SWIMMING SCHOOL 2.0

Originally posted on our ministry Facebook group's wall on August 21, 2022

This summer we have had an opportunity to take some of the kids from our children’s group to a swimming school. It wasn’t the first time we did it. Back in 2019, we’ve taken a group of teenagers for a similar program, but this year, things were far more fun.

I believe I have already written on several occasions how important the children’s ministry is to us and how much effort, care and resources we invest in it. In 2010/11, when our church was just starting, church meetings and services were full of youth – ages 12 to 20. During the years, this initial youth group was getting smaller, as life caught up with them and they were getting married, starting their own families, work, leaving Montenegro, etc.

Thankfully, a new generation of youth emerged in 2019 and this is when we realized the necessity of investing into them. Although somewhat interrupted by Covid, we have been giving a lot of attention to children’s work, building relationships with them and their families and have used every opportunity to show our appreciation for them. And the Swimming School project was another step in that direction.

Initially, we brought the entire children’s group, boys and girls separately, to really nice swimming pools, in order to test their swimming skills, but also to give them the opportunity to enjoy themselves as a reward for their faithful attendance of Saturday Bible clubs. Eventually, we were able to come up with a list of those who couldn’t swim and were in need of training. Those were the ones that we provided a week long training with a certified trainer. Again, we had boys and girls separately, not just for the sake of respecting their ways, but also because that way it is so much easier to maintain discipline and the training gets more effective. 

At the end, as the result of the training, we had 12 out of 15 trainees that learned to swim. Lord willing, next year we are planning to repeat this activity, which is when the remaining 4, together with some new children, will learn to swim. The whole activity started on June 27 and ended on July 28.

Please join us in giving thanks to the Lord for giving us such a great opportunity to give the children a life-long skill and to build relationships with them. Pray that this effort will result in them being more committed to the church and that the favor we have with their families will increase. Pray for more opportunities like these, particularly for continuation next summer. Pray that the Lord continues to lead us in how we present Him to the children and that He continues to use us in this capacity. Pray that we can win the hearts of the parents through the good deeds and example we give to their children.