A Youth Group for Manna 4 Lempira

6th Grade Graduate!

Manna 4 Lempira is growing up! When the program started, back in 2015, the majority of the children registered into the program were in early elementary school. In the rural villages around Gracias, it's still very common for children to drop out of school before they reach middle school, and the program was designed to encourage these children and their families to set (and achieve) higher educational goals.

Today, we can see definite progress in this - each year, greater numbers of children in the program continue on into middle school and even high school! This is fabulous news . . . and it has also created a need for some new developments in the program. The activities and events planned to appeal to the younger children aren't that appealing to the same children as they enter their teens. Sowers4Pastors has recognized the need for tweaking, in order to meet the needs of these older children.

There are two main reasons Kim Hall, director of the Manna sponsorship program, is working diligently to make new, youth-oriented events happen:

Reason #1

Some of the older kids have been dropping out of the program because it’s not cool to hang with the little kids. They are still in Sunday school, but they don’t want to attend the Manna events.

The goal is to create an environment of discipleship to help the youth feel more like they belong. While Kim and her husband, Jonathan, have good relationships with the older kids, they recognize the need to have a Honduran step in and take over the role of youth minister.

Solid youth involvement is needed to create an environment where the kids are encouraged to continue their education.

Reason #2

9th Grade Graduate!

Churches need leaders! A youth program is an ideal place to train up the future leaders of the church. Now is the time to start this new aspect of the program, because the kids are going back to school shortly. Kim said, “We don’t want to wait until sometime down the road when we’ve lost kids.”

Raising leaders isn't an aspect of the Manna program that the Halls or the Sowers had considered initially, but it is vital for what they want to accomplish.

And for those who ask, "How does a sponsorship program fit in with the Sowers4Pastors goal of empowering Honduran pastors?" here is part of the answer! In order to grow their churches, pastors need individuals who are prepared to take on leadership tasks.

Too Cool for School? Not Deep Down!

Whenever Kim and Jonathan pay a visit to a Manna center, the younger kids excitedly rush to greet them, while the older kids act in a way that Kim calls “too cool for school”. The older kids often hang back and tease the younger ones as they pose for pictures and wait excitedly for letters from their sponsors. At Christmas time, one of the “too cool for school” crowd had been sort of heckling the little kids. But, when it was time for Joe Cool to receive a letter from his sponsor and turn in his mail for his sponsor, the 15-year-old boy pulled out a letter in an envelope cut into a big heart shape, complete with glitter that said, “I love you!”

Kim said, “That is a good picture of what we’re trying to do. The kids have a heart for the program, but culturally, it isn’t cool. We need to change that.”

 - posted by Christi