Mr. Joel Macharia:Country Director, Compassion International, Kenya.

Compassion International runs child sponsorship programmes in Kenya.. These programmes are managed by programme facilitators. Many of these facilitators require capacity in Child Development. By partnering with Daystar University, Compassion International is able to offer our facilitators opportunities for education in Child Development. They acquire skills in project management, research, child psychology, child counseling, assessment, biblical basis for ministry with children, among others.

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Many of our students have discovered that they have great potential to learn in the areas they are good at. They also get personal fulfillment from the programme.  A number have got promotions after completion. They are able to relate theories and children needs in the work place. The program is very contextual and practice based.
Unique aspects of the Daystar University Child Development Programme that is attractive to Compassion International facilitators and that would be quite beneficial to other Christian professionals in ministry to children include the following:

• It enables students to learn and work, without having to resign in order to learn.
• It enables students to integrate learning and practical work.
• The use of summer holidays to do intensive courses for the students is a good strategy of  taking care of workforce that may not have time to study at full or part-time basis.
• Daystar Staff are well trained and committed and deliver instruction appropriately.

We encourage other child focused organization, big and small, local and international, to train with Daystar’s child development programme. The direction of instruction in the programme is towards completeness. We know that it is not enough to improve only one dimension of a child’s life and leave other dimensions in inadequacy.  The Child Development programme philosophy of teaching, which is based in Luke 2:52, provides a model for the kind of instruction Daystar provides to professionals in ministry to children which is holistic. 
Instruction at Daystar enhances competence in professionals to nurture children in the ways of the lord. That is in-wisdom, stature, favor with God and favor with man (“Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and with man”. These four components are neatly tackled to create meaningful Child Development instruction, Programs and interventions.
Students graduating with Daystar are unique in many ways. Feedback based on our employees who have trained with Daystar Child Development Programme confirms that our staff are able to provide integrity leadership in a wider range of roles in our organization.  They are good Shepherds to the children they serve. They offer children support and leadership in the physical, emotional and spiritual development.  In addition, our trained staff posses the following characteristics and abilities that are invaluable to any employer in ministry to children:

• Love, care and respect for children
• Commitment to protecting and promotion of children rights
• Delighting in children
• Loyalty and responsibility towards children
• An insight and understanding of how children learn and grow
• A willingness to give oneself and ones time for children, including mentoring them and being faith models to them
• Ability to adjust their interactions with children and intervene appropriately in their situations
• Ability to practice reflection and view children as creatures in the image of God who are thinkers, decision-makers and actors with diverse intelligences and gifts
•  Ability to provide children stimulating materials and environments and access learning opportunities to them that are developmentally age appropriate
•  Ability to provide and advocate for safe, clean environments for children, good nutrition, applied health knowledge and habit formation, life skills and physical activity that enhances the children’s motor skills
• Ability to reflect on children’s needs in the light of scripture, culture and development theories
• Ability to identify systems and structures of poverty in communities and how these affect children and design appropriate response programs towards these

We are delighted to Partner with Daystar University and we challenge you to tap this excellent opportunity to answer God’s call to children.

Collaborative Academic Programme Pact.

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::Oxford Journals
::African Journals Online (AJOL)
::Springer e-Journals
::Interscience Journals
::Daystar University
::HCD Global Alliance