Canadians Plant Seedlings Through Christ

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Sunday, 26 February 2012 02:30

By D Francis

Antigua St John's - A team of 26 Canadians is back to spend a week sharing the love of Jesus in private and public schools across Antigua and Barbuda.

They are headed by Coreen Frey, an ordained minister from Alberta, Canada who is also a children’s pastor.

The group has been visiting for six years, and now spearheads “Seedlings," a project targeting grade four students and teaching them the principles of living for Christ. They are conducting this programme in about eight Caribbean countries, along with other places like Fiji, Africa, and Guatemala.

Caribarena.com caught up with the energetic group at the Bolans Primary School on Thursday.

Pastor Frey said, "We committed 10 years to Antigua, this is our sixth year. The principals are very happy to see us, and the students also look forward to see us coming.

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"This year, our focus is ‘Rise up - Do the right thing'. What we are teaching these young students is that if Jesus is in your heart, your behaviour is going to change. Knowing who God is, how to live for Him from an early age is what we encourage.”

She said some of the teachers have also reported that the children are kinder to each other on the playing field, with less fighting on the playground.

Pastor Frey said, “our schedule is very hectic but we are happy to see the enthusiasm among the children. We split the team into three, and each team goes to four schools daily, spreading the love of Jesus and how students can live for him. We do a very interactive programme of song, dance, and even a puppet show to bring out the message in an exciting way that students can follow and interact."

They have also been invited to do presentations at several local churches as well.

The acting principal of Bolans Primary, Ryona Joseph, said she is very happy with the programme. "It is very fitting for the times we are in," she said. "You know some of our young people don’t have that spiritual uplifting background, so we are very happy that this programme was introduced to us.”

Grade four teacher Carmen Roberts has been trained to conduct the programme. She said, “This is very important, looking at the very way some of our children behave, we see that there is need for this type of programme.

"The very name of the programme speaks volumes Seedlings. We are planting a seed from an early age, and with them growing in the knowledge of who God is, and knowing how to do the right thing, they’ll be able to share with their peers and family members, and who knows, maybe they will be young Christians and prospective pastors in the making.”


Seedlings was founded by Pastor Keith Parks in 2001, and intends to reach one million children around the world with the gospel before Parks dies. Pastor Frey currently ministers to 250 children at her church, with a membership of over 800.

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