Engaging Hearts | Mentoring Lives
Tamara Michalenko Terry
Alexis Rivera, the new Texas Conference Children’s Ministries director, has great plans for children’s programming in Texas. She has already created a new website (txadventistkids.org), Facebook page (facebook.com/txadventistkids), and Twitter account (twitter.com/txadventistkids) to better communicate with children’s ministries leaders in the churches as well as parents wanting ideas to minister to their own children.
The next step is to find volunteers willing to become children’s ministries coordinators in the ten areas of the conference. Her goal is to have at least one English and Spanish coordinator for each area. Eventually, the hope is for these coordinators to work with their area teams to further children’s ministries outreach.
“Texas Conference Children’s Ministries seeks to engage the hearts and minds of our children through dynamic, interactive programming,” Rivera shared. “We desire to equip our leaders with teaching methods to connect with all types of learners, so each child can study the scriptures in relevant and life-changing ways.”
At the end of each month, training webinars will be available for participants to access from any home computer or personal device. Children’s ministries training will focus on four areas in 2018: Evangelism for children and by children (January – March); VBX Vacation Bible School (March – April); Sabbath School class growth and development (May – August) and Family worship workshops (September – December).
“We seek to create a strong mentoring network of passionate children’s ministries leaders that are involved in unified training, fellowship, and encouragement,” Rivera added. “We also seek to foster a conference-wide vision of ongoing discipleship between local church leaders and their children.”
Rivera has a lifelong passion for children’s ministries that started during her years as a program director at summer camp. She has a Bachelor of Arts in theology from Southwestern Adventist University, Keene, Tex., and a Master of Divinity from Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Mich. Most recently, she received an Adventist Chaplaincy endorsement through her training at Texas Health Huguley Medical Center, Burleson, Tex.
If you or someone you know is interested is helping with children’s ministries in the Texas Conference, please contact Alexis Rivera by email at arivera@txsda.org or by phone at (817) 790-2255, ext. 2214.