Building Hope, One Church at a Time

What comes to mind when you picture a church building? Maybe you envision a traditional sanctuary with stained glass windows or a sleek, modern space with a children’s wing that feels like it belongs in Disneyland. You might even recall the old finger game, “Here’s the roof. Here’s the steeple. Open the doors and see all the people.” Whatever you imagine, it probably includes a roof and doors—basic features we often take for granted. But in Honduras, a roof, doors, windows, a solid floor, and even bathrooms aren’t always part of the package.

Today, Brandy shares the stories of three Honduran pastors whose churches Sowers4Pastors has partnered with, transforming simple structures into true sanctuaries.

Church #1: Saving a Church on the Brink

Perched on a small mountain in Guacutao, a church building faced a serious threat last year when heavy rains triggered mudslides that began to bury the building. Water also seeped under the church, eroding its foundation. The congregation started building a retaining wall, scraping together what funds they could through donations from the church members and local fundraisers. But with limited resources in a village where everyone's income is low, they only managed to complete about a third of the wall before they decided they needed to reach out to Sowers4Pastors for help.

When S4P saw the situation, they immediately offered funds for materials. Brandy and Rachel expected someone to pick up the money the next day, but within an hour, two church leaders arrived on a motorcycle, ready to save their church. The brothers explained that they had been praying for these funds because their church was at risk of sliding away if they didn’t act fast.

The very next day, Brandy drove by the church and saw the congregation already unloading materials to complete the retaining wall. They weren’t wasting any time!

Church #2: A Faithful Few in Lemanal

In Lemanal, a little church was built with concrete blocks, but it lacked flooring, electricity, and a bathroom. For two years, the congregation relied on a rotating cast of interim pastors, none staying long enough to establish roots. But one woman remained steadfast. Ludiz Gonzáles held the key to the church and was always there, even when no pastor showed up. On those days, she would open the doors and lead the congregation in prayer, urging them to keep faith alive.

The church in Lemanal

Lemanal is a community where many of the men have emigrated to the U.S., leaving few hands to help with building projects. The church has been trying to construct a bathroom for two years, collecting sand from a distant river and digging a hole for the septic tank, but they lacked the manpower and funds to complete the job.

Under Ludiz’s leadership, the children’s ministry has flourished, growing from 10-15 kids to 45. She even started teaching Bible lessons in the local school, and the church is growing in other ways, too. Brandy hadn’t realized the church was without a bathroom until the last VBS program. Moved by the situation, he contacted Lighthouse Church, who agreed to partner with them to finish the project. When Ludiz received the news, she cried tears of joy.

Worship at Lemanal
(Picture taken when the LH team was visiting)

Church #3: Half a Roof, Full of Faith

Near San Pedro Sula, another little church has been under construction for four long years. Pastor José Briones managed to get the walls up, and last year they added half a roof. Yes, you read that right—the congregation has been worshiping under half a roof! Imagine attending service while rain pours in and the wind whips around you.

Pastor José, being from an area four hours away from Gracias, had never heard of Sowers4Pastors, but a mutual contact introduced him to the ministry so he could ask for help. Last week, S4P approved Pastor José's request for assistance, and the congregation didn’t waste any time. The beams are already in place, and the roof is expected to be completed this week. Pastor José sent an emotional audio message to S4P, filled with gratitude. “Thank you” doesn’t seem to cover how much this means to them after all this time.

Help These Pastors Build More Than Walls!

These stories are just a glimpse of the impact S4P’s Church Construction program can have. Please consider donating — every bit helps, and the difference it makes is monumental. It only takes $1200 to complete the typical church roof in a Honduran village.

- posted by Christi

A Ministry Mystery

Last week’s blog post mentioned some serious prayer concerns. Today’s post is more of a reminder that, even while there are big prayer requests, the ministry is still going on in exciting and sometimes new ways. Occasionally, there’s even a mystery to solve!

About ten days ago, Trish received a message from a staff member, with a link to some photos and a note that said, “Hey, Ms. Trish! God Bless you! Here are the pictures from the field day.” And Trish thought, Oh, wonderful! It’s the pictures from the field day! That was immediately followed by the thought, Wait a minute. Field day? What field day? 

The staff was in a period between visiting teams and Trish had been spending most of her waking moments updating children’s bios for the sponsorship program, which is pretty far removed from anything that might be described as a field day.

So, Trish put on her imaginary detective hat, grabbed her invisible magnifying glass, and set off in search of clues. The tracks pointed to the area around the newest Sister Church program in La Mission where a visiting team from New Life Christian Ministries had recently put on a VBS program. From there, the tracks led her to the same general area where a Honduran team from Alejandro and Secia’s previous church had also put on a program for the children and Sunday school teachers. A nearby church had taken notice of those programs and the people there felt inspired to do more to reach the youth in their community. They didn’t need to wait for a team to arrive. They felt confident that they could do some research and put on a humdinger of an event all on their own!

From there, the tracks led Trish back to Sowers4Pastors because members of the churches in La Mision and La Lima had contacted people from the S4P staff and asked if they could get some help in coming up with ideas and planning a youth event. Without hesitation, the staff members stepped in to serve as consultants for the event. They helped with preparation, planning, and logistical issues - and then served as teachers and leaders on the day it happened!

Trish knew what happened at the event, because she had pictorial evidence. The original message had called it a field day but it was much more than that. Part of the event was like a field day, in that there were a lot of games that involved running around in a field. But it also included prayer, worship times, and two separate teaching sessions. It was an all-day thing. One of the teaching sessions was on “Our Identity in Christ,” and the other was on “God’s Plan for the Family.” The pictures showed S4P’s own Alejandro and Melvin at the event. Secia was not seen in photos but that’s only because she was behind the camera. Pictures also indicate that there was food involved. That seems prudent since running youth are approximately twelvity-hundred percent likely to want to eat!

Allen and Trish are so impressed by the fact that all of this happened organically – inspired by one of S4P’s programs into growing something else. And they are especially delighted that they didn’t even know about it until after it had happened because that shows a tremendous amount of initiative on the part of the church and the S4P staff members who helped them pull it off. It has always been their goal to inspire pastors to do more, in a way that didn't required little or no gringo involvement. Empowering Honduran Pastors . . . where have I heard that before? This was an event that was planned and implemented completely independent of foreign missionaries. 

The mystery was solved. And in the words of Sherlock Holmes it was, “Elementary, my dear Watson.”

 - posted by Christi

Hondurans Empowering Hondurans! We LOVE this!

Sowers4Pastors has always had the mission of empowering pastors. Since their arrival in Gracias umpteen years ago, Allen and Trish have believed in the importance of giving indigenous pastors the tools they need without creating an atmosphere of dependence. They want to know that the Gospel will continue to spread throughout Western Honduras long after they are gone. That's one reason it is an exceptionally big deal that S4P recently hosted its first team from Honduras. It's also one of the many reasons they are happy to have Honduran staff members working with them.

Prior to joining Sowers4Pastors, Alejandro and Secia served as pastors at a church in Tegucigalpa with 4000 members.  Two of their coworkers at that church were Raúl and Brenda Jiménez, who continue to work in Tegucigalpa as children’s ministers. When Raúl and Brenda found out about the work S4P is doing, they prepared a team of twenty-seven people to help. The group consisted of all ages–children, teens, and adults. The team arrived intent on its purpose of sharing the Gospel and ministering to the children in the area. Though they were only there for two days, they were able to accomplish a lot.

The first day, the team evangelized to 2020 children, ranging from kindergarteners to middle schoolers. Think of it as a huge, one-day VBS program, involving games and Bible lessons. They team prayed for the children and their families, taking special prayer requests. Many of those kids accepted Christ that day. During a drama involving Jesus and the events leading up to the cross, the children were so excited that they began shouting to run and give Jesus a hug because he would soon be gone!

On the second day, the team worked with two churches in the area. That included two pastors, seventeen Sunday school teachers, and almost two-hundred children between the ages of 2-14. The theme of the morning was Fiesta Kids! The team arrived with shoeboxes from Samaritan’s Purse, and, along with the Sunday school teachers, led the kids in singing, dancing, Bible teaching, and prayers. In the afternoon, the team gave training to the Sunday school teachers, equipping them with strategies to teach the children more effectively. They also prayed over the Sunday school teachers. By the end of the day, both pastors were crying and offering thanks as the team presented the teachers with medals for working with the kids. The medals were a way of thanking the Sunday school teachers for helping the children and volunteering their time.

This is actually a case of Honduran pastors preparing a Honduran team to work with Honduran pastors to empower Honduran Sunday school teachers to spread the love of Jesus and train up a new generation. Since that doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, it looks like Sowers4Pastors will keep its original mission statement about empowering pastors. But you know there’s a depth and breadth to that statement that extends beyond what can fit comfortably on a letterhead!

- posted by Christi, information gleaned from a call with Alejandro!

Picture It: A Pastors' Conference, 2023

A special note for readers: Hopefully some of you were fans of the 1980s TV show, The Golden Girls: Please begin reading the introductory paragraph in the same tone Sophia might have used when saying, “Picture it: Sicily 1922…” Much like Sophia Petrillo regaled Dorothy, Rose, and Blanche with stories of her youth, the following blog post is written in the present tense. And, much like Sophia’s stories, the quotes are not 100% accurate, but they do convey the gist of what happened. Ready? 

Picture it: Honduras 2023. It’s Saturday, January 14th and Sowers4Pastors is hosting a pastors' conference at Hotel Guancascos. If you’ve ever been a part of an S4P team visit, you shouldn’t have any difficulty picturing the hotel and restaurant, as well as the beautiful gardens If you haven’t visited Gracias, just do your best with the information you have been given. 

It is a relatively brief event that serves a big purpose. Twenty-five pastors serving as denominational supervisors are in attendance. Multiple denominations are represented. Some of the supervisors oversee as many as fifty different communities. Some of the pastors are old friends, having worked with S4P since the Sowers family first moved to Gracias. Others are new to S4P – known only by reputation. 

The pastors gather at 10:00 AM and are introduced to the newer staff members with Sowers4Pastors. Some of the people in attendance haven’t before met Brandy & Rachel, Alejandro & Secia, and Esdras. Introductions are made. There is a time of praise and worship.

Everyone listens as speakers go over the projects S4P does and the resources the ministry offers. Alejandro & Secia present information to the crowd. Alejandro, who was previously an associate pastor in charge of 500 people is in his element. Once a public speaker, always a public speaker. Brandy also addresses the group and does a great job. 

They talk about the schedule of when projects take place. This is especially useful information because pastors often ask questions like, “When are you taking motorcycle applications?” Now the supervisors in attendance know that applications are accepted twice a year and will be able to share the specific application windows with the pastors they serve.

The pastors are given the following directive: “If you know of a pastor who is of the highest moral fiber – someone in need of resources – please send him our way. If you know of a pastor who is less than upstanding – someone not utilizing resources properly – please forget we were ever here. We ask that you not send shifty people our way.” (Remember that poetic license has been taken! No one at S4P would ever be so blunt!)

At noon, the conference-y portion of the conference concludes. Let the lunch and fellowship commence! The conference is a success and beneficial to all concerned. 

As one pastor said prior to the meeting, “I’m so busy. I don’t have time to come but I’m going to make time!” 

To that, S4P responds by saying, “Thank you for being a friend" . . . and more importantly, "Thank you for prioritizing spreading the Good News!"

To everyone who supports Sowers4Pastors in the work of empowering pastors in western Honduras, so that the Gospel can be preached more effectively in this part of the world - "Thank YOU for being a friend of the ministry!"

 - posted by Christi

Matching Funds Alert!

This week, Allen took a break from replacing drywall in homes damaged by Hurricane Ian in Florida to excitedly talk with me about the fact that there are people willing to match donations given toward motorcycles and church roofs. You’re probably very familiar with both of those ministries, but let’s look at them in new ways.

Motorcycles for Pastors

Pastors of individual churches aren’t the only ones putting motorcycles to good use. Denominational supervisors have also been using motorcycles to travel around and encourage their pastors. Without a motorcycle, a supervisor might visit each pastor twice a year. But supervisors who receive motorcycles are able to visit each of their pastors monthly or more! They are able to offer encouragement and that encouragement is resulting in significant growth! The pastors are going out and planting more churches. 

For years, Allen has said that each motorcycle provided to a pastor leads to an average of one church plant. But the reality is that most of the motorcycles the ministry has helped to provide are still on the road. Most of the motorcycles remain operational for a decade. Since they are still being used, the actual benefit could be much higher than one church plant per motorcycle. 

With the current matching funds drive, your donation of $500 can help provide a pastor with a motorcycle. That comes to a penny a mile over the vehicle’s projected life expectancy. Or, as Allen so aptly put it, “You can save a pastor from walking 14 miles a day for just 14 cents. We as North Americans tend to forget what that means to someone.” You could actually plant more than one church in Honduras for a donation of $500!

Church Roofs

This year, there were well over 30 applicants requesting a new church roof. From that number, twenty were chosen. Five have been completed and there are 15 more to go. Even with the rising cost of building materials, each roof is still a bargain. With the matching funds, your donation of $1000 can complete an average sized church roof. The average church seats 250 people, which means that you can put a roof over each head for only $4!

A couple of very large churches were among those selected this year. These churches will be able to seat 500 people.

The video below explains more about how we handle church roofs.

The Bottom Line

Due to financial restraints, S4P is not able to take on each request for a motorcycle or a church roof. There are many worthy applicants, but the resources are limited. Allen said, “Out of the people who approach us for help, we probably turn down 80%. We tell the pastors not to be discouraged. They can apply again in the future.”

An additional $16K is needed to complete the current church roofs. The motorcycle ministry needs an additional $10K. If you are able to donate to one of these ministries and feel it is what God wants you to do with the resources He has provided to you, this is the time to do it. With each dollar being matched, there’s no better time to donate. If you can’t send money, please pray that Sowers4Pastors will receive the funds needed. Please know how much everyone at S4P appreciates your prayers!

- posted by Christi

Pastors Training School is an Apple, not a BlackBerry

If you look closely at any successful long-term organization, you will find that it has an ability to adapt to changes. Think about it. BlackBerry devices were all the rage until the company refused to accept that people wanted to have touch screens instead of keypads. Then it was bye-bye BlackBerry and hello Apple iPhone! Or what about the infamous decision of Blockbuster to not buy Netflix - what are the chances that streaming will be the next big thing? Obviously, the need to adapt is as important for missions organizations as it is with Fortune 500 companies. Adaptability is what has kept Pastor Training School up and running.

When training school began, it was led by Dr. Julio for many years, but than he had to move on to other things. Then for several years after that, Clay Powell administrated it. A few years ago he and his family had to move back to the States and then COVID hit, causing the school to have to switch to intermittent sessions. Thankfully, COVID restrictions have eased up a lot, and the school is starting to meet regularly again! Clay is still helping from afar, but the indigenous pastors have taken over the responsibility of running the program. Remember that the ultimate goal of Sowers4Pastors is to empower indigenous pastors. As Allen says, “Empowering indigenous pastors is one of our core beliefs.” 

This year, Pastor Training School is teaching 1st and 2nd year students. The 2nd-year students arrived first. About twenty 2nd-year students are being trained by 3rd and 4th year students. Then, a couple of the 2nd-year students will be staying behind to help the 3rd and 4th year students teach the 1st-year students. This is excellent news! It demonstrates a new level of sustainability for the program. If anything happens and gringo missionaries leave the country, the program can still continue. The pastors are being trained in the Bible and they are being trained in how to train other pastors. Pastors training school can be an Apple instead of a BlackBerry. 

Allen uses the term “indigenous pastors” very deliberately. Most of the pastors are primarily of Native American descent. They speak Spanish, but their ancestry is from various tribes. Most of these pastors will be in Honduras for the rest of their lives. They live in the communities and often have extended family within those communities. Indigenous pastors don’t have the cultural inadequacies of gringos. They don’t have to raise funds in order to stay in the country. It is their country! 

Pastor Training School and helping pastors get Bibles are at the top of the Sower4Pastors priority list. Working with teams, distributing backpacks, and even feeding children ultimately goes back to a desire to empower pastors. Allen places training school at a higher priority than the motorcycle ministry or putting on new church roofs. Having a church building is great, but it is not everything. As long as there are people trained and eager to spread the Gospel, the Gospel will spread. 

When Clay was serving as the school’s director, he started the system of having monthly gatherings, where someone goes out into the villages to meet with the pastors and have a mentoring session. That has continued, but it is also being run by indigenous pastors. The school’s current director and co-director are both Honduran, as are the administrator and each of the teachers. There are more than 2000 villages without a Bible-based church in the area. The most effective way to reach them is through evangelism done within the culture.

Sowers4Pastors asks for your prayer for the financial support of Pastors Training School. As it currently stands, North Americans are largely funding Pastor Training School. The students are giving up 3-5 days of work, covering the cost of their transportation, and giving a small amount toward part of the schooling. As costs continue to rise, Sowers4Pastors share in this worthwhile endeavor has increased. Pray that God will continue to provide the resources necessary to keep this program up and running!

-posted by Christi.

Sunday School Teacher Training Session - video

We wanted to give our blog readers a chance to watch our video about the Manna Sunday school teachers training session. 

Enjoy!

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

The "Thank You" Speech

Did you know that the 1st Academy Awards ceremony was held in 1929? Did you further know that the Oscars have been televised since 1953? You may be asking what that has to do with a missions blog. Well, not a whole lot, really. But that’s sort of a shame because everyone deserves a chance to stand up in front of the world and say “Thank you,” to the people who “made it all possible.” So, let’s pretend that someone in formalwear just called Sowers4Pastors to a stage and Allen & Trish are rushing to a podium with shocked looks on their faces, with a list of people to thank that’s as long as their arms.

Their speech goes something like this:

We feel so blessed by God that He has set us up in this location. We have no doubt that God helped us choose this place. It’s a place with plenty of work to do–a place where we can be productive. We have seen numerous souls being saved as people turn to Jesus. It’s a nice place, but it isn’t without its hardships. The roads are rough and there was that pesky kidnapping incident a few years ago.

We would like to thank everyone who has ever prayed for us. Some of you have been praying for us regularly since the time we first moved our family to Honduras. Some of you pray for us each week when you pull up the blog and see our latest needs and concerns. And, of course, hundreds of thousands of people prayed during the aforementioned pesky kidnapping incident. We feel blessed beyond measure.

Thank you to all of the people who are a part of our ministry, both in the States and in Honduras. This is a massive endeavor and we couldn’t do what we do without you. Thanks to the people who help us pack backpacks and containers. Thank you to the people who give up a lot of space in their homes when filling backpacks. Your sacrifice is noticed and appreciated. Thank you to all of the people who work to pack and load the containers in Maryland and Florida. Thanks to everyone who works to repackage shoes. Thanks to our translators and Honduran staff. And a big shout out to the people contributing financially to the general fund, motorcycle ministry, construction projects, pastors training school, and the Bible book store. Thank you all!

Of course, we must thank the sister churches that sponsor kids and all of the Manna sponsors. You are changing lives while making it possible for kids to go to school and receive nutritious meals. Thank you to the group Food for Kidz for repeatedly giving us food for just the cost of shipping. And thanks to the many people who packed food for us during the early months of COVID-19.

We are profoundly grateful to everyone who has put us up over the years when we travel in the States. We also appreciate all of the churches that have allowed us the opportunity to speak and share about the ministry.

No Sowers4Pastors speech would be complete without thanking the indigenous pastors working to spread the Gospel out in the mountains - because without them, we wouldn't be doing what we're doing. We are seeing their ministries grow as they develop Sunday school teachers and church leadership. We were recently able to have almost 100 Sunday school teachers attend a training program put on by a developer of Sunday school curriculum. Another training program will be coming up soon. Thank you to the groups who have rented or loaned spaces to hold events.

As with most thank you speeches, we have undoubtedly neglected to mention someone. Please know that our momentary lapse doesn’t mean that you aren’t loved and valued. Thank you. We feel blessed by God to have this opportunity to minister and to everyone involved in this ministry, we thank you one and all.

-posted by Christi.

Training Sunday School Teachers

The mission of Sowers4Pastors is to empower Honduran pastors to reach their communities with the gospel. The work that Manna 4 Lempira does walks out that mission in the churches we serve.

Each Manna partner church is unique. They are all at different levels of development, with some just starting out, and others further down the road in their mission of making disciples. As we seek to support churches, we must evaluate where they are in their process and find the right tools to help.

Our partner church at El Tablon is one of our more mature partners. It is well established, has numerous successful church plants, and is doing a good job implementing the Manna program. When they asked us to come alongside them this year to provide training for Sunday School teachers, we realized that this would be a powerful—and fruitful—investment.

Around 30 teachers from sectors of the Tablon program—Guanas, Azomada, Catatao, and El Sapote—began a 12 module training program through their denomination back in May. These sessions lasted 4 hours and were held on the third Friday of each month. The ministry supported this training by paying for the training materials, dinner, and transportation for the teachers. The sessions covered a wide range of topics, from engaging listeners, strategies for discipline in the classroom, how to plan a dynamic lesson, recognizing child abuse, and much more. Teachers were also required to complete homework assignments individually and as a church.

On December 18 and 19, the ministry paid for these teachers to attend the last module, which was a two-day, intensive Evangelism Training. It was an incredible time of learning! On January 29, after around 60 hours of intensive study, the participants of this training will graduate as children’s pastors. Can you imagine the impact that these equipped ministers will have in their communities?

We are already seeing fruit. Some of the strategies learned in the evangelism training were implemented at the Christmas parties, and we were blessed to see many children respond to the gospel message that was shared with them. While this training program is not available to all of our partners due to denominational differences, we do plan to take portions of some of the modules and hold trainings in our other churches based upon need. We are also looking at bringing the non-denominational evangelism training to each of our church partners as soon as possible.

It is exciting to see churches grow in their abilities to minister more effectively in their communities!

- posted by Kim