The pastors, along with a committed team of members willing to serve, decided to begin the children’s ministry through a Vacation Bible School, which the community responded to eagerly. They shared breakfast, taught Bible stories, and gave singing classes on Saturday mornings.
The team’s goal was always to teach the children about the love of God and guide them to a personal encounter with Jesus. They continued to share the Bible through games and other fun activities. On Saturdays, they host a group of between 15 and 20 children. Their time includes breakfast, which leads to a time of sharing around the table.
“Working with children has been a blessing and a challenge. Children are in a time of growth and absorb both the good things and the bad things. That God would use us to plant the Word in their hearts is a great responsibility and a blessing,” said Belem Luis Santana, who is part of the children’s ministry team at Visión Central. “At Visión Central, we are very grateful to be instruments in the hands of the Lord.”
In December 2021, they held a special year end gathering in which 24 children were blessed by members of Visión Central and the Etla Church of the Nazarene. They met to share breakfast with the children as well as Bible lessons and toys.
Abi Luna Brena, a children’s teacher and member of Nazarene Compassionate Ministries in Etla, said that she was grateful to God for the opportunity to teach, share and serve so that the children would know about His Kingdom.
She said the compassionate ministries group in Etla prepared early to go to Visión Central, and they all were glad to be able to help in this way, especially since Vision Central is a new church and they are filled with enthusiasm to serve their community.
“It touched me to share the Word with the children. The class was over the story of Simeon . . . It was fantastic to see their faces when they heard this story they had never heard before,” Luna said. “We talked about how we feel when someone says bad things to us, and also about how great it is to receive a powerful blessing. We prayed for them and that day we blessed them like we bless our own children. I cannot describe what we felt seeing the little ones receive these blessings. It was beautiful!”
The vision of the pastors of Visión Central is clear and goes far beyond what God has allowed them to do with the children in their community so far. “The vision we have with this project is, first of all, that the children and their families would know Jesus and be saved. This year (2022), we would also like to form a more professional choir so we would be able to share in different places in the community and evangelize in that way.”
Source: Zoé Luna Jiménez, Communications, Mexico Oaxaca Northwest District
