It is a privilege to be laboring in God's work, and in this case, children's ministries, which is taxing and at times complicated, during The Quiet Hour’s El Salvador evangelism campaign in March 2005.
It has been a marvelous experience, since we had a diverse group of children, and this was a challenge for the teachers. It is an odyssey to struggle with 40, 30, or 25 children at one time, but it is so important since they are getting acquainted with God through the Bible stories. What they like most is to color drawings that illustrate the stories, and watch the felt demonstrations. We talk to them about Jesus. The children sing, laugh, cut, paste, do manual exercises, and greatest of all, listen to God's word.
It is through the children that many parents get to know the gospel.
During the weeks of the campaign, from beginning to end, these were days with lots of pressure. It was a marvelous experience. We thank God we were able to carry out this campaign. It has borne beautiful fruits, and after the classes, eight children were baptized for the glory and honor of God. We will give follow-up so that they can continue growing in grace and wisdom.
The children were very enthused with the activities that we carried out, and we want to say thanks to our brothers in the United States—many thanks—for the support that you have given to us. We want to state that with God's help we'll never abandon this work.
Here is a little about some of our children who attended the campaign:
- Fatima Alberto Blanco : “What I liked best was to color and cut each of the activities that Evonne [Richards] brought.” (Fatima likes to play football, and his favorite foods are chicken, and beans with cream.)
- Ariel Alberto Blanco : “What I liked best was to color the different drawing that were brought each night of the campaign.” (He was one of the children who was baptized, thanks to God, and we want you to know that we will follow up as needed so that he will grow in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.)
- Erick Alberto Blanco : What he liked best were the Bible stories, besides coloring and doing different manual exercises.
The Blanco children are siblings; two of them were baptized during the campaign, and with the help of God, their younger sister will also be a part of the Lord's army later on.
- Jonathan David : He is a young boy of eleven years, and he likes to play football, as well as to take part on other games. What he liked best is that he learned, and is learning, about the marvelous love of God; and he also likes to color, cut, and paste.
The above-mentioned children have the advantage that they live near the church, and that is important, since they can attend easily the activities that take place here and that we'll conduct in the future.
- Kelly Yenmy Anzora : An eight year-old girl, in the second grade, likes to play a lot, especially football. She is one of the girls who was baptized during the campaign, and is a granddaughter of one of our church members. We request that you will pray for her, since her mother does not go to church. Kelly is a very active girl in our church, and in spite of her age, she is a girl with much talent.
- Marco Antonio and his sister Beatriz were also baptized. They love to color and cut out pictures, and take part in all of the activities.
Many children attended who had never come to our church; but thanks to the help of our brothers, we had many children. We would have liked to have more, but with the space available, this was not possible. However, when one does the best with what you have with love, I believe that it does not matter the smallness—which becomes very great.
As a children's teacher, I want to say that we appreciate you, and I ask God to take away what gruff characteristics I have, and thus little by little I can become like my Master. My dear brethren (and sisters), I am fascinated with all that you have done for us, and with all my heart I thank you for the support you have given the children of our country and to all others also.
We will continue working with each of the children that do not come to church, since there are many who are interested. But many times their parents do not let them attend, and it is here that we use different activities to attract them, and thanks to God, this campaign has been a success, as we have seen the fruits of our (your) labor, and that is what is important.
In the class we used all of the resources that were provided, and let me tell you that it is a marvel, as the children love to use colors and different backgrounds, etc. We are so thankful for the work done by each of you to make this possible, and we hope in God that if we do not get to meet again on this earth, we will meet in heaven and recount what we experienced here with you to reach victory.
Thanks for all that you have done for us. We will never forget you.
There are many more children than those we have mentioned; but we want you to know that we will care for them and will do everything that is within our power, and with the help of God we will finish this work |
