Several Mesoamerica Region ministries came together 6-8 July in the Dominican Republic for a children's ministries training event focusing on education, leadership, missions, and evangelism.

Seminario Nazareno Dominicano (Dominican Nazarene Seminary) in Santo Domingo hosted the event, which included representatives from Nazarene Compassionate Ministries, Sunday School and Discipleship Ministries, Nazarene Youth International, and Nazarene Missions International.

The conference was called “The Heart of the Connected Teacher,” and more than 85 children's ministers and volunteers participated.

Children's Sunday School and discipleship ministries was the main focus of the conference, though speakers explored many other topics, including:

• Characteristics of a connected teacher and preparing the teaching environment (by Regional Nazarene Compassionate Ministries Coordinator Dhariana Balbuena)
• Characteristics of Sunday School teachers and the resources they can use (Mildred Barranco)
• The heart of a servant leader in relation to children's ministries (Marta Gonzales, SDMI superintendent in Mesoamerica Central Area)
• Missions (Karla Lovett and Regional NMI Coordinator Ana Crocker)
• Child-appropriate musical games (Local missionaries Wendy Carolina and Laritza Mora)
• Children's evangelism strategies (Child Evangelism Fellowship volunteers Maria Rodriguez and Yovany Cisneros)

Prayer is requested for all participants as they return home to their churches and ministries, as well as for the children in their respective communities.

--Church of the Nazarene Mesoamerica