Ministry

2006-2010
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RAQUEL DE SOUZA

CONTENTS
Section 1
My Heart to Be a Person of Growing Faith ......................................................................... 4
Section 2
My Heart to Nurture The Faith of Others ............................................................................ 6
Section 3
My Heart to Recruit, Train and Motivate others ................................................................ 13
Section 4
My Heart for the World ...................................................................................................... 17
Section 5
Knowing my Place on the Team.........................................................................................18

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 RAQUEL DE SOUZA
Mission / Vision / Core Values
Vision
Serve God with excellence.
Empowering people and families
to be in the center of Godʼs
purpose; individually and
corporately. Through a
leadership that inspires a shared
vision, models the way, and
enables other to use their gifts
to build up Godʼs Kingdom.
Mission
Reach and Equip others to
reach children and youth for
Christ. Empowering people to
serve God and Live in harmony
with one another. Enabling
each individual to answer Godʼs
call.
Core Values
Enabling - Command and
Biblical teach these things. Don’t let
anyone look down on you
Creative
because you are young, but set
Joyful (Fun) an example for the believers in
speech, in conduct, in love, in
Focus on the family faith and in purity. Until I come,
devote yourself to the public
Safe
reading of Scripture, to
Relevant preaching and to teaching.
1Timothy 4:11-13
Big Picture
Live- Live in harmony with
Reach - Let the little one another. Romans 12:16
children come to me, and do
not hinder them, for the
kingdom of heaven belongs to
such as these. Matthew 19:14
Equipping and Empower -
So Christ himself gave the
apostles, the prophets, the
evangelists, the pastors and
teachers, to equip his people for
works of service, so that the
body of Christ may be built up
until we all reach unity in the
faith and in the knowledge of
the Son of God and become
mature, attaining to the whole
measure of the fullness of
Christ.” Ephesians 4:12-14
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RAQUEL DE SOUZA
My Heart to Be a Person of Growing Faith
Prayer and Worship
I believe that I have a call from God
to make disciples, and to reach the
next generation with Godʼs love
and truth. In order to accomplish
my mission, I have no other way
but to depend upon Godʼs power.
By my own strength and work, I
could only fail. In my journey as a
Christian leader, I seek for Godʼs
wisdom, comfort and direction
through prayer. I also experience
Godʼs presence through observing
nature. In a combination of prayer,
worship, and nature I have
intimate moments with my “Abba
Father.”
Bible
Every day that I study the Bible
I discover something peculiar
about God, myself, and others. I
crave for God’s word and my
desire is always to have my ears
open to listen and my heart ready
to obey. Moreover, I take
advantage of reading books from
reliable Christian authors that
enhance my understanding of the
word of God.
(On left) Kids worshiping. (Above) The
worship team preparing to perform on
the stage
Body of Christ
Spiritual growth is congruent
with my deep experiences of
fellowship, accountability, and care
found within the Body of Christ.
God not only used his church to
rescue me, but also to build up my
life.
I think that spiritual growth is a
process. As much as I seek
growth, I see how I fell short in
becoming all that I wanted to be.
This compels me to completely
depend on God’s grace.
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RAQUEL DE SOUZA

My Heart to Be a Person of Growing Faith

(On left) At Willow Creek Conference for

Children’s Ministry at South Barrington, IL;
2008. (Above), at Orange Conference for
Family Ministry; 2008

Networking children’s ministry and also

One of the greatest leadership summits.
opportunities I have as leader
is to connect with other
leaders, share experiences and
grow by hearing the
testimonies of God’s wonders.
I seek to always be in touch
with men and women of God,
learning from them and with
them. One of the plans I have
to continue growing is to often
participate in conferences of “If you stop growing today, you stop
teaching tomorrow”
- Hendricks

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RAQUEL DE SOUZA

My Heart to Nurture the Faith of Others

Creative Bible Teaching

Reaching Children
Children of today are different.
They receive a heavy amount of
information on television, and the
internet. Their cerebrum processes
has to be fun, creative, child -
targeted, and relevant. Therefore,
the bible centered program is the
foundation of this transformational
ministry.
Leading children and families to
achieve God’s purpose for their
lives.
Unleashing Children
God shows us many times in

all this information at an Partnering with Parents the Bible the great value of young

accelerated rate. This is the “text people. Youth and children have
Parents have the difficult task
message generation.” potential to transform the world.
to teach their children the way of
Nevertheless, all sorts of gadgets My heart is to facilitate ways for
God. The church is here to partner
are available to young people. If we with parents, to Equip and support them to discover their gifts, and

want to Reach those same minds, them to fulfill their mission. My their place in the kingdom of God.

we better get some cultural Also, Unleash them to become

heart is to strategically enable this
relevance in children’s ministry. It agents of spiritual transformation in
partnership to be successful by

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 CAMPING
THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT CAMPING...
Everyone comes home with memories and carries them through the years. God speaks, children are
transformed, have fun and never forget this incredible experience.

I have memories of times prevented from

retreats and campings I went contemplating such vision.
on when I was child; so vivid, One great strategy I used
it seems to be from as children’s ministry director
yesterday. I think that taking of an urban church, was to
young people out of the noise take children for a retreat
of the cities, far from without parents. A whole
computers and cell phones, weekend of fun, but with a
can help them experience highly intentional program in
God in a new and wonderful nurturing faith. Alfredo and Lena leading worship
around the fire
way. God reveals Himself in Let’s go Camping!!!!
nature, but people are many

Connecting Parents and
Church to Reach the
Next Generation
ministry
family
Family Ministry requires leaders to
think about what needs to be modified
in church in order to reach others, while
still standing for what we believe as the
Christian church. Family is the primary
institution created by God, and today
the most dysfunctional. It has being
attacked from all sides. Family
Ministry is intentionally partner with
parents in order to equip them to fulfill
their mission.
The process of understanding a new
ministry vision takes time. One
example is what had happened when
small groups first came into existence
within the church structure. Many years
ago, it was a challenge to work within
the “small group” paradigm. However,
it proved to be an excellent ministry
model that promotes growth in all areas
of the church. Family ministry, as the
name says, is ministry to families
through families. Is more than a
program: It is a strategy to work in the
great commission of making disciples,
but starting from home. There are three
main approaches:
Integrated Family Ministry; Family
Based, and Family Equipping
Ministry - All of them have been used
in churches around the States and in
This is not something that the church does for families, but a partnership where parents and
church work together to reach the next generation
SAMPLE FLYER ON EQUIPPING PARENTS
by Raquel De Souza
EUISMOD
ELEMENTUM
others countries. Also, there are many
resources in the market for churches
that want to implement these visions.
Therefore, before you decide what is
best for your church, it is very
important that you understand that not
every family ministry is the same. One
great source to learn more about these
different approaches is the book
“Perspectives on family Ministry - 3
Views” by Timothy Paul Jones.
Integrated Family ministry - when
the whole church focuses on families,
there are no age specific programs. In
this approach the traditional church
model is transformed. There is no
youth group or children’s ministry, but
the families take the responsibility of
ministry at home. People get together
in church only for big celebration that
are focused in family.
Family Based Ministry - In this
ministry the actual structure of the
church is kept. However, there is a
vision to reach and equip families
reconnecting parents and their children
with a variety of strategies. At the same
time Family Based Ministry is
culturally relevant in understanding that
church is composed of single parents,
divorced families, and singles as well.
The greatest thing about this approach
is that it fits to church of any size and
in any community. It is also flexible
and relevant to the whole church.
Family Equipping Ministry - This
approach keeps some of the age-
organized ministries, but also works
with families in a “Discipleship
through Partnership” to reach the
emergent generation. In order to
accomplish their goals they have a
specific spiritual formation model
where the church equips parents and
expects them to be the primary
disciple-makers.
Starting family ministry
is not saying that the
church has been doing a
wrong ministry. Family
ministry is a strategic
vision to establish God’s
primary plan for the
families e for each
individual.
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Vacation Bible School
2009/2010
Reaching children with the gospel, and transforming them into “spiritual
champions.” Volunteers serving according to their gifts. Pre-teens and
teenagers growing as they serve and serving as they grow.
 SAMPLE OF ADVERTISING MATERIAL
FOR FAMILY PROGRAM / FALL FEST
(Portuguese / English)

UMA PROGRAMAÇÃO DIFERENTE

E DIVERTIDA PARA SUA FAMÍLIA

DIA 31 DE OUTUBRO ÀS 6:30PM

240 MAIN ST 3RD FLOOR.
DANBURY, CT

MUSIC, DRAMA, STORYTELLING

AND MUCH MORE
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RAQUEL DE SOUZA
A program to the Whole Family
Family Program
A place where parents and children come together to worship, play, and learn.
They leave with something in common to talk about, which will generate
spiritual growth and strengthen relationships.

Creative
Bible Teach
Music
Games

At the end of each season, families get

together in a big celebration!
Nurturing Families Faith
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RAQUEL DE SOUZA
My Heart to Recruit Train and
Motivate Others
VOLUNTEER TRAINING
Vision lacks. In order to keep
volunteers inspired, working
together and with excellence I have
a training plan:
• Volunteer meeting every other
month for planning and preparing
material
• Every four months: seminars
to recycle, encourage and equip.
Some of the themes of the
seminar are: Why our Church
Needs a Prevailing Children’s
Ministry; Building Teams in
Children’s Ministry, Big Picture
(Vision, Mission and Core
Values); Gifts & Strengths, and
Safety.
• Once a year, the whole team
will participate of a conference or
training event outside of our
church.
• Provide resources for growth
such as books, magazines and
websites.
• “Reveal” an event for
evaluation and volunteer
appreciation, every six months.
• Monthly informative to keep
volunteers updated.
• Every week before service,
get together for prayer and
words of encouragement.
(Left) Volunteers and Speakers at
Children’s Ministry seminar in
Danbury,CT. (Above) Team of volunteers
that I lead.
Volunteer Serving
according with their Gifts
I truly believe that the body of
Christ is comprised of people with
different gifts. The only way of
growth is when everyone finds their
place and serves in the way they
are meant to. To assure that the
whole team is working in
synchrony with their gifts, everyone
will take the “Strength Finder 2.0”
test
“ We not only need the right people
on the bus; we also need them in
the right seats on the bus.”
- Jim Collins
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 RAQUEL DE SOUZA

Children’s Ministry
Consultant
I have a deep desire to serve God; working with children and youth. I
truly believe that at a young age kids can be powerful agents of spiritual
transformation in the world. My heart is to equip the church and families
to enable young people to be all that they are meant to be. I am edified
and my heart is filled with joy by leading, equipping, and enabling others
to build up God’s Kingdom. Danbury, CT - 2008

Training Others Blog

Since 2008, I have been blessed
by the opportunity to present at
seminars, equipping multicultural
Brazilian churches from different
denominations to build an effective
children’s ministry. I have spoken
at seminars in Florida, Pensilvania,
New Jersey, New York, and I also
hosted training in Connecticut
where we had the opportunity to
receive people from
strategicconnection.blogspot.com
Massachusetts and others
This is a place where I want to see
neighboring areas.
leaders, parents, and anyone
To give continuity to the training
interested in children’s ministry
and help others to enhance their
to share, teach, learn, and make
ministry, I launched a blog where I
connections that will change lives.
share my experiences of failure
“The things you have heard me say
and victories, but above all, of
in the presence of many witnesses
growth.
Entrust to reliable men who will
also be qualified to teach others.”
2 Timothy 2:2

Fort Lauderdale, FL - 2008

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SAMPLE OF ADVERTISING MATERIAL FOR CHILDREN’S MINISTRY SEMINAR

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My Heart For the World
Cross Cultural
Engagement
I work in a multicultural
Brazilian church. We have
people of Spanish, English, and
the Portuguese language
worshiping together. Therefore,
we have children sharing the
same multicultural picture.
During summer is when we
reach the highest level of cross
cultural experience because of
the Vacation Bible School
program. In 2010, we had
people not only from different
languages, but different
religions. I was glad to have
even children of Jewish
background among the VBS
participants.
My Desire to Serve
Direct or indirectly, my call is
to make it possible for children
to know Jesus. My heart burns
when I think about the children
in the world that have not had
the opportunity to hear the
message of the gospel, to
experience social justice, and
love. I want to be an agent of
God in order to reach those
children.
My prayer is for God’s
direction in strategies of work,
anointment, and an obedient
heart.
Connecting with the
world
I have the privilege to be
part of a group of leaders that
connect with each other to
make a great impact. Most of
them live in Brazil, but our
mentor, Juliane Santos lives in
the States. Through her work
many people include me had
the opportunity to receive the
best available in the world for
children’s ministry. She works
alongside with great leaders
such as Sue Miller and Reggie
Joiner.
Brazilian leaders at
Willow Creek Children’s
Ministry Conference
2008
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Knowing My Place on the Team
My Gifts / My Call
I started serving in Children’s
Ministry when I was 12 years old.
Early in life my leadership and love
for teaching were noticeable. At
this age, I invited Jesus to be my
Savior; my forever friend. Now, I
am an adult. My love for teaching,
and leadership skills developed
and grew more mature. I finally am
exercising what I do best in life;
serving God and leading,
equipping, enabling, and inspiring
others. I am fulfilling God’s call on
my life; working with
children,youth, parents and other
(Left) Children of Christian Community
Church, where I am children’s ministry
director. (Above). One of the characters
we use to creative teaching.
adults. It is indescribable the direction; bringing growth to the
assurance of being in the place I team and transformation in society.
was meant to be. It is a
tremendous joy and a privilege to “Ezra had set his heart to
help build God’s Kingdom through
study the law of the Lord and to
disciple-making ministry. I am a
leader-teacher with a heart in practice it, and to teach His
biblical leadership, but I am also a statutes and ordinances to
leader who models the way by Israel” Ezra 7:10
serving and seeking to be a Christ-
like person. My heart is to study,
practice, and teach the word of
God every day. This way, setting as
an example for my team, and
together, walk in the same
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 Family

I am blessed with a wonderful husband, Alfredo, who shares the ministry and calling of
God of “disciple making ministry.” We have a beloved son, Nathan. Our family works
together to accomplish our mission in this world.

“Go and make disciples of all nations.”

- Matthew 28:19

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