THE CHURCH OF PENTECOST HEADQUARTERS - CHILDREN’S MINISTRY

VISION DOCUMENT FOR THE YEAR 2024

THEME: GOD’S CHILDREN UNLEASHED TO TRANSFORM THEIR WORLD (1 Peter 2:9, Acts 1:8)

1. Introduction

The Children’s Ministry of The Church of Pentecost (COP) considers children as a special gift and
blessing that God gives to mankind, the family, the church and to society. They are a heritage
(Psalm 127:3-5) and they carry generational blessings. Children are also a crown to parents
implying they bring fruitfulness and joy to the family (Proverbs 17:6). They form the bedrock of
families and are also the future of the church. However, we have been given the responsibility to
bring them up in the way of the Lord as parents, families, as a church and society (Proverbs 22:6,
Deuteronomy 6:7-8). Thus, it is the desire and drive of the Children’s Ministry to be a training and
nurturing hub, having an evangelistic posture and attitude in all its operations or actions.
In the past three (3) years (2020 – 2023), with the help of the Holy Spirit, we have pursued the
Vision 2023 agenda – “Possessing the Nations – I am an agent of Transformation” under the sub-
theme “Raising Godly children to possess the Nations”. A mid-term review of the activities of the
Ministry after the first two years, showed great improvement and impact in the workings of the
Ministry. Many of the children are responding to what the Lord is doing in the Ministry. The
initiatives introduced, together with the existing core programmes such as the Jethro Initiative, the
One Child One Bible, the Box Library, the Foundation Builders’ Conference (FBC), the reviewed
Community Children’s Club (CCC) to mention but a few, have brought great impetus and some
revival in the children and the children’s workers. Irrespective of the change by the grace of God,
the review also showed areas of challenge which we need to address, areas which require
continuous attention such as training and the empowering of the Area Training Teams to be more
effective and efficient.
As we look into the future, it is important to align with the main vision of the church, the Vision
2028; (Unleashing the whole church for the transformation of their world with the values and
principles of the Kingdom of God) and the Vision 2024;(A People of God Unleashed to
Transformation Their World).
In line with this, the approved theme for the year 2024 by the National Executive Committee
(NEC), drawn from the main theme of the Church is “God’s children unleashed to transform
their world” (1 Peter 2:9, Acts 1:8).
This theme is intended to:
1. Consolidate and deepen the initiatives and achievements of the vision 2023 of the
Children’s Ministry.
2. Introduce or bring into being the Vision 2024 of the overall Vision 2028.
3. Define new initiatives and key activities for the Vision 2024 to enhance the outputs and
outcomes, and aggressive growth and impact of the Ministry.

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 This will be implemented through a six-pronged approach. These include (i) Accelerated
implementation and consolidation of Vision 2023 Initiatives, (ii) Capacity Building of the Child
Worker, (iii) Capacity Building of the Children, (iv) Evangelism and Societal Impact, (v)
Networking, Partnerships and Visibility and (vi) Financial Resource Management.

2. Strategies and Activities

Activities to be undertaken under each strategy are as follows:

I. Accelerated Implementation and Consolidation of Vision 2023 Initiatives

Many Initiatives were initiated under the Vision 2023. Various degrees of successes were achieved
in terms of implementation and impact. These were highlighted during the Mid-Term review. This
strategy is intended to accelerate implementation and increase coverage to about 80% or more. It
is also intended to consolidate the impact/successes achieved. It will involve the following
activities:
❖ Review of the Membership of some Initiative Committees to inject new life into the
workings of Committees eg. NTT and CCC.
❖ Engagement of the Directorate (Director) with the various Committees tasked with
overseeing the implementation of the Initiatives.
❖ Development of new strategies (or additional strategies) by the various Committees for the
aggressive drive.
❖ Key Initiatives of focus include the following:
- Jethro Initiative (JI)
- Community Children’s Club (CCC)
- One Child One Bible (1C1B)
- The Box Library
- My Community, My Treasure

II. Capacity Building of the Child Worker

In the 2023 Vision, capacity building of the child worker was given a priority. In line with this,
decentralization of training, Area Training Teams (ATT) were set up as part of the process. Other
initiatives were brought on board. For the 2024 theme, the following activities will be undertaken.
❖ Continuous training of children workers with focus on the ATTs.
❖ Empowering of the Area Training Teams (ATT) in the Areas to be very proactive and
impactful.
❖ Enhancing Teacher motivation through the Best Teacher Award initiative.
❖ Foundation Builders Conference 2024 (FBC’ 2024).
❖ Production and sale of the New Syllabus for Sunday School.

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 ❖ Production and sale of Children’s Song Books
❖ Development of Child worker (Teacher) database
❖ Seminars – Four defined seminars, one each per quarter, to be organized at the
district/area level for all Teachers. The seminar themes are those listed below.
o Building a healthy Parent-Teacher relationship
o Child development – the basics
o Efficient implementation of Initiatives/programmes
o Use of Technology in teaching/Ministry work
* These seminars should be run by each Area/District/Local.
❖ Prayer and All-Night sessions - Monthly Prayer Meetings

▪ Policy development and training

o Development of a COP-Specific Child Protection and Safety Policy (CPSP) and
training manual
o Training of Trainers (ToT) on the CPSP

▪ Increasing Teacher Numbers

o Formalizing the “Helpers” Initiative in deprived Areas – In some of our locals,
we have “Helpers” involving Teens and Youth who have passed through our
Sunday schools. They come to assist in the work. We want to formalize this to
enable us to provide requisite training for this category of essential workers
prior to transitioning to be full fledge Teachers or Children’s Workers.
o Working with the PENSA Groups – In some of our Areas there are tertiary
institutions with PENSAs such as the Universities, Health Training Colleges,
Colleges of Education etc. We will appeal to these PENSA groups and have
volunteers who can spend the weekends in our communities and assist our local
Sunday schools.

III. Capacity Building of the Children

In the 2023 Vision, serious attempts were made at building the capacities of our children. In respect
of this, various initiatives and activities were undertaken. For the 2024 theme, these activities will
be strengthened and the impact consolidated. The following activities are recommended.
❖ Strengthening regular Sunday school activities (working with Leadership in the
Local Churches)
❖ Encouraging daily devotion using the new Children’s devotional guide
❖ Bible reading, bible study and memorization, sword drills
❖ Intergenerational Service – This will be strengthened.
❖ One Child, One Bible initiative (this will be pursue with increased impetus)
❖ Preacher Kid Competition

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 ❖ Jethro Initiative (JI) program to be consolidated with Annual JI Week
❖ Community Children’s Club (CCC) program to be consolidated with Annual CCC
week.
❖ Children’s Week program

▪ Catch Them Young (CTY) Concept and The Young Warriors for Christ (YWC) initiative
o This is a new Initiative intended to build a cadre of Holy Spirit filled young
children in every local assembly between the ages of 9 to 12 years. They will
be led by very committed teachers with oversight from the Presiding Elders,
District Pastors and Area Leaders and Executives. They will be nurtured to have
the love for the study of the word of God, prayer and fasting and evangelism.
These will be formed into the Young Warriors for Christ (YWC) and trained to
do exploits.
o Young Warriors for Christ (YWC) Prayer Conference. This will be a gathering
of the young cadres purposely to pray. It will be organized at the district level
and depending on the availability of resources also at the Area level.

IV. Evangelism and Societal Impact

Evangelism has been a key factor in the activities of the Children’s Ministry during the
implementation of the 2023 Vision. As we move into the new Vision 2028, it will still be
the overarching drive of the Ministry. Thus, for the 2024 vision of the Ministry, the already
existing approaches from vision 2023 will be strengthened together with the following new
activities which are being recommended.

Existing approaches:
✓ Children’s rallies and Children’s crusades.
✓ National Children’s Rally now formalized.
✓ Holy Spirit baptism meetings
✓ Street and placard evangelism (guided by Teachers)
✓ House to House and Schools evangelism (guided by Teachers)

❖ My Community My Treasure – Touch A Life Initiative

▪ Support to SOS Villages – continued visits and support to the SOS villages.
▪ Visit to Orphanages
▪ Visit to Hospitals
▪ Visit to the Aged
▪ Visit and adoption of Schools

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 ▪ Clean up campaigns, tree planting etc

New Approaches
✓ Medical and Community Evangelism – Using health diagnosis as an
evangelistic tool.
✓ Children in Mission – Having children from one local join other locals
within their district for evangelism.
✓ Prayer Ambassadors – Children and Teachers moving from house to house
sharing Christ and praying for members of households first, starting from
COP member households.
✓ Jesus Fair – Outdoor programs all highlighting Jesus and the Gospel.
✓ Conference for Christian Private School Proprietors.
✓ Media Evangelism – Use of Community Information Centres, Radio
Stations, Social Media handles.

V. Networking, Partnerships and Visibility

During the last year of the Vision 2023 implementation, the Ministry enhanced its
partnerships with other Ministries and institutions. The Ministry organized joint programs
with the Women’s Ministry, the Home and Urban Ministry (HUM), the Evangelism
Ministry and the Ministry to Persons With Disabilities (MPWD). Again, the visibility of
the Ministry was also improved with the establishment of the Media Unit, enhancing our
presence on the social media. These activities will be continued and strengthened in the
Vision 2024. Some recommended initiatives and activities include the following:

Networking and Partnerships

✓ District Ministers, *Presiding Elders and Wives Conference – The focus of the
conference is on children. The idea is to enhance ownership by major stakeholders
working with all the other Ministries.
✓ Parents Conference/Meeting at the Local level – Focus is still on children and
intended to enhance ownership.
✓ Children in Missions – Initiate the process of integrating the activities of CM
International into the broader scheme of the CM directorate.
✓ Partnership programs with HUM and MPWD.
✓ Improve and Strengthen the relationship between Pent TV and CM
(*Due to the numbers, Presiding Elders would be randomly selected)

Media and Publicity

✓ Creation of a CM Website
✓ Creation of a CM App. – This is intended to be a one-stop shop for all things related
to CM. It will showcase the Vision and Mission Statement, History of CM, Action
Songs, Syllabus, an e-shop for ordering all CM paraphernalia, etc.
✓ Development of Bible-Based Animations and Cartoons
✓ Continue to build a strong Social Media Presence on Facebook, YouTube, Tik Tok
and others.
o Enhance/increase the various children's services and special kids'
programmes on Pent TV.
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 o Getting Pent TV to showcase key Children’s Ministry Initiatives
o Building the capacity of the CM Media Teams at all levels and supporting
with more media equipment.

VI. Financial Resource Management

Implementation of these programs above require financial resources; this involves generation and
efficient management of the available resources. During the past years (during Vision 2023) efforts
were made to generate some resources and efficiently manage what is available. The same would
be done for the year 2024. In addition to these, the following activities would be undertaken to
strengthen our financial resource management.

✓ Trainings (By Zoom):

o On raising funds for Ministry work.
o Importance of budgeting, and how to develop a budget
o Financial recording and Bookkeeping

VII. Conclusion

We thank the Lord for the great transformation He has brought about in the Ministry and for what
He continues to do and is about to do. A reflection on the theme of the church and our vision for
the Ministry shows that there is the need for a new impetus to our calling as a National Executive
Committee (NEC) going into 2024. This is essential to bring about the needed transformation in
our children. Isaiah 43:18-19 encourages in this direction as we look to the Lord in our work. May
the Lord Almighty continue to be our banner as we are unleashed this year to transform our world,
Amen.

Pastor William Otoo Ellis

Director, Children’s Ministry
The Church of Pentecost