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Children’s
Ministries
Empowering the next generation
Children are one of the great gifts God gives to the church. They bring
life to a church and hope for the future. Raising children who will
live for the Lord their entire lives — no turning back, no veering
astray — is a priority for the Assemblies of God.
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Family
outreach
 I
grew up in a family with six children in a denomination where
there is little emphasis on ministry to children. We sat with
the adults in church and rarely had a chance to learn the Bible
on our level. But when I was in the sixth grade, my family was
drawn to an Assemblies of God church because of its dynamic children’s
ministry. We loved it. And when my parents saw how excited we
were about church, it really impacted them as well.
My life just totally took off after that. Soon I was filled with
the Holy Spirit at kids camp, and I was called into ministry within
the next few years. My children’s pastor and his wife mentored
me even as I went through junior high and high school. I know
if it wasn’t for them, I would not be married to a pastor
in full-time ministry today.
Children’s ministry is so crucial to the success of a church.
You get those kids in there and you’re going to get the families
in there — my family is living proof of that.
—Tonya Keller
Bismarck, N.D.
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"Every child needs to learn to be a leader, not a follower," says David
Boyd, director of the national Children’s Ministries Agency. "That
starts with self-esteem — knowing God made them, knowing they’re
special, knowing they’re important, knowing there’s a wonderful
plan for their lives."
With that in mind, the agency has developed eight goals to reach kids
worldwide. Children are to be powerful in prayer, baptized in the Holy
Spirit, radical in worship, mobilized in service, sacrificial in giving,
active in evangelism, knowledgeable in God’s Word and baptized
in water.
Local churches, working hand in hand with the national department,
offer dynamic children’s programs, such as Sunday school, children’s
church, Royal Rangers and Missionettes. "We need to plant God’s
Word in them deeply enough that they can live for the Lord the rest
of their lives," says Boyd. "Once a child learns to pray, to worship,
to touch God, that’s a very hard thing for future peer groups to
remove."
There are about 1,200 salaried children’s pastors in U.S. Assemblies
of God churches, with thousands more who serve as volunteer children’s
pastors. These ministers can receive training, products, curriculum,
advice and support from the national office.
Boys and Girls Missionary Crusade is an important vehicle for local
churches to teach their children compassion for the lost. This missions
education program in the Assemblies of God equips kids to care, to pray
and to give.
The money raised through BGMC helps missionaries with supplies such
as Bibles, tracts, Sunday school literature, study books for Bible colleges
and more. The money also helps children all around the world by providing
for street kids, orphanages, feeding programs, production of television
programs and videos and more.
BGMC materials are provided free to Assemblies of God churches.
Ministry to children is important — to every church and pastor
in the Assemblies of God.
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