THE NEED FOR PASTOR'S KIDS ASSOCIATIONS

1.1 TERMS OF REFERENCE

PK= "Preacher's Kid," the child of a church pastor.

PAKIA= the association established for these children within the Seventh -day Adventist Church.

1.2 PK'S UNIQUE POSITION

1.2.1 PK's grow up in a home environment where their parents are the messengers of Christ, leading people to the heavenly kingdom.

1.2.2 Due to "the Advent movement", PK's are in the unique position of always being on the move and thus rarely developing lasting friendships with their childhood friends.

1.2.3 PK's have the privilege of living in an environment which strongly promotes the development of an exemplary Christian character

1.2.4 PK's grow up in an environment where their father (mother) is constantly itinerating

1.3 PK'S CHALLENGES

1.3.1 PK's are expected to be "pastors" from childhood throughout their developmental stages, even if they themselves have no intentions of going into the ministry.

1.3.2 PK's are expected to live a sinless life, and it is unfortunate, but true, that when PK's have been involved in some misbehavior, they experience more pressure from Society than other kids. This attitude of society, which expects PK's to behave like "sinless angels", has often discouraged them. Unfortunately this has led some of them to decide, after coming to an age where they can stand on their own to disown the SDA church and associate with people who see them as human beings capable of making mistakes.

1.3.3 There have been times when PK's have felt that their parents were not being treated fairly by the administration. Unfortunately, this has again led PK's in some instances, to choose a course which has led them to have nothing to do with the SDA church.

1.3.4 It seems as if those PK's who have faithfully supported the church don't have an appropriate forum where they can meet and discuss issues pertinent to them.

1.4 PASTORS'S CHALLENGES

1.4.1 If pastors were to be asked to mention some of their heroes in the Bible, most of us would probably mention Noah as one of them. Those who focus on numbers may not regard Noah as a good preacher. But Noah was able to win his children and they followed him into the ark. We admire Noah because we realize that if we are not able to win our children as Noah did, heaven will be robbed of some of its joy. But here comes the million -dollar question, "How did Noah do it?" There are many reasons we can give but one of them which seldom occurs to us is the fact that Noah was not an itinerating minister. He worked from home. This is our challenge as pastors.

1.4.2 Ellen White writes "Ministers children are in some cases the most neglected children in the world, for the reason that the father is with them but little and they are left to choose their own employment and amusement." ( GW 206 )

1.4.3 In Gospel Workers pages 204, Ellen White again has this for pastors to think about: The minister's duties lie around his children, nigh and far off; but his duty is to his children.....In the day of final reckoning, God will inquire what he did to win to Christ those he took the responsibility of bringing into the world. Great good done to others cannot cancel the debt that he owes to God to care for his own children." (Emphasis supplied).

1.4.4 A pastor has to continually create a positive atmosphere in the mind of his child (Children) towards the church.

1.5 THE CHURCH'S CHALLENGES

The Seventh- day Adventist church through its administration has a responsibility to develop programs directed at nurturing the PASTORS' child for at least three reasons :-

1.5.1 Unlike Noah in the Bible, our present condition are that a pastor usually has to itinerate, some more than others. Pastoral work cannot be done by remote control. It is incarnational by nature. It is a presence ministry. A pastor has to travel and minister to people in their homes, work place, camp meetings, etc. In view of this, the church ought to develop specialized programs directed at pastors' kids to help them not to feel as if church work is taking their father away from them.

1.5.2 The church should realize that, as already noted above, Satan works very hard to lead PK's to dishonor their parents. The Devil knows that the children's rebellion will inevitably weaken the pastors' enthusiasm and influence. Since the pastor is at the forefront of the Christian battle, the church therefore, needs to uphold the hands of the pastor when it comes to additional help regarding the upbringing of children.

1.5.3 The church has the responsibility to help in creating a positive attitude in the mind of a PK towards the church.

For reasons already alluded to above and those that are to be mentioned below, we realize that the establishment of PAKIA is well overdue. These reasons are:-

a. To help PK's to develop holistically as Christ did in Luke 2:52, that is spiritually, physically, mentally (which includes developing emotionally) and socially.

b. To use the PK's still in the church to create positive peer pressure to win back other PK's who have left the church.

c. To have an honest forum or support group where hurting PK's can freely vent their hurts and share their joys.

d. To create awareness in PK's of the potential they have and how they can use their potential to benefit the church in its various spheres of ministry/

e. To fully utilize the spiritual gifts which the PK's acquired throughout their potential developmental years in the Christian home environment.

f. To create a true and honest forum dedicated to encouraging members of the association who may be discouraged due to some misconduct of their father, mother or both, which usually results in the parent (s) being disciplined.

g. To create an atmosphere conducive for PK's to meet and discuss issues which are relevant to them.

h. To enhance positive and personal growth amongst Pk's.

i. To help PK's understand that their unique position places them at an advantageous position to help others see the importance of pastoral work, even if the PK's themselves may not be pastors.

j. To help them see the importance of serving as pastoral para-professionals.

2. MISSION STATEMENT

The purpose of PAKI is first and foremost to enhance the spiritual climate of PK's and prepare them for the soon coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

This shall be accomplished through the following means:

2.1 Challenge each PK to full use his/her God-given potential for His glory.

2.2 Using Peter's principles as exemplified in Acts 3:6:- "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." (NIV) - to win fellow PK's back to the Adventist church. (Using the same principle, the PK‘s will endeavor to win souls to Jesus Christ.)

2.3 Peter's principle shall be enhanced through reading the Bible, the Spirit of Prophecy, other Christian literature, listening to Christian music, and attending PK gatherings.

2.4 To build a net work of PK's across the entire division with the purpose of :

a. Sharing their common Christian heritage

b. Encouraging each other positively through each other's experiences

c. Creating a bond of friendship

d. Sharing ideas.

Some Pictures