Addressing the specific needs of a child
as they grow and develop
Preschool (0-5)
The first five years of a child’s life are critical to their overall development. Hands at Work has established facilities and programming for children incorporating breakfast, play, rest time and learning basic skills – all while their older siblings are in school.
The Life Centre is a safe place where children can come and experience the love, care and nurturing they need. As the Care Workers and Primary Caregivers are involved and investing in their lives from a young age, we believe these children will grow and develop into healthy and whole adults who love Jesus.
These under-five programmes have been started in many of the Life Centres across Africa. Our goal is for every community we serve in to have programmes like this for their young children.
Children (6-12)
As children grow up and start going to school, they begin to experience peer pressure and become more aware of the unique challenges that their daily life brings. In these years, they learn how to behave, how to treat one another and learn what is healthy and what is dangerous. What is key for children at this stage is to provide Godly role models who can be a positive influence in their lives.
Through positive interactions with Care Workers, Primary Caregivers and Hands at Work volunteers, we give children a safe place where they can:
Learn about Jesus through regular Bible stories
Learn about basic hygiene
Experience the freedom to play games with their friends
Feel free to share their challenges and the pressures that they face on a daily basis
Start to develop Godly characteristics of love, kindness and servanthood
Youth (13-18)
The dream is to raise up a generation who love Jesus, are committed to their families, belong to a local church, are generous to the poor and are positive role models in their communities. We are dedicated to engaging with our youth and equipping them with skills which will prepare them for a positive future, including giving back to their local communities.
This is done through a variety of activities INCLUDING:
Youth
Groups
The purpose of these groups is to give the youth a safe place to come and share their challenges, hear from God’s word, ask questions and connect with one another. Through experience, we have seen that our youth are hungry to find a different example from the pain of broken homes that they grew up with, and youth groups can be a key part of their healing and restoration.
Youth
Camps
The purpose of youth camps is to share about our identity in Christ, what it means to make the right choices, and how to face peer pressure. It is a time set aside for our youth to be invested in by Hands at Work leaders and their Care Workers.
Youth Discipleship Programmes
Across Africa, there are discipleship programmes taking place where youth have been identified and invited to participate. We ask our youth to give us a year of their life to be invested in, and then we disciple and teach in three specific areas:
HEAD – Character development, good citizenship and community ownership
HEART – Christ and His kingdom, and Godly living
HANDS – key skills development with the goal of equipping them for future employment