Benin (MNN) ― In Benin, there's a developing unease about the widespread neglect of children. Church leaders are battling the misconception that children are unimportant and that teaching them is time wasted.
Every Child Ministries' Monica Miles says they sent a team to help with some training. Leaders of the Redeemed Christian Church of God gave several examples of neglect, which ECM's Lorella Rouster says is common not only in Benin but in many of the places ECM teams visit.
Miles explains, "It is rare for either parents or churches to give much attention to teaching children. Every Child Ministries hopes to change that situation by raising the awareness [among] Christians, helping them to understand God's heart for all orphans and other underprivileged children."
Last month, the team trained children's ministry leaders in Cotonou and near Abomey. It was an international team consisting of trainers from Ghana, Togo, and the United States. Rouster says they're working with believers to change the mindset.
An uphill battle? Not according to Rouster. Even a few families and churches really understanding God's heart for children and for the underprivileged, she says, can make a huge difference in the nation.
From the beginning of their training emphasis, Every Child Ministries focused on training African Bible teachers of children and youth to minister in their local churches and to elp their churches establish growth through Sunday schools and other ministries.
ECM believes that children are the most receptive in their community to the Gospel. Therefore, reaching children becomes a key part of reaching a nation. In response, ECM held a five-day seminar that gives Christian leaders practical training in approaching outreach to children and their families. "We want to reach out to children's workers, children's leaders, to train them to reach the children on their level so that they can present the Gospel at a level that the children can understand."
Every Child Ministries envisions
the church reaching out to the children around them so that all may have the opportunity
to say "yes" or "no" to Jesus. Click here if you can help them.
