
You are seen. You are safe. You are loved.

If you or your Children’s Ministry Leader would like more information on our Trauma-Informed Training, you can contact Kym Schnittker at [email protected]. 

​By Kym Schnittker, Church Engagement Manager