Showing posts with label children's ministry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label children's ministry. Show all posts

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Do you want your child to BREAK FREE from boredom? Sign them up here.

Are you a parent of small children aged 4-12?  Do you sometimes have a difficult time teaching them about God and spiritual principles?  If you are like a lot of people I know, you’d probably equate the spiritual activities of your childhood with boredom, even though you know you would benefit from these.  Yet now you have kids of your own, and you hope that they will not only travel a Godly path…you also hope that they will also, somehow, enjoy it.

Well, enter a week full of fun, games, songs, snacks, and…yes, God.  The church I go to strongly believes in the importance of investing in children, and so it has an awesome children’s program called NxtGen.  Other that the great Orange program that NxtGen delivers to the kids every Sunday, the said week full of fun, generally called a DVBS, happens in the summer and it is usually NxtGen’s biggest event of the year.  This year's DVBS is themed BREAKING FREE, and I am positive your child will have a great, great time in addition to learning valuable lessons and Biblical principles.


Sunday, September 7, 2014

Kiddos bored every Sunday? Give them ORANGE!

Hello friends.  If you are a frequent reader of this blog, you’d know that we are a church going family.  If your family is, too, the read on because I will give a fantastic solution on a pretty rampant problem among church going families, especially in this country (the Philippines).

Are your kiddos bored silly when your family goes to church?  Especially here in the Philippines, where the majority of the people go to the type of churches where kids have no choice but to sit with their parents, this is an all too common scenario.  Needless to say, Sunday mornings for most kids are usually not very pleasant, not only because of the boredom, but because they get chastised by expressing their boredom (squirming, fidgeting, complaining, etc.).

The church I go to invests heavily in children, and for many years I have been a very big part of serving these young people Sunday in Sunday out.  Well, earlier today, said church launched quite possibly the best curriculum we’ve ever had, called ORANGE…and as luck would have it, the Kids Church team that would launch it for the 7-12 year olds will be the team that I used to lead, a team that includes my daughters and my mom (unfortunately, I can no longer be involved because I now do Graduate School in addition to full time teaching).

The kids had an absolute BLAST…while learning about God and Biblical principles.  My blog will be all about today’s events, and if you live in any of the major cities of the Philippines, your kids can enjoy ORANGE as well (you'll find out how, later).  Game?  Let’s go.

Before I share ORANGE with you, let me share with you a quick video of why this is sooooo important.  Did you know that there is a great battle for the hearts and minds of our children?  Please watch this video, made back in 2011 but relevant today more than ever.  It’s a part of a bigger video here, but I just have a snippet of it to prove a point.  It’s not that long, so please view it before you go on further.




Friday, June 7, 2013

This is what happens when you invest in children…so join the movement!

Last month, 130 children had a fantastic time of games, fun, crafts, dance, and song—all while learning about God’s goodness and how to live a victorious Christian life.  CCF-Cagayan de Oro, the church I go to, and its NxtGen children’s ministry, held yet another successful DVBS, this time it was called Studio GO!  

One hundred and thirty kids!!
The DVBS is usually NxtGen’s biggest event of the year, and while I wasn’t in the thick of the event this time around, I did see a little bit of what went on and let’s just say that I was very pleased.  In fact, it is a testament to what happens when you invest in children, which is the theme of this blog entry.

Praise God for that awesome week.  This blog entry serves as a big THANK YOU and congrats on a job well done.  It also serves as a word of encouragement to those readers who, in their own ways and in their own organizations, volunteer to serve children and youth.  Your efforts go a long, long way.  Now here we go.

It’s super rewarding to invest in children; and it’s such a big, big, MUST for churches to do so.  Of course, I’ve always known this, but it was so evident to me during Studio GO!

The vast majority of the volunteers were teenagers, and I mean young teenagers on the lower end of the teen scale.  What’s so awesome to me is that many of these young’uns were DVBS participants when they were little.  Now, I get a bit teary eyed that they consider it an absolute joy to give back by volunteering, blessing the next generation of kids the same way they were blessed many years ago.  

As an example, here’s a picture of my daughter, Lynn, and a longtime friend of hers, Anya, during a DVBS many, many years ago…followed by a pic of the DVBS of this year.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Get the HUGE early bird discount for a great children’s summer activity

If you’re a parent of young children (4-11 years old), and you live in Cagayan de Oro City, allow me to ask you a question.

Do you want your kids to have great fun over the summer, and while doing so, he or she would learn more about God and biblical principles?  I don’t think any church going family would say no to that, right?  Well, here in the Philippines, most families are church-going families, but the vast majority of the churches Pinoys go to usually do not have much in terms of programs that disciple and nurture children (which is a shame, really).

Well, if you’re a follower of my blog, you’d know that I’m a proud Lifeshaper volunteer of my church’s NxtGen Ministry (the name of my church’s children’s ministry), and every summer, we have the biggest NxtGen event of the year.  Consider this blog entry an invitation, and I suggest you register now to get the HUGE early bird discount on this great children’s summer activity!

What I’m talking about is our yearly summer DVBS, and this year’s theme is called Studio GO!  For one week, May 6 to 11, 2013, children from ages 4-12 (although, honestly, I notice most 12 year olds prefer JZone as compared to NxtGen) will enjoy three hours of games, stories, skits, snacks, and crafts…all the while learning about Jesus and life-changing Biblical principles.  Here’s a video that was aired at church last Sunday, to show you what we mean.

Monday, March 25, 2013

These amazing events could change your life, your marriage, and your children

Most people (wrongly) think that once you get married, you’d effortlessly live happily ever after.  Ditto with having children: you’d think that when the bundle of joy comes, he or she will always be, well, a bundle of joy.

But reality is quite different, isn’t it?  Those of us who are married with children know that both keeping the marriage alive and raising the kids well take lots of hard work.  So much so that you’d probably wish colleges offer marriage 101 or parenting 101 as subjects.

Well, I have good news for you.  I belong to a community that advocates family development and youth development quite strongly, and I would like to share some of our upcoming special events for you, in order of when they happen during the year.  If you live in Cagayan de Oro City and you want to enhance your married life or the lives of your children, then check out these events!

Friday, February 1, 2013

Cain and Abel with abs? This is gonna be the funniest Sunday yet!!


This next Sunday will be my Lifeshaper team’s turn to serve our 7-12 year old children in our Kids’ Church (it’s our turn every 1st Sunday of the month).  It’s gonna be an awesome Sunday for sure.  Or, at the very least, it’s gonna be a hilarious Sunday.

I mean, Cain and Abel with abs?  This is gonna be the funniest Sunday yet!!

Our lesson
We use a lot of techniques to get the children’s attention and to make them imbibe the lesson.  In 1.5 hours (the length of our worship service at CCF-CDO), we use object lessons, dance/action songs, memory verses, videos, skits, and small group discussions…all in an hour and a half.  My team is famous (infamous?) for being the team that puts an extra dose of hilarity in our skits.  It can sometimes get ridiculous, to the point that the children’s howls of laughter or our general noise-making are so loud we can sometimes be heard in the main worship area.  It helps a lot that two of probably the funniest, most animated people in the entire church are on my team.

And this Sunday, we’re gonna have two of our guys wear shirts with abs drawn on them, because that’s how we roll (and that’s probably how Cain and Abel rolled, too, knowing how perfect the weather was back then).  Note that one of them has a really huge tummy.  HAHAHA.  This is probably gonna be the funniest Sunday in all our funny Sundays…I just hope we don’t get ourselves excommunicated.  

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Reflections of an eventful 2012 part 1

As per my blog’s tradition, every end of the year I will come up with a reflection on the year that has just passed.  Of course, since Lessons Of A Dad is only a little over a year old, this is my second such blog entry, the first being among my most popular article as it talked about Sendong, traveling, defeats, and other stuff.

So, as I type this on a restful vacation morning, I look back and reflect on an eventful 2012.

1. Be careful what you pray for, because God has a sense of humor.

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Merry Christmas from yours truly

Here’s a mime presentation that the Kids Church did several years ago (when my teenage daughter, Lynn, one of the participants, was just around 9 years old).  Merry Christmas everyone.

Friday, October 5, 2012

Lifeshapers assemble! Let’s give the kids another great time in church!!

To my awesome and supremely talented Lifeshaper team, it is our turn to once again host Kids’ Church this coming Sunday!  Let’s put our best foot forward and make sure our kids have so much fun they don’t wanna leave church! 

For those of you who live in the Philippines, I would like to invite you to visit any CCF church (I go to CCF-Cagayan de Oro) and have your children experience what a church should be: learning about God’s love and having a wonderful time doing so! 

For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, let me explain.

A Lifeshaper is a volunteer in CCF’s Children’s Ministry (AKA Kids’ Church).  We train and work mighty hard to give the absolute best church experience to your child.  We do so through an entertaining variety show format that includes skits (my team tends to put extra hilarity in these), games, action songs, Bible memory drills, and other ways to make learning about God unforgettable.

Monday, August 6, 2012

If you’re a parent of grade school children and you live in the Philippines, you might wanna read this post.

My body is exhausted, my voice is hoarse, I’m dehydrated, and I’m extremely sleep deprived…but it’s all for something wonderful, and if you’re a parent of grade school children and you live in the Philippines, you might wanna read this post.

I showed the following video to you earlier this year, but I’d like to invite you to take a look at it again because it’s related to the rest of my post.  It’s a video of a wonderful kids event called Main Street that I took part in earlier this year.  Pls see it in its entirety before you read the rest of my post.



Since then, NxtGen, the Children’s Ministry of the church I go to, CCF-Cagayan de Oro, has really taken off (as well as all the CCF churches in the Philippines, which I will explain later).  The reason why I showed you the above video is because I believe that the kids who go to said church now are lucky recipients of that kind of quality—and ridiculously fun—experience  every Sunday.

Can you imagine if your child gets this kind of format every Sunday when he or she goes to church?  I don’t know in your church, but in most of the churches this country, the kids are dragged to the house of worship where they are bored silly and don’t learn much anything.  Even worse, the child would then equate going to church with tedium and boredom.  I’ve seen it way too many times.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Nearly 90 kids had the best time of their young lives…and learned about God in the process

DVBS.  Many of you may not know these four letters.  But to nearly 90 kids, nearly 30 volunteers, and not to mention an exhausted yours truly, they’re four letters that would be treasured for years to come.  Below is a video that’ll show you why:


DVBS means Daily Vacation Bible School; and through 5 days of interactive stories, fun games, and action songs, nearly 90 kids had terrific fun…and learned about God in the process.  Traditionally, our church holds these every summer, with a different title and theme each go-round.  This year, it was called MAIN STREET.


The (sometimes harrowing) experience of recruiting volunteers, advertising MAIN STREET to parents in our church, and nitpicking over everything so that the execution is perfect doesn’t compare to the fulfillment that comes with hearing the kids’ shouts of glee and their taking to heart Christ’s love for them.  There’s no greater high than serving God in ministry, and in my case, serving the young people.

Here are my reflections over the last few days:

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Why Children’s Ministry is important

Well, starting tomorrow my young couples group and I will take over the Sunday School for the month of April.  In honor of this, I would like to post a video I found in youtube, stating why Children’s Ministry is so important.

It’s oh, so true.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Permit the children to come to Me

I’ll never forget what the head of the Children’s Ministry program of the church I go to told me and several volunteers in a training session many years ago.  (The church is Christ’s Commission Fellowship or CCF for short.)

She told of the very familiar scene, mentioned at least three times in the Bible, where Jesus was speaking to a crowd, and there were parents in the audience who wanted to bring their kids to meet Jesus so that He could bless them.  But the disciples, who I guess were concerned that doing so would waste their Master’s valuable time, stopped them in their tracks.  Here’s the story, as told in Mark 10: 13-16.

13 And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them.

14 But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

15 “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”

16 And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.

The trainer’s challenge was this: if we don’t pay attention to our Children’s Ministry; if we don’t give our absolute best effort for these kids week in and week out; then aren’t we doing the exact same thing that the disciples were doing?  We’re hindering the children from being blessed by Christ!



Wow.  I never thought of it that way.  I’ll have to admit, I didn’t look forward to my stint as a Sunday school teacher, and I’m sure there were others who feel the same way.  But man, if my rotten attitude made me a hindrance that kept these young souls from being blessed by Christ, then shame on me.

What made this even bigger was that when the disciples got in the way of the children, Jesus was indignant.  Do you know what that means?  Encarta’s definition is: “angry at the apparent unfairness of something.”  So if your church doesn’t pay much attention to its children’s ministry, or worse, doesn’t have a children’s ministry at all…we are making Him indignant.  I love Christ too much to knowingly disappoint him so greatly.

If bringing children to our Lord was so important for Him then; then we, as His hands and feet, should consider it equally as important now.

Well, I now, even if I have to miss our powerful Sunday messages for a month, look forward to my turn with the kids.  CCF’s bench of volunteers has grown so huge that my group and I only have to do this once a year (Yay!  Oh, I mean, awwww!), but we still get involved during special times of the year…and this is one of those times.

I was placed to be in charge of the 6-8 y.o. class’ Christmas presentation.  This is the youngest class I’ve ever held, and boy did I get a culture shock.  I usually handle the 10-12 class, and they’re very behaved and mature.  But these guys…wow, I was putting more effort in quieting them down than instructing.  But I’m very excited for our presentation.  I’ve been staying up late getting it ready…and I think, Lord be praised, it’s going to be grrrreat!

I can’t give details on what I’m cooking up (people will kill me if I give spoilers), but I’m so excited that I can’t help but give you one song I’m using for one half of the presentation.  It’s Strange Way to Save the World, a beautiful song by Jump5.  I heard it first from my eldest daughter because she has their CD, but I’m sure you hear it on the Christian radio at this time of the year (103.3FM).  Below is a vid from youtube featuring the song with its beautiful lyrics.



For the rest of the presentation, I am hoping to use my goofy sense of humor and the cuteness of these kids to make something really special.  I can’t give more details than that…you’ll just have to see it for yourself.

Actually, this month is gonna be awesome, because during each Sunday service, there would be at least two groups who would give special numbers.  We want to show how fun it is in our church and how great it is to be part of such a vibrant Christian community.  Here is the sched of presentations:

December 12: singles (always a hit); kids 9-12 (Lynn and Mesoo, my 2 eldest kids, will perform)

December 19: adult d-groups (yes, my mom will perform); kids 6-8 (this is the one I’m working on)

December 26: young couples (including my group); kids 3-5 (Happy, my youngest, is in this one, with my wife teaching the song/dance).

If you’d like to come watch the performances and to get to know our culture a little bit, we’d be happy to welcome you to CCF.  The church is located at Papa Juanito’s Square, just across the street from Robinson’s car park entrance.  The performances would be on the 10AM services.

I’d now like to show you some of the presentations done in the past.  Enjoy.

A mime presentation of “We Are The Reason,” Christmas Party 2008.  Lynn was in this one…somewhere.



Sunday School 3-5 class song, “Be Brave, Be Strong,” Mother’s Day (?) 2009.  Happy is the little guy in Maroon.



Sunday School 8-9 and 10-12 classes singing “He Knows My Name.” Father’s Day 2010 or 2009.  Lynn and Mesoo are both here.



Practice of the kids who volunteered to play the flute for Mother’s Day 2010.  Lessons were free.  All three of my kids were participants.



I’m looking forward to adding Christmas 2010 to this list of memories and ministry.  If you’d like to visit, see you then.  🙂

Share this to friends!