The Gospel in Color by Jody Lukowiak
My parents didn’t directly talk to me about race or racism. It wasn’t until recently that I realized the nonverbal cues and actions that I grew up with and how those impacted me and how I had interacted with people of color in my past. With today’s racial division and with our church focusing on the ministry of reconciliation, I longed for a resource to navigate through the conversation with our children.Recently, my sister-in-law shared with me a book called “The Gospel in Color” by Curtis Woods and Jarvis Williams. There is a “For Kids” and “For Parents” book. I read through both and really liked how they share where racism stems from and how Jesus came to reconcile us to Him and to one another. I loved the ideas and thoughts so much that I took some of the concepts from these books and created lessons for our Kindergarten – 5 th grade.
On February 17, our Kindergarten through 3 rd graders experienced a Godly Play style story that talked about sin, the lie about race, how we are all made in the image of God and how Jesus came to rescue us and reconcile us back together with God and with each other. Our 4 th and 5 th graders also experienced a lesson regarding race and reconciliation on the same day. We used Bible stories and language the children are familiar with.
As parents, we need to recognize and acknowledge racial division and have a conversation with our children. If you are a parent, you may have already had a conversation with your child(ren). If you haven’t, the “The Gospel in Color” is a great resource and I encourage you to purchase the kid and the parent book on Amazon and work through the books as a family! I am happy to answer any questions regarding the books or the lessons. Please email me at jody@cgnortheast.org.
Jody and her husband James reside in Westfield and have attended Common Ground since 2001 and 1999, respectively. They have one daughter, Carlie, who will enter CG's youth ministry this fall. Jody studied accounting at IU and worked for PWC for seven years before becoming a stay-at-home mom. Coming from a family of educators, Jody has always enjoyed working with children and began serving in children's ministry early on at Common Ground. Jody served as the Children's Ministry Administrator before the Northeast area church was planted. Jody enjoys completing puzzles, watching sports, spending time with her nieces and nephews, and traveling to Florida, especially to Disney World.