Fully Armored Kids

Ephesians 6:10-11 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

That's the theme of the kids' class that Sarah and Caleb are doing for the kids of Iglesia Vida Nueva (New Life Church), in Tamazula. They started with a look at why and with whom we are at war and are now learning all about the various parts of our Christian armor.

While the parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles are at the church, all the kids are across the street at one of the church member's house. There have been some challenges. For instance the church doesn't have portable tables or chairs, so we had to transport the table from our house. The kids persevered, though, and the class has been a great blessing.

With the change in daylight saving time, we've had to adjust the class time to earlier in the day. The house where the kids meet doesn't have electricity, so Caleb sets up spotlights for game time and runs an extension cord across the street from the church. Not ideal, but it works!

The students do a craft project, listen to a story/lesson about the armor of God, play some games, sing songs and -- of course -- have a snack. The class has become such a success that even some of the neighbor kids whose parents don't attend the church have started coming. Sarah said that she doesn't want to exclude them, so as long as they're behaving well and not causing trouble, they're welcome. Great outreach, eh?!

Last week was supposed to be a lesson on the Belt of Truth, but a child in the village had a birthday. In Mexico, that means that every child in a 3 or 4 block radius, and everyone who is even remotely related by blood or marriage, is invited to celebrate. When the party ended, most of them came to the class, but they were so wired on sugar and red 40 that trying to rein them in for a Bible lesson seemed next to impossible. So, they just played some running games and sang songs. Flexibility is most definitely a key to children's ministry, no matter what country you live in!

Special thanks to the children of Saguaro Canyon Church in Tucson! They saved up to give an offering to our ministry. With it, we were able to purchase all the supplies necessary class: scissors, glue, paper, etc., as well as workbooks for each of the kids in the class. What a blessing!!!