The Church of the Nazarene held the first pastors\u2019 kids\u2019 camps in Haiti from July 13 – August 19, 2017. They held six camps in six different places using the theme \u201cI am chosen.\u201d The purposes of the camps were to focus the children and teens on God, motivate them to be involved in ministry in the church, provide space for recreation and learning, and time to share with others. In total, 209 pastors\u2019 kids participated from 12 of the districts in Haiti.<\/p>\n
All of the activities were held in groups divided by age: 7-10 years, 11-13 years, and 14-20+ years. Present in each camp were 5 people from Haiti\u2019s NCM, 4 visitors from Costa Rica, Mexico and Nicaragua and two teachers. The program included a variety of activities including worship time, prayer, Bible classes, crafts, movies, competitions, bonfires and testimonies.<\/p>\n
The children were very happy. This was an exciting time for all of them. The leaders and participants all shared testimonies of how marvelous the experience was. In the third camp, three participants accepted Jesus as their personal savior. In La Gonave, 2 young adults encouraged the others to be proud of their roles as pastors\u2019 kids. In the South District one of the teens said, \u201cI want to be a pastor. I want to replace my father.\u201d In the Southeast District, one of the young girls said, \u201cI want to teach other youth in my church the crafts that we made.\u201d These are just a few of the testimonies.<\/p>\n
Yverose Diogene, the coordinator of the program, said, \u201cWe can feel how the children have been impacted through the meditation when we shared that God is faithful to keep his promises and that he fulfills his purposes. The older ones committed themselves to remain close to the Lord. We can see the happiness in their faces as they enjoyed every activity during the camp.\u201d<\/p>\n
We would like to first thank God for all of his blessings and for the chance that he gave Elsie Rodr\u00edguez and Rub\u00ed Pi\u00f1\u00f3n from M\u00e9xico, Valeria Narv\u00e1ez from Nicaragua and Estefan\u00eda Amador from Costa Rica to help with all the activities. We are grateful also to all of the sponsors of each of the children, and to the leaders and local sponsors from Work and Witness and NMI, especially Gaspard W. Narcisse; Sem Jean Baptiste and Nathalie Elitus; Naika Cadeau, a local professor; and each of the district superintendents.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe pray to God that he would bless this program and allow the children and youth to always feel blessed. We pray that that this ministry would touch their lives. We also pray that God would help us to partner with each district to continue ministering to these children. \u201c<\/p>\n
Yverose Diogene, Pastors\u2019 Children Program Coordinator, NCM Haiti<\/p>\n