KIDS HELPING KIDS
We are so excited for how many of you accepted our invitation to make use of our FREE Kids’ Curriculum for your VBS programming this summer! Emery has been busy visiting churches and telling stories about Children of Promise kids and how nutrition, education, healthcare and discipleship are making wholeness possible in their lives. 
Kids from across the USA have raised nearly $10,000 this summer to help their peers around the world through sponsorship! That is INCREDIBLE! And that’s just from the churches that we know about who have made use of the curriculum and donated their offerings to Children of Promise. Some of our favorite moments from this summer have been experiencing your kids’ enthusiasm when they reached or surpassed their giving goals. THANK YOU, kids, for helping kids!
Send us your VBS photos and videos or tag us on facebook and instagram @CofPglobal so we can celebrate with you.
Even if your summer kids’ programming is coming to a close, it’s not too late to have Emery come to your church! Our FREE kids’ curriculum can be a great add on to your regular Sunday morning kids’ lessons. You can download the videos and printed curriculum from our website at www.childrenofpromise.global/kids/.
LOCALLY SHAPED, GLOBALLY SUPPORTED
The new program in Guatemala is a perfect example of our locally shaped, globally supported model. We intentionally start all new programs small, with only 20-25 children sponsored. This gives the CofP director and volunteers time and experience to have good systems in place that can scale as the program grows bigger.
The Church of God in Guatemala greatly values transparency, equity, and serving the poor. The leaders want to start the CofP program in Guatemala with a presence in each of the congregations, even if it means having only one or two children sponsored in each church. This is what locally shaped means. The Guatemalan leaders know their context. They know the needs. They know what will set them up best for long term impact. It’s our job to listen, ask questions, and help mold the program to best fit their needs.
LACE UP YOUR SHOES!
The 300,000 step challenge is coming back this November! Make plans now to join us in walking, hiking, or running 10,000 steps per day during the month of November to raise money for Children of Promise.
This November, the 300,000 step challenge will help us seed fund new programs. These seed funds enable us to do things like: send Rev. Lemus to Honduras to learn from another program director, buy a laptop for Rev. Razia in Pakistan so she has adequate equipment to communicate with our office and keep financial records, and buy a solar panel and battery to ensure that Rev. Guni in Zimbabwe has power even when the electricity is cut. Isn’t it great when making healthy choices can also make wholeness possible for others?!
INTRODUCTING…CofP GUATEMALA!
Children of Promise is starting a new program in Guatemala! Nearly a year ago, we were invited to share briefly about the ministry of Children of Promise at the CIID 
conference in Brazil. The CIID is the regional body of the Church of God in Latin America. At that conference, Rev. Gudiel Lemus, national leader of the Church of God in Guatemala, approached us and expressed interest in starting a conversation about the possibility of having a program in Guatemala. Over the last ten months we’ve been in conversation, had initial trainings with Rev. Lemus over zoom, and sent him to Honduras to visit our CofP program there and learn from our director, Carolina Stewart.
Mike arrived in Guatemala in early July, anticipating continuing the conversation, but was blown away by
how prepared the Guatemalan church was to get started. The leaders who had visited the Honduras program had already trained a team of volunteers about the basic operations on the ground. The leaders had already identified two young women, Alejandra and Irma, both university students studying business administration, to work together as directors. After some additional training with area pastors, Mike officially opened the program!
Be on the lookout in the near future and get in at the ground level when the first children from Guatemala will be available for sponsorship.
FULL CIRCLE
Debbie Evans, our Finance Specialist at our CofP headquarters in Indiana, joined Mike in Guatemala for a few days with her daughter, Mariana. Mariana was born in Guatemala and hasn’t been back since she was adopted by Debbie and her husband, Ben, in 2008.
Debbie and Mariana had made plans to take a bus to visit the area where she was born, and in God’s provision, Rev. Lemus had already made plans to visit that specific area the day after they arrived.
Mariana was all smiles when telling me about her experience. It was the first time she can remember not being the minority and was amazed that everyone looked like her. She’s eager for sponsorships in Guatemala to open up because she wants to be the first.
Leave a Comment