Two hundred fifty Sabbath school teachers and Vacation Bible School (VBS) coordinators from Metro Cebu, Cebu province, and Masbate attended the Vacation Bible School Training and Workshop Saturday, focusing on the “Alive in Jesus” Sabbath School Curriculum.
The two-day event, held at the Adventist Academy Cebu Cafeteria, centered on “Alive in Jesus,” a global initiative of the Sabbath School and Personal Ministries Department of the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The curriculum aims to equip caregivers and educators to nurture the spiritual lives of children and youth from birth to 18 years old.
Held March 13-14, the event empowered teachers and coordinators to actively learn and adapt their teaching strategies to the “Alive in Jesus” curriculum. It featured guest speakers who elaborated on the extent of the initiative, including Melodie Mae K. Inapan, women and children’s ministries director and Ministerial Spouses’ Association (MSA) coordinator for the East Central Philippine Union Conference, and Michelle S. Nogra, women and children’s ministries director and MSA coordinator for the Central Visayan Conference.
The attendees also welcomed Starly Gutierez, former director of women’s and children’s ministries and MSA coordinator for the CVC, who spoke about discipling children through the AIJ programs. She drew her message from the counsel on Deuteronomy 6:7, which says, “Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
To demonstrate the curriculum’s practical application, facilitators staged “Cactusville,” a long-running Vacation Bible School series set in an imaginary desert mining town defined as “where the sun is always shining, the skies are bright blue, and the surrounding mountains look like brown spurs.”
Teachers and children assume the roles of imaginary characters and animals. When implemented at local VBS events, the attendees believed this approach could make children’s stations more engaging and conducive to learning.
The training also followed the Cactusville series format, including round-ups for the opening and closing sessions, campfire stories featuring biblical figures, and “sunset canyon” for reflection on lessons and insights.
Between sessions, participants got creative at “trading posts,” by crafting learning materials, picked up playful tips for the “wild horse corral where the children can run and have fun, and savored chuckwagon snacks inspired by the Cactusville theme.
On the opening day, Inapan delivered the keynote address. She described children who require extra support due to physical, intellectual, emotional, or sensory challenges that impact learning and daily activities. She emphasized that Sabbath School teachers should understand each child in their class to tailor their teaching strategies and adjust the program, pace, environment, and support to meet individual needs.
“Teaching children with special needs is a part of teaching children,” Inapan said, highlighting that each child has different abilities. “Each child is unique and a wonderful creation. All children, with or without deficiencies, deserve dignity. They deserve to be loved and valued.”
Facilitators, including the CVC core team, highlighted additional segments of the AIJ curriculum on the second day. Attendees learned more about craft-making and snack preparation and attended several lectures by guest speakers.
Ana Liza Facon, ECPUC education director and Adventist Possibility coordinator, delivered the sermon during the divine service. She inspired the delegates with her topic about “Leading Little Hearts to Jesus.” She emphasized that God values children’s faith, drawing a parallel to the child in the Bible who offered his loaves and fish.
“It is the responsibility of parents and teachers to help children establish a relationship with Jesus while young, keeping the ‘end in mind’ of heavenly citizenship.”
The two-day training concluded with attendees committing to implement the “Alive in Jesus” curriculum in their respective districts. With this response, the leaders discussed future plans to re-echo the program in other places across the CVC.