Training for Church Leaders AND Honduran French Toast!

“Empowering pastors” is at the core of everything Sowers4Pastors does and it is not a once-and-done thing. There’s not some list with checkmarks beside the names of pastors to indicate, “Okay, we’ve empowered that person. Next!” It’s sort of the way we don’t get to exercise and eat right just once and call it good! Empowering pastors is an ongoing process and it’s why the recent Sunday School training was so vital. 

Last Saturday was the 3rd and final training in a series of three. Pastors and church leaders from the twenty-three different communities involved with S4P gathered together for what was, in fact, an empowering time. The first two sessions had focused on how to structure Sunday school classes and taught some techniques to get the most out of the new Sunday school materials provided by S4P. The third session was all about giving a word of encouragement to the church leaders.

Alejandro shared why offering encouragement was such a powerful way to wrap up this Sunday school training. He said, “We know that when you take the responsibility to be a church leader or a pastor, it isn’t easy. They face struggles in their lives every day. We thought we needed to offer something different.”

The session started out with the attendees connecting through worship. Then it moved into a powerful time of preaching. Alexandro feels that the sermon was exactly what the Lord intended people to hear. Initially, a different local pastor had been invited to offer a sermon to the group. That pastor had to decline because of a previous obligation. So a different local pastor was contacted. He didn’t give word that he would be there until two days before the session. He asked Alejandro what sort of message they were needing. Alejandro suggested that he preach about staying strong or something similar.

The pastor preached about all of the struggles people in the ministry face. Alejandra said, “It was amazing. In the preaching, the Holy Spirit gave new encouragement to continue the work. People were crying [because they were so moved] and all of the people in attendance felt very happy. By the end of the meeting, people felt free about things in their lives.”

Lunch was provided and Alejandro was particularly complimentary about the dessert of torreja. In case you’ve never heard of torreja, either, it looks an awful lot like what we might call French toast! Admit it, French toast would make a fabulous dessert!

Torrejas!

                 

This entire training was made possible by the love of every church in the States sponsoring Sowers4Pastors and the work they do. Alejandro said, “We want to take this opportunity to thank the churches sponsoring us for helping us spread the Gospel. Thank you for helping us encourage all of the pastors. Because of you, they have new techniques for leading Sunday school and a new strength in the Lord.”

 - posted by Christi