Children’s Ministry Seminars: The Greatest Need
Children’s Ministry Toolbox: Equipping Africa’s Children’s Workers
Your offerings can help make a difference for hundreds of kids by providing classroom space!
Nearly every Assemblies of God church in West Africa faces the same issue: space! On a continent where 50% of the population is under the age of 15, churches struggle to provide classroom space to adequately minister to kids!
For the cost of $500, we can build a simple Sunday school shelter and provide an instant classroom for 100 kids. This breaks down to a cost of $5 per child! And, included in the cost is a seminar to help train the teachers and a set of curriculum given to the church to help continue discipling children
In the most affluent of churches, kids classes may meet in a classroom designed for 25 students, but crowded with 100 or more students. In more impoverished churches, kids meet under crumbling thatched shelters or under the shade of a tree. When the rainy season brings tropical downpours, many kids classes aren’t able to meet at all. But the Sunday school shelter project is designed to create sheltered space so kids can meet year-round.
The project is simple. Local churches take an offering to purchase the wood framework for the classroom. As needed, children and youth help clear the land and lay a gravel floor. Offerings from American churches purchase the heavy tarp roof, the grommets and other hardware. These classrooms are designed to be simple and to protect the students from the elements. When the church grows and builds a more permanent structure, the shelter can be donated to another church in need.
Effective ministry to children requires effective teachers. And good teachers must be trained! A recent survey of children’s missionaries and Africans who work with children showed that teacher training was the #1 need in children’s ministries in the church.
Your gifts and prayers are helping teachers learn the foundations of children’s ministry. The main seminar, which we are currently presenting once or twice a month, consists of four two-hour classes, covering topics such as “Why Children’s Ministry is Important to God,” “Creative Storytelling,” “Object Lessons and Illustrations,” and “Using Games to Teach.”
Plans are being made to present similar seminars in three other countries. In the nation of Benin, we are working with national church leaders to develop a program to train trainers. These trainers can continue to develop good teachers, even after our departure! Imagine the impact we could have if God opens doors that will allow us to train the trainers!
Children’s Ministry Toolbox: Tools for Equipping the Church
Could you teach 100 kids for two hours with no materials other than your personal Bible?
Many teachers in West Africa are doing it on a weekly basis. And it isn’t easy. But with your gifts, we are working in collaboration with the Assemblies of God organization Africa’s Children to provide culturally and age-appropriate materials for children’s ministries across the continent.
We are working to provide:
- A full two-year curriculum, written specifically for Africa, that can be used in Sunday school or children’s church.
- A training manual for teachers on leading kids in the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.
- Junior Bible Quiz materials in multiple languages and an affordable format
- Multiple booklets with ideas/object lessons using locally available supplies.
- A crusade program using locally available supplies
- A Bible-school level course for pastors on Children’s Ministry.
- And other tools as the church requests them!
Your church can participate in our ministry through direct hands-on involvement. With a team of volunteers, your church can help us build Sunday schools, train children’s leaders, hold children’s crusades or participate in humanitarian outreaches. Ministry teams come in all shapes and sizes, and we are always excited to help you plan a trip to West Africa! Click here to download more information about opportunities available to ministry teams, travel to West Africa and planning a missions trip.
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The Malcolms
Missionaries to the Children of West Africa