OECC Children’s Ministry Friday School Goes Virtual

Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Indeed, the OECC Children’s Ministry has been complying with its purpose statement of continuously helping the children develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and share their God-given gifts with their family and those around them.

Moreover, the training never stops in leading and guiding every child in the church and beyond to trust Christ as their Lord and Savior through the teaching of His Word. Through face-to-face classes every Friday afternoon, they would be able to come up with the said goals. The task delegation to the workers and parents was equally distributed in nurturing the children to keep their faith and connection with the church.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in mid-March 2020, children have been spending a lot of time with their families at home. While many churches in Oman were canceling their worship services, the need for resources and ways to connect children to their church families has emerged. This had prompted the workers, parents, and church leaders to turn up the idea of implementing a virtual Friday school to continue the said tasks.

The first virtual Friday school was launched last August 21, 2020, through the Zoom meeting platform. The Maturity Ministry has given the ministry and its workers assembled topics to carry out the lessons once a month. Each child and their respective parents have been actively connecting and participating in the said one-hour virtual class. The flow of the class includes opening prayer, praise action song, games or icebreaker, bible lesson proper, discussion and application, memory verse, arts and crafts, family activity, and closing prayer. Assigning themed attire and keeping the sessions short would always motivate them to have something to look forward to every month.

Furthermore, this is also an opportunity for them to meet their friends online and for the parents to play a big role as spiritual educator-in-residence.

Here is the list of lessons tackled until November 2021:

• February: Armor of God (Teacher Rey Hugo)
• March: A Cheerful Giver (Teacher Madel)
• May: Heroes of Faith (Teacher Jessieca)
• June: The Plan to Stop Paul (Teacher Vanessa)
• July: Paul Before Rulers (Teacher Ivy)
• August: The Shipwreck (Teacher Doneth)
• September: Paul’s Joy in Prison (Teacher Rey Hugo)
• October: Paul Made Much of Jesus (Teacher Ivy)
• November: Paul’s Letter to Philemon (Teacher Cha)

Since then, the highlights for each virtual Friday school have been appearing in the OECC live-streamed worship services. The team workers are grateful and appreciative of the efforts and cooperation of the children and their respective parents to maintain a strong connection. At a time when normalcy is at a premium, having a virtual Friday school is a godsend and privilege for the workers to serve and glorify God. It just goes that Christian fellowship and learning God’s Word are alive and well even in isolation and scattering.