Posted: April 26th, 2012
There are many exciting changes on the horizon for MCMINTL. We are about to change locations again! We’ve put together a short 1 minute video about where we're headed next. Just press play below to watch it:
We are excited about our upcoming move, new positions, and the opportunity to expand and reach more churches and children. As of May 2012, around 600 children every weekend will be learning from the materials we have written. Groups of these are playing on MCMINTL gifted playgrounds and receiving MCMINTL donated meals each week.
Thank you for continuing to support Maximizing Children's Ministries as we launch into this new phase of ministry.
Posted: April 13th, 2012
The upcoming months hold lots of big things for Maximizing Children's Ministries. The lack of communication on our part has been solely because we have been caught up in praying through and preparing for these upcoming events. Please pray with us as we ask the Lord for wisdom in these upcoming opportunities.
April 21 - May 2: We will be in Houston working with The Ark Church doing prep for the upcoming summer Kid's Camp! Please pray for a productive trip.
May 5: We will be hosting a training session for about 70 children's and nursery workers at Comunidad Cristiana de Arequipa in Peru and prepping them to launch the MCMINTL curriculum following the training. Pray for receptive hearts.
Early May: A quick trip to talk with Pastors Ben & Erny in Bolivia and deliver resources. Pray for God to confirm timing for this trip and for safety as we travel.
June 11 - 14: Kid's Camp at The Ark Church. Pray for Matt as he prepares lessons. We may be bringing a surprise visitor to the camp! Pray for doors to open for that to happen.
July 6 - 15: We will lead 'Operation Disney World Bolivia' or project playground to Bolivia and build a playground in the jungles in a town that has none. Pray ahead for God to clear the path in front of us and for His hand in all the details.
And that's just the next few months! Great things are happening with MCMINTL and some big changes are upcoming, so please stay tuned to the website and sign up using the 'contact us' tab if you have not yet so that you stay in the loop. Don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well. Thank you for praying with us and partnering with us that kids may know Him!
Posted: March 27th, 2012
It has been a great spring for MCMINTL in Arequipa, Peru. Things are happening and advancing.
In the month of March, we have continued working hard and moving forward. We now have 4 months of new curriculum complete with object lessons, applications, and illustrations which is also translated into Spanish. We continue meeting with the children's leader of Alas de Fe church in El Alto, Bolivia via Skype (thank you, technology!) and the children love being fed physically and spiritually every weekend. The curriculum has seen big success in Bolivia.
MCMINTL is also moving forward with our church in Peru. We are currently preparing for two training sessions for the children's leaders at Comunidad Cristiana de Arequipa church in Peru. These trainngs which will take place just before and just after Easter. Following the training sessions, the children's ministry will begin using the MCMINTL children's curriculum. The children's leaders are very excited about using our curriculum!
This Sunday is a special invite your friends day at Comunidad Crisitana de Arequipa. It will be a full and fun filled day at the church. We're prepping a huge celebration service for the kids. Matt and I will be working from 6:30 in the morning until 10:30 and we're praying that the owners of our house will visit the church with us later in the day.
Thank you for your patience as we neglected the blog a bit in the last month. More blogs to come soon! Check in the next few days to find out about our recent visitors and the crazy trek we completed.
Posted: February 21st, 2012
So two Sundays ago we jumped into the trusty Toyota and headed up to church with little idea of what awaited us at the Comunidad Cristiana de Arequipa Kids Camp 2012. We came equipped with sunscreen, bug spray, swimsuits, toothbrushes, pillows, and lots of energy for the week ahead.
We attended the morning church service and then helped with this and that as we waited for the bus to arrive which would shuttle the kids 2 hours west to the beach town of Mejia where we would stay. We waited… and waited… and finally the bus did show up. We squished potatoes and onions and ALL the food for the week plus children and sleeping bags and all their luggage into a tiny bus which barely held the 60 kids plus 30 volunteers.
What couldn’t fit in the bus was crammed into our Toyota. We all thanked God for the big, reliable car He gave us! It was put to use again.
Here is a pic of the leaders.
Matt designed the shirts we are wearing. Below is a close-up.
We took off toward the beach, traveling quite slowly due to the overloaded bus. About a mile out from the camp, from behind the bus, we see it reel and swerve! The driver struggles to regain control and parks it off to the side. It had blown the back tire! Thank you, Lord, for being our protector. Since it would take awhile to fix, Matt and I shuttled kids the last one mile in loads of 12 or 13, crammed into the back of our car. Thank God again for a trusty, big vehicle! He knew what we needed!
We arrived at the camp. It was beautiful! They had better facilities than Matt & I had expected. There were cabins with 12ish bunk beds. We were divided up with our girls/boys and helped them make their beds. We ate a hearty dinner, formed our teams, created team cheers and made our team flags.
Then Matt and I prepped for our big show. Matt and I were in charge of the puppets and dramas for the week. We wrote 3 intro & outtro skits to go along with the stories & themes of each day of the camp. These skits helped the children understand how the Bible stories we were studying applied to them in their lives. The first night, Matt and I were in charge of the whole teaching. Two puppets helped us teach about sacrificing for our friends through the story of David and Jonathan. We had great fun and the kids loved it!
During camp, the kids walked on the beach and shared the Gospel with those they encountered. Matt was able to capture one interaction.
We also played lots of games!
Can you spot the differences between this picture and the one before it?
This was their favorite game. We also had a special dress up night.
Notice the 'soldiers' in the background!
It was a week filled with fun, creativity, beach, teaching, growing, and building relationships with leaders and children.
Some interesting things we learned:
The children here are P R E C I O U S!
Cold showers even at the beach are still cold.
Matt has some hidden volleyball skills!
Notice the celebration!
Puppets are a huge hit with all ages here.
It’s always a good thing to build a great relationship with the kitchen ladies! (Hot water to make instant coffee in the mornings - thank you!)
Many of the children here have dealt with very difficult things at very young ages.
We were expected to bring our own toilet paper for the week - good thing we always keep a roll in the car!
Peruvians believe canned tuna fish makes a great breakfast sandwich.
It takes us a week to recover from getting up at 5 and staying up until 11 or 12.
The sun IS strong here. Matt can and did get sunburned.
The ocean water in Mejia is C O L D, very cold.
The 1st - 3rd grade age group is our favorite.
Overall, we had a great time and are so grateful for the opportunity to be a part of what God is doing in the lives of children through Comunidad Cristiana de Arequipa.
Two gals who worked with Kelly during the week are joining our Sunday morning team as teachers/helpers! We’re grateful for the extra help and smiling faces on Sundays.
