Newsletter

Third Grade Missionary (L.I.T. February Newsletter)

Third-Grade MissionaryEthan and Bradley

Ethan has a friend at school who is an outspoken atheist. Ethan has been praying for his friend to come to the Lord for more than a year, and recently, he has been actively talking to this friend about Jesus. In addition to this friend, Ethan found out that there is another girl in his class at school who is not a believer, and Ethan felt burdened to share Christ with her as well. One Friday afternoon when his mom picked him up from school, Ethan began telling her about this girl. He asked his mom if he could bring his Bible to school so that he could share Bible stories with the girl. His mom of course agreed, but his older sister challenged him: “Ethan, how are you going to do that?” He replied, “I’m going to start a God Club at recess. I’m going to start on Monday.”

Since Ethan started this God Club during recess at his school, his friend who was an outspoken atheist has professed his faith in Jesus and is now helping Ethan lead the club! It is so great to see how God is working in these children, in Ethan’s family, in our church, and in the world through children. (Picture is of Ethan and his older brother Bradley) Read more of Ethan's story

 

Testimonials From Zimbabwe Training

Jeffrey Mwanyenya from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, led several training events in Zimbabwe last summer and fall. Here are a few of the many testimonies from leaders who have implemented Zambiawhat they learned from the training events.

“The L.I.T. training has highly transformed my ministry in a very significant way. I have discovered that the ministry box has ruined children’s ministry for many, many years. We want to thank God for raising men like Dr. Clint with his ministry to bring a sharp insight with diligence of heart coming up with this L.I.T. approach to children’s ministry. I am glad to be raising not only children in my ministry under the power of this approach but even my own biological children. My son of 11 years is now able to lead devotions during our family prayers. He is also leading in some areas of our children’s in our church. He is influencing other children in serving the Lord in a way they have never done before. This principle works, and it’s highly effective. I thank God for the opportunity and privilege to have gone through this training. I have shared with other Sunday school teachers in our ministry, and they are getting it, though some might need to go through the training for themselves. Please consider them for the next training.” Shepard Baptist Church in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

“The L.I.T. training has given me and my church a powerful approach to the way of doing children’s ministry. From the time we received this training which was facilitated by Jeffrey, we have slowly begun to apply this approach. We are so glad to report that we now have children who are able to teach, lead, and preach. We are empowering them more and more, and it is working out well for us. We can’t think of any other way to raise children better than the L.I.T. approach.” Loveness Muyambo, Baptist Church, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

“When we were receiving the training, I was really wondering on the practicality of this training. I was asking myself how I was supposed to teach the children in my own church using this approach. But I also want to thank Pastor Jeffrey who kept encouraging me and giving me further encouragement to apply the teachings in the context of our setting. I have realized that the L.I.T. approach is very practical and cuts across denominations and culture. It’s highly applicable and timeless.” Rejoice, Bulawayo Celebration Church, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

“I want to thank L.I.T. for this kind of training that is unique and powerful. I really want to encourage you, the leaders of L.I.T., that this kind of training must be given to many other people who are involved in children’s ministry across Africa. If we are ever going to invest in the future church, we need to use this kind of approach because of its transformative nature. I am of the opinion that you establish a running office for L.I.T. here in Zimbabwe that we can connect and interact with. This is a big program that needs to be rolled to the churches line upon line. Most churches do not have good running children’s ministry systems and later on well-trained Sunday school teachers. I am advocating for a vigorous training movement that will capacitate a lot of Sunday school teachers in various churches to be able to effectively train the children, to avoid baby-sitting but give effective ministry to the children.” Shamiso, Sunday School Superintendent, Apostolic Faith Church

Click here to read more testimonies from Zimbabwe. 

 Writers Needed

We are looking for writers to join our team to help develop our new Preschool and Kindergarten resources as well as our new Student resource. Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you are interested.

 

A Paradigm Shift

For the past sixteen years, I have been seeing a gradual paradigm shift in the church. For too long, we have embraced a philosophy of educating our kids that has robbed them of their Clint Mayfaith. I love to see those light bulb moments when I share about God’s plan to disciple and release children to minister. One of the challenges in the church today is our poor leadership structure. What I mean by this is when you look at Scripture, there are more than 20 spiritual gifts listed in various places. The Holy Spirit bestows gifts on all believers in the church. However, a few people do all the work of the church while others are simply spectators or observers. To take a group of believing children and students and have them just sit while you minister to them does not fulfill our calling as leaders in the church to equip the saints for works of ministry (Eph. 4:11-13). Research makes it clear that kids who serve in the church stick around. What I love is to train leaders to help the children in their groups discover their spiritual gifts. As leaders have shared with me during the past few weeks, they are astounded by the gifts and talents of the kids in their groups. I have a young man in my own group who is a little ADD like myself. One day he stood up at the white board in our room and outlined something he had learned in school. Several weeks ago, another leader came up to me and said that a third-grade girl had taught the lesson. They could not believe how well she took control of the group. She had the other girls raise their hands during the question and answer time. They said the struggle for them was not to take over. This is where the switch happens. When we learn to embrace our younger brothers and sisters in Christ and release them to minister, the game changes and they become the winners in the church. Think of a day when there are no leadership voids in the church because everyone has discovered their gifts and is using them.

L.I.T. Ministries 2019 Calendar

  • March 4-6, ETNG Training Conference, Willow Park, Texas
  • April 5-6, ETNG Training, Piedras Negras, Mexico
  • April 25, Speaking at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas
  • June 23-28, L.I.T. Mission Trip, Waxahachie, Texas
  • July 7-12, L.I.T. Mission Trip, Catoosa, Oklahoma
  • July 28-August 2, L.I.T. Mission Trip, Corinth, Texas
  • October 1-3, Kidmin Nation Mega Conference, Nashville, Tennessee
Prayer Requests
  • For the Lord’s continued provision for the ministry
  • For wisdom to prepare for the multiple training events coming up in the spring
  • For God’s direction to take the ministry to a new level
  • For the preparation for our summer mission trips
  • For our international ministry partners
  • For God’s grace for this busy new year, that we may choose only what the Lord calls us to do
  • For Clint as he writes on Fridays, for the leadership of the Holy Spirit in his writing
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