Children and adolescents across the Atlantic Caribbean Union (ATCU) of Seventh-day Adventists will join other children and adolescents within the Inter-American Division (IAD) in a program of the IAD Children’s and Adolescent (CHAM) Department titled Olympics of Love, I Will Go that began in January 2023. For the next ten months, the children and adolescents will be completing monthly activities that help them to demonstrate love toward God, the Bible, their bodies, nature, animals, church, family, friends, elderly, and community members. Upon successful completion of the monthly activities, participants will earn medals and completion certificates. At the end of the program, it is hoped that the children and adolescents of ATCU will have grown spiritually, emotionally, and physically.
Speaking about the program, Dr. Cheryl Rolle, ATCU CHAM director, stated, “It is important that children become involved in the mission of the church at an early age through engaging and relevant initiatives like Olympics of Love as they grow in their relationship with Christ. So, we in the CHAM Department are excited about launching this program which will help our children and early teens to become Jesus’ loving disciples.”
Kenisha Simms, CHAM director for South Bahamas Conference, is also happy for the positive impact that the program will have on the lives of the children and adolescents. “We are beginning a new year with new expectations, activities, and blessings, and it is clear that this program will provide needed Christian values that will help our children become better followers of Christ as they grow in and up into young adults and matured Christians,” said Simms.
The Olympics of Love challenge is open to children ages 1 to 14 and will take place from January to October. Parents interested in having their children participate in this engaging missionary endeavor for their children can contact the CHAM coordinator in their local churches or their local conference CHAM director for further information.
With a membership of 28,182, ATCU, which is headquartered in Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas, comprises four fields, namely, the Cayman Islands Conference, the North Bahamas Conference, the South Bahamas Conference, and the Turks and Caicos Islands Conference. In addition, Northern Caribbean University, which is in Mandeville, Jamaica, is jointly owned and operated by ATCU and the Jamaica Union.