Children s Ministries Mid-Term Constituency Meeting

Transcription

1 Children s Ministries Mid-Term Constituency Meeting We are reminded in Deuteronomy 6 the words of Moses as he spoke to God s people reminding them that they should fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statues and His commandments which I command you, and your son, and your son s son, all the days of your life, that your days may be prolonged. Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord. And you shall love the Lord your God with all you heart and with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words, which I command you this day, shall be in our heart: And you shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way and when you lie down, and when you rise up. In Matthew 19: 13-15, Jesus rebuked His disciples for trying to keep children from approaching Him. He reminded them and He reminds us that the Kingdom of Heaven is made up of people with a faith like a child. In fact Jesus was so emphatic about children finding the peace and joy in their hearts that only He can give them, His word tell us in Matthew 18: 5-6, that whoever shall receive one such little child in my name receives me. But whoever shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. A pastor once said that Children s Ministries may be the most important ministry in the church. Why? Children s ministry is the first place that children will have an encounter with God. In fact, many churches intentionally target for evangelism the parents of small children and especially the children of these same parents. Perhaps the most convincing argument on the probability of people accepting Jesus Christ as their savior for a lifetime relationship was done by the Barna Institute. The research by this institute of over 1,000 adults states the probability of a person accepting Christ for a lifetime is 32% for children between 5 and 13 years old, 4% for children between 14 and 18 years and 6% for people 19 and older. In other words, the greatest probability of a person accepting Christ for a lifetime is between the ages of 5 to 13 years of age. Therefore, children s ministries presents the best chance of a child accepting God. Children need a healthy spiritual experience that they can get at home and

2 at church. The greatest need for evangelism is Child Evangelism. The greatest impact for continued growth of our church begins with Children s Ministries. Proverbs 22:6 says that we should train up a child in the way he should go and when he gets old he will not depart from it. The Children s Ministries Department of South Central Conference Mission Statement It is the mission of the Children s Ministries Department of South Central Conference to help nurture children, volunteers and parents into a lasting relationship with Jesus Christ based on His love, grace, and faith in His second coming. It is our goal to empower all volunteers by informing, resourcing, and encouraging them to be intentional in their ministry to children, and to champion ministries that will provide and support children spiritually, mentally, physically, and emotionally. Nurturing Children Prayer Summits God wants His children to know Him. One of the first ways we teach a child about God is through prayer. In fact, before a children can read the word, they learn to repeat sentence prayers. As their prayer life grows, so does their relationship with God. It is important that children understand all aspects of prayer. That is why I feel it is important to have prayer summits at various areas in our conference. The last two were held during the Tennessee Valley Youth Federation and at in Laurel, Mississippi. Most summits, offered workshops for parents that included ways to teach you child to pray and worship ideas. Vacation Bible School One of the oldest evangelistic programs used to reach children, Vacation Bible School is conducted in many of our churches usually during the summer time. When VBS is finally reported, our churches will have shared the word of God to well over 1,800 children. In many of these churches, most of those who attended are community children. When

3 churches have a follow up program, it is a way to invite community children to become actively involved in church. An example of this is Riverside Chapel. At the end of their VBS one year, the Pathfinder Drum Corp conducted a Drum Corp demonstration. As a result, many children from the community signed up for Pathfinders and are still regular members. Each year, Children s ministries conducts several VBS workshops throughout the conference. This year with over 50 in attendance, 4 VBS kits ware given away. Children s Sabbath At least once a year, churches in South Central conduct a Children s Ministries Day. It is not unusual to see children serve as Sabbath school teachers, ushers, receptionists, deacons, deaconesses, elders and even preach for Divine Service. It is heart warming to see children begin the road to discipleship. Camp Meeting Where can you find the largest number of children from South Central Conference in one place? Camp meeting!!! Every year the number of children that attend camp meeting keeps growing and growing. What a privilege it is for us to minister to your children at such a special time. In 2012 and 2013, between the morning and afternoon programs, the number of children that attended was over 700. We have over 30 adults and about 50 teens that either teach and/or help with the supervision of children. I would like to commend the adults and the teen workers for the great job that you do and for making camp meeting a memorable one for our children. Because the ultimate goal for our children is discipleship, we started the Go Fish program for our 5th - 8th graders. Go Fish is a program that trains children to use their special gifts to minister to other children. Each camp meeting we offer workshops such as preaching, puppets, sharing using crafts, ballooning, acts of service, drama, and creative signing. Informing, Resourcing, Encouraging

4 Training and Certification Part of our goal is to train church leaders, teachers and parents. Each year we try to make sure that there is a training workshop that our constituents can attend. In 2011, the conferences in Southern Union along with the Children s Ministries Department of North American Division (NAD) had a Go Fish Training for leaders in Orlando, Florida. NAD and Southern Union were partly responsible for sending presenters and helping with resource materials. On October 4-6, 2013, we sponsored a conference wide Seeking, Reaping, and Keeping, a Go Fish Children s Ministries and Parenting Conference on the campus of Oakwood University. With over 70 people in attendance, we provided attendees with over 30 workshops to choose from. This year we also had a Spanish speaking track. These workshops provide leaders with an opportunity to receive their basic and advance Children s Ministries Certification. We had a variety of classes from Child Evangelism to ballooning, How to Conduct a Health Fair to Parenting your Adult Child. I would like to thank Phyllis Washington, NAD Children s Ministries Director and Ken Rogers, Southern Union Children s Ministries Director for their support, guidance and providing valuable resources. I would also like to thank our other presenters and general session speakers such as Pastor Wayne Hewlett. Baptisms There is nothing more important than to see a child give their life over to Jesus. In our conference in 2011 about 338 children were baptized and in 2012 that number increased to 419. These numbers reflect about 1/3 of

5 the baptisms for each of those the years. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. In Conclusion We are mandated, commissioned, responsible and accountable for the children in our conference and communities. Sis. White writes in Steps to Christ, the relations between God and each soul are as distinct and full as though there were not another soul upon the earth to share His watch care, not another soul for whom He gave His beloved Son. We want every child in South Central Conference and in our communities to know the fullness of God s Love. We want them to understand the plan of salvation and to become disciples for the kingdom. I solicit your prayers for each child, parent, leader, teacher, and worker in Children s Ministries in this conference and for me as I continue to seek to serve you.