We hosted a children’s program in 2005, together with a group from Katapult, a Bible school in Den Helder (Holland) guided by Herman Boon. It was only meant to be a 3-day program, but so many children attended that we just continued on with the program after the group went back to Holland!
There is a large population of children in the neighborhood. Many don’t receive much love and nurturing at home and are instead sent out on the streets to beg. It’s not unusual for a father to use this money for beer. It’s so important to allow these children a life where their needs are a priority and give them hope for a life beyond their home situations.
We currently offer 2 children’s programs every Friday, one for the young, and another for the older children. We have a great time with these children every week and it’s really been encouraging!
Our program with the children, includes singing together, sharing stories, learning Bible verses, play games and other fun and interactive activities. We offer them lemonade at the breaks and the children can earn stickers for positive behavior and use the stickers to buy gifts. The most important thing these children receive is love, which they sadly don’t always get enough of at home.
We can really see how investing in these children in such loving and instructional ways is also investing in their future! The children learn to love themselves and each other, and are also taking these changes back to their homes, and this helps improve their home life. We also make an effort to be positive examples to the children and hope the positive change will endure for generations to come!