by Hannelore Zimmerman, SIM Champion for Children's Ministries
12 October 2006

Sometimes people say that children are the future of the Church. I certainly agree, but I believe that children are both the future and the present of the Church.

Teaching Children's Ministry

I will never forget a picture that I store on my computer but also in my heart—over 100 children sitting and kneeling in small groups on the grass, surrounded by a spectacular mountain view, praying with each other and for each other.

This happened just some weeks ago in a remote area of the Peruvian Andes. About a year ago, no church in that area had a program for children. The children used to stay at home with the animals. Or if their parents brought them, they would usually play or sleep through the service. But then the churches decided that they wanted to learn how to teach children the Bible. I had the pleasure of training them at several workshops.

Developing a Children's Camp

After finishing a series of workshops, the idea came up to do a children's camp together. Two weeks before the camp started, we met with the teachers to prepare the whole program. I was very upset when I realized that many of the "experienced teachers" hadn't come. Instead, several new people who had heard about this event had come to be part of it. I explained to them that this would be quite a challenge, but they wanted to go ahead with it. Together we chose "prayer" as the topic of our camp.

I can assure you that I did pray a lot for this camp. It had never occurred to me that a camp might be a good training opportunity for new teachers, especially if nearly all of them are new. But that's how it worked out. The children were excited. It was the first camp they had ever experienced, and they participated very well.

Children Teaching the Church During the night sessions, we all squeezed into the small church and tried to get enough light from a petrol lamp. Each group of children had prepared something to share with the church: a drama, a song, or a dance.

The local pastor, the church leaders, the youth, and the adults sat listening to them. The children did a great job, evangelizing and sharing parts of the Bible. During these nights, without a doubt, the children were the present of the church, not just the future.

I don't think I'll forget this group of children, praying on the mountain. I know that God heard their prayers as they interceded for each other, for their families, and for their churches.

Let's join them in prayer for the children of the world—that all of them might get a chance to hear about Jesus. And then let's go and do something so this prayer will become true.

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