CITA missionary team from Mykolaiv region took part in a conference for children’s ministers

On November 9, Christ Is the Answer missionaries from New Odesa participated in a conference for children’s ministers in the Mykolaiv region. The meeting was held at Bethany Church in Mykolaiv and brought together 60 participants – Sunday school teachers, teen and camp ministry leaders. The speaker was Valentyna Fedorova, a children’s ministry coordinator in the Kirovohrad region with 40 years of experience. 

“Our goal is not to hurt a child, but to create conditions for proper growth”, “We want to raise a balanced adult”, “A child’s revival is a great victory”, “If you want to see a child grow in ministry and spiritually, pray for him or her”, “Communication is the basis of a relationship with a child”, were the themes the conference heard from the pulpit. 

The pastor of the host church, Oleh Filiniuk, spoke inspiringly about the importance and value of children’s ministry: “Children are the future of the church. By teaching and guiding children and teens in the love of Jesus Christ, we are laying the foundation for the next generation of the church.”

The main teacher and speaker of the conference was Valentyna Fedorova, who embodies the experience of the old Christian school and actively uses modern trends and methods of teaching children, taking into account the characteristics of modern children. She taught the methodology and principles of lesson preparation, showed an example of a specific lesson and taught how to focus on the application of the topic, taking into account the age characteristics of children. 

“Thank you for the wonderful experience of the game form of teaching. The quiz with the practical application of the skills of recognizing a loss was instructive. The categories of the child’s mental state, learning how to build trusting relationships, studying the age crises of children and the peculiarities of children were especially memorable for me”.

“I thank God for such an innovative training for Sunday school teachers and the development of Christian communities,” said Olena Volkodayeva, Sunday school director at the Church of God’s Salvation (Pervomaisk), deputy director of children’s ministry at Bethany Church (Mykolaiv) and executive director of CITA. 

“The training was filled with wisdom and love for their work. The program also included worship, exercises, and a raffle! Everything went in one breath. First of all, I got joy and a reboot, new knowledge and acquaintances, realized many of my mistakes and hope to correct them”. 

“Such events are very important: we meet, share experiences and everyone takes home new ideas, knowledge and emotions for the children,” said Inna Titova, a CITA missionary from New Odesa with 13 years of experience in children’s ministry. 

Christ Is the Answer ministry is actively developing children’s and youth ministries in the regions of Ukraine and abroad, especially in Ethiopia.

CITA Ministry Press Center.