Children's Ministry

Children's ministry is an important part of the ministry of AAB. We cannot begin to express what a blessing it is to spend time with the children of Pueblo Nuevo each time we are there and it is a privilege to have watched them grow over the last two years, knowing that we will continue to watch them grow into adults. That is why children's ministry is so important. These children are the future of Pueblo Nuevo, of Guatemala, of the world. They are at the core of our ministry. Making sure that they do not become orphans, that they are cared for, that they grow into adults that are able to care for their own families and, above all, that they come to know Christ as their Savior is our prayer and our priority.

As always, greeting the children as they arrive and talking to them as they wait for their lesson and activities to start is fun... We are so impressed with Marco and Ledy's commitment to the children of Pueblo Nuevo. They lead children's ministry three afternoons a week in addition to their weekly prayer meetings, adult ministries and Sunday services. This is their first priority, second to their full time jobs outside of the church. Marco is a carpenter. Ledy is a Spanish tutor.

Most of the older children were able to recite their memory work for the week. They do not memorize just one or two short verses at a time. Instead they memorize long passages of scripture. This week's scripture memory was from John 3.

"Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." John 3:18-21

I can hardly look at this child while he prays without crying. Every time I see this tears well up in my eyes. He was one of the many children that raised his hand and made his way to the front in December 2009 when asked if anyone wanted to ask Jesus to come live in their heart. For a while there was nothing different about him. He was just another child in Pueblo Nuevo that we loved simply because he was there. More than a year ago as he prayed, asking Jesus into his heart, I could have melted into a puddle because this is the exact sight I saw. His prayer was so intense and as he prayed I prayed that it was real...that he hadn't come just because some of his friends had and that he would grow in his faith every day. Every time I'm in Guatemala I get to see this again. The same intense, sincere prayer of a child. Faith that is growing daily. The picture of child-like faith.

Once praise and worship, the lesson and prayer time is over, it's time for activities and dinner. This time we planned games and challenges for the children. The jump rope and bubble blow contests were hits. Many children won jump ropes and bubble gum and each child left, after dinner, with goody bags of candy and fruit snacks.