Children’s Ministries

Trans-European Division of Seventh-Day Adventist Church

Newsletter Spring 2011

Clair

Another quarter has come and gone. Time flies when you are having fun they say. As I travel I see that God is working in wonderful ways to help us in our mission of reaching people and chil-dren for his kingdom. It is always good to hear reports from all of you. We hope you enjoy the Children’s Ministries newsletter. I have just returned from the States where I had three Advisories. One for Women, Family and Children. There are some really exciting things happening in the Children’s Ministries de-partment and many of these things will be shared with you when we come together for our own Advisory in November of this year. The 21st to 25th to be exact. I hope each one of you will be able to attend as it is good to share and to hear others tell of their work in their respective countries. One of the areas which will get a lot of atten-tion in the next five years will be ministry to children with special needs. Another new development is Chil- dren’s Health Expo’s. Research has revealed that childhood obesity is on the rise and that children are affected with many other health- related diseases. Children need to be educated in how to live a healthy lifestyle so as to honour God through their body temple. The GC Chil-dren’s Ministries de- partment is developing an interactive Health Expo program for children that could be used as an outreach program in the church and in the community. Something I am sure we could all use. This is just a small sample of things which are happening and I look forward to meeting each

and every one of you in November. God bless you all in the work you do with and for our chil-

dren.

Hand in Hand Children and Family Ministries conference in Eastbourne, England By Clair Sanches

.

In the weekend of 4-6 of Febru-

ary I visited the Children and Fam-

ily Ministries conference in East-

bourne, England.

About 1.400 people gathered to

hear guest speakers, visit work-

shops and the exhibits around the

building.

It is good to see what is on offer

from the British Christian organi-

sations because it is different to

what is on offer from the States.

More European I would say. Be-

cause it is not as big as the events

in the States it does give opportu-

nity to talk with others and enjoy a

rather relaxed atmosphere. You are

also equipped with new ideas and

made aware of trends and have the

opportunity to buy books and so

much more for your work.

If you are new to Children’s Minis-

try, and feel that this event may be

something you would like to visit

then follow the website at

www.childrenministry.co.uk Regis-

tration is around £75 per person.

You pay your own accommodation,

food and travel. If some of you are

interested for 2012 perhaps we

could go as a small group? You will

have to cover all costs yourselves,

so plan for that in your yearly

budget.

Kids in Discipleship

in Beirut

Aranka Bajic, CM Director, MEU, writes from Beirut:

Last Sabbath, February 19th, the University

church in Beirut finished the 24th Footprints

for Kids lesson, which was followed by a waf-

fle party to celebrate the accomplishment. In

a couple of weeks they are going to have a

game afternoon as well, to review the last 6

lessons, since that is what they have done so

far after each 6 lessons.

KID Leadership Training in Lithuania

February 26-27

Eight Church Teams came together in Kaunas on February 26 and 27 for the first national KID Leadership Training. Some of the participants had travelled for many hours and many more kilometres, so this was a group that was very eager to learn. The week-end was characterised by a really good and positive spirit, says Clair, who came from the TED to help with this training. Otherwise the training was planned and run by the Lithuanian Conference, ably led by Inga Jankuviene and Ginta-ras Nekis and Lida Nekiene, all from the Alsedziai Church, who are the pioneers of the KID ministry in Lithuania. Linas Jankus, Inga’s husband is the KID Director, but unfortunately he fell sick that week-end and could not par-ticipate. We pray that the KID Ministry may continue to grow in Lithuania and be a blessing to many children and families there.

“GOD GO WITH YOU LITHUANIA”

Madelon Comvalius Children’s Ministry Director Netherlands Union Conference

Calender:

October 15, 2011 Children’s Sabbath

November 21-25, 2011 Children’s Ministry Advisory ( for union/field directors )

Please meet Madelon Comvalius. As of the 1st of February Madelon is working at the Netherlands Union Conference as Women’s, Children’s, Teen and Family Ministries director, taking over Clair’s old job. Madelon is married to Machlon and together they have two children, Jordan 8 and Jaylisa 6. Her hobbies are singing, travelling and her fam-ily. Madelon directs a choir and has organized an X-factor type program for young people within our church.

Madelon says: “Church should be a place you want to be”. We wish Madelon God’s blessing as she embarks on this new adventure in her and her family’s life.

Meet the CM Directo

rs

Resources:

Karen Holford alerted of us to a wonderful, new, just-being-developed, resource at www.thealmightybible.com

It has interactive Biblically accurate Bible stories, with games and activities, plus a prayer garden and other activities. It isn’t quite up and running yet, but children can have a free trial from mid Febru-ary. I think it will cost a little bit, but it looks like it is only about $5 (US) a month. It has been created by top animators and artists who are also Christians.

Karen said: ‘Just thought you might like to know about good resources for our techy children!’ Thank you, Karen, for keeping us up-

to-date. If you have anything you

would like to share with us please do

not hesitate. If we can help each

other, then so much the better.

Children in Sudan

Children’s Ministries Department Trans-European Division of Seventh-day Adventists

119 St Peter’s Street, St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL1 3EY

England

e-mail: csanches-schutte@ted-adventist.org

skrusholm@ted-adventist.org

Children’s Ministries

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This newsletter is addressed to the Children’s Ministry Directors of the Unions in The Trans-European Division. Others who would like to be on the mailing list can send their e-mail address to skrusholm@ted-adventist.org in order to be added to it.

The Funny Side of Parenting A first grade teacher collected old, well-known proverbs. She gave each child in her class the first half of a proverb, and had them come up with the rest. Here are some interesting results: It's always darkest before... daylight savings time. Don't bite the hand that... looks dirty. You can't teach an old dog new... math. Happy is the bride who... gets all the presents! A penny saved is... not much.

For Training of

Coaches and

Presenters contact: csanches-schutte@ted-adventist.org

Clair says: ’I love history. I have always en-joyed it at school and even now watch docu-mentaries and the history channel when I can. This year marks the 400th anniversary of the Kings James Bible. Now I realise that this is only in English but in Britain they are making a big thing out of it and trying to get the message across that the Bible is still relevant today.’ A LITTLE HISTORY (because I love it)

The King James Bible, published in 1611, was England’s authorized version of the Bible

translated from the original Hebrew and Greek languages into English at the request of King James 1 of England. At the time, other English Bibles existed, but King James did not like the most popular translation, the Ge-neva Bible, because he felt that some of the marginal notes encouraged dis-obedience to kings. So when a Puritan scholar, Dr. John Reynolds, suggested a new English translation of the Bible at the 1604 conference of bishops and theologians at Hampton Court Palace, King James readily agree. 54 of England’s foremost scholars and linguists were formed into six panels to translate particular groups of Old Testament and New Testament books into English. Even though King James agreed to the new Bible translation, and the translators dedicated their work “to the most high and mighty prince James,” the King James Version was never officially recognized by the king, nor was it ever authorized as the only text permitted to be read in church. Despite this, it soon replaced both the Bishops’ Bible and the Ge-neva Bible in popularity and became the leading text for private use.