Ministry with children

Last year, when schools closed down in Kinshasa because of COVID, Aristote, one of the young people we have been mentoring for several years, took the initiative to use the STEPS program with children in his neighborhood, so that they would not remain idle, with the aim of teaching them Christian values in a playful way, through songs, games, and educational activities. This initiative was so successful that Trésor came to lend him a hand as they had to organize several sessions. Shortly after, Fabrice also began using this program with other groups of children who came to Sunday school. He was soon joined by other Sunday school monitors who wanted to use it in their own churches with their groups of children. In another neighborhood, Jacques undertook a similar initiative, also within the framework of the Sunday School, and started training other monitors.

 

On Christmas Day, they organized a party, each in their own part of town, in addition to the usual activities, provided the children with coloring pages and crayons, and served them a hot meal. For the occasion, the children had learned songs, rehearsed skits, and memorized Bible verses. This was the first time for these children that someone would organize such an event just for them. They will never forget it. Furthermore, the children’s behaviors are changing for the better. Following are some of their testimonies.

 

 

 

Fabrice (27, STEPS teacher): The STEPS program played a very important role in children’s lives and helped them change their behaviors and ways of doing things. At first they had a little trouble adjusting, but now they are memorizing the verses and participating wholeheartedly.  (Fabrice created a facebook group called PAS à PAS where he faithfully posts photos of the STEPS classes with the children.)

 

 

 

Jacques (25, STEPS teacher): The STEPS program was created to teach children the Word of God through various lessons that allow them to have Christian values and a good education in order to become worthy citizens. The STEPS lessons give a sense of morality and thus avoid having dishonest, selfish and loveless people. The teachings bring children closer to the Lord by showing them sincere love to help them become true disciples and missionaries of His word.

Through these teachings that we share with children, although we are just beginning, we have already received wonderful testimonials from the parents about the real change their children have experienced as a result of the STEPS program.

We have celebrated together the birth of our Lord, who is the main source of happiness for all the children of the world. While we usually have about 40 children participating during the weekly teachings, on Christmas Day we counted 82 in total.

For this Christmas celebration, we organized the following activities:

Songs: Together with the children we celebrated this wonderful day by singing the Christmas carols included in the DVD as well as other songs in Lingala.

Skits: The children presented sketches illustrating the birth of baby Jesus, the joy of Christmas and many others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Games: We organized various games to show the Christmas joy that resided in the hearts of all the children, as a way to give glory to the Lord by having fun because Jesus was also having fun with us.

Coloring: We had printed pictures to color and bought coloring pencils for the children.

Meals: Thanks to the support of Espoir Congo, Geneviève Olivier and others, we were able to serve a meal to the children during the celebration, a gesture that marked the children to the point of making a prayer asking God to bless all those who made it possible.

We can only thank everyone who contributed so much to the success of this activity. We thank God for allowing this activity to run smoothly. We sincerely thank Espoir Congo for accompanying us logistically, financially and especially spiritually for the blossoming of these children, may the God of love reward them. We also thank Geneviève Olivier and the Family International in Congo, as well as all those who participated; may our Lord bless you all.

Aristote (23, STEPS teacher) and Trésor (23): I thank the Lord Jesus for the enormous success of our Nativity celebration. The Lord has put many children near me with whom I can share the Word of God and through this ministry contribute to their future well-being. We had started to gather the children in a place we rented on the weekend. One day, as we had not yet been able to raise enough money to pay the rent, the landlord came to us with dishonest proposals that we had to refuse. We were really desperate. That’s when one of the parents of the children we teach came to us to tell us how grateful he was to see the change in his son’s behavior since he had been following our activities. When he learned that we had to pay to rent the room where we met with the children, he invited us to use his own courtyard for free, as a sign of gratitude for what we had done for his son. Thank you Lord! He never fails.

Here are a few other testimonies shared by the children, which show how much this program benefits them.

David: My parents being divorced, I sometimes don’t eat on certain days because there is no money. I told a friend about it and he suggested I go see a marabou (fetishist). He asked us for money and a snake’s head. So we sold some clothes and other household items to raise the money but the snake head was nowhere to be found. My father started having dreams that I was dead, so I became afraid and I felt guilty. That’s when my friend Vanold told me about the group he shared the Word of God with. So I decided to come and see Aristote, the organizer. He prayed for me, then I decided to follow Jesus, and now I know that in happiness or in suffering we will be at peace in heaven.

Noël: I come to thank the Lord Jesus Christ for this Christmas Day because I was born on December 25th. I thank our teachers because they always support us. May God always keep them.

Chansard Gimo: I had become a kuluna, a robber, I was the one who initiated the fights in every neighborhood, I smoked cigarettes every time I was given a coin, I even went where there were drug addicts to breathe in the smoke. But since I started coming to Brother Aristote’s group, I went back home and started to develop good habits again. Please pray for me.

Vanold Avali: I thank the Lord Jesus Christ for helping me to leave the path of the devil’s lies to follow the path of God. I was a wanderer, I only came home to eat and sleep. When my friends called me to come to this group it was difficult, but one day I accepted and that’s when I learned to help my neighbor, and even to be of service at home, to fetch water and fulfill certain duties that require service. I quote the verse in Psalm 119:29-30: Remove me from the way of lying and grant me they law graciously. I have chosen the way of truth.

 

Celebrating Christmas in Kikimi

In Kikimi, the children also celebrated with a nice meal, thanks to our local sponsors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Year Celebration

Because of the COVID restrictions, all of our Youth leaders were not able to meet together in the same location, as they did in previous years, but instead in three different locations to keep the number of people below 10. They nevertheless were able to fellowship in smaller groups and share their gratitude for all the good that did happen in 2020, as well as their goals and prayers for 2021.

 

 

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