APOPKA, Fla. (Mennonite Mission Network) — Like the prophet Isaiah’s words describing Jesus, 4-year-old Tatriana Ponce de León led her congregation in a mission bank ministry to support children in Burkina Faso.
When she received a mission bank and a prayer card in June, Ponce de León, a member of Ebenezer Christian Church (Iglesia Cristiana Ebenezer) in Apopka, Fla., immediately set to work filling up the bank.
She asked her parents, her relatives and nearly every visitor to her home to contribute to the cause.
“My mommy gave me money and so did my daddy. Lots of people gave me money so that I could help the poor kids,” said Ponce de León.
When walking with her mother, Carmen Ponce de León, or driving in the car, Tatriana would always stop to pick up loose change that she found on the street.
“She always wanted me to stop and get the money off the street for the children," her mother said. "Often I would have to stop or she would start crying. One time we were in our car waiting at a stoplight, and she saw a penny and said, ‘Mommy, Mommy, stop! Look at that money on the street.’”
Tatriana Ponce de León was one of 30 children at Ebenezer Mennonite that helped collect money for Mennonite Mission Network ministries in Burkina Faso. Together, the children raised $277 and learned about mission workers
Donna and Loren Entz and their work alongside the church in Burkina Faso.
“To me it’s very important for the children to use these mission banks. At the same time they’re learning about different people in the world, especially so many needy people that don’t have the privilege that these kids have,” said Juanita Nuñez, who co-pastors Ebenezer with her husband, Eligio, and introduced mission banks to the children. Nuñez is also moderator-elect of Iglesia Menonita Hispana (Hispanic Mennonite Church).
“If you teach a child about mission, then they will remember when they are older,” Nuñez said.
For Ponce de León, collecting money in her blue globe bank is only one way she participates in the mission of the church. She plays the tambourine during worship services and is, according to Nuñez, the “minister of the Kleenex.”
When she sees congregation members crying at prayer meetings and worship services, she brings them tissues for comfort.
Ebenezer Mennonite devotes one Sunday each month to mission and the congregation spends regular time in prayer for missionaries they are connected with around the globe.
At the end of December, as they celebrate the coming of the Christ child, the congregation’s children will share another mission bank offering during Sunday worship.
Since the project was introduced, Mennonite Church USA children have raised $28,010 to support ministries in Burkina Faso. Mission banks have also helped children to raise money for ministries in Argentina, Benin, Ecuador, France and Japan. A new project focusing on Asian Mennonite churches in the United States will be available in February 2008.
