Sunday School Teachers Start the Year Off Right

Back in December, a group of about 30 Sunday school teachers from Manna partner churches were able to attend a training event geared towards improving their abilities as Sunday school teachers. That event was run by a company that creates curriculum. It provided teachers with the opportunity to learn how to bring the curriculum to life through the use of songs and stories. On January 4th, a different kind of training was offered for an even larger group of Sunday school teachers - how to make the most of being a part of the Manna program, and how they can help make the program as a whole be more successful. This time, there were 85 Sunday school leaders from 23 different Manna locations in attendance. In case you need any incentive to continue reading, this is probably a good place to mention that Allen commented that the “ambience was amazing.” Allen doesn’t generally come across as someone overly concerned with ambience (amazing or otherwise), so let’s find out what made this event so special.

For starters, the event was held at a beautiful campground/retreat. The program began with Melvin and his family doing what Allen calls, "An incredible job leading praise and worship, with the teachers very much participating." 

Some of the attendees have been teaching Sunday school for thirty years, while others are almost brand spankin’ new. One attendee was a 13-year-old assistant. Most of the pastors were also in attendance.

Following the time of singing, Kim Hall shared information about how Sunday school can be used to help their churches grow. Let’s all give Kim an e-maginary round of applause because she taught 100% in Spanish, without the use of a translator! There were translators on-hand ready to help out, but their services weren’t required. According to Allen, Kim did a phenomenal job.

Kim clearly detailed the responsibilities of the sponsors, the North American staff, Sowers4Pastors staff within Honduras, the churches, the parents, and the children. She went into tremendous detail and was able to clearly separate the roles of everyone involved.

Correspondence between sponsors and children is an important part of Manna4Lempira. Kim shared some examples of different challenges that come up by providing some exaggerated sample letters. One letter was beautifully written, but it didn’t give the name of the sender nor the intended recipient. One letter said who it was to and from, but it was badly crumpled and virtually demolished. Training attendees were asked to work on the sample letters.

This was a way of demonstrating that Sunday school teachers are able to weed out some of the problems that come up during the correspondence process. Regardless of how beautiful a letter is, if it doesn’t include the name or sponsor number of the child, it’s not getting to the sponsor.

Two teens in attendance were given the task of seeing how long it took to open well-sealed envelopes so they could be translated. Then they had friends jump in to speed up the process. This was an ideal way to show how long it takes Kim to open 2000 letters before she can translate them!

Kim also led the attendees in some Sunday school competitions. They were asked to recite the books of the Bible, name all 12 disciples, and see who could say the most Bible verses. Winners were awarded prizes, such as new Bibles, soccer balls, school supplies, and candy.

The day was a time of laughter and sharing. The newer Sunday schools were able to see what the older ones have been doing to be successful. They got to see the Sunday school materials and what it is like to split up Sunday school classes according to ages - something not all programs do naturally. There was discussion on how to encourage the development of Sunday school teachers so that you are bringing up future teachers from teens. There were also reminders of the importance of doing home visits and of listening to the needs of the children. When there’s a need in the home, such as a family not having enough to eat, Sunday school teachers can act as a lifeline, which also represents an opportunity to share the gospel, and help bring the family to the church. Pastors were reminded of the need to promote the Sunday school program and of how Sunday school benefits the church and the community.

As Allen said, some of the talking points might sound simplistic if you grew up in a North American Sunday school program. For people with limited experience in either teaching or attending Sunday school, it was advanced stuff.

It was a long day, with a bus and pickups leaving at 5:30 AM to transport the participants. They got started at about 8:30 with registration and breakfast. When the bus arrived to take people home at 4:00, they weren’t finished. Before leaving, each church was prayed over by all the other churches in attendance. One church would come up and then the teachers from the other churches prayed over them simultaneously. Many people praying aloud at once is a very common practice in Honduras. It may seem loud and confusing to human ears, but there’s no doubt that God is able to sort it out. Kim also had a special backdrop and was able to get a picture of each person before they left. The bus driver wasn’t surprised that the event ran a little long - another very common practice in Honduras. There was too much fun, education, and amazing ambience to cram into the originally scheduled time-frame.

The staff at S4P want to praise God that the conference seemed to go extremely well. Now, Allen notes that they will be praying that it has a positive impact in many areas, such as in the Manna program, in the Sunday school classrooms, and in the communities that they serve. 

-posted by Christi