Family Schedule—Family Field Service
1 Jehovah delights to see young ones praise his name. (Ps. 148:12, 13) In Jesus’ day even ‘babes and sucklings furnished praise’ to God. (Matt. 21:15, 16) The same is happening today. Parents, how can you help your children develop into zealous praisers of Jehovah in the Christian ministry? Again, as emphasized in the above article on congregation meetings, a key factor is your example. One father spoke for parents everywhere when he said: “Children do not do as you say; they do as you do!”
2 A sister reared by God-fearing parents recalled: “We never woke up on a Saturday morning asking if we were going in the ministry. We knew we were.” Similarly, you can instill in your children the importance of the preaching work by establishing a consistent weekly routine for sharing in field service as a family. Not only does this allow your children to learn from watching you but it also enables you to observe their attitude, manners, and developing skills.
3 Progressive Training: For children to enjoy the ministry, they need to be prepared in order to participate effectively. The sister quoted earlier also said: “We were never tagalongs who accompanied our parents in their work. We knew we had a share, even if it was only to ring a doorbell and leave a handbill. By careful preparation prior to each weekend’s activities, we knew what we would say.” You can provide such training for your children by taking a few minutes each week to prepare them for the ministry, either during the family study or at another time.
4 Preaching together as a family gives you added opportunity to inculcate the truth in your children. One Christian father would take his daughter along when he walked the six miles [10 km] each way to distribute tracts to villagers in the next valley. “It was during those walks,” she fondly recalled, “that my father instilled the truth in my heart.” (Deut. 6:7) May you likewise be blessed for making field service part of your weekly family schedule.