Institute of Children's Ministry
Butwal, Nepal
November 9-11, 2009Quite some time ago I received an e-mail from a pastor in Nepal asking that our office come to Nepal and train children’s ministers. I forwarded this e-mail to our Asian Presbyter asking if he knew this pastor or if there was anyone that I could connect him to. When the Asian Presbyter did not know of anyone, I asked David Sharma, director of TellAsia in Utter Pradesh if he knew of anyone. David said that he did not know of anyone but would like to bring children’s ministry training to the pastors of Nepal. So on November 9th, David, I, and Harry, another Indian minister who has participated in the 2008 and 2009 Institutes in Varanasi traveled to Butwal, Nepal.
The Institute was held in a lovely church on a hillside outside of Butwal. 30 young men and women participated. Only three of them were currently involved in children’s ministry. The others had been sent by their pastors to learn more about the ministry.
Because of our limited time—less than ten hours of actual instruction—I focused on basic ministry skills: the foundations of children’s ministry, developing a Bible lesson, discipline, leading a child to Christ, and creative Gospel presentations. Because of their inexperience in ministry to children I involved them in working together to apply various ministry principles such as writing a Bible truth, developing rules, and praying with a child to receive Christ. These times of practical application were helpful in developing a good understanding of the basic principles taught and gaining confidence in using these principles.
During our second session of Spiritual Formation, I taught on the call of God and challenged these young men and women to understand God’s call on their lives and pursue it passionately. This time of study was followed by a time of intense prayer and ministry.
At the close of the Institute, David challenged the young men and women to make a commitment to reach unbelieving children with the Gospel. The participants committed to reach 600 children during the coming year.
This Institute offered challenges—lack of timely promotion by the sponsoring pastor, age and inexperience of participants, lack of unity among local pastors. However, I trust that God will bring forth fruit from the ministry and training that was done. Also, I know that the Institute brought an increased awareness of the importance of children’s ministry to the pastors who were involved.
Thankful!
Kathy Creasy
Children’s Ministries
