"Therefore, since we have this ministry, as God has shown us mercy, we do not become discouraged" (2 Corinthians 4:1). These words of Apostle Paul became a motto for the three-day children's ministers’ conference which took place on January 8-10 at the Holy Trinity Church in the city of Miass in Chelyabinsk region (Ural Mountains area, Russia).
Miass, Zlatoust, Satka, Magnitogorsk, Asha, Troitsk, Kyshtym, Chebarkul, Chelyabinsk – all of these Ural Mountains cities have churches with children's ministries. The conference hosted children's ministers from all these cities.
Alexander Nikolayev, pastor of Holy Trinity church, and his wife Pauline, the children’s ministry leader, organized the conference. During the conference the children's ministers were inspired and encouraged by the Word of God. Valentina Fedorova, the children's ministry director for the Russian Church shared her experience, knowledge and wisdom.
The conference began in an unusual way with a plantation of a Garden of Eden. The walls were decorated with pictures of various trees: laurel, oak and birch. The participants could stick a leaf with questions, contact or other information to a tree.
The conference addressed such topics as: "A minister, acceptable to God", "Who do you build with?", "Relationships is the key to hope", "A Desert in a life of children’s minister", "His majesty lesson".
Despite the large volume of material, the training was relevant and interesting due to the use of interactive methods which the participants liked and, without any doubt, will apply during their own lessons and seminars and at Bible schools.
By the end of the third day all the trees in the "Garden of Eden" were covered with thick foliage. Especially, there were many leaves on the laurel tree. On the leaves for that tree the participants wrote down the revelations they received and their decisions to make change in their ministry and life. This means that the Lord did a lot of work in the people's hearts.
Let all the good intentions of children’s ministers be fulfilled with the help of God, and the same fragrant gardens would bloom in the hearts of those who we serve! The Lord gave us the opportunity to touch the future, serving children. And "therefore since we have this ministry, we do not become discouraged".
