Children’s ministries directors and Adventist Book Centre managers in the Papua New Guinea Union Mission (PNGUM) were trained to use the new Sabbath school curriculum Alive in Jesus. The training was organised by PNGUM children’s ministries director Dr Agnes Kola and held at the PNGUM head office in Lae, Morobe province, from July 15 to 17.
Conducted by Dr Kola and Central Papua Conference Children’s Ministries director Ruthy Batu, the sessions included learning and teaching strategies, the context and philosophy of the new curriculum and sessions on the different children’s Sabbath school levels—Babies, Beginners, Kindergarten, Primary and Junior.
South Pacific Division (SPD) director of ministry and strategy Dr Sven Östring, SPD discipleship strategy leader Pastor Danny Philip and PNGUM Sabbath school and personal ministries director Pastor Miller Kuso also presented, linking Sabbath school with member retention.
Speaking during the Beginners’ class session, Dr Kola urged Sabbath school leaders to ensure that the children of PNG know who Jesus is. “You have to pioneer this new curriculum. Never give up on a child. Let us work for their salvation. Pray to be a change agent,” Dr Kola said.
Dr Östring also encouraged everyone involved in children’s ministries to share what they learned at the training. “Pass the ball. We have the Good News. We had the Alive in Jesus training. Are we going to pass them on? Sometimes, we keep them in our pockets but we need to keep going forward,” Dr Östring said.
The three-day training ended with gifts being presented to the facilitators and a meal. The directors thanked the SPD and PNGUM for the training they received, with many already planning to train leaders in their local missions.
Training for the Eastern Highlands Simbu Mission was held last week in Mapemo with the Morobe Mission training set for this week in Lae.
