¡Celebrar! Children’s Program Resumes in El Salvador

Written by Katie Dunning

Quotes translated from Spanish

Pure, abounding, uncontainable, JOY… in the year 2020.

G.O.D. Latin America team members hosted a celebration last week to mark the reopening of Club de Niños after being on an 8 month hiatus.

Club de Niños has gained a reputation in the community for being fun and educational. Lorena and the interns work hard to ensure the kids laugh and learn, and this time was no different.

Club de Niños is an out-of-school program held twice per week on our campus and has served local children ages 4-12 for over the last 5 years with extracurricular activities and tutoring, as well as character and bible education.

Lorena Meija, G.O.D. Latin America Cooperative and program manager, reports: “Our hearts rejoice in serving the children! Jesus himself said it: let the children come to me because theirs is the kingdom. Seeing their smiles and joy is so rewarding.”

Children and parents in the local community have heartedly missed kids’ programming. But so have program leaders!

“For so many months we did not have a children's club , and we missed seeing them. It has truly been so difficult because our culture physical contact through hugs and so much love to give.” Mejia said.

The team learned from Jesus that serving the kids is a way to impact the future of the community. Each of them offer the kids something invaluable—themselves!

Meija, along with her husband Antonio and 5 participants of our student intern program, have worked to develop and enact proper safety protocols for the program. These practices include: facilitators wearing masks, taking participant temperatures, and frequent hand washing.

Mejia also reported that “the interns are doing such a good job, I so enjoy seeing them working together; they are so creative and are very willing to serve these kids.” Student interns pulled out all the stops, clown costumes and puppets included, to provide a fun and meaningful personal hygiene workshop for the kids.

The team made sure to adhere to El Salvador’s policies for gathering during a time of Covid-19. With masks on and sanitizer ready, they were able to offer face painting— always a highlight at Club de Niños!

Club de Niños is one vibrant sign of choosing joy in a time that could be characterized by anxiety and fear. Please join us in praying for our cooperatives, interns, and all the families we serve through this ministry.