Bible Club + Covid-19 = Reinvention

A few minutes before ten o’clock on Sunday morning, I sat in front of my laptop getting ready to join a Bible Club in Nigeria via Zoom. Since joining BCM as the international children’s ministry coordinator in January 2020, I’d wanted to visit Bible Clubs to learn about this signature ministry that has brought so many boys and girls to Christ since BCM was founded as the Bible Club Movement in 1936.

My plan was to start visiting Bible Clubs once the weather got warmer for travel. But by the time spring came, our world entered into the reality of coronavirus lockdowns. In consequence, I hadn’t visited a single Bible Club since until I discovered this virtual BCM club based in Nigeria about a month ago.

Soon the leader, Aunty KeKe as she was affectionately called by her Bible clubbers, let me in. Immediately I felt excitement in the Zoom room as boys and girls logged in one by one. To these children, I am Teacher Sophia from America. I’d joined them a couple times before and found them very polite and welcoming.

I’d learned from Aunty KeKe that this Bible Club was started in 2018 in Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria, and had shifted to virtual February 2020. I’d been surprised to learn how many locations these children came from. Over the months of lockdown, Aunty Keke had close to forty clubbers scattered across Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, UK, Canada, and even the United States.

I’d learned from Aunty KeKe that this Bible Club was started in 2018 in Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria, and had shifted to virtual February 2020. I’d been surprised to learn how many locations these children came from. Over the months of lockdown, Aunty Keke had close to forty clubbers scattered across Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, UK, Canada, and even the United States.

The challenge to meet on Zoom is at the mercy of local Wi-Fi connections. Sometimes children can’t log on due to unstable networks. But on this day, we had about thirty kids in the club, including some newcomers from Abuja and all the way from London, UK. Aunty KeKe welcomed everyone with a big smile and cheers. Then she led a Bible lesson on the prophet Daniel as a young boy taken captive to Babylon, encouraging the children to stand firm in their faith like Daniel and trust God for His guidance. I chimed in here and there.

Later in the class, Aunty KeKe brought out a pack of playdough. As she demonstrated a simple craft, she promised to send playdough to those clubbers living in the Abuja area. She instructed those children outside of Nigeria to look for playdough in their local Dollar Store. One child from London commented that he wasn’t sure if there were Dollar Stores or playdough in London. Aunty KeKe assured him there was and suggested he ask his parents for help.

The club was ended with lots good-byes and thank-yous. After I logged off, I thought about a question one child had asked. “When can we go back to the field [original location of in-person Bible Club] where we used to meet?”

I mentally asked myself the same question. When would this Bible Club go back to “normal”? Will we ever go back to normal? What will a future Bible Club be like after this pandemic is over. Will it ever be over?

If you are a Bible Club teacher or involved in children’s ministry, you might have asked yourself similar questions. I feel unprepared for all the changes the COVID crisis has thrown at me. When schools and churches are closed, how can we continue to share Christ with children? I think God is pushing us out of our comfort zone. He is challenging us to be creative and think out-of-the-box. This isn’t easy. It does take creativity and adaptability to venture through this uncertain time and trust God for wisdom and strength.

So what can we do when we can’t teach our students in person or in the classroom? As I’ve discussed the topic and read reports from BCM personnel globally, I have summarized several models through which BCM children’s ministry leadership around the world are creatively adapting to COVID and implementing changes.