People say that education is an important long-range plan. The Church of God is proceeding with the Sabbath Day School every week by age group to help children grow up sound-minded, based on the teachings of the Bible, “A guide for mankind.”

ⓒ 2014 WATV

On December 11, the Kindergarten Teacher Education Meeting 2014 was held at the Okcheon Go&Come Training Institute to encourage and inspire the teachers who are in charge of children education in each Zion. About 3,200 teachers and the pastoral staff from over 400 churches in Korea attended this education.

At the worship service, Mother encouraged the teachers who make efforts to guide children uprightly, saying, “Since you are taking an important part of the gospel with your talents from God, your heavenly awards will shine forever,” and She also taught them that education has to be based on love. Mother emphasized that in order to educate children with love, what they need is patience because nowadays, people emphasize on knowledge than humanity, and intergenerational communication is becoming more difficult. She then added, “Children will learn and grow up if you teach them with patience, being filled with the Holy Spirit and ready to serve them, because faith comes from hearing and actions come from seeing.”

ⓒ 2014 WATV

General Pastor Kim Joo-cheol accentuated the importance of education which affects a person’s whole life. “Even if you go through troubles and you feel hurt sometimes, please always treat little children with smile and give them good memories and gracious teachings because you are heavenly children like Isaac (which means ‘laughter’),” he said. He also encouraged them saying, “There are many things that adults can learn from children because they are pure-hearted. Teach them what you need to teach, and also learn from them with a humble mind so that Zion can be filled with laughter and the sound of singing.”

After the worship service, the education started with a video which explained that insincere and exaggerated compliment gives children conceit or a burden, whereas continuous interest and conversations help them have a sound mind. The video helped the teachers understand what kind of mindset and attitude they need to have toward children.

The education was followed by the explanation about the education books. At present, there are five kinds of books for children’s education—I Want to Become a Pretty Angel (for 3–4 and for 5–6 years old) and I Like God (for 7–8, 9–10, and for 11–12 years old), some of which are translated into English, Spanish, and Nepalese. Considering social conditions—emergence of a generation gap and conversational breakdown in families, the New Year’s books focus on communication, and they have various kinds of contents such as short stories for different age groups, games, crafts, and coloring. After explaining the features of each part of the books, the education ended with a role play about how to utilize new contents.

The teachers looked vibrant, leaving the institute after the education. They seemed to find solutions to their concerns that they had while taking care of children. One teacher said, “I was often the only one talking in the class, but I realized that it is also important to listen to them and understand them,” and she expressed her wish to become a teacher who knows how to communicate with little children who are slow to express their feelings yet. Other teachers also expressed their determination to approach little children with a smile so that children would not lose their bright smiles, and to set an example for them by actions instead of always telling them what to do.

In this New Year 2015, we look forward to seeing them take care and teach little children of Zion with Mother’s love, and raise them as the salt and light of the world.

ⓒ 2014 WATV