The Jethro Initiative (JI), a newly-introduced programme of the Children’s Ministry of The Church of Pentecost, was officially launched yesterday at a special ceremony held at the Burma Camp Worship Centre in Accra.
The JI has now been fully adopted by the Church after a successful pilot of the programme in selected areas of the Church in Ghana.
Launching the novelty, the Chairman of the Church, Apostle Eric Nyamekye, said that the strategic importance of children in ensuring that the “Possessing the Nations” agenda remains relevant and sustainable from generation to generation cannot be overemphasised.
He said that the JI has been initiated to complement and strengthen the activities of the Children’s Ministry in building the foundation of the children in Christ and His word whiles making their walk in the Faith exciting through intentionally designed extra-curricular activities.
The Patron of the Ministry, Prophet David Kankam-Beditor, in an address at the event, said that the pilot programme of JI in some selected areas in Ghana yielded positive results, a reason why it has now been approved by the leadership of the Church to be fully rolled out.
The Ashaiman Area Head, who doubles as an Executive Council Member of the Church, therefore, appealed to church leaders and parents to embrace it wholeheartedly.
“Through this initiative, God is going to equip our children to grow in Him and impact their generations,” he said.
The Children’s Ministry Director, Pastor Prof William Otoo Ellis, in a documentary shown at the launch, said that the initiative was introduced by the ministry as an alternative way of increasing engagement between CM teachers and children.
“The membership of the Children’s Ministry is currently more than a million. However, our engagement with our children is mostly on Sunday mornings, and in this dispensation where services have been further reduced to two hours due to COVID-19, this means we spend less time with the children. It has, therefore, become important to have the JI meetings as an alternative way of engaging the children,” he said.
He revealed that the programme seeks to break children into smaller groups based on the principle of leadership proposed by Jethro to his son-in-law, Moses (Exodus 18). He further revealed that these groups are named after the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).
On her part, Mrs Freda Koranteng, a National Executive Committee of the ministry and the JI Coordinator, said that, as part of the initiative, special activities have been designed to meet the transformational needs of the children. These include Character Studies in the Bible, Christian Family Values, My Environment, My Responsibility, Leadership Day, Talent Exhibition, Talk Shows, Civic Education, Reading Club, Family Day Out, Games, Learning to Serve, Music and Drama, Quizzes, Debate, Sword Drill, My Community my treasure, Bible Recitation, among others.
The age range of children who can attend JI meetings is 7 to 12 years. According to her, this is because children of this age group are fairly independent and mature and can easily attend JI meetings on their own.
“That notwithstanding, some parents still bring their wards for JI meetings,” she added.
Mrs. Koranteng also noted that: “The preferred day for JI meeting is Sunday afternoon; Saturday afternoons may also be considered based on geographical reasons. The meetings should be held between 2 pm and 5 pm. However, the duration for every JI meeting should not exceed an hour and 30 minutes. This means that by 5:00 pm, we expect every JI meeting to be closed.”
She, however, reiterated that JI should not replace the Sunday morning meetings; rather, JI seeks to complement and make CM meetings more active and participatory.
Present at the event were Apostle (Lt. Col.) B. G. Kumi-Woode (Resident Minister, Burma Camp Worship Centre), Pastor Prof. William Otoo Ellis (Children’s Ministry Director), Elder Lawyer Alfred Aidoo (Deputy Children’s Ministry Director), some members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the ministry, Children’s Pastors, as well as Children Ministry workers and children from some selected areas in the Greater-Accra region.
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