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YOUNG TEEN
7TH GRADE TEXT BOOK
FOREWORD
The
Sunday
Schools of North American Keralites (SSNAK)
was formed for the express purpose of improving the quality of
Christian Education in the Keralite Pentecostal churches in
North America.
This organization attempts to do this by offering professional
training to Sunday School teachers and developing biblically
sound curriculum materials that are culturally sensitive to
Pentecostals of Indian origin. It has been my privilege to be
affiliated with this organization, being active in the training
of teachers through their regional and national conferences. I
have also been an advisor to the Board of SSNAK on curriculum
matters.
The decision to develop a new curriculum
was made by the Board members of the
SSNAK
after careful evaluation of currently available materials
produced by the major publishers and distributors of
Sunday
School materials. They also considered information gathered
from focus group discussions and national surveys conducted
among Keralites. Based on the best available information and in
consultation with a panel of subject matter experts, the lessons
were organized in a logical sequencing pattern as follows: Word
Series, Christ Series, Church Series and Living Series.
Knowing the word of God is the focus of
the Word Series. Knowing Christ and sharing the gospel with
others is the theme of the Christ Series. Promoting active
participation in the life of the Church is the emphasis of the
Church Series. Encouraging the application of Christian
principles in practical life is the goal of the Living Series.
The list of curriculum writers involved in
this project is impressive. The Keralite community is blessed
to have such an outstanding group of men and women to contribute
to this work. One can easily see that they have taken the time
to develop the lessons in an age-appropriate way and
user-friendly way. I am impressed with the quality of this
first volume. The
SSNAK deserves praise for the burden, vision and hard work
represented by this first volume.
A good Sunday School curriculum should be
biblical, practical and pedagogically useful. I can sincerely
say that this volume meets these criteria very well. I am happy
to recommend this to the Keralite churches. I trust that the
leaders of our community will do all they can to promote this
volume and others that would follow as part of this project.
Thomson
K. Mathew, DMin, EdD
School
of Theology and Missions
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