Children’s Mission Work for East Malaysia

Everyone gathered together as Elysa (not her real name) sat down on the floor mat of the small shelter outside the church building. The heat of the morning sun did not hinder the children from coming in as they filled up the remaining space. The shade from the nearby Tarap tree was all they had. Voices of the children singing praises fill the air. The atmosphere turned quiet as Elysa opened her Alkitab and started the day’s Bible story. The eyes of the little ones were undistracted as the Word of God filled their heart. 

Elysa and 62 other teachers are the fruits of a program conducted by a mission organization three years ago to enhance the children’s ministry in East Malaysia.   The equipping program is also known as Sijil Pelayanan Kanak-Kanak (SPKK).  It equips teachers with the Biblical foundation of children’s ministry, teaching knowledge and the skills to prepare Bible lessons in a children’s class. Pr Kim (not his real name), who initiated the program, explained that the SPKK program nurtures and enriches the personhood of the teachers and prepares them to be the teacher of teachers. 

Pr Kim is part of a team of faith missionaries serving under the mission organization that publishes and distributes an interdenominational children’s Sunday School Bible for churches in places of low income all over the world. It provides teaching seminars to equip Sunday School teachers to prepare and teach a Sunday School class and help Children Workers serving in the Children Ministry. The organization also oversees the translation work of the material to be available in other languages throughout the world. In Malaysia, the Bible curriculum is known as Lapan Permata, and it is available with Wawasan Penabur. 

The devastation of the Covid-19 pandemic and the following restrictions put a hold on children coming to the church.   It forces many of the teachings to migrate to the digital platform. This migration posed a problem to most rural and tribal churches in the East due to the backward development of the telecommunication and internet infrastructure, Pr Kim explained. Nevertheless, online training was initiated to address the need to continue teaching Bible lessons to children in their homes amid the pandemic restriction. The training conducted every month reaches out to Sunday School teachers and parents, helping and empowering them with the resources needed to teach lessons to the children at home.

The children run out of the shelter with decorated cards in their hands. That’s the memory verse for the day. As the children emptied the room, Elysa put her Alkitab and all the teaching visuals into her balatak as she reflected upon her teaching of the day – “Yes, the children understood today’s Bible lesson!” She grinned as she walked out of the shelter. She could hear children coming from behind her to join in her walk home. She remembers Jesus’ word in John 9:4, which serve as a constant reminder for her to continue serving God.

“As long as it is “Day”, we must do the works of him who sent me. The “Night” is coming, when no one can work.”