Lives Impacted by Children's Ministry

Have you ever met someone with whom you felt such an immediate connection that you assumed you must have met before, or been childhood friends, or possibly been siblings separated at birth? (Okay, maybe not that last one.) When I met Lisset Silva in 2008, we had so much vision for ministry in common that we spent half the conversation finishing each other’s sentences. (“Yes!...That’s what I was going to say!”) Sometimes without even realizing it, I would begin a sentence in English, forgetting that native language is not one of the many things we have in common.

When God called Lisset and her husband Guillermo to plant a church in a poverty-stricken area of Lima, they were surprised that it was the children who came. Though many would have been discouraged that relatively few adults came to Sunday services, Guillermo and Lisset understood that there was a higher purpose. God planted a “church for children” in this area, where children were at a very high risk for abuse, neglect, addictions and homelessness.

A Need for Children's Ministry

Lisset is an elementary school teacher so she immediately sprang into action, using all the resources at her disposal to reach the children with God’s message of hope. And though God worked, Lisset said, “I always knew there had to be more to children’s ministry than learning a story, singing a song and taking home a craft.” Shortly after her first training with Every Generation Ministries, Lisset was began to implement the transformational approach to children's ministry. Then she trained her entire children’s ministry team share with children the principles of Relationship, Experience, Truth, Discussion and Response.

Reaching Children in New Areas

Now, Lisset serves as the Leadership Development Director for EGM-Peru. She has trained a team of volunteers who, like her, take their personal experiences with them as they conduct monthly training sessions for Peruvian churches. One such training session was for an influential church in the center of Lima that regularly travels to rural areas, offering their own children’s ministry training methods (--puppets, drama, crafts, etc.) The children’s ministry director, Jenny Bellido, said, “I've been a part of children’s ministry for decades, but what EGM is doing is children’s ministry at a whole new level.” 

As much as I know Lisset is one-of-a-kind, I also know that our like-mindedness is due in part to sharing the same passion for children. And it’s inspiring to remember that around the world there are local Christians like Lisset who may have monumental differences, but they all share this one quality that makes them feel like life-long friends.  

Heather Chapman
South America Resource Team