"We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come
  the praises of the Lord, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.

 For He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel,
          Which He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children."
                                                                                      Psalm 78:4-5  

The goal of Children’s Equipping Ministry is to convince children that they are being set in place and exist as an army of messengers that God is sending to preach and teach of the coming of Jesus.  This really is about seeing Jesus face to face.

  1. The Fathers Love – grounding them in the reality of God’s love for them. 
  2. An Active Intimacy with God – teaching them how to express their love to/for God 
  3. Sermon on the Mount Lifestyle – living out the values of God’s kingdom

We endeavor to:
1. Assist children to understand and experience the Father’s love and presence,
    and to express their love to Him

2. Equip children with an understanding of their place in the body of Christ and  to
    move in the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit

3. Empower children with the skills to live out the values of God’s kingdom in
    context of family and community

4. Mobilize children in a love, thirst, and pursuit of God’s love for others as they
    reach out to others in the power of God: for salvation, healing, freedom

Equipping Values

1. Knowledge of the Bible.  Children will be equipped with a heart-felt knowledge of the  
    Bible through godly content, creative teaching methods, resources, environment, solid 
    leadership and life experiences. (2 Timothy 3:16)

2. Prayer.  Children will learn principles about enjoyable prayer that assist them in   
    developing a deep passion to be intimate and a desire to communicate with God just as He    
    communicates with them. Isaiah 56:7, “Even them I will bring to my holy mountain and
    make them joyful in My house of prayer for all nations.”

3. Praise and Worship. Children will learn about and practice heartfelt praise and worship so
    that they can express their love for God and have a place to receive His love for them – to
    tremble, rejoice, and kiss the heart of God (Psalm 2:9–12). 

4. Power, Signs, and Wonders.  Children will learn to walk in the boldness, zeal and
    power of God; to participate in ministry to one another in such a way that signs and
    wonders can be released through them. Isaiah 8:18 says, “Here am I and the children
    whom the Lord has given me! We are for signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of 
    hosts, Who dwells in Mount Zion."

5. The Prophetic. Children will be equipped to move in a prophetic anointing and fulfill
    the promise given to us in Acts 2:17 that in these days, His Spirit will be poured out
    on all flesh and will prophesy, dream dreams and see visions. A "Sons of
    Issachar" anointing is being poured out on children to understand the times and
    seasons we are living in.

Romans 12:5-8 ...so in Christ we who are many form one body, each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it to the proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

Equipping our children from an early age to understand God’s relationship to our lives is vitally important. Beginning at birth, a child’s constant questioning and learning can be quite challenging! How do we begin to explain God to a young child?

2 Timothy 3:14-15 says: “Continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know that from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known that holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”

From this scripture, we realize that Timothy was taught about God from the time he was a baby, and was raised to know God. 

A newborn baby does not have the same learning skills as a six-year old; a child is always growing, learning, and processing new information.  A small child can understand many truths from the Bible, and although he may not be able to understand a truth completely, it will be understood as he naturally matures. As we train our children for God, it is important that each layer builds upon the previous, and that in understanding the nature and character of God, it is never too soon to discuss and teach these things to children.

 Children’s Equipping Ministry

·   It’s not about being a caretaker service or keeping the parents happy in how we do ministry.  It’s not about figuring out how to keep the children’s attention.  It’s about equipping, empowering, mobilizing, sending forth children - to express their desire for God, to thirst after their God forever.

·   We cannot raise up children enabled to be over-comers in the coming end-times dilemma facing this generation of children by using the “flavor of the month” type of teaching – entertaining them into the Kingdom of God for Christian service, much less fanning a flame of desire in their hearts to love the Lord with their whole being.  In the span of their lifetimes our children will face some very interesting times and what we teach them now must equip them to face those times in the years to come.  We must seize the moment in teaching them to discern the signs of the times.

 Our heart is that through the VCC Children's Equipping Ministry, a legacy would be put into place that would not only make a difference in this generation, but in the generations yet to come. 
          
        

  Linda Reber  Children's Equipping Ministry Leader
Robert Bice - Nursery Coordinator
Bev Stern - Preschool Coordinator
Kathy Bishop - K-2 Elementary Coordinator
Randy Merriken - 3-5 Elementary Coordinator