Kids Equipping the World 

 
Editor’s Note: The following was submitted, citing the plan for the Tennessee District Children’s Mission Project. We are forwarding it via Mission Connection to help your church plan for such a project as well.
 
The children of the Tennessee District are joining forces to raise $6,000 for their 2010-2011 Children’s Mission Project. Children’s Pastor Greg Nash of the Gallatin Church of the Nazarene is project coordinator and is spearheading the drive to engage children in reaching those who don’t know Christ. The project will raise money to send a set of JESUS Film equipment to a country team wishing to reach the lost with God’s love.
 
Below is a recent request received from West Africa concerning urgent need for equipment sets.  

Greetings from West Africa! We have just completed leadership and vision meetings for an exciting West Africa Field. To carry on with the vision and church planting, we have need for 18 new sets of equipment in 9 countries spread across 16 districts that are divided into large geographical zones. Out of the 18 sets, there are 6 that are pressing needs. Out of those 6 sets, there are 2 that are most urgent.
 
In an area that national leaders are referring to as the “Corridor” consisting of Togo, Benin, and Niger, leaders are ready to increase the pace of church planting in Niger but there are problems trying to take the JESUS Film equipment across the border to use there. They need a set that can be used in Niger without having to cross borders. Another need in this area is to an unreached zone of northern Benin and northern Togo. The church is growing rapidly in the “Corridor,” and we want to aid these leaders to accomplish their mission.
 
I am sharing these needs with you, in case you have contact with donors who would like to share in the exciting work in West Africa.
 
Thanks, and God bless.  

In West Africa, people sit in darkness waiting for something unknown—waiting for the light of God’s love to illuminate their lives. The people are waiting to hear Jesus speak to them in their native tongue. Around the world, people are waiting, waiting for a JESUS Film team to help them understand how to fill the longing in their souls.
 
In the next fiscal year (2010-2011), children in churches across the Tennessee District will help light the darkness. They have committed to provide a set of equipment to a JESUS Film team who engages in Kingdom work. Pastor Nash has offered the following suggestions for involving children in this type of project.
 
POINTERS: 
  

• Run the project for only one or two months. Extending the project longer will result in faded momentum and interest.
• Create a little competition and offer prizes to children.
• Make sure that the children have a thorough understanding of the project.
• Give the children a project explanation card that they can use when asking for donations.
• Encourage the children to seek out neighbors and family members who do not go to church with them, as well as church members, for donations.
• Throw a celebration party for all of the children who participated in the project.

A FEW IDEAS: 
 

• Break your goal down into manageable units that will make it fun and easy to track. Examples:
  • Divide your goal by the number of minutes in the JESUS Film. Then sell minutes of the JESUS Film. A $500 goal and a 120-minute movie come to $4.17 per minute. Play up the point of needing to show the entire JESUS Film; we can’t leave off the last 10 minutes! Track your progress by stretching out a reel of movie film and ticking off minutes to your goal.
  • Pick a country and determine the distance from your town to there. Divide your goal by the number of miles, and this time sell miles to your destination. Talk about needing to get the JESUS Film to that country…We can’t leave it sitting on a ship unable to go any farther. Use a map and a dotted line to track your progress.
• Make sure that you track your progress in a place where the entire church can see it  (bulletin board, special display in the church foyer, etc.).
• Have an all-church viewing of the JESUS Film and sell concessions to go towards your goal. You could also do a home movie night where everyone brings a funny home movie to share. Again, sell concessions to raise money. To order a copy of the JESUS Film, go to www.jfhp.org/resources/ministry_tools/jesus-dvds.cfm.
• The children could do various work projects together or individually to raise money toward your goal.
• Special offerings are always great (and appreciated), but we can be more creative than that! We also want to make sure that we are involving our children and thinking about how they can make a difference NOW!
   
  To learn more about the work of JESUS Film Harvest Partners, go to www.JFHP.org.

Diane Robbins
JESUS Film Harvest Partners