The Pastoral Care for Children is based on the gospel of the multiplication of the loaves and fish to initiate and organize the work in the communities.
The Gospel of Saint Mark (Mk 6.30-44) tells us that Jesus heard everything the apostles had done and taught:
- Leader, how do you feel about working in pastoral care for children?
In that same gospel, Jesus proposes that the apostles rest a little. They left for a deserted place, alone. But the crowd followed behind, for they were like sheep without a shepherd:
- Leader, how many children and pregnant women in your community need pastoral care for children?
The disciples wanted Jesus to tell the crowd to go away, to look for shelter and food, but Jesus ordered them, "You yourselves, give them something to eat."
- How do we face the challenge that Jesus gave to us today so that we are responsible for bringing life in abundance to all the children and pregnant women in our community?
Jesus asked the disciples, "How many loaves do you have? Go see". A disciple of Jesus said, "There is a boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what is that for so many people?" (Jn 6. 8-9):
- What resources do we have in our communities (health services, schools, churches, neighborhood associations, etc.)?
- What people can help us in our mission?
- Is that enough to satisfy the people of our community?
Jesus then asked the disciples to organize the people into small groups for the meal:
- And we, how can we organize our community into small groups of families for each leader?
Then Jesus took the loaves and fish, pronounced the blessing, broke the loaves and fish, and gave it to the disciples to distribute:
- How do we share our gifts, our time, knowledge, life experience, and love with our neighbors?
Everyone ate and was satisfied, and there was still a lot left:
- Do we believe that the little we have, when shared with the blessing of Jesus, is a lot?
- How do we know if what we share is helping in the search for a full life for all children and pregnant women?
To organize families, it is important for leaders to map the community that is, identify who and where the families with pregnant women and children up to six years of age live. Then, it is necessary for them to organize, under the leadership of the leader, the groups of families that will be followed up.
When there are many families, it is necessary, at first, to attend to those who need it most, for example, families that have pregnant women, younger children, or the sick. Afterward, the branch coordinator, with the help of the already prepared and active leaders, will look for other leaders to follow up on all the families they have identified in the community.
Who of you who has 100 sheep and loses one does not leave the 99 in the desert and go after the one that was lost until he finds it? (Lk 15,4)
Jesus asked his disciples to see if the whole crowd was fed. It is also necessary to see if all the pregnant women, children, and families followed up are managing to improve their living situation. To evaluate the work it does, Pastoral Care for Children uses indicators from the Leader's Notebook and AppVisit.
It is the miracle of Jesus repeated these days!
- e-Capacitação
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- e-Basic Guide from pregnancy to 2 years old
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- The 1- to 2-year-old child
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- Preparing the leader’s activities
- e-Capacitação
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- e-Guide from pregnancy to 6 years old
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- The child from 1 year and 5 months to 1 year and 11 months
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- Preparing the leader’s activities