Lights, special effects equipment, a castle, amazing costumes, games, prizes, and a whole lot of kids – this may sound like an amusement park or an elaborate birthday party, but in actuality this is a children’s ministry, like you’ve never seen before.

This is Children’s Outreach Ministry Network (COM Net).

COM Net was founded in 2000, with their main purpose to minister to children between the ages of 4-11 in order to help them grow in the knowledge and fullness of Christ. After conducting highly successful children's ministry programs for 6 years at their local church, Ebenezer Full Gospel Assembly in New York, the burden to reach children outside of these four walls was placed on the hearts of a few youths. As a result, after a fasting prayer meeting on May 13, 2000, the original seven team members met to figure out if this desire and vision to minister to kids would be viable. With the guidance and approval of the late Rev. K.V. Johnson (then Senior Pastor - EFGA), the team of seven started out in prayer to establish a ministry to reach kids across the nation.

The team started to look at every component of their success in children’s programs, and identified the different sections that made the events so successful. After a few dozen e-mails, phone calls, and face to face meetings, the organization started to take shape. Over the next three months, the team focused on creating a best in-class children’s ministry program that would be able to minister on the road, but in the long run help local churches and organizations create their own children’s ministry program. To achieve this goal the COM Net team spent the first few months focused on creating an original curriculum. Their purpose was to design programs devoid of any activities typically used in children’s programming which was not conducive to reaching out to children. In achieving this goal, COM Net determined not to replicate programs or templates used by others organizations. With that vision and determination in mind, COM Net launched its first theme, "God's Mighty Jungle." COM Net invested heavily in program design, props, decorations, special effects equipment, sound and lighting. Testing the program prior to launch was crucial to COM Nets success. By July of 2000, COM Net received their first request to minister at India Pentecostal Church Philadelphia for a Saturday morning program. This was just the beginning. Since then COM Net has ministered at 25 locations throughout the United States, and has developed six successful themes. A few organizations COM Net has worked with include:

 India Pentecostal Church - Philadelphia, PA
 Ebenezer Marthoma Church - Pelham, NY
 21st PCNAK - Long Beach, CA
 7th AGIFNA - Dallas, TX
 8th NACOG - Chattanooga, TN
 8th AGIFNA - Newark, NJ
 PYFA (2003, 2004, 2005) – New York
 Andrus Children's Center - Yonkers, NY
 St. Mary Children's Hospital - Flushing, NY

Being the first Malayalee Pentecostal children’s ministry on the road has had both its benefits and challenges. It took some time for churches, pastors, and parents to understand who they were and what COM Net was all about. COM Net started to realize that they not only needed to conduct programs, but also educate church leaders on the importance of ministering to children effectively. COM Net was highly instrumental in shifting the focus from "Youth" as a general category of those under the age of 25; they focus programming specifically geared for kids under the age of 11. To accomplish this, COM Net uses a variety of mediums to reach kids at a level to which they can relate. Examples include, using dramatic decorations to set the tone, lighting and special effects to bring Bible stories to life, creating all their own lessons plans, activities, arts and craft items, and incorportaing dance and dramatic arts. All in all, COM Net is on the cutting edge of children’s ministry. All of their themes are developed in house and tested before it is released for the year.

Much of the success of COM Net is owed not only to its members, but also to its volunteer staff. Ten members serve as the board of directors for the organizations and are responsible for their individual department tasks. Departments include: Administration, Production, Finance, Programming, Lighting & Special Effects, Sound and Music, Public Relations and Marketing. The volunteer staff has had their fair share of highlights during the past seven years including: packing 12 people, their luggage and equipment into two cars; running through Chicago O’Hare Airport with costumes, only to be stopped by security; and having the Long Beach Fire Department Chief and crew help them carry in dry ice for special effects.

So one may ask, what’s next for COM Net? Well, the team is hard at work at its next phase of ministry. COM Net was founded to bring attention to children’s ministry at the local church, and for the most part they feel they have been successful. Countless church and youth leaders have thanked them for helping them create a viable children’s program in their own churches. Now, the organization looks forward to helping churches sustain the programs by developing curriculum specifically designed for them. Using their experience in developing programs, activities, and lessons, COM Net is branching out to develop its own brand of children’s ministry curriculum. Understanding the needs of a small church (especially within the Indian community), these guides are meant to be easy, fun, and highly effective in providing children with age appropriate lessons. COM Net hopes to have the first set of guides available by Summer 2009.

At the end of the day, COM Net has only one desire which is to reach kids with the Gospel of Christ, so that they have a true and real encounter with God. Their ultimate goal is for each church, at least within the Indian community (and not only Pentecostal), to have children’s programming that helps children realize their potential in the Lord. As part of their commitment to this goal, COM Net donates a certain percentage of the program cost back to the host organization to help them develop their own children’s program. This initiative was started with their very first project in 2000, and the ministry has continued that practice to this very day.

COM Net has grown over the past seven years to include more individuals and has created a network of hundreds of volunteers throughout the United States. The ministry is continuously supported by their local church EFGA, Pastor John Johnson, and Pastor Joseph Samuel who guide the growth of the ministry. As the organization grows into this new phase, they hope to reach more kids and empower church leaders to become effective children’s ministers. COM Net welcomes collaboration with churches and ministries to accomplish this goal of reaching the next generation for Christ!

If you are interested in learning more about COM Net, their programs and services please contact them at COMNetMinistry@gmail.com