At 2019 decode, children get trained in different skills

Some 650 children recently benefitted from the yearly Harvesters International Christians Centre’s (HICC) teenage conference tagged: Decode. At the third edition, which held at the church’s headquarters in Gbagada, Lagos, the children were trained in different skills to enable them cope with the employment situation in the country.

The church explained that the programme, which started in 2017, was borne out of passion for the growth of society and children. The young participants were trained in six different skills for three days.

The coordinator, HICC Teenage church, Alawode Olufunke, said the programme was targeted at disciplining teenagers and empowering them with skills that would help them succeed in life, as well as give them an edge.She said; “Harvesters is passionate about children, because we believe in the philosophy of catching them young and making them discover what they want to do early in life. The truth is that, the earlier we get them to acquire some skills and relevant knowledge, the better for them.

“You can’t compare a child, who started saving at the age of 10 to an adult that begins saving at 30. The 10-year-old will do better. So, we believe that we need to empower these young people because today and the future belong to them. We see it as a responsibility to equip them to be who God really wants them to be.

“So far, it has been awesome. We have testimonies from children doing things by themselves. We have teenagers previously trained that are into business. We have about 650 teenagers participating in this year’s programme, and the skills they were trained in include barbing, mixology, photography, bead making, makeup and digital marketing, among others. We are introducing new skills next year.”

She explained that the programme was not just about skill acquisition, as they also want to talk to the children and inspire them. “Some of them haven’t experienced love. Many have not been taught how to express themselves. This is not only for Christians or church members. We also have Muslims among them, and everyone was treated the same way,” she said.