Child
evangelism and discipleship of children in The Gambia as part the developing
world is our church main mandate. In The Gambia, needy children are
at risk of not knowing Jesus. For this reason, we make a point of presenting
the gospel to all the children and families in our programs despite
the fact that Gambia as a nation is 90% Muslim population. As part of
Christs ministry, we also clothe the children who need clothes,
and teach those who need an education. It is all part of living the
gospel and modeling the love of God.
It
is a holistic approach which helps prevent a tragedy to satisfy human
needs and fail to speak the life-changing words of Jesus. But we also
have a responsibility as Christians to care for the poor among us (James
2:15-16). Providing for physical needs is a powerful way of modeling
God's love.
The
support for the people and their children is not the end but a
means to reach people with the message of Jesus. Since spiritual poverty
is by far the greatest human need, we use child sponsorship as an effective
strategy to communicate the gospel and feed people's spiritual hunger."
Working
only through local churches in Gambia, as a church ,through prayer we
release children from poverty by providing necessary physical, material
and educational resources in a caring Christian environment. Christian
teachers also share the love and gospel of Jesus with children daily.
The church is based on, not simply speak the truth; but also apply ourselves
to live the truth, ministering to the needy children of the world in
Jesus' name. This means our work needs to be Christ centered. A Belief
that God so loved this world that He sent His only Son Jesus Christ
to die for us that we may all have salvation. Following Jesus
example, the church is dedicated to caring for the poor and giving hope
to the hopeless by spreading the good news.
The
church as Christ-centered Mission is established on biblical principles,
for the love of all. We owe to fulfill the biblical mandate to bring
and release children from poverty in Jesus name. This clear, consistent
Christian identity is something we never seek to hide or compromise
in any of our communications. Indeed, it is the main reason why many
people choose to sponsor a child through us.
Every
child attending our schools or child development center, that child
is given the opportunity to hear and respond to the gospel of Jesus
Christ in a way that is culturally appropriate, without pressure or
manipulation.
We
want every child to see the reality of Jesus lived out through faith
and action in the lives of each person involved in Mission schools and
entities.
We believe that when children see themselves as Jesus sees them, when
they realize their worth and identity in Christ, that they will flourish,
grow and develop in all areas of their lives.
CHURCH-BASED
We
believe that the Church is Gods chosen instrument to transform
a dying world. Thats why we pray extensively for all to work together
in the church and with organizations to help support our churchs
comprehensive child development model to children living in impossible
poverty in The Gambia.
Though without the means , but we pray to evangelize equip, trains and
provides resources to our local churches so that they may realize their
vision of changing their communities for the better by helping the children
they serve grow and reach their God-given potential.
Furthermore,
the Mission in The Gambia engages its local Parish churches and Christian
individuals in the communities to support those they serve in Christ
and in and around their own communities. This will help us as a church
to be become unfailing advocates for children in poverty children
who live in our own communities and else where in the world. This will
also enhance development at our grassroots level, be done with
integrity, efficiency and, most importantly, Gods love.
The
local church provides much-needed continuity, stability and security
to some of the worlds poorest and most vulnerable children. Indeed,
our experience has shown that the church provides greater stability
as an agent of continued development than do political, educational
or judicial institutions in a community.
Often
local church leaders are the most trusted individuals in the community.
They can identify the children and families who are in the most need.
With no regard to their faith or ethnic backgrounds, our local church
partners identify these children and bring them to our schools in the
various districts of The Gambia. . By the Holy Spirits direction,
these local church leaders pray for the service provision of God to
help these Poor but brilliant Children as the hands of God, offering
solutions and resources. They see families transformed as they are drawn,
without coercion, to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. In this way, Compassion-assisted
child development centers become a powerful tool for evangelism.
WHAT IS YOUR
ROLE FOR THESE POOR BUT BRILLIANT CHILDREN
As a Christian,
you have a biblical mandate to help the poor. Our strategic, must be
efficient and life-affirming to live out the Great Commission of Jesus.
As a church we pray the Gods support through his people for His
ministry be translated into advocacy which in turns has a tremendous
effect on eliminating poverty among children in The Gambia, so that
those God use to support the children and His ministry have the satisfaction
of knowing that their gift provides children with educational opportunities,
health care, safe recreation, vocational training and the opportunity
to hear the gospel. By this honest relation with God and His ministry
those fulfilling the mandate of the scriptures will know that they are
making a real difference by transforming the world for one child and
his or her family.
The relationship
between the child, family and the sponsor will surely grow bigger as
the sponsor and child exchange photos, letters and prayers. It is this
relationship that leads to spiritual growth as sponsors realize they
are actually practicing faith, with works. This
helps sponsorship deepens sponsors understanding of the realities
of poverty and how best to overcome it. Many sponsors discover that
the children they support have much to teach them about prayer, Gods
faithfulness, and hope for the future.
HOW CAN WE REALIZE
THE IMPACT OF THIS PROGRAM?
As a church we
are praying for partnership and co-operation with other Christ Centered
related organizations and individuals that share the visions based on
the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ join us work together
to provide a holistic child development program that meets the real-life
needs of children living in poverty in The Gambia. This will help us
break down the immense barriers children in poverty in The Gambia face
by addressing the whole child, including spiritual, physical,
economic and social aspects. Our objective like others in the same vision
is to develop children in poverty so that they will become responsible,
fulfilled Christian adults who will:
- Be Christian
in faith and deed;
- Support themselves
and share with others in need;
- Be responsible
members of their families, churches, communities, and nations; and
- Maintain their
physical well-being.
OUR IMPLEMENTATIONAL
MEASURES
These include equipping
children in the following aspects:
SPIRITUAL
Through prayers and support received from other through the church,
the church helps children regardless of their religious affiliation.
But through the spiritual aspect of our program it is made abundantly
clear that we are an evangelical Christian organization and each child
will participate in Christian training. Each student in our schools
is introduced to the gospel and encouraged to accept Christ as his or
her Savior. Through regular worship time, devotions, Bible study and
other activities, child development center staff teach children to live
according to the principles of the Bible and encourage all children
to assume responsibility within their local churches.
ECONOMIC
Our strategy in our battle against poverty is through education.
Our schools work to ensure that each sponsored child receives age-appropriate
and various learning opportunities to better their economic situation
through a consistent monitoring school attendance, providing on-site
after-school tutoring in reading and math skills or offering vocational
training that translates into employment. The schools provide or give
impoverished children a pathway out of poverty through educational opportunities.
SOCIAL
What we become is to some extent determined by how we relate to others.
Often children in poverty who have been abused or exploited have no
good experiences relating to other children or adults. Thats why
our schools become a safe environment where children can develop critical
social skills in a protected environment. Children participate in group
or special learning activities that help young people to live in harmony,
learn teamwork and support and encourage each other. The outcome is
a child who is self-aware; exhibits self-control is self-motivated and
committed to his or her community.
PHYSICAL
Children in The Gambia can go weeks, months even years without
seeing a doctor or receiving medical care. We pray that God provide
the means for our schools to have partnership with Gods people
to provide Volunteers or support for the task with monitoring the health
of each registered child as well as teaching children and their families
preventive measures that allow the child to experience healthy development.
In addition to monitoring their health, our school child workers to
teach children about nutrition, offering them a healthy meal and teaching
them how to prepare nutritious food. We pray for our children to be
given the support for the opportunity to engage in school organized
sports activities to encourage healthy physical development. With support,
ministering to the whole child our child evangelism Ministry
will provides children with the skills needed to succeed in life and
to overcome poverty and hopelessness in this predominant Muslim but
religious tolerant part of Africa.
As a church, we
pray for partnership, to support sponsorship programs that will benefits
the child and his or her entire family and the wider community. This
will help reduce the often insurmountable financial burden families
in poverty must contend with. Additional sponsor gifts 100 percent
of which go to directly benefit children are often used to buy
items that benefit the entire family.
But in doing this, with our God giving partners we will also encourage
to engage communities, encouraging them to take responsibility for their
children. Community groups, parents associations and church leaders
are all involved collectively in the development and ongoing management
of the sponsorship program.
Every community
is encouraged to use its individual skills and resources to benefit
the children attending the local school, as the Mission school. Centers
also transform communities by creating employment opportunities and
stimulating increased church growth and activity. Many children graduate
from the sponsorship program and pursue higher education. They then
return to their communities as trained teachers, and other leaders of
tomorrow.
INTEGRITY
As a church we
take stewardship seriously, not only in our finances, in our school
but also in our children ministering delivery. More than 80 percent
of all our expenditures go to program activities for the children we
serve. We conduct annual financial audits to show exactly how income
is used and regular audits of each of our Mission area offices. In addition,
we conduct sponsorship program audits to evaluate the effectiveness
of sponsorship entrusted in our care for the poor in the lives of the
children we serve.
As a church, we bear the light to Christian morals and integrity in
our work. We will never engage in bribery with corrupt local officials
in the areas where we work. We also reject the practice of double
sponsorship, where more than one sponsor is led to believe he
or she is the only sponsor of a given child. When communicating the
needs of children, we place great importance on preserving their dignity.
We refuse to engage in the pornography of poverty. While
we believe in being honest about the challenges that children face,
we always seek to portray them in ways that show hope and the promise
of a positive future.
By keeping accountability and integrity at the forefront of Compassions
ministry, we make the most of the sponsorship money and gifts that we
receive.
CHALLENGES
The challenges facing
our Ministry is leadership training that involves educating, training
and descipling servant leaders:
We need partnership
to support this aspect of our ministry which will help us train people
with their lives vastly improved. Among them are a number of young leaders
who aspire to continue their education and training in order to become
agents of change for their communities and nations, yet they lack the
resources.
Our Leadership
Development Program identifies outstanding students and provides
them with an opportunity to attend university, receive Christian leadership
training to develop their intrinsic leadership skills. Each student
is selected according to strict criteria including proven academic achievement,
Christian commitment, demonstrated leadership skills and a willingness
to serve .