No electricity, no problem
The team serving in Poplar Hill landed just as the electricity went out in the whole community. The team adapted along with the community until the lights came back on, Albert Martens writes, and despite the surprise at the start he says they had one of the best “camps” ever.
True North
This summer’s VBS at ACF focused on trusting Jesus, the only True North. With the help of various animal characters, relevant Bible truths were reinforced and the 67 attending children were immersed in life-changing faith formation activities.
Let the little children come
I grew up with Bible camp songs, VBS crafts, and youth group nights filled with laughter, learning, and late-night snacks but in Peru, children’s ministry is still emerging.
We need grandparents in children’s ministry
When I served in the children’s ministry in my home church as a young adult, one of our faithful volunteers was Grandpa Ed. Grandpa Ed showed up nearly every week and was what we called a “listener”—he wasn’t in a classroom or teaching a Bible lesson, but as kids worked through their memory verses in their classroom, he was available in another area to work one-on-one with kids to memorize or recite their verse. And they loved him.
A surprising discovery
♪ I was wrong. Embarrassingly so. I had been working with leaders in training at a Christian camp every summer for 20 years, and I gave the wrong answer to the most basic question of all.
What We Teach Our Children Matters
I remember how it felt, if little else. Wow, I must be really bad. Whenever I sin, God can’t be with me. This is the message I internalized as a result of the teaching on sin I received at an early age: “God cannot be in the presence of sin.” With an object lesson to illustrate the point if we were lucky.
Hidden In Their Hearts
One of the many gifts children give us adults is the freedom to be childlike again. There is nothing more freeing than running in a gym playing pool noodle tag. (The fact that I couldn’t keep up is neither here nor there.)
Awesome KidMin conference provides connection, teaching
After two years of Zoom, it felt amazing to connect face-to-face with other people in Manitoba and beyond who share a passion for kids and ministry.