Andrea was a part of Children´s Ministry (CM) of the International Protestant Church of Zurich (IPC) from January until June 2013. “We were blessed with Andrea´s time in CM. As time progressed in her involvement in CM, she showed more initiative and felt more comfortable leading the classes where they taught“, said Martha Forcucci and Lydia Verburg, IPC Children’s Ministry Elders. “This experience brought a lot of new things to me. It opened my eyes in some way. I could see many new strategies teachers used to help children grow in their faith and keep their eyes on Jesus“, described the significance of internships Andrea.
Andrea was jointly involved in the Lambs class (2-3 year olds). This class has its own curriculum and they taught it several Sunday mornings between January and June. Because of the special curriculum, this class needs more preparation for the crafts and during class the children need a lot of extra assistance. “I enjoyed teaching Sunday school. It was not like a real work, because it was such a joy to play, sing with them and read a little story to them every week. With older children and youth it was more challenging, sometimes because of English, but basically, you had to be ready to answer everything they asked”, said Andrea about her experiences.
Andrea also assisted and later taught a full Sunday School lesson in the Lambs class. She also assisted in a number of the older classes (Love, Hope, Faith, John, Mark, Luke, Matthew and Paul – ranging from 5-6 year olds to 11-12), almost every Sunday. She created a timeframe with the help of the CM Elder, and came up with stories, lessons and crafts for the classes. Martha Forcucci and Lydia Verburg, IPC Children’s Ministry Elders said about Andrea´s ministry in IPC: “She was quite creative and came up with some wonderful ideas which we will certainly use again.” Andrea liked assisting with the Junior Church program, when the 8-12 year olds have their own worship. She enjoys very much teaching the older classes, and she benefited from helping in these classes. Children bond with her as well.
Like usual, not everything is immediately so easy. On the question about the most difficult part of ministry in IPC in Zurich, Andrea said that it were the situations when she did not understand properly. “Sometimes I had to guess what I was said but there were also some funny moments when my friend and coworker Katka understood something completely different than I did. She was a big help and support for me all the time. And of course, it could not work without God´s loving care and His guidance.”
“We felt very comfortable to hand over Sunday School lessons that needed to be taught, and Andrea took care of all aspects of the lesson, including preparation and delivery of the lesson. She helped with setting up the classroom on time, teaching the Sunday School lesson and fully leaving the classroom in perfect clean conditions upon exit,” add Martha Forcucci and Lydia Verburg, IPC Children’s Ministry Elders. Andrea also recalls her experiences in IPC with much enjoyment and thankfulness. “Opportunity to go abroad was a real blessing for me. I had fruitful time, when I could think about me, my life and things around. I missed my friends and family but, on the other hand, I was glad to be on my own and have more time for God´s things,” adds Andrea.
(HeHe-T <><)
