What's It Like Volunteering With Joy-Filled Children of the World?

An Interview with Kay Payton about working with Joy-filled Children of the World.

It’s 6:30 AM. Your coffee smells nice but is still too warm to drink. You wipe the sleep from your eyes and sit down at the computer. As you pull up the Zoom meeting link, you see a notification flashing that someone is already there waiting to be let in.

It could only be one person.

It’s “Shulamite”.

She is nine and bursts at the seams every moment of class. Her energy is contagious, but it becomes a distraction. Always talking, always sharing, always diverting attention.

“Ms. Kay, Ms. Kay”

“You need to wait your turn, dear.”

“But Ms. Kay, I knoooow the answeeeer”

The surprise and joy from this girl jumps through the screen and scoots your chair back.

“Ms. Kay, you saw me, I was waiting for you.”

Simple. Sweet. Profound.

In a few brief moments that might have been spent reading an email or browsing Facebook, a girl’s day and maybe future was shifted because she was seen.

“Ms. Kay, you saw me”

All kids need to be seen. They deserve a space to be heard, to have a voice, to be invested in, and to learn about Jesus.

Kay Payton

I sat down with Kay Payton to ask her about stories like these and precisely what she was doing on a Zoom call at 6:30 AM with a six-year-old. Kay was a music director in schools for 14 years and currently directs the singing women of Texas. You can tell the music is in her blood. Speaking with her is like listening to a choral production. Her words seem to leap and jump when she is excited and float like a feather on the wind when she makes a poignant point.

Kay met Beth Gove through their work with the Texas Music Educator’s Association, and it wasn’t long before Beth was sharing her wisdom, and they were fast friends. Of course, it wasn’t long after that when Beth introduced Kay to her father and Joy-filled Children of the World. The match was perfect, as long as she didn’t have to get up and 5:00 AM.

What does it look like to teach these lessons?

She explained what the weekly lessons looked like. They are broken up into three sections.

First, there is conversation, lesson review, and a little grammar, pronunciation, and this type of thing. English isn’t always straightforward so going over the tricky details is super helpful. (sometimes for the teacher as well).

Next is a Bible story. The variety of language and story types in the Bible makes it an excellent tool for teaching English. It is simple enough to keep learners' focus and interesting enough to keep energy high. The lesson focuses on Jesus as Savior of the World. Each student takes turns reading the story until it is completed.

To wrap up, the students do a recap of the story using word review song, game, or memory verse to really hammer the lesson home and go over any words the students had struggled with or challenging grammar pieces to really hammer them home. Over the course of an hour, the teachers and students have conversed, practiced English, studied the Gospel, and built a relationship.

What are the benefits of the Joy-Filled Children of the World program?

Kay was quick to point out that the students are not the only beneficiaries. Sure, the students gain some English mastery, which will afford them greater opportunities in the future, things like better placement in schools and better career opportunities. Perhaps most importantly, they also receive the hope of eternal life with Jesus and that comes from knowing someone who sees them and invests in them.

Investing in the children is selfless, but that doesn’t mean you don’t get anything out of it. The volunteers get in return 10X what they put in. They reap a sense of purpose that comes from being the hands and feet of Jesus. Reap the spark in their eye when it finally clicks. Kay often mentioned the kids’ smiles and overflowing joy being like little kisses from God. And when you could see the pride on their faces from their accomplishments, and see the love of Jesus grow, it was like getting a “God wink.”

A real opportunity

I asked Kay what she would say to someone who was considering being a volunteer that works with these children. Her response was short but powerful. “What else brings joy at 6:30 AM with eternal ramifications?”

The chance doesn’t come around very often to participate in a program where exchanging cultures and languages with the goal of sharing Jesus is commonplace. The ability to share love and laughter from continents away is a real blessing and an opportunity worth checking out.

If you want to find out more, view the FAQ’s on our home page, or visit our volunteer page and fill out the contact form and we will try to answer all of your questions.

I couldn’t help but smile as I listened and watched Kay tell her favorite stories about working with JCW. Like the time the kids asked her about all the things in her house for Christmas.

“Ms. Kay, is that a real tree in your house?” “Do people actually wear those stockings”

Or all kinds of other things that made them curious, “Why are your clothes so colorful?” “Is that a real cat? Does it live in your house?” She really lit up when she spoke of the mesmerizing wonder in their eyes as she was able to share these experiences with them.

I am pretty sure I saw wonder in “Ms. Kay’s” eyes.

“Ms. Kay, you saw me”

Ms. Kay sees herself sharing Jesus to the world one "Shulamite" at a time and Joy-Filled Children of the World makes that possible.