“Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand a mighty man; so are the children of the youth. Happy is the man that has his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.” Psalm 127:3-5
We are a ministry that understands the profound importance of the scripture quoted above. We understand that children can indeed form an important part of the arsenal for a battle and we want to ensure that these weapons end up in the right hands. Children are worthy of whatever is invested in them and we owe it to them to ensure that no facet of their life is impoverished.
In keeping with the statement above, the children department of the ministry observed a zonal conference ministry wide. The theme of the program was “Children as disciples indeed” and it ran from the 4th through the 6th of August 2017. As stated earlier, the conference was held at a zonal level, each zone was a conference center with the zonal headquarters acting as the host church. It was a camping program, however, only children within the range of five to twelve years were allowed to camp. It was indeed a wonderful time in the house of God for the children as nearly every facet of their lives including hygiene and academics was dealt with.
The program started on Friday at about 2pm with the arrival and registration of participants. In most zones, the program proper started at about 4pm. There was just a brief charge and one bible study for Friday. The topic of the Bible study was “The greatest in the kingdom” with the text taken from Matthew 18:1-5. This study sought to ensure that our children understand how much of a privilege it is to be a child so much so that the Lord Jesus himself taught that the greatest in the kingdom is the one who has the heart of a child. Children have many wonderful characteristics that make this so, one of such is that they are simple. Also, they don’t scrutinize the opinions of their parents, they just believe them. Children trust easily and forgive just as quickly. We must all learn to be like children; simple, humble and trusting. After the study, the children had their dinner and went to bed
The second day had a lot more activities. There was a bible study, two seminars, a workshop, a movie/variety night. The topic for the second bible study was “A light bearer”. This study focused on teaching the children that, as disciples, their lights are expected to shine. The text for this study was II Kings 5:1-4. Using the little Israelite maid who served Naaman’s wife as a case study, they were taught that we are the light of the world and it our duty to shine and overwhelm the darkness of the world around us. The little maid in our text, regardless of the fact that she was in captivity, spoke up with full assurance in the abilities of God of Israel, thereby allowing her light to shine. They were made to understand that we can never be too young to be reflectors of God’s glory and that no matter the darkness we find ourselves in, the light of God in us is able to outshine and overcome every darkness.
There was also a seminar on personal hygiene. This is very important given the fact that proper hygiene is a pre-requisite for overall good health. The seemingly little but extremely things such as hand washing, proper oral care, care for hair and even a little bit of housekeeping were handled in this session. We understand that, just like Jesus (Luke 2:52), in order for our children to be balanced individuals, they ought to grow in every aspect of their lives. There was also a seminar on “developing reading culture”. Children in this day and age are presented with a lot of distractions and attractions and have relegated books to the background. This session sought to make the children understand that leaders are readers and that if they must be relevant people wherever they find themselves, they must invest in books. The study covered issues such as; how to form a timetable, how to read in order not to get bored, persevering in reading when bored, how to read and understand and lots more. It was so rich a study that practically anyone no matter how old, could have benefitted from. The workshop showed the children how to make tiger nut juice. This juice is far healthy than the ones purchased in supermarkets seeing that the latter is often over processed and consequently, stripped of its nutrients. The use of preservatives is another factor by which the tiger nut juice wins over the regular juice sold in the market. The day came to a close with a film show and/or a variety night. The children were given opportunity to make presentations in drama, songs, dance and the likes.
Sunday was the grand finale of the program. Matthew 21:16 was indeed a reality that day. The children took over the service from start to finish. They conducted the service, took the choir ministration, preached and made special presentations. One of our churches in Port Harcourt was privileged to have our father, the international director, Pst. V.I Olori in attendance on Sunday. The conference coincided with the dedication of the child of Pst Blessing Udoh, the Superintendent State Minister, Rivers State West and the International director decided to grace the occasion. He also addressed the children of the zone reminding them that they are special to God and they are His property. It was a wonderful weekend for the children of the ministry and we are fully persuaded that God is working in and on them.
