Outdoor and social activities prioritised

By ZARA KANU LEBO
A CHURCH in Port Moresby has introduced a programme called “teachers supervise bonding” to get more children in its ministry involved in outdoor and social activities.
The Green Pastures Ministry, formed in 2012, aims to discipline children by using social activities such as sports, cooking and entertainment but with minimal or no use of digital gadgets and social media devices.
Protestant Christian Church volunteer Ejay Balthazar said: “Our Sunday school has a large population of local children and, under the ministry, we have been guiding them since they were small.
“We want as much as possible to discipline our children to control how they use technological gadgets and to stay away from social media so they can focus on what matters the most in life; that is interacting with different people in real-life situations.
“For expatriate children, they want to play outside of their homes but you know how it is here in PNG, they cannot go out to social spots within the city. The approach we are taking is an opportunity for them to build relationship through sports and other social activities,” Balthazar said.
She added: “Apart from sports, we teach the children to bake, perform dances, sing and make presentations on all special occasions we have in the church. They are smart children and you know, in PNG, we don’t really have such dances and other activities any more. So, it’s good to see them building and exhibiting confidence in what they do.
“We got them involved in sports as part of their physical exercises. When they are interacting with others, that is instilling discipline in themselves.
“Seeing the growth in these children is self-satisfying. Some of these children come from troubled homes and families and I really want to help them adopt to changes for a better good.
“Most of the children here are from difficult backgrounds. The church is their refuge and, for us, it another way of rehabilitating them,” Balthazar said. The ministry programme, held at the Philippine Association basketball building, NCD, would continue for the duration of the school holidays.