2009 Year in Review

0 Posted: Jan 16th at 12:41 PM

Greetings from Africa!

2009 has been a great year for MCMINTL. It has been a year of growth and a year of vision. This year, God has shown us that His plans are so much bigger than ours!

CHILDRENS WORLD


One of our primary responsibilities is serving as childrens pastors at All Nations Village Church (ANVC) in Maun. In February, we launched an entirely new curriculum and organizational structure at All Nations Village Church. This program works in conjunction with MCMINTLs own curriculum including praise and worship, fun and games, coloring sheets and memory verses to reinforce the lesson, and a small snack.

Most of the children who attend ANVCs kids program walk to church (sometimes hours) on their own. The kids love being in the house of the Lord. In 2009, we saw the children’s program at ANVC double in size. We grew from a regular Sunday morning attendance of 100 kids to 200 kids. Due to this growth, we invested in infrastructure to accommodate the new children. MCMINTL donated a quality sound system which is used every Sunday morning as well as for many of our events.

To wrap up the year, we celebrated Christmas, Africa style. We told the story of the birth of Christ and distributed Samaritans Purse boxes to all of our faithful childrens church kids as well as a few friends, about 300 children.

CURRICULUM

We believe in the incomparable power of the Word of God and the absolute necessity of it in childrens lives. MCMINTL seeks to meet a specific need in authoring a childrens curriculum aimed specifically to connect with children growing up in developing nations. This is one of our favorite parts of what we do! Each month, we focus on a theme of the Word that is highly applicable to young kids lives. Memory verses, shouted phrases and concepts, coloring sheets, and object lessons allow the kids to experience the truths they learn and not just hear it. Currently, we have a total of 18 months of childrens curriculum.

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There is also a big translation project underway. Setswana is the primary language here in Botswana and the mother tongue of the children. We are working to translate our entire childrens program into Setswana. There is no program like this in print! We are plowing new ground in developing a Setswana childrens curriculum.

As part of our curriculum development, MCMINTL is pursuing new ways to create cutting edge childrens programs, incorporating new media. We know that creatively engaging children involves constantly exploring new ways to bring them the powerful Word of God. We seek to open the Bible to them in a form that it is appealing and edifying to their spirits. Currently we are experimenting with putting Sunday school lessons on video in the local language, subtitled in English. This will allow children to receive consistently strong messages each week from gifted teachers, engaging them every time. We are also in the beginning stages of developing story books, coloring pages and visual elements to supplement our curriculum, all designed and produced in house. This will enable us to reinforce lessons and stories and bring cohesion to the MCMINTL childrens program.

YOUTH

In 2009, we served as the interim youth pastors of the All Nations Village Church. Our responsibilities included organizing Fire By Night, the weekly youth service held on Friday evenings, teaching the youth Sunday school, and leading the youth leadership team Bible study. We learned more than we could have imagined, grew in our relationships with the Lord, and came to really love the youth program.

During the last term of Fire By Night, we engaged in multiple “theme” nights, each with a special purpose and message. These included: Wacky Dress Night, Praise & Worship Night, Project 3:45 Go Green Night, Talent Show Night and Youth-Run Night. The last theme nights and Fire By Night events saw a marked increase in attendance. It encouraged our hearts to see youth coming in hungry for the Lord. When we began the year, Fire by Night had a regular attendance of around 100 youth. During the last couple Fire By Nights, this increased to 150-200.

One of the best things during the year was watching God at work moving within the youth group and calling out young leaders to rise up in ministry. During the third semester, we kicked off the Youth Leadership Team. Along with our colleague, we prayerfully handpicked 11 students in whom we saw leadership potential. The program involved six 2-3 hour discipleship meetings, personal counseling, and much serving. By the end of the program, the team was strong in the Lord, confident in God’s work within them, and had taken a strong leadership role in the youth. It was an absolutely fantastic time of ministry for all parties involved.

MEDIA CONSULTING

One of the positions Matt was asked to fulfill this year was acting as media consultant for Love Botswana Outreach Mission. One of the projects that he is currently overseeing is the construction of a new website for LBOM. MCMINTL has also donated to see this project through.

In addition to consulting, Matt personally tackles many projects on his own. Some of his contributions include a new logo for All Nations Village Church; a logo, flyer and posters for the annual Camp Meeting; weekly church bulletins; and various other logos and promotional items. Moreover, MCMINTL has participated in multiple video and photography projects promoting LBOM capturing major events for LBOM with the video camera and/or photo camera.

OKAVANGO INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

MCMINTL volunteered at Okavango International School in 2009. Matt Clayton was involved teaching Life Skills to all the secondary students and served on the discipline committee. Kelly Clayton taught grade 11 and grade 12 mathematics.

MCMINTL BOLIVIA

MCMINTL continues to invest in the childrens program at Alas de Fe Church financially, on a monthly basis. The childrens ministry in El Alto remains strong with a weekly attendance of 300 kids hearing the Word of God & receiving nutritious snacks. In 2009, MCMINTL donated a website to Alas de Fe Ministries, found at www.wingsoffaithministries.org. MCMINTL was also blessed with the donation of a moonwalk, which we shipped to Bolivia to be enjoyed by the children in the El Alto region.

IN CONCLUSION

Overall, it was a great year for MCMINTL and we look forward with anticipation to all God has put on our hearts for the coming year. Thank you for partnering with us to see this vision through as we are determined to make a difference in the lives of children throughout the world.

Matt & Kelly Clayton
MCMINTL
www.mcmintl.com

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