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BY CHRISTINE KUMAR
UMCONNECTION STAFF

Driving a bus is ministry -- very important ministry. Just ask Charles Thomas who has been driving children to Monday School at Hopkins UMC for the past 20 years.

'When God gives you a gift, you should use it and my gift is to drive,' he said. 'It?s a family affair and that?s what church is about, everyone working together in ministry.'

On Monday nights, Jeffrey Powell eagerly waits for the blue church bus that takes him and his siblings to Monday night school at Hopkins UMC in Highland.

'This a great place to learn about God,' said 8-year-old Powell. He and 40 other children would have missed an opportunity to learn about God if the church did not provide bus transportation for them.

Monday School is an outreach ministry to provide for children in the Cradlerock and Owen Brown areas of Columbia, as well as for kids in the church community, said church school superintendent, Barney Putnam. 'We?re getting more children in the church on Mondays.'

During Monday night school, from April to June, children from pre- kindergarten to high school are taught Bible lessons, and have time for discussions. The older children act, do skits and engage in small group discussions to come up with solutions to problems. The younger children draw and color.

'Jesus is like amazing,' said 8-year-old Hanna Crowmwell whose Christian foundation began at home. Her growing faith is nurtured during Monday night school. 'I have learned in Monday school that sometimes when we feel lost, we?re really not lost because God is always there,' she said.

The church?s outreach ministry also provides a meal and snacks for each child.

Damarius Duncan cooks dinner at home for the 20-40 children and brings the hot meals to church. 'I started attending Highland two months ago and I can?t leave,' she said while toasting garlic bread in the church?s kitchen. 'Cooking for the children is my ministry.'

'Monday school has been running for many years, it stopped for a while, but it?s back up and running,' said the Rev. Sandra Demby, pastor of Highland.

Cheneane Coleman, now 28, attended Monday school when she was a young girl. 'I was raised by my grandmother and she kept me in the church,' she said. Now Coleman brings her own two children every Monday to learn about Jesus and to develop relationships with the other children and teachers.

The dedicated teachers and staff have answered the call to this shared ministry.

'I believe that this ministry has been so successful because God has blessed Hopkins UMC with the resources, first a dedicated group of people that want to reach out to the neighborhood children to help them to understand and see the love of Christ. Secondly, this ministry was established by those congregants that think outside of the box with Christ,' said Demby. 'This ministry is so important because I believe that we are making disciples for Jesus Christ.'

'Our ministry reaches out to neighborhood kids and we try to model the love and compassion of Christ,' she said.