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Amanda's Testimony

2010-10-06T10:54:00.007-05:00

Recently, Kennon Hofer, CEF director in Sioux Falls, SD, sent us a wonderful testimony from one of his Good News Club teachers. Amanda Barton is a mom who teaches a club at Valley Springs Elementary School in Sioux Falls. We thought you would enjoy reading what Amanda has to say about the importance of the teacher and what God is doing in her club.

As a first-year Good News Club teacher at Valley Springs Elementary, I often wondered at the beginning of the year how much of an impact the lessons we teach have on the lives of the children God brings to club. Of course we know it's a good thing to do, but how much are they really getting? Was God really at work here?

Then one week a third-grade girl came to class with her entire Wonder Devotional Book that she got the week before completed. She didn't have any answers filled in, so I told her in order to receive the prize for completing it, she had to have the blanks filled in so I could know for sure that she went through them all. Later in class, we started talking about the armor of God. This young girl shot her hand up in the air and said, "I read about that in the Wonder Book. It's something about being in an army." She was retaining the things she read. She does not attend church, so she is soaking in most of this information for the first time. The next week, she came back with her book completely filled out and got her second book. She is now on book four and continues to learn and apply God's truths to her life.

Another young man is a friend of my son's and came over to our home after club one week. He saw the armor of God puzzle we had on the counter and said, "We learned about that at Good News Club."

Just this week another mom told me how her daughter was sitting in church with her. The pastor was talking about a general concept and the girl whispered to her mom, "We talked about that at Good News Club." Her mom was quite delighted as her daughter is only in kindergarten and very soft-spoken. I praise the Lord for showing me these little realizations that the children are paying attention and are retaining the truths conveyed at Good News Club.

So is it any wonder that when talking about the tongue, James 3 starts out by cautioning believers to not be quick to become teachers because they will be judged more strictly. I had always taken a personal application to this passage, but the first verse continued to ring through my mind as I read the rest of the chapter. James went on to use the comparisons of a bit in a horse's mouth and a rudder on a ship controlling the whole vessel. He further compared the tongue to a spark which can set an entire forest on fire. Keeping verse one in mind as I continued through the chapter brought me to the realization that the words a teacher conveys to his or her students can likewise set the course of their understanding into the future. It may be one concept, a specific teaching, or a general character trait that you relay to a child that affects their perspective and direction for the future. Wow! No wonder teachers are held to such a high standard.

Teaching children about spiritual matters comes with great responsibility because with the power of God's spirit, they are listening and remembering. Teaching should not be taken lightly, but truly as a privilege from God. A child's entire course of life may be determined by the one lesson, the one year, the one caring heart that you share with them. May we all keep an eternal perspective in the words we use and love we show to others around us, knowing the words we say and the things we do affects the lives of those around us in ways that may last their lifetime.

Wow, well said, Amanda! This would be a great testimony to share in your TCE class session on the Importance of the Teacher. Let's remind our TCE students that it's not only what they teach, but they way they teach it that counts!

Refreshment!

2010-08-20T15:13:00.011-05:00

Don't you love the word 'refreshment'? The dictionary defines refreshment as “to provide new vigor and energy; to cheer (in mind and spirit); to restore; to renovate; to freshen; to enliven; to renew." It is the opposite of dispirited and discouragement.

As IOTs, we all need refreshment from time to time so our TCE courses will stay fresh and lively. If you've been teaching TCE for a while, you know how easy it is to get stagnant. We find ourselves using the same old illustrations, introductions and methods course after course. Sometimes we wish we could watch someone else teach these classes, just so we could get a fresh perspective.

Well, have we got something special for you! How would you like an opportunity to see all of the TCE Level 1 classes taught by the pros at CMI? And, you don't even have to travel to Missouri to do it - you can enjoy these classes in the comfort of your own home - yes, even in your pajamas!!

We are excited to announce the first ever Instructor of Teachers Level 1 Refresher Course online! (are you cheering??) Whether you are an instructor who has been teaching TCE for years or a brand new IOT, this is a course that will benefit you! There are no assignments or practicums to worry about - just good, quality classes to watch. We have taken all of the video presentations in our online TCE course and packaged them just for you. You can watch them at your own pace and pick up some new ideas, illustrations, introductions and conclusions and teaching methods – all at the incredibly low price of only $20!

How do you get in on this amazing offer? It’s easy! Just follow these simple instructions:

Go to CMI Online
Create an account online. (Need help? Watch a presentation that shows how to create a user account.)
Type in your username and password on the right hand side of the page
Click “Login”

If you are not already enrolled in any other courses, on the right you will see “Course Categories”:

Click on “Instructor of Teachers” under “Course Categories”
Click on “Instructor of Teachers Level 1 Refresher”
Scroll down the page to enter your payment information
Click on “Enroll me in this course”

If you are already enrolled in another course, click on “All courses” on the right under “My Courses”:

Scroll down and click on “Instructor of Teachers Level 1 Refresher”
Scroll down the page to enter the payment information
Click on “Enroll me in this course”

If you are a credentialed IOT or IOT Candidate, don’t wait! Register today and bring some refreshment to your next TCE 1 course!

(NOTE: This course is for credentialed IOTs and IOT Candidates only. These demonstrations have been created for you to use as a study tool. Keep in mind that they are not designed to substitute for live demonstrations or lessons in an actual TCE 1 course.)

But wait! There's more! We have two other tools you need to be aware of that could greatly enhance your training ministry:

Wordless Book Training DVD
The little book with no words has been used as a tool to lead untold numbers to the Lord Jesus Christ. Training in effective methods for using the Wordless Book is now available on DVD. The 30-minute seminar is designed to equip individuals to effectively present the message of salvation. Also, included is a complete demonstration of a Wordless Book presentation.

Only $8.29

Ask about discounts available for CEF chapters!

Newsletter Training DVD/CD Combination
Make your newsletter stand out among all the other pieces of mail that people receive! Learn how to write and design an effective newsletter that contains the key elements that keep the reader's interest, have a great format, and are enjoyable to read. Training in how to develop a dynamic newsletter as well as step-by-step instructions and notes are included on this DVD/CD combination!

Only $16.59

Ask about discounts available for CEF chapters!

Check out these great training tools by contacting CEF Press at 1.800.748.7710 or visit them on the Web at http://www.cefpress.com/.

God Is at Work in Sioux Falls

2010-07-28T11:17:00.012-05:00

Kennon Hofer, CEF local director of Sioux Falls, SD, recently sent us a wonderful testimony from one of his club teachers. Amanda Barton is a mom who teaches a club at Valley Springs Elementary School in Sioux Falls. She wrote to tell of her experiences as a first-year teacher.

As you read Amanda’s testimony below, be encouraged in what God can do through those students you train in your TCE courses! You might also want to share her words of wisdom at the end of her testimony with your students.

As a first-year Good News Club teacher at Valley Springs Elementary, I often wondered at the beginning of the year how much of an impact the lessons we teach have on the lives of the children God brings to club. Of course we know it's a good thing to do, but how much are they really getting? Was God really at work here?

Then one week a third-grade girl came to class with her entire Wonder Devotional Book that she got the week before completed. She didn't have any answers filled in, so I told her in order to receive the prize for completing it, she had to have the blanks filled in so I could know for sure that she went through them all.
Later in class, we started talking about the armor of God. This young girl shot her hand up in the air and said, "I read about that in the Wonder Book. It's something about being in an army." She was retaining the things she read. She does not attend church, so she is soaking in most of this information for the first time. The next week, she came back with her book completely filled out and got her second book. She is now on book four and continues to learn and apply God's truths to her life.
Another young man is a friend of my son's and came over to our home after club one week. He saw the armor of God puzzle we had on the counter and said, "We learned about that at Good News Club."
Just this week another mom told me how her daughter was sitting in church with her. The pastor was talking about a general concept and the girl whispered to her mom, "We talked about that at Good News Club." Her mom was quite delighted as her daughter is only in kindergarten and very soft-spoken. I praise the Lord for showing me these little realizations that the children are paying attention and are retaining the truths conveyed at Good News Club.
So is it any wonder that when talking about the tongue, James 3 starts out by cautioning believers to not be quick to become teachers because they will be judged more strictly. I had always taken a personal application to this passage, but the first verse continued to ring through my mind as I read the rest of the chapter. James went on to use the comparisons of a bit in a horse's mouth and a rudder on a ship controlling the whole vessel. He further compared the tongue to a spark which can set an entire forest on fire.
Keeping verse one in mind as I continued through the chapter brought me to the realization that the words a teacher conveys to his or her students can likewise set the course of their understanding into the future. It may be one concept, a specific teaching, or a general character trait that you relay to a child that affects their perspective and direction for the future. Wow! No wonder teachers are held to such a high standard.
Teaching children about spiritual matters comes with great responsibility because with the power of God's spirit, they are listening and remembering. Teaching should not be taken lightly, but truly as a privilege from God. A child's entire course of life may be determined by the one lesson, the one year, the one caring heart that you share with them. May we all keep an eternal perspective in the words we use and love we show to others around us, knowing the words we say and the things we do affects the lives of those around us in ways that may last their lifetime.

Well said, Amanda! And thank you Kennon for sharing this testimony with us. We are so grateful for teachers like Amanda, who put their whole heart into their ministry! As Howard Hendricks would say, “may her tribe increase!”

Prospecting for Gold!

2010-06-21T11:13:00.010-05:00

Here’s an interesting thought: As IOTs we are like gold prospectors – always on the lookout for potential gold mines! Those are some thought-provoking words from the pen of Dr. John Maxwell. Okay, he didn’t say the part about IOTs – we added that! But he was referring to inspirational leaders – which every IOT should be! And he had lots more to say that we think is worth passing along to you.

Much of our training focuses on developing our teachers’ technical skills – and that’s important. But don’t forget that your training should also be inspirational. Your teachers want an instructor who will encourage them, believe in their potential, and help them grow. It's really a matter of putting 1 Corinthians 13 into practice toward your students!

So, by permission, here are some thoughts from Dr. Maxwell on being an inspirational leader. Think of how you can apply these thoughts as an IOT.

Five Attributes of an Inspirational Leader*

Attitude of Service
To be an inspirational leader, you must adopt an attitude of service toward those you lead. This requires laying aside selfish interests to add value to another person. When you serve, you awaken something magnetic inside of you. People are drawn to follow you because they know you'll find ways to make them better.

Affirmation
To inspire means to have a positive view of others. If we're not careful, we become fault-finders, magnifying the flaws in everyone around us. Instead, leaders should emulate gold prospectors - always on the lookout for potential gold mines. When they find traces of ore, prospectors assume there's a rich vein to unearth, and they start digging. In the same fashion, leaders ought to search for the best traits within a person and commit to uncovering them.

One of the best applications of this idea is expressed in what I call the 101 percent principle: Find the one thing that you believe is a person's greatest asset, and then give 100 percent encouragement in that area. Focusing on a person's strengths inspires them by promoting confidence, growth, and success.

Attentiveness
Great inspirers know the desires of those they lead. As much as people respect the knowledge and ability of their leaders, these are secondary concerns for them. They don't care how much their leaders know until they know how much their leaders care. When leaders attend to the deeply felt needs of their team, the determination and commitment of each team member skyrockets.

Availability
Leaders inspire by intentionally investing time in the people they lead. They make themselves available. People cannot be nurtured from a distance or by infrequent spurts of attention. They need a leader to spend time with them - planned time, not just a conversation in passing. In our fast-paced and demanding world, time is a leader's most precious commodity. While it feels costly to give up, nothing communicates that you value a person more than the gift of your time.

Authenticity
To inspire, leaders have to be genuine. More than anything else, followers want to believe in and trust their leaders. However, when leaders break promises or fail to honor commitments, they reveal themselves as being inauthentic, and they lose credibility. Trust rests upon a foundation of authenticity. To gain trust, a leader must consistently align words and deeds, while showing a degree of transparency.

Summary
Inspirational leadership can be confused with momentary charisma. I prefer to think about inspiring as more of a process than an event. More than a brilliant speech, it's cultivating habits of brilliance that manifest themselves daily. By modeling the five attributes of an inspiring leader, I trust that you'll win the respect of those you lead and earn the right to influence them.

Wow! There’s no doubt that an instructor who serves and affirms his or her students, gives attention to them and is available to help, and who does it all with authenticity (puts 1 Corinthians 13 into practice!) is going to be a blessing and an inspiration to them. In turn, this instructor will bring out the best in his or her students – and maybe uncover that hidden gold mine!

*This article is used by permission from Leadership Wired, GiANT Impact's premiere leadership newsletter, available for free subscription at www.giantimpact.com.

A Change in Leadership

2010-01-05T16:00:00.007-06:00

By now, most of you have probably seen the communication from our president, Reese Kauffman, about the change in leadership in the Department of Education. Dr. Martha Wright has stepped down after 20 years of faithful service as Vice President of Educational Services.

Martha came to Warrenton in 1990 to develop and launch the TCE program that is now the standard training for CEF worldwide. During her time here she was instrumental in developing projects such as the Children’s Ministry Resource Bible and co-authored The Wonder Book. Martha also sought and achieved recognition of our Children’s Ministries Institute training in numerous Bible colleges and universities, including CEF’s partnership with Liberty University.

Martha loves pioneering ministry and breaking new ground, and she has felt for some time that her work here was drawing to a close. She is working with our president to explore the possibility of a new position that would allow her to use her gifts and talents in a more productive manner involving education and leadership training on a larger scale.

We are going to miss Martha’s leadership in the daily working of our department. Those of us who have been privileged to work with her know her as a woman of vision and passion. She has been more than just a boss—she has been our friend and mentor. Under Martha's leadership, the Department of Education has developed into an effective team. We have all learned so much from her about what it means to be a great teacher and a godly leader. Her influence has also impacted countless students who have come to Warrenton for training or who have been in her training sessions on the field.

After prayer and consideration and discussions with Reese and other CEF leaders, Lynda Pongracz has agreed to take the leadership of our department. On January 1, 2010, Lynda became Interim Director of Educational Services. Martha will remain in the area through May to mentor Lynda in her new responsibilities and assure a smooth transition. Please pray for Lynda as she assumes her new responsibilities. And pray for Martha, as she seeks God's direction for her ministry.

Change is hard for many of us and no one knows what challenges await this year. But we do know this: God is already there! With that assurance, we can step with confidence into the unknown and anticipate all that He has in store for us! One thing that will not change is that our very capable staff in the Department of Education will continue to seek ways to serve you better. As a team, we will continue to provide the very best training and materials we can for you – our IOT family!

Legand of the Poinsettia

2009-12-14T07:00:00.000-06:00

We have a special treat for you today! Our guest blogger is our own TCE Program Director, Lynne Herlein. Lynne has written some thoughts about the beautiful Christmas flower, the poinsettia. We trust you will enjoy reading her post and that it will help you further enjoy the beauty of this season.

Do you enjoy seeing the festive lights and decorations at Christmas? I do! Lights, trees, Christmas ornaments, manger scenes, candy canes, etc. begin popping up sometime in November and everywhere we turn we are reminded of Christmas.

One Christmas decoration we see a lot are the festive potted poinsettias. Their showy display of red and green seem custom-made for Christmas. But have you ever wondered how the poinsettia became part of our Christmas tradition?

The poinsettia was found growing wild in Mexico by Dr. Joel Roberts Poinsett, America’s first foreign minister to Mexico. In the late 1820’s, the avid gardener brought this flower, known as the “Flower of the Holy Night,” with him to the U.S. The flower later came to be known by the name we call it today, “Poinsettia.” The following is a legend that has come to be part of the story of the poinsettia.

The Legend of the Poinsettia

Many years ago in Mexico there lived a little girl named Pepita. Pepita and her cousin, Pedro, were very poor. It was nearly Christmas so, as usual, a manger scene was on display at the church. All of the children talked excitedly about what gifts they wantedto bring to the Christ child on Christmas Eve. However, because Pepita andPedro had no money, they had nothing they could bring to lay at the manger.

Christmas Eve arrived and, rather than feeling joyful as she walked towards the service, Pepita was very sad. Pedro saw the sadness and said, “I’m sure that even the most humble gift, given in love, will be acceptable in his eyes.” Not sure what to do, but believing her cousin, Pepita stopped and picked some common weeds along the roadside and formed them into a bouquet of sorts.

As Pepita walked towards the manger she remembered the words Pedro had spoken and humbly laid her “bouquet” at the manger. Suddenly, the bouquet burst into beautiful red flowers. The people attending the service that night felt as if they had witnessed a Christmas miracle! From that time on the flowers were known as the “Flower of the Holy Night” because they bloomed each Christmas.

Although this is merely a legend, the message is applicable today. Perhaps this year has been especially difficult for you. With the recession came loss of jobs or cutbacks. Perhaps you have had personal or family struggles, lost a loved one or heard devastating news about your health. At times the harshness of life may have nearly robbed you of your joy. It may be that your gift-giving is going to be a bit sparse this year...and it brings a certain sadness because you want to do more than you are able. It may be helpful to remember the nugget of truth found in Pedro’s wise words: “...even the most humble gift, given in love, will be acceptable in His eyes.”

We often say that Christmas isn’t about the gifts, but has it become that to us? What kinds of things could you do this Christmas that show your love for Christ to others? Perhaps it is giving baked goods or spending time doing things the people you love enjoy (reading books, playing games, watching a movie, taking a walk, sharing a cup of coffee.) Maybe it is volunteering to help those who are less fortunate.

Perhaps you can share the good news of Christmas with the children who live around you or send a note of encouragement to your TCE graduates. Maybe you have received a blessing that could be shared with someone else...making it even more special! Although your “bouquet” may not spring forth into beautiful red flowers...it will be received with love and joy, and Christ will be pleased because your gift was given in love.

We are so thankful for each of you, our IOTs, and the gift you are to our ministry. Thank you for giving your time and creativity to your TCE students. They have surely benefitted from your “bouquets!”

Peace on Earth

2009-12-08T09:10:00.008-06:00

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill to men” (Luke 2:14).

Peace is rare in our world! According to the Personnel Journal, “Less than 8% of the time since the beginning of recorded time has the world been entirely at peace.” Now that’s a depressing thought!

One observer put it this way: “Peace is the brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading.” (Lloyd Cory, Quote Unquote)

So, what happened to the peace promised by the angels on the night of our Savior’s birth? It is not a peace brought about by a treaty between nations. This is a peace given to individuals. It is a deep, inner calm in the hearts of those who know the Prince of Peace, the Lord Jesus Christ, as their Savior.

Knowing the peace of God doesn’t mean living free of stress and pressure! God’s inward peace comes in the midst of trouble. It is what keeps us level when all around us is tilted by turmoil. Theologian A.T. Pierson said, “The peace of God is that eternal calm which lies far too deep in the praying, trusting soul to be reached by any external disturbances.” This is not a peace understood by the world. That’s why there is so little peace in our world! But it is a peace available to every person who seeks it.

Contrary to what some people think, being in ministry does not automatically guarantee a peaceful path! Preparing classes and working with TCE students, along with all the other things you do in ministry can be stressful and exhausting! But as you look back over this past year, can you trace the peace of God in your life, even through the stressful times? And isn't it wonderful to know that His peace goes with us into 2010!

As we enter this most special season, our prayer for you is that the peace of God would rule in your heart, in your home and in your place of ministry. No matter what the year ahead may hold, may our Lord Jesus Christ fill you with His heavenly peace!

Living a Life of Thanksgiving to the Lord

2009-11-23T09:44:00.011-06:00

It's Thanksgiving time here in America. We at the Cafe pray that God will bless you and your family with hearts of gratitude to the Lord. Today's post comes courtesy of Back to the Bible broadcast.

For God's people, Thanksgiving is far more than a special day on the calendar. The Bible urges us to live a life of thanksgiving each day. Being thankful to God for all of His blessings is truly a mark of the Christian. So let me give you four biblical ways to express your thanksgiving to the Lord at this wonderful season of the year. The base I want to build on is Psalm 100, a song of praise to God as our Creator, Sustainer and Redeemer.

I see at least four ways that Psalm 100 instructs us to praise and worship God. Some may be a little scary to those who are not used to joyously expressing praise, but I encourage you not to be afraid!

1. Don't Be Afraid to Shout Praise to the Lord. The Bible says, "Make a joyful shout to the LORD" (Ps. 100:1). In the Bible, shouting is associated with great achievement or joy. Joshua told Israel to march around Jericho for six days and on the seventh day to lift a great shout. When they did, the walls fell down (Josh. 6).

When you are thanking and praising God, don't be afraid to be a little loud. God loves to hear our praises, and it will also make you biblical!

2. Don't Be Afraid to Serve the Lord with Gladness. "Serve the LORD with gladness" (Ps. 100:2). Gladness means mirth, gaiety and happiness. No service to the Lord, whether great or small, should be done grudgingly.

Sincere and true delight in service to God should accompany our words and deeds of worship. When you are serving the Lord, don't be afraid to do it with a glad heart—and don't be afraid to smile!

3. Don't Be Afraid to Come into the Lord's Presence. "Come before His presence with singing" (Ps. 100:2). God calls us to come into His presence privately each day and together in corporate worship. "Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice" (Ps. 55:17).

It was said of the fledgling New Testament church that they met daily in the temple for teaching from the Word, fellowship, worship and praise. Little wonder that Hebrews 10:25 begs us not to fail to regularly assemble with other believers in thanksgiving, hearing the Word and worship.

4. Don't Be Afraid to Get to Know the Lord. The rest of Ps. 100:3 says, "Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture" (emphasis added). The psalmist calls the people to recognize and "know" God's words, works and ways.

He wants us to know that He is Jehovah God and we are not, that He is the Creator and we are His creatures and that we are His sheep and He is our Shepherd. The heart-longing of every godly person is to get to know God more intimately.

Let's make it our determination to praise and worship God this holiday season!

Copyright © 2009 The Good News Broadcasting Association, Inc. (Back to the Bible) Lincoln, Nebraska, USA Used by permission. All rights reserved http://www.backtothebible.org

Culture Point #4 - Evangelizing Children

2009-11-09T09:48:00.005-06:00

Over the past few months, we have been examining our six CEF culture points – principles that guide all we do in our ministries around the world. So far, we have discussed godly leadership, the spiritual welfare of our workers and the importance of prayer. Today we take a closer look at the heart of our ministry—evangelizing children!

Here is culture point #4:

Importance of Evangelizing Children There is no limit to the number of organizations that do many good things that are important to boys and girls in need. We are thankful for them and believe that God uses them to help hurting children. CEF, however, has been called by God to exclusively present the Gospel so children may be saved and discipled in God’s Word. We must stay on point.

When we consider today's children around the world, we can identify many profound needs. There is poverty, hunger, AIDS, homelessness, illiteracy, abuse and children without parents or families just to name a few. Our hearts go out to the masses of hurting children. We all wish we could do something that would take away the pain so that every child could be adequately fed, clothed and cared for. And certainly most of us try to do what we can for children who are in our immediate sphere of influence.

This culture point, however, reminds us of our primary mission. As this point states, there are many good organizations seeking to meet the physical needs of children—and CEF has often partnered with them, but our God-given task is to meet the child's spiritual need. Our call from God as an organization is to present the message of salvation clearly and simply, to lead boys and girls to the Savior, to disciple them in the Word of God and direct them into the local body of believers. There is not another Christian organization to our knowledge with that specific aim.

Since our founding in 1937, CEF has been a beacon shining in a dark world. We have been used of God in many places to be a change-agent, helping the Church see that the Great Commission cannot be fulfilled without sharing the Gospel with the little ones, and that children must be evangelized before they can be taught to demonstrate Christian character traits. And our task is time-sensitive! George Barna reminds us from his studies that, “If people do not embrace Jesus Christ as their Savior before they reach their teenage years, the chance of their doing so at all is slim.” (Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions, p. 34)

Eternity is at stake! Scripture puts it this way, “For what shall it profit a man [or a child], if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36). In discussing the need for believers to return to the priority of evangelism, Christianity Today editor, Ajith Fernando writes, “The stark fact of lostness places before us the urgency of evangelism.”

When we have an opportunity and the means to meet a physical need, we are compelled by Scripture to do so. But, we must encourage our TCE students to stay true to the purpose for which our ministry exists—to, first and foremost, evangelize and disciple children. We all know that Christians, in general, do not focus ministry on evangelizing children. If we drift from our purpose, who will be there to clearly and consistently present the Gospel? Let’s be sure we are staying on point—let’s keep the main thing the main thing!

We're Back!

2009-10-28T15:43:00.015-05:00

Have you been searching for us? We’ve had to take some time away from the Café to handle other things in the Department of Education – we hope you missed us!

Now that we’re back, we want to update you on some exciting things happening at CMI Online!

Apply Now for January 2010 courses!

Enrolling in Understanding Today's Child or Teaching Children Effectively Level 1 requires application and acceptance to the Children's Ministries Institute. The approval process takes 3-4 weeks from the time the application is submitted and must be completed before students can register for either course.

Don’t delay! Prospective students should Apply Now!

Understanding Today’s Child
Dates: Jan 17 - Mar 13, 2010
Registration Open: Nov 21 - Dec 13
Cost: $330 plus books

Teaching Children Effectively™ Level 1
Dates: Jan 17 - Mar 27, 2010
Registration Open: Nov 21 - Dec 13
Cost: $330 plus books

For a complete listing of all upcoming courses at CMI Online, see the sidebar, CMI Online News!

Announcing: Teaching Preschoolers to Know and Love God

The newest addition to the Teaching to Transform seminar series on CMI Online, Teaching Preschoolers to Know and Love God is a 30 minute seminar designed to provide preschool teachers with valuable information to be considered as they prepare for and teach their class. Parents of preschoolers may also benefit from this seminar. What are preschoolers like? Can a preschool child really be saved? What are important characteristics of a preschool class session? How do you teach preschoolers? These questions will be answered during this seminar. At the end of the seminar, you will be equipped with information that can help you become a more effective preschool teacher.

Cost – only $5!! (groups up to 50 people can take this training for only $25!)

Enroll Now!!!

Brand new CMI Online promotional

If you know people who want training, but wonder if online training will work for them, you’ll want to show them this video. In this two-minute video, a recent student explains how the online training works and why she feels it is valuable training for teachers. View this video promotional at: http://online.cefcmi.com/videos/promos/cmionlinepromo/cmionlinepromo.swf

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We are excited about what God is doing through CMI Online! The program continues to grow as new courses are added and new students discover us. And there's lots more to come! Be sure to let folks in your area know about our online training. If they can't come to your training courses, CMI Online is the next best thing! Help us spread the word about this convenient, quality training!

Be-Attitudes for Teachers

2009-09-03T15:43:00.018-05:00

We’re going to take a little break from our look at the CEF culture points for the following special treat! Recently, we came across a Web site called the Ministry Tools Resource Center. They have lots of very interesting articles and resources for teachers. We recommend you check them out.

One of their resources is a book called, Be-Attitudes for Teachers, that contains 30 devotionals. They have given us special permission to reprint one of those devotionals here at the Café. This special permission was granted to us for this one-time printing. Please do not copy this article for other use. You can visit their Web site to see all they have to offer.

We wanted to share this article with you to continue inspiring you to be creative in teaching your TCE courses—and other training as well. So read and enjoy—then go visit the Ministry Tools Resource Center!

Be-Attitudes for Teachers

“Who ... me? Be creative?”

Yes, everyone has the potential to be creative! That bold assertion can be made because in Genesis 1:26-27 God said “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness . . .” Certainly that would include His creative quality.

When you were a preschooler you were imaginative. You could make play toys from almost anything. You may have even created imaginary friends. You were curious, investigative, inquisitive, filled with wonder and awe. You were very sensory-oriented.

But it wasn’t long before significant adults in your life would say “No. Don’t touch.” Even when what you were doing was not harmful or inappropriate, they may have halted your inquiry because they didn’t want to be bothered or inconvenienced.

You went to school and encountered teachers who would penalize you for taking initiative, for deviating from their expectations. Perhaps you heard your parents say something like --- "Why can’t you be like other children?"

On into adolescence you went and discovered a term called peer pressure. You wanted to be liked and accepted by your peers so you would dress, act, and talk like them.

Think about it: Is the problem that you have no creative ability or that your creativity has been stifled?

Perhaps you need to travel back to the days when you learned by touching, looking, listening, tasting, and smelling. Allow yourself to wonder, to question, to brainstorm, to expose yourself to new ideas. Get out of your rut and try something new. When you do, you will find the joy of discovery. Learning will take on a new dimension.

As a teacher, you must remember that your students learn best this way too. They also were made in the image of God and consequently have creative resources. Are you going to work within or against God’s design?

At the root of a teacher’s aptness toward creativity lies his/her philosophy or view of the teaching-learning process. How you believe people learn will determine how you will structure the learning experience.

The traditional, non-creative teacher believes people learn by sitting still, listening to what is being said, and acquiring facts. Consequently, this teacher will see his role as an authoritarian, a teller, and a fact-giver.

The more innovative, creative teacher, on the other hand, believes people learn by getting involved (doing), personally discovering truths, and understanding meanings behind facts. As a result, this teacher will structure lessons to include opportunity for interaction and participation. The teacher’s role will be that of a guide and motivator, stimulating students through the use of audiovisuals and meaningful activities to explore God’s Word and discover His truth. Learning becomes exciting, fun, relevant, and meaningful.

For the sake of your students, let go of those fears and be who God made you to be —a creative person.

© 2001 Ministry Tools Resource Center, http://mintools.com/ Special permission has been granted to CEF only to copy this Be-Attitude onto our blog. This devotional is taken from the Ministry Tools Resource Center’s book, Be-Attitudes for Teachers.

Culture Point #3 - Prayer

2009-08-17T15:47:00.010-05:00

We have been taking a close look at the six principles that comprise the culture of Child Evangelism Fellowship. Earlier, we examined the first two culture points—the Importance of Godly Leadership at Every Level and the Importance of the Spiritual Welfare of our Workers. Both of these points are significant in our ministry as instructors of teachers.

Today, we want to focus on the third culture point:

Importance of Prayer as Our Foundation It is not the work we do, the meetings we hold or the decisions we make that bring the greatest advances in the work; it is the time spent before the throne of God in prayer, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that brings power, laborers and resources into the ministry.

If we were to take an informal poll, asking our CEF family to rate the importance of prayer in our ministry, it would undoubtedly rank at the top of the list, right alongside reading the Bible. Yet, for all our talk about prayer and its importance to our task, how many of us have a deep and consistent prayer life?

This culture point states that prayer is “our foundation.” This is true of our ministry, both in a literal as well as in a spiritual sense. D. L. Moody once said, “Every great movement of God can be traced to a kneeling figure.” If you go back to the beginning of CEF’s history, you find our founder, Mr. O, was that kneeling figure—a man of prayer. He knew that the great task of building a ministry to children could not succeed without it!

In the book, The Indomitable Mr. O, his biographer tells about how, from the very beginning, Mr. O bathed this ministry in prayer. He would rise every morning at 4:00 and go to his “prayer closet” in a grove of trees on his property and pour out his heart to God for the children. As the work grew, he used a world globe to pray for the children of the nations. Even toward the end of his life, Mr. O was still actively and consistently praying for the workers in CEF around the world—by name!

In his book, Everything by Prayer, Mr. O makes his prayer philosophy very clear:

“Every spiritual program must be defended and supported by definite believing prayer. Every God-called man and every God-planned enterprise must have praying folk to pray out the problems. To carry on the work of God is to wage a terrific warfare with Satan and all his hosts. Before the battle there must be preparation wrought in prayer; during the battle the warriors must be upheld by those guided of God to be intercessors; after the battle there should be praise.”

Scripture teaches many principles about prayer. We are to pray in the will of God and with confidence (1 John 5:14-15); we are to pray in the name of Christ (John 14:12-15); we are to pray in faith (Js. 1:5-8); we are to pray for definite things (Rom. 8:26-27); we are to pray with a grateful heart (Phil. 4:4-7). These are just a few of God’s prayer principles.

As instructors of teachers, we need to be leaders who set the example in prayer. Do you pray for the children in your area and around the world? Do you pray for your TCE students? Do you pray for your TCE graduates? Do you pray for the clubs your students are teaching? Do you pray for God to give you more students? Do you pray that God will raise up more IOTs from your courses? Do you pray for the financial needs of the ministry? These are just some of the areas of prayer we should be involved in.

Many of you are very conscientious in praying for your students. Some IOTs set aside definite prayer times during their TCE courses. Some secure prayer partners outside of the courses to pray for individual students. One IOT shared how he and his family keep the names of their TCE students on index cards and pray for them at family meals. How encouraging it would be for your students—and graduates—to know that you are remembering them in prayer on a regular basis!

If you ask most CEF workers what the greatest need is in their ministry, they will mention two things: workers and finances. Please notice the last statement in our culture point on prayer: “It is the time spent before the throne of God in prayer, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that brings power, laborers and resources into the ministry.” Clearly the answer to our ministry needs is found in prayer.

Mr. O said, “It is wonderful to know that God is still the owner and sovereign, and He is a friend of mine. When we pray we ask an omnipotent Friend, the owner of all, for the thing we need, or we commit to Him the problem.”

As IOTs and ministry leaders, let’s be people of prayer. Let’s pray for the children. Let’s pray for our students. Let’s pray for more workers. Let’s pray for our financial needs. Let’s pray for each other. And then let’s rejoice together as we see our faithful God at work!

Do you have a special way to pray for your TCE students and grads? Click the "comment" link below and share it with us. You might have a great idea that will inspire another IOT to be more dilligent in prayer!

Culture Point #2 - Investing in the Spiritual Lives of Others

2009-07-31T11:19:00.026-05:00

A few weeks ago, we began taking a close look at the culture of CEF—what we believe, what we value and how we function. Our leaders have developed six culture points that define us as a ministry. Each of these are hallmarks that we, as IOTs, need to be sure we are exhibiting in our training ministries.

Earlier this month we examined the first point – the Importance of Godly Leadership at Every Level. This point reminds us that, as ministry leaders, we must have a heart for God and an ability to discern His will as we lead. We also considered the foundations of godly leadership such as having a growing relationship with God, spending time in His Word and in prayer, yielding ourselves regularly to the control of the Holy Spirit and being clean vessels through which God can work.

Today, we want to consider the second culture point:

Importance of the Spiritual Welfare of our Workers It is vital that we are never satisfied to simply teach our staff the methods of how to reach children and how to train others to do so, but we must purposefully invest in the spiritual lives of our staff. When CEF staff are men and women who are primarily driven by passion for God and His glory and have a clear call from the Lord, the work will prosper. If we keep our focus on God and on His calling, then we will be sustained in times of challenge.

This culture point is especially important for those of us in the training ministry. Our work as instructors of teachers is so much more than just teaching our students the skills needed to reach and disciple children effectively. We are investing in their lives; building into their character; adding vital links to their spiritual life chain. Those intangible things can’t be accomplished just by teaching a curriculum. So how do we see to the spiritual welfare of those God has entrusted to our leadership? Here are some thoughts to get you started:

Balance academics with inspiration When you have to communicate a lot of information, evaluate and grade student performance, it’s easy to get focused on academics. But you need to also give attention to the inspiration of your students. Keep in mind that the inspirational aspects of your classes should not be focused just on what students are doing, but also on who they are and what they are becoming. Encourage your students to let God’s Word soak into their own lives before they try to share it with the children. Remind students often that their strength for service comes not from developing a technically-correct lesson, but from time spent with the Author of the Word they are teaching.

Remind students frequently that their ministry is not a “job” but a calling Even volunteer teachers can begin to feel like their club is a job they must do. You need to constantly remind your students of God’s call to this ministry of reaching children. As this culture point reminds us, “If we keep our focus on God and on His calling, then we will be sustained in times of challenge.” Those of us in children’s ministry encounter challenges all the time. There are always reasons to quit. When those times come, it is often the reality of God’s call on our lives that keeps us going! Use Scriptures such as Matt. 18:14, Mark 10:14, Mark 16:15 and Rom. 10:14-15 to inspire your students for the work God has called them to do.

Share in practical ways Looking out for the spiritual welfare of your students is not just what you say in class. You can also encourage them in practical ways.

Encourage students through informal conversations during the course. Ask how they’re doing and how they’re feeling about what they’re learning. Offer a word of personal encouragement when you sense a student is struggling.
Have scheduled and unscheduled prayer time with your students. You might want to have a “God Can” in your TCE class. Encourage students to write down requests to put in the can, and then take time at each session to pray for them. Have prayer partners among the students and also from outside the class. When a student shares a need with you personally, stop and pray immediately for that need.
Keep your eyes open for inexpensive inspirational gifts for your students. A card at their place with an inspirational quote or Scripture verse can be a real encouragement. Small inspirational books or other gift items can be found at your local Christian bookstore or on Web sites like http://www.christianbook.com/.

Share your heart, not just your head When you consider what illustrations to use in a class session, go beyond just the stories about how you put a certain teaching skill into practice (although they DO need to hear those stories!). Think also about personal stories that reveal your own struggles and how God is working in your life. Your students love to know that you are still a “work in progress” just like them! Don’t depress them—but do share about times you feel uncertain or even defeated in the ministry and how God lifts you up on those difficult days.

Follow up your TCE grads After students graduate from your TCE course, keep in contact with them beyond their involvement in the ministry. Maybe you can develop a monthly or quarterly e-mail letter to your TCE alumni to encourage their spiritual walk as well as their ministry with children. This type of brief communication can go a long way to keep them inspired and motivated. Plan a yearly get-together for TCE alumni – a time for sharing and encouragement – and of course dessert! This type of follow up lets your students know they are not just a statistic on your monthly report, but a part of your CEF family.

Set a good example This is undoubtedly the hardest of these suggestions to carry out. We all have “unlived-out” truth in our lives. We know what we’re supposed to be and do, but often fall short. It’s the same struggle Paul describes in Rom. 7:15-24. There are no perfect instructors of teachers. Did you hear that? None! But, we need to be yielding ourselves to God daily so that the Fruit of the Spirit can be revealed in our lives. When you have challenges in your TCE courses, with your TCE students or even with your fellow instructors, check your attitude. Ask God to give you grace to be the example of a Spirit-controlled teacher as you interact with others.

Look out for your own spiritual welfare What are you doing to continue developing your own spiritual life? We all have our own ways of recharging our batteries. Whether you refresh your spiritual life by reading good books, setting aside extended times to be alone with God, talking with spiritual a mentor or keeping a journal, you need to find ways that work for you. And don’t forget that taking care of your physical needs relates to your spiritual life as well. Make sure you are getting sufficient rest and time to just relax with friends.

Remember, it is vital that “we are never satisfied to simply teach our staff the methods of how to reach children and how to train others to do so, but we must purposefully invest in the spiritual lives of our staff.” How are you doing in this area? Are there some things you need to do differently or better? Do you have additional ideas or suggestions? Please click the “comment” link below and share with us!

New CMI Module Now Online!

2009-07-15T09:56:00.010-05:00

The CMI Online team has been diligently working to create a training option for people who minister to children and cannot attend the Children's Ministries Institute or local training. We are very excited to announce the launch of a new course – Understanding Today’s Child.

Students who successfully complete this course online will receive credit toward the on-campus CMI diploma program and various certificates. If you are a CEF worker needing to complete your CMI training, here is your opportunity to take the week 2 module in the comfort of your own home!

Children today are growing up in a world that is incredibly complex and ever-changing. For an effective ministry, children’s ministry leaders must have insight into the child’s unique problems and an understanding of how to meet his/her needs in the classroom, one-on-one and as part of their overall ministry. Join us or encourage someone you know to join us for this practical and effective course online this September!!

Course Dates: September 13-November 21, 2009
Registration Open: August 15-30
SPACE IS LIMITED

Emphasis in this course is placed on the role of the children’s ministry leader/teacher in helping children to develop physically, socially, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually. Students will also learn ways to effectively minister to children dealing with the effects of divorce, abuse, natural disasters and death of a close relative or friend. In addition, students will learn how to teach children from various religious backgrounds.

Individual and group assignments along with community forum discussions allow students to interact with the curriculum on both a personal and interpersonal level. As well, project assignments provide the students with practical tools that can be directly used in ministry.

Read more about this online course Here.
Prospective students need to Apply Now!
(Note: The approval process takes 3-4 weeks from the time the application is submitted and must be completed before you can register for this course on August 15.)

Spread the word in your area about this excellent opportunity to learn how to effectively minister to today’s children!

Culture Point #1 - Godly Leadership

2009-07-08T10:24:00.011-05:00

Thank you for your patience with us in updating the blog! Like many of you, our blog administrator has been busy with ministry, including CYIA training. But we're back in the saddle now and ready to go!

A few weeks ago we listed the CEF culture points – those principles that should guide our ministry. Over the next few weeks, we will take a closer look at each culture point. For our examination of the first point, we thank Dr. Martha Wright for allowing us to adapt this material from her seminar on being a “Leader of Influence.”

The first of our CEF culture points is:

Importance of Godly Leadership at Every Level Spiritual leadership is the highest form of authority. The men and women who lead must have a personal heart for God in order to be able to discern the will of God and lead the ministry effectively. Regardless of the skill of a leader, if he or she lacks a heart for God, the work will be eroded at its very foundation.

A leader has been defined as “a person that influences others; the ability of one person to influence others to follow him/her.” Christian leadership, however, carries that definition a step further. For the Christian, “True leadership is giving oneself to God’s service and the service of others.” If we are fully given to serve God and others, our leadership will influence others for the kingdom of God. You may not see yourself as a leader, but you have TCE students who are watching and learning from you--and not just from the classes you teach!

King David is a wonderful example of godly leadership. Psalm 78:72 says, “And David shepherded them with integrity of heart, with skillful hands he led them.” David not only did the things a leader should do with skillfulness, he also had a heart of integrity to be the person God wanted him to be. Even in times of failure, David was able to correct his course and move forward by God's grace. Godly leadership is not so much what one does outwardly, rather what one is inwardly.

The Lord Jesus Christ is, of course, the greatest example of godly leadership. As you read the Gospel accounts of His earthly life and ministry, you see Him leading with compassion, integrity, strength, humility and grace. He understood the weaknesses of His followers, encouraged their growth, mentored their learning, forgave their failures, challenged their faith and set the example by His own life.

Godly leadership begins in the heart of the leader. God uses those who are in a right relationship with Him (2 Chron. 16:9a; 1 Sam. 13:14). When a leader is right with God, he can be used to influence others despite his own limitations. God can use all of the experiences in your life, good or bad, to build character required for leadership that could not be developed in another way.

What are the foundations of godly leadership:

A growing relationship with God Are you constantly seeking to know God better? Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Author Henry Blackaby says, “Leaders who neglect a close relationship with God will not be able to accomplish God’s will through their organizations.”

Regular time spent in Scripture and in prayer Spending time in the study of God’s Word and in meaningful prayer is the resource of strength for godly leadership. You not only need this time for your own well-being, but for the wisdom you need to lead others. Remember, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Under control of the Holy Spirit Are you daily allowing God’s Holy Spirit to fill and control you? Ephesians 5:18 reminds us to, “Be filled with the Spirit”—He is your guide! Only the Holy Spirit can produce spiritual change. He alone can give wisdom and bring about the results that will ultimately accomplish the task.

Regular times of confession of sin Are you keeping short accounts with God? Godly leaders must be clean instruments through whom God can work. The Apostle Paul said, “. . .”If a man cleanses himself from the latter (wickedness) he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work” (2 Tim. 2:21).

Godly leaders aren't perfect people, but they are consistently growing in their walk with God. When these foundations are in place, your leadership will be characterized by compassion, grace, humility and forgiveness.

Our world is filled with competent leaders. There are scores of people who have natural leadership abilities and who have learned good leadership skills. But as a believer—and a CEF instructor of teachers—we need to go a step beyond. We need to be godly leaders!

Bagels and Bibles!

2009-06-12T08:25:00.006-05:00

Amazing things can happen over bagels, cream cheese and coffee!

Last time, we began a series on our CEF Culture points. Our desire is to examine each of the points and how they should impact our ministries as instructors of teachers.

This week, however, we are going to take a brief detour. We wanted to share the following testimony with you that came from one of our CMI Online students regarding her experience in taking the TCE Level 1 course online. We thought you'd be blessed by Eileen's words!

Just today I used material from Teaching Children Effectively Level l to get three adults – elders of their church! - to rethink their belief that young children cannot be saved.

Over bagels, cream cheese, coffee and prayer, all of us brought our Bibles to the table. I turned to specific pages of the TCE Level 1 manual, and then, God happened! The more I shared the Bible passages, the room became very quiet. The men and woman became thoughtful. All the time I shared in love God’s beautiful words from Matthew and Mark and John and Romans…

Did I change their thinking? They went away blessed and we will meet again.

So here is one terrific reason for taking Teaching Children Effectively Level 1. TCE 1 puts it all together – God’s precious Word - through his fabulous back-up team – CEF online administrator and her colleagues at World Headquarters! You will watch videos that amaze you with facts – facts that need to be explained and explored. Such as: What sin is and how a child, who does not hear the Good News, is not led to Christ. What that means for his or her life. What kids could avoid if they were given the Gospel and became believers when they were young.

You will learn from the great saints, from the founder of CEF to his own searching and questions as to could a child be saved? From Moody to Spurgeon – well, it is an awesome study.

So – don’t miss it! If you love the Lord and have a heart to serve kids, this is the best course ever. I have been a teacher for over 35 years and until I took this course, had never been able to explain salvation to one of my students – and then I used the Wordless Book - all taught in the class – and you can’t stop me now!

Have a great time, drink in God’s word and learn from his earthly missionaries why children can – and should – be evangelized.

Isn't that a great testimony! It might be something you could use in promoting your own TCE courses. Our thanks to online instructor, Carla Ratcliff, for sharing this testimony with us and for helping students like Eileen get excited about the ministry of reaching children for Christ!

The Culture of CEF

2009-05-29T07:00:00.012-05:00

Every organization has a culture. The dictionary defines culture as “the sum of attitudes, customs, behavior and beliefs that characterize the functioning of a group or organization; transmitted from one generation to the next.”

We, in CEF, have a culture that is unique to us. It incorporates what we believe, what we value and how we function. It has been handed down to us, beginning with our founder, Rev. Jesse Irvin Overholtzer. We, in turn, must protect and pass this culture along to the next generation of CEF workers.

Recently, our leadership determined to put down on paper what it is that defines us as a ministry. They have distilled all of our unique hallmarks into six “culture points.” As you read through these six significant points, think about how you and your ministry as an IOT exemplify each of them:

CEF Culture Points

Importance of Godly Leadership at Every Level - Spiritual leadership is the highest form of authority. The men and women who lead must have a personal heart for God in order to be able to discern the will of God and lead the ministry effectively. Regardless of the skill of a leader, if he or she lacks a heart for God, the work will be eroded at its very foundation.

Importance of the Spiritual Welfare of our Workers - It is vital that we are never satisfied to simply teach our staff the methods of how to reach children and how to train others to do so, but we must purposefully invest in the spiritual lives of our staff. When CEF® staff are men and women who are primarily driven by passion for God and His glory and have a clear call from the Lord, the work will prosper. If we keep our focus on God and on His calling, then we will be sustained in times of challenge.

Importance of Prayer as Our Foundation - It is not the work we do, the meetings we hold or the decisions we make that bring the greatest advances in the work; it is the time spent before the throne of God in prayer, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that brings power, laborers and resources into the ministry.

Importance of Evangelizing Children - There is no limit to the number of organizations that do many good things that are important to boys and girls in need. We are thankful for them and believe that God uses them to help hurting children. CEF, however, has been called by God to exclusively present the Gospel so children may be saved and discipled in God’s Word. We must stay on point.

Importance of a Clear and Biblical Presentation of the Gospel - The fact that a young child can comprehend the simple message of salvation and become a child of God is the foundational principle of CEF. Everything else that we do is based upon this fact. The good news of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation. We must present it clearly and accurately.

Importance of a Commitment to Excellence, for the Glory of God - Every aspect of the work, no matter how big or small, has significance. This includes the training we conduct, the materials we produce, the facilities we use and the way we present ourselves. In every area we must strive for excellence to the glory of God!

In the weeks ahead, we will examine each of these culture points more closely and think about how they affect our ministry as instructors of teachers.

Candace's Story

2009-05-22T07:00:00.000-05:00

Our friends from CEF of South Carolina gave us permission to share the following testimony that appears on their Web site. This is another powerful reminder of why we do what we do!

This was her first time to a CEF after-school Good news Club, but Candace really liked the songs, games, and especially the Bible lesson. As the volunteer teacher told the story from God’s Word, Candace listened intently. "...and God has made the promise from Hebrews 13:5, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’…"

As the invitation was given at the end of the Bible lesson, Candace responded. "I want to know the God that will never leave you." she said beginning to weep. She wept deeply as she explained why she wanted so desperately to know ‘the God who would never leave her’. Months earlier, her mother decided she would no longer care for little Candace. So, her Grandmother took her in and began to love Candace in a way she had never been loved before.

Months had passed and ‘Grandmomma’ began to get sick—so sick that she could no longer care for the little girl. When Candace’s mother was called upon to begin caring for her once again, her mother refused and signed the child over to the State. Now living in a foster home, Candace was being cared for but she so missed the love and attention she had received from her Grandmother.

"Will God really promise to never leave me? Will He hear me if I talk to Him about my Grandmomma?"

That day, Candace accepted the love and salvation of God. She still hurts and wants to be with her Grandmother but she has found a new relationship that she is growing in - a relationship with the Almighty God.

The volunteer workers at the after-school Good News Club are continuing to help Candace grow in her new found relationship through visits and guiding her through a special discipleship tool called The Wonder Devotional Book. Through this two month devotional and additional volumes to follow, Candace, and all the children who come to Good News Club, are not only learning about God but are learning how to spend time with ‘the God who will never leave them nor forsake them’. That’s really good news, especially for little Candace.

It is amazing how many children come to an after-school Good News Club with such heart-wrenching stories. Children just like Candace are finding hope in a real and everlasting relationship with Jesus Christ.

There are so many hurting children like Candace, who need to know the Father’s love. You might want to share Candace’s story with your TCE students as a reminder of why we need to know how to effectively present the Gospel and lead children to Christ. We’re glad those volunteer teachers in Candace’s club were well trained in how to evangelize the children and then follow them up. Because of them—and the work of the IOTs who trained them—Candace has the opportunity, not only to know God, but to develop deep roots in her relationship with Him.

Thank you to all of you who are faithfully training those teachers and volunteer workers. May God continue to multiply your efforts so that children around the world can come to know the God who will never leave or forsake them!

In the Zone!

2009-05-15T07:00:00.008-05:00

This week we have a special guest blogger visiting the Café! Ashley Alden is not only a fellow instructor of teachers, she is also the CEF Wonderzone.com Coordinator! We’ve asked Ashley to tell us a little about Wonderzone.com, how we can use it in our training ministries and how we can be involved ourselves.

Hello there, fellow IOT! I am delighted to be able to share with you this week! My name is Ashley Alden and right now God has me working at CEF International Headquarters as the Wonderzone.com Coordinator in the International Ministries department. I’d like to share with you today about the AMAZING discipleship tool of Wonderzone.com so that you can give this information to your teachers, as well as consider becoming involved yourself!

Wonderzone.com, the online discipleship ministry of CEF, is an interactive, fun, exciting Web site where kids can learn more about God and be discipled in their walk with Him! Wonderzone.com features games, e-cards (called Wonder Cards), daily devotionals from the Wonder Devotional Book, and a series of adventures! These adventures are the “heart” of Wonderzone.com. The adventures can be one-level or multi-level, and each one teaches the child truths about God and His Word through flash graphics, games, and devotionals.

When a child completes an adventure on Wonderzone.com, his answers to the devotionals are sent to the message center, where a very special volunteer, called a “Trail Guide,” will answer that message. The Trail Guide corrects the answers from the child, prays for any requests, and encourages that child in his or her walk with God.

Our Trail Guides get to read all kinds of messages from the children that touch their hearts. Here are just a few:

"Are Jeses and god the same thing? If you ask god for forgiveness and he forgives you before he punishes you will he still punish you? I hope to hear from you soon."

"I fell very embarrassed to ask the question, "How do I know if I'm going to heaven?" ...whenever anybody asks me I say I think I do...but I feel guilty because I'm pretty sure God would like me to know and I'm avoing the fact that I don't. Can you please tell me how to get to heaven and how I know I will go to heaven. Thank you so much for taking time out of your schedual to talk/write to me."

"I just believed in Jesus on this website."

"I want ALL trailguides to know i like it here at wz. there arent very many christian websites for children like this one i totaly appriciate this website."

"I love this place. I think it's the coolest website ever."

"I love these WZ adventures! They are really bringing me closer to Christ!!"

Imagine getting to respond to comments like these! It’s no wonder our Trail Guides love their ministry! Read what some of them have said:

"It has been a real blessing for me to interact with kids through the WZ. I try to get on line every day, if possible."

"It is always a challenge to respond to a student, and I always ask God to guide me. We never know how what we say will impact someone, and everyone needs to be encouraged. I enjoy doing the Adventures, too! They are well written, with good, colorful graphics and fun games."

"Another way Wonderzone has impacted me are the challenging questions. I have always shied away from answering anyone’s challenging spiritual questions because I thought I didn't know the Bible, but now I enjoy answering these challenges. It makes me research the Bible more. In fact, I have begun writing down these questions so I can research and tell future children. "

One advantage to being a Trail Guide is the flexibility of this ministry. Trail Guides can disciple kids online ANYTIME—there is no specific time commitment, no specific place and no specific time to “report for duty!” It’s a perfect fit in today’s busy schedules.

Wonderzone.com is a powerful tool for discipleship of today’s kids! They are online—so that’s where we want to be! There were over 2,400 log-ins to Wonderzone.com in the past week. Since November 2008, over 36,000 lessons were completed online. And Wonderzone.com is not just about discipleship. Since November 2008, there have been 133 professions of faith on the Web site!

Will you tell your TCE students about Wonderzone.com? Will you commit to telling kids you know about this exciting discipleship tool? Will you consider being a Trail Guide—giving some of your time to disciple kids online?

Come visit us at: http://www.wonderzone.com/, and see what all the excitement is about! If you, or one of your teachers, are interested in becoming a Trail Guide, visit http://www.disciplekids.org/. For more resources on promoting Wonderzone.com, please email me at: ashley.alden@cefonline.com.

Thanks Ashley for giving us a glimpse of Wonderzone.com. We are so grateful to Ashley and all of the Trail Guides for the great work they are doing to disciple children online. Be sure to share this information with your TCE students and encourage them to direct the children in their clubs to Wonderzone.com!

Happy Birthday CMI Online!

2009-05-08T07:00:00.002-05:00

Recently, we had a very unusual birthday party in the department of education. It was celebrated in the CMI Student Lounge and featured, goodies to eat, balloons...and certain staff members in pajamas! It was the first birthday of CMI Online -- you know, the place where you can "study in your pajamas!"

It's hard to believe that it has been one year since CMI Online went live on the Internet. A lot of work preceeded that launch--and a lot has been going on since then! We've asked Carla Ratcliff, CMI Online Administrator, to give you an update about what's been happening in our Internet training courses and what's ahead.

CMI Online celebrated its one year birthday of being live on April 1, 2009, and we are growing! There are now 433 users from 42 countries, including users from two of our target countries, Afghanistan and Cape Verde.

Additional seminars have been added to the site so that there are now seven seminars available in the Teaching to Transform Seminar Series. These seminars provide basic, introductory teaching and can be used effectively both by individuals and groups. Pastors and other children's ministry leaders can use our individual seminars for training groups.

Romans Road, our three-week demo course, was offered again in March. This course had 13 students including a student from Malaysia and one from the United Kingdom. A new online instructor was trained during this course and will be able to facilitate future online courses on her own.

Romans Road will be held again in May. We are praising the Lord that 43 students have enrolled! This is our largest group yet! We’re excited because there are three students from Japan, two from the Middle East, one from Jamaica, one from Malaysia, one from the Philippines, one from Ghana, one from Indonesia, and one from Kenya. These students represent five regions of the world!

In addition, five students successfully completed our first online offering of Teaching Children Effectively™ Level 1, and this course is proving to be effective online! The following is a testimony from one of our online students.

As a Deacon, Faith Trained Member, Gideon, and Disaster Relief Chaplain, I have had other training in soul winning (presenting the Gospel to others), but none has been as good as the TCE Level 1 online training that I received through CEF. Out of all of the members of our Good News Club team, I felt I was the least qualified to lead a Good News Club meeting.
At a point which was a little over half way through the TCE Level 1 training, I presented the Wordless Book and the memory verse. I prayed for the Holy Spirit to guide the boys and girls in any decision that they might make. Seven of the boys and girls out of the fourteen that were there that day came forward to ask Jesus into their hearts as their Lord and Savior. Our great grandson and great granddaughter were two of those that came. We rejoice and praise God for those that came to believe on Jesus that day and for the other three that came later.
With what I have experienced as a result of the TCE Level 1 online training, I now feel confident enough to help lead children's church, and I am considering starting a Good News Club in our small town of New Haven, Mo. next year. God does not call the qualified, He equips the believer. I pray that you will be one of those that He equips. Yours Truly, Phil Hamby

Encourage someone you know, who cannot attend a course in person, to take TCE Level 1 online today!

Teaching Children Effectively Level 1
ONLINE
June 21 – August 29
Apply Now!
Registration Dates: May 15 – May 28!
To find out more, visit us at:
http://www.online.cefcmi.com

CYIA is Coming!

2009-05-01T07:00:00.000-05:00

Many instructors of teachers are called upon to train summer missionaries in CYIA™ programs. Here in the states, CYIA training varies in length and content. Some use the CYIA manual presented by the USA Ministries department in training the teens for summer ministry. Others use TCE™ Level 1. Those of you in other countries probably have a variety of training approaches as well.

This summer’s series in the states, The Wordless Book Visualized, presents a number of challenges for those who use TCE Level 1. There are actually four different types of lessons in this series: topical, Gospel account, evangelistic narrative and spiritual growth. Since TCE Level 1 is designed to be used with evangelistic narrative passages, you will need to help the students understand how to teach the three other types of lessons.

Our TCE Program Director, Lynne Herlein, has put together some helps that can be included in the Bible lesson teaching sessions to clarify how to handle each type of lesson in this series. These notes are designed to supplement either the CYIA manual or TCE Level 1 notes. Worksheets are also provided to give you helpful information. All of the notes are in several documents (both in Microsoft Word and PDF files) on the CEF download site. You can access these documents by clicking Here.

We realize that those of you outside of the states may be on a different cycle of summer lessons. You may want to access this material anyway and keep it on file for future use. If you have questions regarding these notes or how to incorporate them into the training at CYIA, contact lynne.herlein@cefonline.com.

CYIA training is a wonderful opportunity to disciple Christian teens and help them develop skills, not only for summer ministry, but for a lifetime of ministry to children! Just to encourage your heart, check out this wonderful testimony from a club hostess about how God used some teens last summer to bless a neighborhood in a 5-Day Club at Ft. Hood:

“The four young men that taught our 5-Day Club were excellent! They worked so well together. They took cues from each other and transitioned from one part to the next without a hitch; their enthusiasm was contagious! It was so evident that they thoroughly enjoyed teaching all parts of the 5-Day Club; even the singing! Because they were guys, they really kept the kids’ attention. I had mostly boys in our club, so they thought it was really cool to have guys teaching. The kids really felt loved, and felt like they could be themselves, just like the leaders. Thank you for all the time and training you’ve invested in these young men. They were a blessing to our whole neighborhood."

May God richly bless all of you who will be working in CYIA training programs around the world this summer!

Are You a Wrecker or a Builder?

2009-04-24T08:00:00.004-05:00

In August of 2000, Elsie Holdren lost her job for being too kind!

The 68-year-old woman was a security guard at a courthouse in Florida. Her superiors wrote her a memo stating: “Due to your kindness and caring, you are compromising your position as a security officer. Being kind and caring is not a job requirement, nor is it what you are paid to do.” Ms. Holdren was transferred to another position.

If being too kind and caring were grounds for dismissal as an IOT, how many of us would be out of a job?

One of the most important ways we demonstrate kindness to our students is through our words -- when we talk casually with our students, when we teach our classes and when we evaluate practicums. We can either tear down or build up with our words.

Someone once wrote the following poem called, “A Wrecker or a Builder?” As you read it, ask yourself, "which one am I?"

I saw them tearing a building down,
A group of men in a busy town.
With a hefty blow and a lusty yell
They swung with zest and a side wall fell.

Asked of the foreman, “Are these men skilled?
The kind you would hire if you had to build?”
He looked at me and laughed, “No indeed!
Unskilled labor is all I need.

Why they can wreck in a day or two
What it has taken builders years to do!”
I asked myself as I went my way,
Which of these roles have I tried to play?

Are you a wrecker or a builder? You can’t deny the devastating effect harsh words can have on another person. Neither can you overestimate the value of edifying or building others up. Pascal wrote: “Cold words freeze people, and hot words scorch them. Bitter words make them bitter, and wrathful words make them wrathful. Kind words also produce their image on men’s souls. They sooth, quiet and comfort the hearer.”

Dr. Herbert Clark, a psychologist from Johns Hopkins University, has discovered with research the value of affirmation over criticism. His study has shown that it takes the average person about 48% longer to understand a sentence which uses a negative rather than a positive. People respond faster to positive affirmation than to negative criticism.

Wilbur and Orville Wright attributed their success in birthing the age of aviation to the affirmation they received at home. Orville wrote, “We were lucky enough to grow up in an environment where there was always encouragement to children to pursue intellectual interests, and to investigate whatever aroused curiosity.”

Howard Hendricks expresses the value of edifying and affirmation this way: “A pat on the back, though only a few vertebrae removed from a kick in the pants, is miles ahead in results!”

Scripture has much to say about how our words are to be edifying. In the book of Proverbs, Solomon wisely teaches a lot about how our words can either build or wreck. Proverbs 15 is especially filled with good thoughts. Paul also had some important things to say in the New Testament books of Ephesians and Colossians. Consider the following verses, taken from the New Living Translation (NLT):

Prov. 15:1 “A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare."

Prov. 15:4 "Gentle words are a tree of life; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit."

Prov. 15:23 "Everyone enjoys a fitting reply; it is wonderful to say the right thing at the right time!"

Prov. 15:30 "A cheerful look brings joy to the heart; good news makes for good health."

Eph. 4:29-30 "Don't use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them."

Col. 4:6 "Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone."

How edifying and building are your words to your students? We talk about the importance of being positive in our evaluation, but it holds true in all of your communication with them. You can be edifying and positive in giving assignments, in giving directions—even in correcting wrong attitudes and behavior.

And remember, you not only edify by your words, but also by your actions. Positive words can easily be negated by negative actions. Do your actions back up what you say?

Unlike Elsie Holdren’s organization, it is not against CEF or TCE policy to be kind and caring! You won’t be putting your job at risk by doing so. But if you fail to be kind and caring, you may be putting CEF’s reputation and your own testimony at risk. More importantly, you will be dishonoring the God you serve.

Let's be instructors of teachers who are builders--known for our kindness--as we seek to edify our TCE students!

The Need to Reach Them as Children

2009-04-17T08:00:00.000-05:00

Back in February we shared a testimony from one of our CMI Online students. In the TCE Level 1 course online, students are asked to post about their experience in sharing the Wordless Book with children.

The following testimony expresses the very point we strive to make with our TCE students—that we need to reach children while they are children, before their hearts become hardened to the Gospel.

Rosa (not her real name) just turned 15 the end of January. She is from El Salvador and is the sweetest, prettiest, brightest girl ever! I asked her if I could step outside of the tutoring and present the Gospel story to her. The reason I put it that way is that she has often told me how proud she is of being a Christian. She wears a beautiful gold cross and tells me she attends church every Sunday.
In a way I feel a little guilty. Why? Because first, she is not of the age group I am supposed to be working with; and second, she is probably already a child of the King. Still, I want to be able to write with integrity that I shared the message honestly, so Rosa accepted and I began.
I started with the gold page and she listened very attentively. I showed her the Bible I have with me and she looked at it lovingly. Then I showed her John 3:16 and we read the verse together. "For God so loved the world..." Again, she was right with me.
Then I began to go through the dark page, and she understood what sin is. She also understood that Jesus came from Heaven to die on a cross, was buried; and rose again. We read God's Word about Jesus shedding His blood for forgiveness, and her eyes became sad and she looked like she might cry. I asked her if she would like to become a child of God, and then she stopped. She looked at me and said she was not sure. She likes music, and not all of it is Christian. Then she exhibited incredible honesty and told me that she is not ready - with a clear heart - to become a Christian.
Wow. I smiled at her while asking God quietly, "Where do I go from here?" Well, God is so good. I told Rosa that it was a big step; that it was really wonderful of her to be honest; but that I had to tell her the choices were slim: one day she will meet Jesus in heaven or be forever separated from Him... she finished the sentence for me. But then I sensed she was struggling, so I handed her the Bible and told her how to read it; how the red sentences were the actual words of Jesus; how she might like to begin in the New Testament with the Gospel of Mark, and that we could talk anytime about being a Christian.
As I finish this post, the ending is in God's hands. I now understand what we learned early on in our course; how important it is to reach the little guys, for the world catches up with them really fast. My daily prayer list will now include Rosa, and I ask the rest of you to also keep her in your prayers.

You might want to use excerpts from this testimony in TCE classes such as, Importance of Conversion, Importance of Reaching the Child in the Neighborhood or How to Lead a Child to Christ. We so often share statistics about how most people come to Christ as children. Testimonies like this one are a good way to illustrate the truth that we need to reach children while they are children!

It is also a powerful reminder that we must not assume a child is a Christian just because he or she goes to church, wears a cross or even uses biblical terminology. We must question and probe a child’s understanding and bring him or her to a point of decision as God’s Spirit leads. Challenge your teachers to this end…and keep Rosa in your prayers.

The Way of the Cross

2009-04-10T08:00:00.001-05:00

As we consider the incredible, life-changing events of Good Friday, when our Savior gave up His life for us, we must also turn our hearts toward the third day, when He arose in victory! There are many in our world who stop at the cross and never move on.

Poet Annie Johnson Flint reminds us in her poem, "The Way of the Cross," that the cross must lead us all the way through the tomb to the triumph of the resurrection!

Some of us stay at the cross,
Some of us wait at the tomb,
Quickened and raised with Christ
Yet lingering still in the gloom.
Some of us ‘bide at the Passover feast
With Pentecost all unknown,
The triumphs of grace in the heavenly place
That our Lord has made His own.
If the Christ who died had stopped at the cross,
His work had been incomplete.
If the Christ who was buried had stayed in the tomb,
He had only known defeat,
But the way of the cross never stops at the cross
And the way of the tomb leads on
To victorious grace in the heavenly place
Where the risen Lord has gone.

May you and your family experience anew the remembrance of what our Lord Jesus Christ suffered for you on the cross and then secured for you through His glorious resurrection!

Honey in Malaysia!

2009-04-03T10:54:00.021-05:00

Our guest blogger this week comes all the way from Malaysia! Khoo Siew Ean is an instructor of teachers with CEF Malaysia. Siew Ean has been teaching Super Seminars with great success in her area, but she was concerned about the lack of commitment she often saw in the students (sound familiar?).

One day, God gave her a creative idea for helping her students make a definite commitment to reach the children. Now she challenges them to “make HONEY” in their ministry for God. Following is Siew Ean’s testimony and her HONEY commitment tool.

At the beginning of the seminar I actually introduce the participants to the butterfly, botanist and bee. It’s not my original idea I read it somewhere before and adapted it. But there was no commitment part. The (HONEY) idea came while walking in the shopping mall when I saw their promotion brochure for Valentine’s Day which had two bees holding a honey pot. I prayed and told the Lord since He gave me the idea please confirm it by letting the mall donate their leftover cards to CEF. So on the 15 February I went back to the mall in the morning to ask for the cards. They gladly gave me all their leftovers--about 600 cards! I had to paste on the card to cover the advertisement part so I could put on the commitment note.

I begin by asking the people what are their reasons for coming to the seminar:

“Some people visit from seminar to seminar just like the butterfly visiting one flower to another. Some are like the botanist, who makes sure that he takes detailed notes but once he closes his file he forgets everything. But there are some like the bee who come to collect pollen than make honey out of it.

“I hope that you come like a bee for this seminar. Come and learn and go back and put it into practice and reach children with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is what this Super Seminar Basic is about - evangelism.”

I usually will get the participants to help me with the skit while I narrate. I bring along artificial flowers and a butterfly for a volunteer to hold and move around the flowers; a magnifying glass for the 'botanist' to examine the flowers and take notes on his file; a bee for another volunteer to hold and visit the flowers.

At the end of my seminar which is the next day, I go back to the three items and challenge them to be the bee and sign the card if they want to:

Hard work is expected in
Obeying God’s call, to
Nurture children in the Word of God, but first,
Evangelise them, and may
Yahweh’s name be glorified in all these!

I ( ) will prayerfully commit to make HONEY for the Lord by doing my best to put into practice what I have learnt from the Super Seminar Basic. Reaching boys and girls with the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ will be my priority.

Signed by:

Date:

To follow up and encourage each other we are hoping to form a prayer group. Please pray with us concerning this matter. If every area where there is a CEF training can establish a prayer group that will be a great blessing to the children's ministry in Malaysia.

Last weekend (21 & 22 March) was my first training for the year. We had about 100 participants. At the end of the training a commitment was given to make HONEY for God and we had 75% who signed and stood up to commit themselves to the Lord.

We thank Siew Ean for sharing her creative idea with us, and we praise God for the wonderful results He is giving the work in Malaysia. Let’s uphold our brothers and sisters around the world who are training teachers to reach children with the Gospel!

Seeking Success? Avoiding Failure? Where Is Your Focus?

2009-03-27T09:50:00.007-05:00

From time to time we are honored to have a guest post on our blog. Today we are privileged to hear from Mr. Jim Neigh, CEF Vice President of International Ministries. Recently, Jim wrote an article for IM’s publication, ILink, that we thought would be an encouragement to you. We all deal with feelings of failure at times in our ministry, but how we deal with failure is often a matter of perspective. Following is Jim’s article on this subject, used with his permission.

A few years ago I came across a book by motivational speaker and writer John C. Maxwell titled Failing Forward (Thomas Nelson Publications). I highly recommend it for your reading (and your library). Reading the book started me thinking about how failure affects our lives and the ministry of CEF. The book caused me to ask myself questions like: How do I perceive failure? How do I respond to failure? Is failure inevitable? Do I allow failure to negatively affect future action? If I were to ask you those questions, how would you answer?

Someone once said that success is 99 percent failure. J. Wallace Hamilton said, "People are training for success when they should be training for failure. Failure is far more common than success." It is important that we be trained and equipped to be successful in ministry, and we need to be putting such training into action. But when one comes back to Mr. Hamilton's words "Failure is far more common than success" one realizes that we are too often ill equipped to deal with failure in our lives and ministry. That includes personal failure and failure in the lives of those we know and those with whom we serve.

How do you perceive failure? How do you respond to failure? Are you learning from it and getting on with your life and ministry? Or do you let it get you down and keep you from doing ministry as effectively as you could? Let me share a thought from Donald Luce in his book Time-Out Leadership (Thomas Nelson Publications).

"Are you dedicating your energies in the pursuit of success, or are you spending your energies trying to avoid failure? No one likes to fail. The disappointment and embarrassment can be debilitating for many, especially for those with big egos.

"How do you get over the failure complex then? Start by seeing each failure as an opportunity to learn. If you succeeded in everything you did on the very first attempt, you would have no basis for what success feels or looks like. You acquire new skills only by understanding the dynamics of why they work. That usually happens when you grasp the consequences of not applying the skill. When you get it wrong, you have the opportunity to evaluate what you can do to be better the next time. You get the chance to improve on your style or design. Celebrate failure. Through it you will understand success."

Think of men in the Bible who could have been considered failures: Abraham, Moses, David, Peter and many others. But they were not failures. They failed, learned from their failure and went on to be used mightily of God for His purposes!

The idea of using failure as a stepping stone to more effective ministry has been in the minds of leaders throughout the ages. Here are some short quotes. Read them slowly and think about the impact each statement can have in your life.

• "When we give ourselves permission to fail, we at the same time give ourselves permission to excel." - Musicologist Eloise Ristad

• "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." - Thomas Alva Edison

• "Failing doesn't make us failures. It makes us experienced. Failing should never be used as a means to disqualify." - Author unknown

• "What you have to tell yourself is, 'I'm not a failure; I failed at doing something.'" - Author Erma Bombeck

• "Teachability is an attitude, a mind-set that says, 'No matter how much I know (or think I know), I can learn from this situation.'" - Author unknown

• "Let the past sleep, but let it sleep on the bosom of Christ, and go out into the irresistible future with Him. Never let the sense of failure corrupt your new action." - Oswald Chambers

Consider these thoughts before the Lord in the light of Ephesians 3:20, then determine to "fail forward" to His glory and for the sake of the children!

One Bloom at at Time

2009-03-19T15:57:00.010-05:00

In his book, Minute Motivators for Teachers, Stan Toler observes, “A gardener doesn’t raise a crop of roses. He cultivates the flowers one bloom at a time.”

What is true of gardening is also true of teaching. As you train your TCE students, you must cultivate them one at a time. Of course, when you work with roses you've got to expect a few thorns! We've all encountered those "thorny" students in our courses, haven't we? But God can helps us work around those obstacles as we seek to cultivate each student so he or she can blossom in the ministry of reaching children.

Following are some of Stan Toler’s suggestions for being a good trainer/cultivator, which we have adapted for our ministry as IOTs:

1. Teach Sincerely
Your TCE students are not only affected by your skills, they are influenced by the way you live. The greatest lessons you will ever teach will come from your own experience in reaching children. Your transparency before your students will be a greater source of inspiration than your facts or theories. Be real with your TCE students. Let them know about times you struggled as well as the victories you have achieved.

2. Teach Purposefully
Vibrant teaching focuses on building productivity and responsibility. It observes weaknesses and teaches strengthening. It recognizes possibilities and offers plans. It estimates damages and offers reconstruction. These are good principles to keep in mind as you evaluate and grade your TCE students. Remember, it’s not about the grades—it’s about encouraging your students and helping them strengthen their teaching.

3. Teach Methodically
Methods must fit the occasion and lessons must be aimed at the learning level of your students. And don’t forget, steady doses are better than overdoses. Don’t unload the truck on those TCE students! Layer your teaching a little at a time. Be clear and methodical, especially in those skill-building classes like Scripture Memorization and Bible Lesson Preparation and Presentation.

4. Teach Sacrificially
Every leader is given a moment—a window of opportunity that may never open again—to influence a life. You may have to subtract time or energy in order to add the resources for someone’s development. As you no doubt realize, being an instructor of teachers is not a 9 to 5 job! Some of your TCE students are going to require a greater sacrifice of your time and energy than others to succeed. Invest in your students—they are the future of your ministry!

5. Teach Sympathetically
The best teaching comes from the heart. Your students not only need your experience, they also need your attention. Teach them by not only respecting who they are, but also by what they will become. Howard Hendricks reminds us, “Teaching that impacts lives is not from head to head, but from heart to heart.” Let your TCE students see an instructor who is patient, kind and compassionate. What they learn from your heart will be remembered long after they have forgotten what they learned from your mind.

Someone once said, “We should be in the business of building people up. There are too many people in the demolition business.” You have a unique opportunity as an instructor of teachers to build child evangelists and disciplers. But you won’t accomplish that task if you view your students as a crop of teachers. Cultivate your students one bloom at a time and watch your garden grow and flourish!

Judas Asparagus?

2009-03-09T13:05:00.008-05:00

Do you sometimes wonder if the children you teach are really listening and understanding what you say? We know it’s easy for kids to get the facts mixed up or to misunderstand – especially if we are not careful in our explanations and applications!

Here is an overview of Scripture from one child who was asked to write a book report on the entire Bible:

In the beginning, which occurred near the start, there was nothing but God, darkness, and some gas. The Bible says, 'The Lord thy God is one,' but I think He must be a lot older than that.
Anyway, God said, 'Give me a light!' and someone did.

Then God made the world. He split the Adam and made Eve. Adam and Eve were naked, but they weren't embarrassed because mirrors hadn't been invented yet. Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating one bad apple, so they were driven from the Garden of Eden. Not sure what they were driven in though, because they didn't have cars. Adam and Eve had a son, Cain, who hated his brother as long as he was Abel.

Pretty soon all of the early people died off, except for Methuselah, who lived to be like a million or something. One of the next important people was Noah, who was a good guy, but one of his kids was kind of a Ham. Noah built a large boat and put his family and some animals on it. He asked some other people to join him, but they said they would have to take a rain check.

After Noah came Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob was more famous than his brother, Esau, because Esau sold Jacob his birthmark in exchange for some pot roast. Jacob had a son named Joseph who wore a really loud sports coat.

Another important Bible guy is Moses, whose real name was Charlton Heston. Moses led the Israel Lights out of Egypt and away from the evil Pharaoh after God sent ten plagues on Pharaoh's people. These plagues included frogs, mice, lice, bowels, and no cable.

God fed the Israel Lights every day with manicotti. Then he gave them His Top Ten Commandments. These include: don't lie, cheat, smoke, dance, or covet your neighbor's stuff. Oh, yeah, I just thought of one more: Humor thy father and thy mother.

One of Moses' best helpers was Joshua who was the first Bible guy to use spies. Joshua fought the battle of Geritol and the fence fell over on the town. After Joshua came David. He got to be king by killing a giant with a slingshot. He had a son named Solomon who had about 300 wives and 500 porcupines. My teacher says he was wise, but that doesn't sound very wise to me.

After Solomon there were a bunch of major league prophets. One of these was Jonah, who was swallowed by a big whale and then barfed up on the shore. There were also some minor league prophets, but I guess we don't have to worry about them.

After the Old Testament came the New Testament. Jesus is the star of The New. He was born in Bethlehem in a barn. (I wish I had been born in a barn too, because my mom is always saying to me, 'Close the door! Were you born in a barn?' It would be nice to say, 'As a matter of fact, I was.') During His life, Jesus had many arguments with sinners like the Pharisees and the Democrats. Jesus also had twelve opossums. The worst one was Judas Asparagus. Judas was so evil that they named a terrible vegetable after him.

Jesus was a great man. He healed many leopards and even preached to some Germans on the Mount. But the Democrats and all those guys put Jesus on trial before Pontius the Pilot. Pilot didn't stick up for Jesus. He just washed his hands instead. Anyways, Jesus died for our sins, then came back to life again. He went up to Heaven but will be back at the end of the Aluminum. His return is foretold in the book of Revolution.

Wow! Hopefully, some of his version of Bible events made you smile! But the unfortunate truth is that many children today are growing up with little or no true understanding of Scripture. It’s been said that the current generation is one of the most biblically illiterate in many years.

This is all the more reason for those Bible Lesson Preparation and Presentation classes you teach in the TCE courses! Be sure your teachers understand how to study God’s Word. Help them apply proper biblical hermeneutics as they work through the “RCA” steps of preparation. The more clear and accurate they are in their teaching, the less confusion there will be among the children.

We sure don’t want our GNC kids to be telling people about Judas Asparagus! Challenge your teachers to study hard and communicate God’s Word with clarity and simplicity.

God Knows My Name!

2009-02-27T07:00:00.001-06:00

Have you ever thought about how personal our God is? We understand that God is omniscient – all knowing. That means, among other things, that He knows our names, our personality traits and our “quirks.” Each of us had to come to God by faith in Christ, personally, for our salvation. And God continues to deal with us personally and individually.

In our TCE courses, we often remind our students of the importance of personalizing their teaching. We encourage them to avoid using terms such as we, us and everybody. Though inclusive, those terms are impersonal and may not communicate to a child the relationship God desires to have with him or her. Instead, we say “God loves you; you have sinned; Jesus died and rose again for you.” When they trust in Christ as Savior, we teach them to remember on their hand, “I (Jesus) will never leave you (child’s name).”

Recently, a testimony came across our desk that was a beautiful reminder of two things: how important it is for a child to know God in a personal way and how far our loving God will go to reach out to His children.

Our thanks to Emily Ramsdell, CEF director in Syracuse, NY, for sending us this wonderful testimony. It comes from one of her teachers, Gail Buel, who teaches an after-school GNC. Her club was beginning the Wordless Book Visualized lessons to go along with a witnessing emphasis using the Wordless Book bracelets:

Last week we began teaching the gold page, which is about Heaven. One of the illustrated pages contains pictures of "things that will be in Heaven,” including a picture of the Lamb's Book of Life.

One of our little girls, Alicia, grade 2, was listening so intently to the teaching. When I said that each person who has placed their faith in Christ for the forgiveness of their sins will have their name written in the Book of Life, she smiled to think her name was there since she had made that decision, but then frowned and raised her hand.

When I called on her, she said she was very sad because she just knew that her name would not be spelled correctly in the Book—apparently, this has been an ongoing problem for her, and she had tears in her eyes and a quivering little lip as she told us all about it. After reassuring her that Jesus knew how to spell her name and giving her a hug, we moved on, but she seemed unconvinced.

After the lesson, we moved on to the review game provided with the lesson. Around question #7, Mr. Drew called on Alicia to answer a question and she got it right - this entitled her to pick a special card from a stack, at random, and to say whether the picture on the card would be something that would be in Heaven, or would not be in Heaven.

Alicia leaned over to pick a card, turned it over, and was staring at a picture of the Book of Life! She proudly announced the correct answer and then called out in disbelief, "Mrs. Buel, look! My name is in the Book, and it is SPELLED RIGHT!"

Sure enough, I looked, and there was her name, "Alicia", along with a list of other names, on the pre-printed card! What an incredible gift God gave to that little girl that day in club – we were all so happy and rejoicing with her over this small miracle! He is in the details of our lives, every day, all the time! Praise the Lord!

Isn’t that a precious testimony? How special of God to provide such reassurance to Alicia!

This could be a great illustration in some of your TCE classes. Obviously, it could be used in TCE Level 1, when you teach the sessions on How to Lead a Child to Christ. It could also be used in teaching Counseling a Child for Salvation or Encouraging the Newly-Converted Child.

In TCE Level 2, this illustration might be used in teaching Developing the Child’s Appreciation of God, Bible Lesson Preparation and Presentation (related to applications) or Basic Needs of the Child.

Beyond its illustrative value though, this testimony should be a joy and comfort to your own heart. God knows you, individually and personally, and He delights in assuring you of His love. As He said to Israel: “Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine” (Isaiah 43:1).

Tommy's Story - A Cyber Testimony!

2009-02-19T07:00:00.004-06:00

We are excited about the students in our first TCE Level 1 course at CMI Online! God blessed us with eight students to be our historic first class. Included in this class is a missionary to the Ukraine and one to the Philippines. Our online instructors report that the students are doing well and progressing toward completion of the course on March 13 and eventually, their certificates.

As part of the online version of the TCE course, students are required to evaluate their teaching experience through a journal. In one of their assignments, students had to journal about their experience in sharing the Wordless Book. One student wrote the following testimony and gave us permission to share it with you. The child’s name has been changed for privacy purposes.

A nine year old boy sat in front of me. He was happy, restless, looking all around the room. His mother sat next to him, helping me with the Wordless Book chart, as I had asked her to track me so I wouldn't forget the Bible verses or links.

I presented the gold page and Tommy talked about treasures. He likes the color of the page and when I mention that in Heaven, where Jesus lives, the streets are paved with gold - well, he wants to go there. I circle back to how much God loved the world - and we are in the world, yes? He nods and I tell him how much God loves him and wants him to be in Heaven forever with Him. I tell him that Heaven is a beautiful, precious place - but one thing that can't be in Heaven is sin.

He mentions sin is something that hurts God. I agree and we talk through the dark page. He says that when you hide something that doesn't belong to you, it is wrong. His mother pipes up with stealing someone's toy and not telling them you were the one who took it. Tommy gets it. We discuss the "want to" sin nature that Tommy can understand. He is looking around the room but when I tell him that God wants you, Tommy, to go to Heaven - and that He has a wonderful plan so Tommy can enter Heaven and live with Him forever, he looks straight at me and says, "I want to go to Heaven."

I show him the red page and tell him that God sent His only, perfect Son to come down to earth; that He shed His blood and died on a cross (Bible verse); that after three days he rose from the dead and after awhile, He went back to Heaven. All because God loves us - you and me - so much. I ask him if he would like to become a child of God. (Bible verse that leads to the clean page) And he does.

At this moment, I am compelled to turn away for a second because I am overwhelmed that God would use this leaky vessel to witness to this little guy. I also need to ask him some questions and also share with him that it is a decision between Tommy and God. When he answers all the questions and says yes, he would like to be a child of God (he says, "and not a child of the devil!") we pray together and God escorts Tommy into the kingdom.

Now both his mother and I are in tears. I learn that Tommy has had a difficult life; no father; an angry spirit; in many different schools. And still, God calls Tommy His own. What a privilege to share in this moment.

What an amazing learning experience for this TCE student – to see how God can use even our “practice” presentations to bring a child to Himself! This was a life-changing moment for the student, for Tommy’s mom and, most especially, for Tommy! Do you suppose one day he will look back on his childhood and testify that he came to know Jesus as his Savior in a TCE class?

Never forget that, as an instructor, you are doing so much more than just teaching classes or satisfying your IOT requirements. When you teach a TCE course, you are adding to the great and ever-growing army of child evangelists who are reaching children and expanding God’s kingdom around the globe! Could you be doing anything more exciting?!

Please pray for our CMI Online courses. We have encountered extraordinary levels of spiritual opposition in nearly every step of this program’s development, but our God is great! Along with praying for the courses, remember to direct people to them if their circumstances will not allow them to attend your local course.

We have added a new feature to our sidebar called CMI Online News! We will keep this feature updated regularly so you will know what’s currently being offered and what’s coming up in our online training. Please be sure to check out this feature – and use it as a prayer guide.

Whether you are a local instructor, an LTI or an online instructor, we are all in this together! We are a family! Let’s support one another with our prayers and encouragement as we seek to train others to reach the children!

Illustration Appreciation - part 4

2009-02-11T14:30:00.007-06:00

“I need a good illustration for this class – somebody help!”

Have you ever felt like that? We know the value of using good illustrations to inspire and motivate our students, but it’s not always easy to come up with just the right story, statistic, testimony, poem, song or other item that will say exactly what we want to communicate.

Pastor Leslie Flynn says there are lots of good illustrations out there: "The aspiring communicator must be a close observer of life. An inexhaustible store of illustrations abounds everywhere, even in the common things of life." The trick, of course, is knowing where to find them—and what to do with them!

In our previous three posts on the subject, we discussed why we use illustrations in our teaching, what makes a good illustration and what to avoid in choosing and using illustrations. In this final post, let’s consider where to find illustrations and how to organize them.

Finding Illustrations

 Personal Experience There is no better illustration than that which comes out of your own experiences. When you draw stories and examples from your life, you are sharing more than just a good illustration—you are giving your students a glimpse into your world. Think of the lessons God has taught you in everyday experiences, in your family, in your travels and in your ministry. Chances are many of your students have had similar experiences and can relate to your example. Get into the habit of writing down the lessons God teaches you so you will have them to draw from in your teaching.

 Reading Keep illustrations in the back of your mind when you are reading books, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, blogs and even cartoons. Historical and biographical reading can provide a rich source of illustrative material. News articles can offer statistics and stories that are localized and current. If possible, clip or highlight material that can be used as illustrations. Try to get those illustrations into a file as soon as possible before they are lost or forgotten.

 Observations Look around you! Life is full of things from which illustrations can be drawn. There are illustrations to be seen in nature, in the animal kingdom and in the lives and experiences of others. Think of all the illustrations the Lord Jesus drew from the natural world (seeds, fish, the wind, birds, etc.) and from people (the prodigal son, the woman with the lost coin, the shepherd searching for his lost sheep, etc.). Jesus used what His audience was familiar with to get His point across.

 Children Since we are a children’s ministry, you should definitely be aware of children around you and be watching and listening for things they say or do that could illustrate a point. The Lord Jesus did this too, as we well know, in Mark 10 and Matthew 18. What better way to illustrate content in your TCE classes than to draw those illustrations from the lives of children!

 Resource Material There are an abundance of resources available that provide quotes, stories, testimonies and other illustrative materials. You can purchase many good illustration books at Web sites such as http://www.cbd.com/. Just type “illustrations” into the search box and you will get pages of resources. Following are four examples from the CBD Web site.

To make it even easier, we placed the covers of these four books in the sidebar on the right under "Illustration Resources." Just click on a cover and you will be linked right to its page on the CBD Web site where you can get more information or even order it at CBD discounted prices.

The Story File: 1,001 Contemporary Illustrations, by Steve May, Hendrickson Publishers, 2000. (includes book and CD-ROM)
Swindoll’s Ultimate Book of Illustrations & Quotes, by Charles R. Swindoll, Thomas Nelson, 2009
1,001 Quotes, Illustrations, and Humorous Stories for Preachers, Teachers and Writers, by Edward K. Rowell, Baker, 2004
Practical Bible Illustrations from Yesterday & Today, by Charles H. Spurgeon, Amg Publishers, 1997.

There are also Web sites where you can download free illustrations. Most of these sites have illustrations arranged alphabetically by topic. You may want to bookmark a few of them for quick reference when you need to find an illustration.

www.bible.org/illus.php

http://www.sermonillustrations.com/

http://www.preachingtoday.com/

http://www.sermoncentral.com/

www.higherpraise.com/illustrations/a.htm

www.geocities.com/christianillustrations

http://www.sheepcribone.blogspot.com/

Organizing Illustrations

How many of us have heard a good story or testimony, jotted down a key word or two on a scrap of paper, then either lost the paper, or couldn’t remember what the story was from our sketchy notes? How frustrating! Once you find a good illustration, you need to record it in a way you can easily retrieve it when needed.

 Write it down Keep a small notebook or voice recorder handy to make note of illustrations when you spot them. Be sure you record enough information so you will remember the key thought. Even if you don’t know how you will use it at the time, a good quote or story is always worth writing down for future use.

 Keep a file You need to develop a system that works for you. If you know the particular class in which you want to use the illustration, either file it in a folder for that class, or type it into your lesson plan as soon as possible.

If you’re comfortable with the computer, you probably already have a folder for each of your TCE classes containing your lesson plan, PowerPoint and other materials. You can put an illustration file in each class folder or just enter the illustration directly into your lesson plan. You might also want to keep a general “Illustration Pool” folder, where you can accumulate illustrations for future use.

If you’re not that comfortable on the computer, keep a file folder in your office for each of your TCE class sessions and deposit illustrations in the appropriate folder. You can also have a miscellaneous folder for illustrations you’re not sure where to use.

However you choose to organize your illustrations, try to make regular deposits in your illustration files. Occasionally, you need to go through your lesson plan and consider adding a new illustration, or changing out an old one. Updating your illustrations keeps your teaching fresh and current. Leslie Flynn says, “Illustrations stored for ready withdrawal will make us richer communicators of the Word.”

We trust this series of posts has been helpful in reminding you of things you already knew about illustrations, and perhaps challenging you in areas you had not considered. If you have further suggestions or ideas about finding and using illustrations, click on the Comment link below and let us know!

Illustration Appreciation - part 3

2009-02-02T12:46:00.032-06:00

In his book, Come Alive with Illustrations, Leslie Flynn says, "The best illustration is one that is given not to be seen, but to be seen through." This is great advice, but often not heeded. Sometimes we can be in danger of our illustrations overpowering our message!

So far in our discussion on illustration appreciation we have considered why we use illustrations in our teaching and what it is that makes a good illustration. Today we turn our attention to some dangers: What should we avoid in choosing and using illustrations? How can the wrong illustration—or the right illustration presented the wrong way—be deadly to our teaching? Are you wandering into any of these danger zones?

Don’t announce your illustrations If you have the right illustration in the right place, you don’t need to announce it. Dr. Howard Hendricks gives the following example:

"Never start an illustration by saying, ‘Now, I want to illustrate this point, because it's a very important point, and I was reading in the Bible the other day, and I came across an illustration out of the life of Elijah, and it was a real grabber, and I want you to see it, 'cause it'll drive home the point.’

In all that piffle I haven't said anything, but I've consumed a lot of time. How much better to say, ‘One morning Elijah's servant awoke him early…’”

In other words, just proceed from your point directly into the illustration. Announcing an illustration focuses the audience on the illustration instead of the point being made. This is especially true when using an illustration as your introduction. You never want to say, “Let me begin this class by telling you this story…” Just go right into the story!

Don’t apologize for your illustrations Nothing will sabotage your credibility faster than planting doubts about the value of your illustration! Starting your illustration with apologies like, “This isn’t a very good illustration of this point but…” or “This story may or may not help you understand what I’m trying to say…” tells your audience you are not sure of your own teaching!

Don’t over-explain your illustrations You need only a brief word or two to help your audience connect the illustration to the point being made. Don’t insult their intelligence with lengthy explanations of the “moral of the story.”

Don’t use an illustration just because it’s a good story Remember, your illustrations should enhance your main point. You may have heard a wonderful story or exciting testimony, but if it does not enhance your topic, save it for another class session.

Don’t get stuck on one type of illustration If you always use statistics or always use poems, etc. your teaching becomes predictable. Remember that different students respond to different types of illustrations. Strive for variety! Take a look at several of your class sessions and see if you are over-using a particular type of illustration.

Don’t use too many illustrations Illustrations are like windows, giving light to your subject, but too many windows produce glare! Remember your main point is what you want your students to remember, not your illustrations. If you take most of your class time sharing illustrations, your students will not get the information they need.

Hopefully, this discussion has given you food for thought. If you have wandered into any of these danger zones in using illustrations, make plans to avoid them next time you teach.

Next week we’ll chat about how to find good illustrations and how to organize your illustrations to make your preparation for teaching more efficient. If you have comments on this subject, please click the “comment” link below and let us hear from you.

Illustration Appreciation - Part 2

2009-01-26T07:00:00.001-06:00

There is an Arab proverb that says, “The best speaker is he who turns ears into eyes.” Helping the listener picture the point we are making is a key to effective communication. The word “illustrate” means to illuminate, put luster upon or make clear. Someone else said it this way: “Illustrations are like the windows in a house—they let the light in”

Illustrations do not just illuminate truths taught; they also give those truths sticking power. According to pastor and illustration collector, Leslie Flynn, “The difference between acceptable and exceptional communication is often a good illustration which clinches an important truth in the listener’s mind for years.” Flynn goes on to say, “Illustrations can enlighten, prove, paint, arouse, appeal to the mind, stir the emotions and persuade the will.”

Of course, the wrong illustration, too many illustrations or an illustration presented in a wrong way can detract from your communication. So, what is it that makes a good illustration? Following are some guidelines from Leslie Flynn:

Good illustrations are fresh and timeless – While illustrations drawn from classic works have their place, some can become dated and stale in the re-telling. Be especially careful of illustrations that are popular with a lot of teachers or preachers. If, from the first sentence your audience recognizes the same old story or quote they’ve heard many times before, your point will be lost.

Good illustrations are relevant to the subject – Even though an illustration is compelling, it may not be relevant to what you are teaching. Consider what point the illustration makes and whether or not it will help shed light on some aspect of your subject. If not, file the illustration to be used another time with a more appropriate subject.

Good illustrations are relevant to the audience – Take a look at those you are teaching: Are they mostly men or women? What is the average age? What is their general understanding of your subject? Answers to these questions should guide your selection of illustrations. When your students can personally identify with the illustration, they will be more likely to be moved and challenged by it.

Good illustrations are accurate - If you are using statistics as an illustration, be sure they are as current and correct as possible. If you are sharing a testimony, be certain that the names, dates and facts are accurate. Also, try to verify that the story is true! If anything is doubtful in an illustration, don’t use it.

Good illustrations are brief – Remember, the illustrations are the windows – they are not the walls! Illustrations that are too long are hard for your audience to follow and they may lose the point you are trying to make. If you want to share a story that is long, edit out the extra details and tell just the essence of the story that helps to make your point.

Good illustrations do not reveal confidences – Sharing a conversation or someone else’s personal experience without permission is morally and ethically wrong. Even a positive testimony should never be used as an illustration without the permission of the person involved.

Good illustrations do not seek to exalt self – If your illustrations are consistently about you—how you accomplished something; how you “saved the day”; how you did right when everyone else did wrong—you will soon damage your credibility. Your illustrations should shed light on your subject, not draw attention to yourself. Certainly, from time to time, you can share how God used you in a particular situation, but do not over use such illustrations. Occasionally, it is good to share with your audience a time when you did not succeed, so they will know you are human just like them!
Good illustrations have variety – Remember, illustrations can be any number of things such as stories, testimonies, poems, quotes, statistics, etc. Try to vary the type of illustrations you use from class to class. Don’t become predictable to your students (“We’re reaching the end of the class session—must be time for the poem!”).

Hopefully, these guidelines will help you in determining the best illustrations to use in your classes. In our next post, we will consider some things to avoid in choosing and using illustrations. These are dangers that can be deadly to your teaching! So, come back to the Café next week for part three of our series!

Illustration Appreciation

2009-01-19T10:46:00.008-06:00

There are a number of ways you can tell if someone is an IOT:

They have excessive back pain from carrying large manuals

They get excited when the office store has a sale on page protectors

They respond to pretty much everybody by saying, “You could strengthen that next time by…”

They cannot do anything in public without first giving focus questions

But if you want to know if a person is a really good IOT, check his or her illustration file. We IOTs have a definite appreciation for illustrations!

In our TCE courses, we communicate a lot of information and train teachers in specific skills. However, our goal is to go beyond just giving teachers head knowledge. We want to reach their hearts and ultimately see change in their actions as a result of our classes. To accomplish this, we want to use illustrations that are well chosen and appropriately placed in our lesson plans.

A good illustration can drive home a point and stay with our teachers long after the class is over. The right illustration can even be used of God to change people’s minds.

For example, when you teach classes like The Importance of Conversion, helping teachers see the lostness of children, you may occasionally have someone question whether or not children are sinners. There is a definite trend in our culture to downplay the issue of sin—especially as it relates to children.

The strongest argument you can make for teaching that children sin comes, of course, from Scripture. We must remind teachers of the universal truth found in verses like Romans 3:23 and Romans 3:10.

But we can further illuminate this truth through illustrations. Statistics and stories can help solidify this point for many of your teachers. Many times, you can find such illustrations in the news media.

For instance, last April, Russ Bynum of the Associated Press reported a story from Waycross, GA about a group of children who planned an assault:

A group of third-graders plotted to attack their teacher, bringing a broken steak knife, handcuffs, duct tape and other items for the job, police said Tuesday. The plot by as many as nine boys and girls at Center Elementary School in south Georgia was a serious threat, Waycross Police Chief Tony Tanner said.

"We did not hear anybody say they intended to kill her, but could they have accidentally killed her? Absolutely," Tanner said. "We feel like if they weren't interrupted, there would have been an attempt. Would they have been successful? We don't know."

The children, ages 8 and 9, were apparently mad at the teacher because she had scolded one of them for standing on a chair, Tanner said. A prosecutor said they are too young to be charged with a crime under Georgia law.

School officials alerted police Friday after a pupil tipped off a teacher that a girl had brought a weapon to school, Tanner said. Police seized a broken steak knife, handcuffs, duct tape, electrical and transparent tape, ribbons and a crystal paperweight from the students, who apparently intended to use them against the teacher.

The scheme involved a division of roles, Tanner said. One child's job was to cover windows so no one could see outside, he said. Another was supposed to clean up after the attack.

"From what I understand, they were considered pretty good kids," Martin said. "But we have to take this seriously, whether they were serious or not about carrying this through, and that's what we did."

Using a current, real-life illustration like this one drives home the point and increases retention. If you can find news articles from your local area, the effect is even more pronounced.

Some of you are new IOTs, just starting to gather illustrations for your class sessions. Others of you have been teaching TCE courses for some time now. You may have an extensive illustration file. But maybe you’ve become a little rusty in this area. Perhaps you’ve come to rely on illustrations you’ve been using for years.

Over the next several blog posts, we are going to take a closer look at this area of our teaching. We will consider what makes a good illustration, what criteria to use for choosing illustrations, how to use illustrations effectively in our teaching and where to find illustrations that have impact. Hopefully, whether a new IOT or a veteran, these upcoming posts will help us all increase our illustration appreciation!

The Hand-Off

2009-01-05T14:39:00.008-06:00

January is not just the first month of a new year. In America, this is also the month for football playoffs and the Super Bowl! Here at the Café, we realize that we have a number of instructors, both male and female, who enjoy an occasional inspirational thought from the sports world. So, as an equal-opportunity blog, we want to share the following, especially for the athletically-minded men and women in our IOT family!

Being somewhat athletically challenged, however, we can’t take credit for the ideas in this article—they come from Stan Toler’s leadership newsletter. We have adapted his points to fit our ministry as IOTs. So, sports-lovers, read on!

In football a successful hand-off from one player to another could mean the difference between a win and a loss. As an IOT, mentoring your students gives you a similar opportunity and a similar responsibility. Someone needs your hand-off; someone needs the wisdom of your training and life experiences. What will you hand-off? Hopefully several things:

1. Faithfulness By choosing to cheerfully share your time and energy with your students, in spite of crowded calendars and pending duties, you will teach them that people are more important than projects.

2. Affirmation By accepting students for who they are rather than for what they should be, you will teach them that acceptance is a mark of leadership.

3. Patience By sticking with the game plan no matter how many times students fumble, you will teach them that a mistake is a bridge to improvement rather than a road to failure.

4. Encouragement By handing out some "Attaboys!" (or “Attagirls!”) to your students, you will teach them that appreciation is an important incentive to reach goal lines.

5. Openness By being honest about your students’ strengths and weaknesses, you will teach them that learning to accept yourself makes you more effective with others.

Leadership isn't just about Super Bowls; it's also about the playoffs. It's about successfully executing plays along the way. You're here, as an IOT, because someone made a good hand-off. And someday, someone will stop in the middle of their ministry and remember you and thank you for being their player-coach.

As we launch into another year of training teachers to reach and disciple children, let's be aware of our responsibility to hand-off what God has given to us. The Apostle Paul put it this way:

"Pass on what you heard from me . . . to reliable leaders who are competent to teach others" (2 Timothy 2:2 MSG).

Cutting Holes in the Darkness

2008-12-28T00:00:00.000-06:00

The story is told that, at age twelve, Robert Louis Stevenson looked out into the darkness from his bedroom window, watching a man light the streetlamps below. When his governess asked what he was doing, the young boy replied, “I am watching a man cut holes in the darkness.”

As we think of Christmas, we are reminded that this is exactly what God did on that special night so long ago—He cut a hole in the darkness! Through His perfect Son, Jesus Christ, God penetrated our dark world with the light of life.

“In Him [Jesus] was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:4-5)

Now, more then 2,000 years later, that light has been passed on to us! We are to be busy cutting holes in the darkness! Jesus left us a command:

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)

Every time you teach a Good News Club, you are cutting holes in the darkness, helping those children receive the Light.

Every time you train a teacher, you are cutting another hole in the darkness. And your teachers are going out and cutting still more holes as they reach the children with the Gospel.

“To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins…” (Acts 26:18)

There are instructors of teachers all around the world who are busy cutting holes and letting the light shine in the darkness. May God bless you and all of our IOTs, and give us a renewed desire to multiply ourselves so that many more children will be brought out of darkness to light in 2009!

Telling the Christmas Story

2008-12-15T07:00:00.002-06:00

As Christmas draws near, many of your teachers will be teaching the Christmas story in their clubs. In America, we often take for granted that the children are familiar with this story. But the truth is that many are not.

Emily Ramsdell, IOT in Syracuse, NY, sent the following testimony from one of her teachers who works in an after-school GNC. Here is what this teacher, Ann Elyse Foltz, had to say,

Hi Emily! Thanks for praying for us! Our Good News Club was crazy today!!!!! But I love those kids so much. I was absolutely shocked that so many of them had NO IDEA what Christmas was all about! I absolutely couldn't believe it. Is our society that completely Godless that these kids have no idea that Christmas is about the birth of His Son? I am in absolute and total shock. This is small-town, rural America. I feel such a huge responsibility for training these kids- most of them don't go to church, so Good News Club is probably the ONLY Biblical input they are getting at all.

The missionary story especially hit me hard today- we're reading "Rebekah's Great Adventure" about a girl who worked with 5-Day Clubs. She led a little girl from Moldova to the Lord, and the little girl said, "I've never known that anybody loved me my whole life. Why are you the first person to tell me how much God loves me? Why didn't anyone tell me that before?" That just makes me cry- how many other precious little ones are there out there who have no idea how much their Father loves them. I want to reach them all! My heart breaks for them.

Ann Elyse Foltz
South Jefferson - Wilson Elem.

What a precious testimony! We pray that many children will hear the Christmas story this year and understand how much the Father loves them! Wherever you are in the world, there are children who have never heard the story of the Savior's birth. Encourage your teachers to tell that story as many times as they can during this special season of the year!

A Wise Teacher

2008-12-01T14:28:00.004-06:00

Tucked away near the end of the book of Ecclesiastes is a most interesting description of a teacher. King Solomon, because of the gift God had given him, was a writer and teacher of wisdom. To authenticate his writings, Solomon describes himself, the Teacher, in terms of his role and his methodology. As you read his words that follow, think about your own teacher qualities.

“Not only was the teacher wise, but also he imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. The teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true” (Ecclesiastes 12:9).

Did you notice the ways in which Solomon described the qualities and role of the teacher?

The teacher is wise
The teacher imparts knowledge
The teacher ponders truth
The teacher searches out truth
The teacher sets truth in a form students can understand
The teacher seeks out just the right words to communicate the message

The teacher proclaims truth clearly

How do you measure up to this list? Are you a wise teacher? Do you ponder and seek out truth to share with your students? Do you carefully choose your words and methods so you can communicate with your students in an interesting way with clarity and power?

As instructors of teachers, we must go beyond this list. These are qualities we want to build into our teachers, so we must set the bar high for ourselves.

As this year draws to a close and 2009 waits on the horizon, let’s commit ourselves anew to the task to which God has called each of us. Let’s ask Him to make us the best IOTs we can be for the good of our students and for the glory of God.

America's Unprepared Children

2008-10-27T14:22:00.015-05:00

The following is from a survey the Barna Group did regarding children in America. Excerpts could be used to illustrate Level 1 classes such as Importance of Conversion, Importance of Reaching the Child in the Neighborhood or Importance of the Teacher. It could also illustrate Level 2 classes such as Basic Needs of the Child, Christian Conduct or The Ministry of Teaching. Although the research is focused on American children, connections could undoubtedly be made to children of other countries.

According to a survey from The Barna Group (www.barna.org). America's children are not being adequately prepared for life. Based on interviews with more than 1000 adults nationwide, the survey discovered that less than one out of every five adults believes that children under the age of 13 are being “superbly” or “pretty well” prepared for life emotionally, physically, spiritually, intellectually or morally. Fewer than one out of every twenty adults believe that America’s youngsters are receiving above average preparation in all five of those areas of life.

Adults were asked to evaluate how well children under the age of 13 are being prepared for life in each of five dimensions. Using a scale that ranged from “superbly” to “poorly,” half or more of all adults contended that children are “not being prepared well enough” or are “poorly prepared” for the life that awaits them.

The lowest ratings were reserved for the moral and spiritual preparation of children. Only 8% of adults said kids get better-than-adequate preparation in the spiritual realm, while more than 7-out-of-10 adults (71%) said children get inadequate spiritual training. Similarly, three-fourths said youngsters get inadequate moral preparation. The survey results were generally the same across gender, racial, political and age lines, and even across those with and those without children.

A companion study showed that most parents of children under 13 claim that they are responsible for the moral, spiritual, intellectual and emotional maturation of their offspring. However, the study also showed most parents lack defined standards for evaluating their child’s preparation, spend surprisingly little time engaged in developmental activities with their children, and generally assume that the brunt of the responsibility for facilitating life skills and perspectives lies on the shoulders of schools, churches and community organizations.

Combined with the increasingly busy schedules of adults, the outcome is a culture in which nobody is responsible and nearly everybody is dissatisfied with the results.

This study is yet another reminder of the importance of training people to reach children with the Gospel and disciple them in God’s Word. Through our Good News Club ministry, we have opportunity to help children develop a relationship with God that will result in the kind of character and moral direction that is lacking yet essential for life.

We Are Excited!

2008-10-15T16:00:00.008-05:00

The waiting is finally over! CMI Online is excited to announce that registration for taking Teaching Children Effectively Level 1 online will be open November 15-30!

As many of you know, the launch of this course online has been a long time in the making. Our teaching staff put many long hours into the writing and taping of each class session to meet the unique challenges of presenting material through this medium.

Our online staff has been through many trials and tribulations, doing battle with technology and our spiritual enemy to deliver this course with excellence. We give God the glory and honor for what He has done!

Who Should Take TCE Level 1 Online?
1. CEF staff in your area who need to complete certain courses that are a part of the Children's Ministries Institute Diploma Program while remaining involved in local ministry .

2. People in your church or local area who want to attend TCE, but whose schedule hinders them from attending your courses.

3. After-school Good News Club teachers who need more in-depth training and are unable to participate in a local course..

How Do Students Enroll in the TCE Course Online?
Students desiring to enroll in TCE Level 1 must apply to CMI, then register for the course:

1. Apply - Go to http://www.cefcmi.com/ and click on “Apply Now”. Read and follow the instructions carefully. The admissions process usually takes three to four weeks and must be completed before a student can register for courses.

2. Register - Once a student has received notification of acceptance to CMI by the academic committee, he or she can register for online classes by going to www.cefcmi.com/online. Remember, registration for TCE Level 1 is November 15-30.

How Will This Affect Your TCE Courses?
We know that some instructors are concerned that TCE courses online will draw students away from their local courses. We are not in competition with you! In fact, students who register for the TCE training online from your area will be directed to you as a credentialed instructor who can possibly proctor them in their practicums. In this way, you may be able to connect with new potential workers for your area, and will be able to inform them of further training and ministry opportunities.

There are, however, thousands of people around the world who do not have access to TCE courses where they live, or who are unable to take those courses due to scheduling conflicts. Those are the students we hope to reach with the online training. We will do our best to promote your local TCE courses. We trust you will also do your best to send people you cannot train to CMI Online. Let’s work together, as ministry partners, training as many people as possible to reach children for Christ wherever they are.

A Teaching Tip from Jody

2008-09-29T12:23:00.011-05:00

This week we are pleased to have a guest blogger! Jody Capehart is an author, educator, speaker and wonderful friend of CEF. We always look forward to her visits to teach classes here at CMI each semester. Jody's book, Cherishing and Challenging Your Children is a classic of instruction and motivation for children's workers. We love Jody and appreciate the time she gives to help us become better teachers.

The following article is from Jody's Web site, www.capehartconnection.com, and is used by permission. This idea about "Prayer Trees" could be used in the class, Teaching Children to Pray in TCE Level 1 or in Devotional Life 1 in TCE Level 2.

Using Prayer Trees

We all want our children to have a deeper prayer life. We encourage them to pray. At home, we may notice that our children’s prayers may start becoming more rote. In the classroom, we notice that whoever leads off with the first prayer request, everyone else tends to follow. For example, if the first child prays for a "hurt knee", suddenly every child has a 'hurt something'. If the first child prays for Grandma, the other children tend to pray for their Grandmas. So how do we deepen their prayer walk and help stretch in their walk?

This is a tool that I have found to be very helpful over the years. It begins to move their prayer life to a deeper level and helps you to bond with the students over time. The purpose of this is two-fold:

1. To have a tangible reminder of how God is working in our lives - to see the answered prayers.

2. To walk with children through the journey of praise when God says "yes", grieve with them when God says "no" and help them to learn patience when God says, "wait". Each one provides an invaluable training with the children in their spiritual journey.

How to Make It:
1. Put the outline of a tree on a bulletin board in your classroom, or if at home: by the kitchen table, your child’s table, or some easy to reach place.

2. When you pray, post major prayer requests on a tree that you have cut out of paper. For each month, select a new shape, fruit, or leaf to put on the tree. Cut out shapes or items for your tree that change each month.

For example:
September: apples
October: pumpkins
November: fall leaves
December: Christmas lights
January: snowflakes
February: hearts
March: shamrocks
April: lilies
May: apple blossoms

They don’t have to be authentic, botanical items. They can be a symbol to represent the holiday or month.

How to Use It:
Either you or each child writes a short prayer request and puts it on the tree. Each time you use the Prayer Tree; you look at the tree and take an item you have prayed for. When the request has been answered, the item moves from the top of the tree to the bottom of the tree, to look like it is lying on the ground.

As the year advances, the top of the tree, as well as the ground under it, becomes a kaleidoscope of prayer requests. Those on top are still unanswered and thus a visible reminder to keep on praying. Those on the bottom serve as a growing reminder of the many prayers God has answered. At the end of each year, gather up all the answered prayers, put him or her in a baggie and send them home with each respective student or at home, place them in your child’s memory box.

God's Children

2008-09-15T08:00:00.001-05:00

In her e-newsletter, River Currents, Sheri Syverson, director of River Valley CEF in Arizona, shared the following story from Sandy Tees, one of her GNC teachers. This story would make a great illustration in TCE Level 1 classes such as Counseling a Child for Salvation or Encouraging the Newly-Converted Child. It could also be used in the Level 2 class, Being a Witness for God. Using true stories of real children in a GNC setting is an important way of keeping your TCE students focused on the value and impact of the GNC.

With squeals of glee the room at Yucca came alive with fifteen children ready for Good News Club on the second Monday in August. After a couple of months of quiet it was a joy to see all of their faces, the familiar and the new. I shared the Gospel Spotlight: God Provided, then gave the invitation for those not saved. A faithful club member, a third grader, made sure that her sister and a friend, both kindergartners, made their way to the back table to meet with me for the salvation call.

As I sat down and began talking with them, the third grader approached Mrs. Syverson to inform her that "they both know everything about being saved, I've told them all I know; but I wanted to make sure they did it right!" Both of the kindergarten girls were definite about their desire to have Jesus come into their hearts that day, resisting the temptation to join the others in a review game ongoing while we talked at the back of the room.

After they both said a prayer of repentance and acceptance, I said how happy I was to have them both as sisters in Christ, since we were now all part of God's big family. A head framed by blond curls looked up and a dimpled grin greeted my glance as she bubbled forth, "I love you" -- oh, how that touched my heart and reminded me yet again of why the precious time we give to Good News Club is so important! Not only are there two more names written in the Lamb's Book of Life, but a third grade missionary is hard at work in Yucca bringing more lives in touch with her Jesus. --Sandy Tees, GNC Teacher

Isn't that a great story? Our thanks to Sandy for submitting it, and to Sheri for granting us permission to reprint it. If you or one of your TCE students have a great story to tell that could be useful as an illustration, send it to us (Lynda.Pongracz@cefonline.com). We would be glad to pass it along to our IOT family.

Time to Laugh!

2008-09-05T15:18:00.005-05:00

The last few weeks we've had some serious content here in the Cafe, so we thought we'd lighten things up this week! Following is a "Top Ten" list that was submitted to Teach Kids! Forum by "Therealvito" and is used by permission:

How You Know Your Life Has Been Taken Over by CEF

A few years ago at Christian Youth In Action camp on skit night at the end of the week, the emcee did a tribute to night time talk shows between each skit. Here is the top ten ways to tell your life is being taken over by CEF:

10. Everything you own comes in one of 5 colors

9. You think that a great party food would be red Kool-aid and Rice Krispy treats.

8. You’ve taught all the other students in your Driver’s Ed class songs about street signs.

7. You can keep a straight face as you talk seriously about a “Flipper-Flapper.”

6. You keep asking your Drivers Ed instructor about that obscure “Go” sign.

5. You no longer see things in the world as merely black and white, but more as dark and clean.

4. The great debate in your house is between those on the flashcard side and those on the flannelgraph side.

3. Your pet’s names are Ringu and Ti-Fam.

2. You can’t pay attention in math class anymore, because the teacher is not using “Fill in the blanks.”

1. You keep thinking that the worship service at your church would be better if all the songs were held up on paint sticks.

We hope you enjoyed this little humorous interlude. Every now and then it's good to laugh! For more great articles both humorous and serious, be sure to visit Teach Kids! Forum by using the link in the sidebar.

Helping Adult Learners Learn - Part 4 - Problem Students

2008-08-22T11:52:00.008-05:00

In our last three posts, we examined how adults learn, and why interactive methods are important in that learning process. We discussed practical teaching methods that encourage buy-in from adult students, and we considered some guidelines for implementing those methods.

We might be tempted to think that if we apply the principles of interactive teaching and incorporate some of the methods in our classes, all of our adult students will respond positively. Well…maybe not! Although the majority of your students will enjoy this approach, there will be some who are reluctant to join in, some who just plain refuse to do so and others who want to take over your class! What do you do with these students? Glad you asked!

Reluctant students Not everyone is a born-participator. Some of us prefer to be spectators for various reasons. In some cases, students may prefer to just watch because they are shy or lack self-confidence. They don’t know you or the other students very well and they don’t want to risk looking foolish. (This is why you should never plan skits, role plays or other “performance” methods early in your course!) In some cases, students may feel intimidated about interacting with the opposite sex or by class members with a more dominant personality.

Some students may be reluctant to participate because they lack experience related to the topic. They feel their participation will not contribute to the class

Other students are simply spectators by nature. These are analytical people who learn by watching and reflecting. Eventually, they may want to join the activity, but only after they’ve had time to process it.

So, what do you do with reluctant students? You take the pressure off by giving them permission to “pass” on the activity. You do this before the activity by saying something like this:

“Each small group will prepare and present a brief role play to show us how you would handle a particular discipline situation in club. You don’t all have to perform the role play. Some of you can help with ideas of what to do, or if you’re not sure, just be there for “moral support”.

With those directions from my instructor, my reluctant spirit is put at ease, realizing I can choose my own level of involvement with which I am comfortable. And I might just surprise you by deciding to participate fully! (Note: don’t let other students pressure group members to participate!)

Resistant students The resistant student is a little different from the reluctant one. While the reluctant student is often afraid to participate for various reasons, the resistant student stubbornly refuses to cooperate. What do we do with this student? Change the location of the class next week…and don’t tell him? Tempting as that solution may be, let’s try another approach!

First, be careful not to jump to conclusions about these students—and don’t take their resistance personally. There may be many reasons why they refuse to participate. You have no control over some factors. For example, their resistance may be a result of not feeling well. We all have those days when we would just rather be left alone! It could be that this student is dealing with family or job-related stress. Perhaps this student had a bad experience in the past when he or she was embarrassed in a group activity.

There may be other reasons (that you may have inadvertantly caused) for students to resist an activity. Perhaps this student does not see the value in the activity. (That could happen if you fail to share the rationale behind the activity first!) Maybe the activity itself has not been well explained. If students are confused about what to do, they will be resistant to do it! Another reason some may resist is that the activity is inappropriate for their age, experience or physical capability.

Occasionally, you may have students who have a critical spirit, are argumentative or simply disruptive. If this is the case, you will probably have observed their bad attitude in other ways such as negative body language, rude comments or lack of respect toward you or other students.

What do you do with a resistant student? If the student’s behavior is not disruptive to the rest of the class, leave him or her alone. If you are aware of precipitating factors over which you have no control, let the student know that you are praying for him or her and that you are available if the individual needs to talk.

If the student makes comments that indicate the problem has to do with the activity itself, take steps to correct the problem Most likely other students feel the same way, but are not as bold to let you know! Be certain to explain the rationale for the activity. Ask students if your instructions need to be clarified. Consider whether you may have chosen an activity that is inappropriate for your audience. If so, go to “plan B”!

If the student is disruptive, you need to address the problem privately. Take the student aside at the earliest possible time and tell him or her what you are observing and how it is affecting the group. Ask the person’s cooperation in changing behavior; if it continues, ask him or her to leave.

Dominant students Occasionally we all have students who want to take over the class like a dictator in a third-world country! Sometimes these students just have strong personality styles. They are big-picture people who get impatient waiting for others to catch up. They want to move things along at their own pace.

Other dominant students feel that their superior knowledge makes you somewhat obsolete and that they could do a better job. They seek any opportunity to display their expertise on the subject and can quickly dominate a discussion, buzz group or other activity.

Still other dominant students are just bullies. They want to impose their views on everyone else and aggressively seek to intimidate others.

Dominant behavior that is aggressive and harmful is often, surprisingly, rooted in fear or hurt. These individuals may have deep insecurities about their own ability and use dominance to give themselves some sense of control.

The problem with dominant students is how other students respond to them. Some will simply stop trying to participate, knowing that the dominant one will answer the question or be the group’s spokesperson. Others are drawn into arguments with the individual, taking the class off focus.

So, what do you do as in instructor? When dealing with a dominant student, don’t be intimidated by him or her. You need to be in control of the class session at all times. Always deal with this type of student privately.

If the student is simply one who needs to move ahead more quickly, give him or her an extra assignment that will provide a challenge. Have these students research a principle in Scripture, find statistics online or interview others on a particular topic. Be sure to give them opportunity to report back in class. You may also need to tactfully let the person know that, while you appreciate his or her contributions in class, you want others to have a chance to also participate. Ask the student to help you draw out the quieter students by holding back occasionally on answers.

If you sense the student is dominating just to show off or bully others, you need to take firm action. Do not let this student draw you into a public debate or confrontation. This is a control device that some personalities use to assert themselves. Meet privately with this student and follow the steps given above related to the resistant, disruptive student. Let these students know that their behavior is unacceptable and needs to change.

You need to seek God’s wisdom in dealing with any of these problem people. God knows the deep heart needs of all your students. He may want to use you be a catalyst for change in their lives. Ask God to control your words and attitude by His Holy Spirit, so that you are able to deal with these difficult personalities in love. Pray for God’s protection over your courses and students. Also, look for ways God is shaping you as an instructor through the experiences you gain from working with challenging people.

Have you had experience with any of these problem students? How did you handle it? Click COMMENT below and share your story with us!

Helping Adult Learners Learn - Part 3 - Guidelines

2008-08-12T08:49:00.015-05:00

Welcome back for part three in our series on helping adult learners learn. Since we have so much info to share, we are going to expand the series to four parts.

We will address guidelines for using interactive methods in this post and save our discussion on problem students for the next one. So be sure to come back next week for part four!

So far we have considered the way adults learn—how they are self-motivated, need to understand the rationale behind the theory and enjoy interactive methods.

In our last post we examined specific ways to engage adults in the learning process. We looked at four purposes of interactive learning and how to implement them in our training.

Now we turn our attention to guidelines for implementing interactive methods effectively. Using these methods is all about getting adult students to buy-in to what you are teaching, gaining their eager and willing participation in the learning process. There are several guidelines that will help bring students along in this process:

1. Explain the rationale This concept was introduced in the first post, but let’s examine it a little more closely. You will achieve buy in much sooner if you let students know why you are asking them to do a particular activity. Do you want students to perform role plays? Begin by telling them why:

“Each buzz group should talk about the discipline situation on your card and how to handle it appropriately, then you will show us through a brief role play. Pooling your ideas and presenting your role play will hopefully yield some unique approaches to these situations that will be a help to all of us when we face similar scenarios.”

This explanation helps students understand that the role play activity serves a significant purpose in their learning.

Here's another example. Suppose you are planning to give a pre-test. Begin by telling your students why:

“I’m sure many of you have helped newly-saved children begin to grow in their faith. Before we look at our student manual, I’d like to know what you think on this subject. Please take a few moments to jot down three or four things you feel are most important to share with newly-saved children. In a few moments I’ll ask a couple of you to share your thoughts with us.”

With simple explanations like these, students see the purpose or value in what you are asking them to do, and they are more likely to give their cooperation.

2. Ease them into it No one likes to be put on the spot. Performing role plays or skits, giving reports or even participating in buzz groups can be socially risky activities, especially if students do not know you or each other very well. Always use the least threatening methods in the early part of your course. Methods like neighbor nudge or writing down questions to hand in anonymously are easier for people to do in a new group setting. Save the more public methods like shout outs and role plays for later in the training.

3. Match activity with the audience You need to “read” your audience! Note the average age and capability of your students. Older folks may not want to do activities that involve a lot of physical movement; some adult students may have trouble reading or writing quickly; young adults might enjoy methods involving technology.

Older students might enjoy doing a casual Scripture search to examine the biblical basis for a subject, while younger students (who all have cell phones!) might enjoy a text-messaging showdown to see who can text you the answer to a question first!

If you try a method and your students don’t enjoy or benefit from it, don’t automatically assume it’s a bad method. It might be the right method for a different type of group!

4. Give students permission to pass Never pressure adult learners to participate in a method. Letting them know they can pass on the activity removes the fear. Many will participate if they know it’s their own choice to do so.

5. Intersperse activity throughout the class time Look at your material and find natural places to split it into sections. Place an interactive activity between each section. You may want to conclude a section of lecture with a brief (60 second) activity that allows students to summarize what was taught. You may want to begin a section with an activity that helps students connect with the topic, etc. Try not to go for more then 10-12 minutes without some type of interaction. (See part two for method ideas!)

6. Close with an interactive challenge Using an interactive method in your conclusion can bring a class session to a meaningful close and ensure retention of what was taught.

For example, you might ask a question such as, “Think for a moment about all we have talked about in this session. What is one key idea you will put into practice in your next children’s class? Write it down or circle it in your notes, then take a moment to silently commit that plan to the Lord.”

A variation might be to have students tell the person next to them the key idea they received from the class session. Having students tell or write the key idea helps seal that thought in their minds and hearts.

We hope these guidelines will help you as you seek to implement interactive methods in your teaching. Be sure to come back to the Café next week and learn what to do with those rascally problem students!

Helping Adult Learners Learn - Part 2 - Methods

2008-08-04T13:05:00.014-05:00

Welcome back to the second in our three-part series on adult learners. In the previous post, we discussed the importance of seeing adult learners differently in some ways from children. Although adults, like children, have different learning styles and enjoy multi-sensory methods, they are basically self-motivated in their learning. We also noted that adults need to know the rationale behind what you are teaching them.

Now let’s consider how to engage adults in the learning process. Most adults, regardless of learning styles, respond to interactive methods of teaching. They need to participate in order to aid learning and retention. While a certain amount of lecture is necessary to convey new information, the lecture needs to be interspersed with activity that allows your adult students to interact with the topic and with each other.

These interactive methods can accomplish at least four purposes: 1) to help students make connections between themselves, the material and fellow students; 2) to discern needs in your students; 3) to check their understanding and retention of key principles; 4) to help students internalize what is taught and implement it.

Such interactive methods aid the “buy-in” factor—raising your students' interest and desire to learn what you want to teach them. Following are a few ideas on how to accomplish each of the four purposes. Much of this material is gleaned from training expert Sharon Bowman. These and many other good ideas can be found in articles on her Web site, http://www.bowperson.com/.

1) Making Connections Students need to connect with themselves and other students regarding the topic. Have them interact with the material and each other right from the start of the session. This accomplishes several things. It acknowledges their prior experience, gives them a chance to show what they know and in some cases, helps them see what they don’t know.

Connection Question After your introduction and link, you might begin the content for the class on Teaching Children to Pray by saying, “I’m sure many of you have helped children learn how to pray—either your own children or in a classroom. What are some of the key principles you feel are important for kids to know about prayer?” Don’t comment on their answers, just acknowledge them. As you cover the content of the session, you may want to refer back to some of their input.

Neighbor Nudge Have them turn to the person next to them and tell just one or two things they feel are important to teach children about prayer (without looking in their student manual).

2) Discerning Needs These are methods that help you understand what information your students may be lacking regarding a particular topic.

Pre-Test Give your students a short quiz (verbal or written) at the beginning of your class session such as, List five key principles you feel are important regarding classroom discipline or List three reasons why children might respond repeatedly to a Gospel invitation. Student responses will reveal what they know, what misconceptions they may have and what information is lacking. It also helps students realize their need for the information you plan to teach.

Index Cards Give each student an index card and ask them to write one or two questions they hope to have answered in the class session ahead (no names on cards). Collect the cards and read the questions aloud. At the end of the session, ask if everyone had their questions answered.

Case Studies Begin your session by sharing one or more case studies concerning the issue you will address in the class (counseling problems, discipline situations, children struggling to memoriae verses, etc.). Let students briefly discuss how they would handle the situation without giving any definitive answers. This again brings their need to the surface, both for you and for them.

3) Checking Understanding Every so often in a class session, it’s important to check on how your adult students are grasping the material and correct any wrong ideas.

60 Second Pop-Ups At the end of a section of notes, give the class 60 seconds to pop-up and give one response each to a question from material already taught. Use a kitchen timer to count down the seconds. This can also be a good review or summarization activity at the end of a class session or to review a previous class.

Shout Outs This is quick, verbal brainstorming. Give students a list to recall (IPEAR steps, five steps in giving an invitation, etc.) and have them shout out the answers. Don’t take time to discuss answers, just get them as quickly as you can.

Stretch Questions After completing a section of material, have students stand to stretch, then tell them they must earn their seats back by giving answers to a question.

Break Questions When a break is coming up on the schedule, tell students they must give 10 key points from the material just covered before they can take their 10 minute break.

4) Making it Stick It’s one thing for students to answer questions in class, but it’s another to get them to internalize the material for future use. You need to think about how to move adult learners from theory to practice.

Think It – Ink It At the end of a section or of the class session, give students a few moments to reflect on what was taught, then ask them to write down two or three key points they got from the material and how or when they will implement them.

Take-Aways Close your session by asking volunteers to stand and state one or two key ideas they will take away from the class session. This is a good way to review the material as well as learning what your students consider important points.

Challenge Question Hand each student a card with a challenge question to answer such as, The most important idea I will take from this class session and use in my next children’s class is (fill in the blank). The act of writing down their response helps to seal it into their thinking. It also helps them see that their learning is not over at the end of class, it has just begun.

Well, that’s a lot to chew on! In next week’s post, we will have the third and final part in our series on Helping Adult Learners to Learn. We will wrap up this topic by considering some guidelines for using these methods, and what to do with “problem” students. So be sure to come back to the Café next week for part three!

Helping Adult Learners Learn – Part 1

2008-07-25T11:08:00.003-05:00

Are your TCE courses suffering from Boredom Syndrome? How can you tell? It’s easy! Just look for the following signs:

1) Your students arrive five minutes before the coffee break—and leave shortly thereafter!

2) You show up late for class one evening and no one realizes you weren’t there!

3) Your teachers start giving strange excuses for not coming to class like, “I had to rotate the tires on my vacuum cleaner” or “I had to take my child to the doctor for his annual Yellow Fever vaccination.”

4) The silk ficus tree in your classroom has been wilting ever since your TCE course began!

5) You look up the word “boring” in the dictionary—and find the date and time of your TCE course listed there!

If you’ve been seeing these or other signs of Boredom Syndrome, it may be that you are not meeting the real needs of your adult learners.

We don’t lose our learning styles as we grow older. We don’t lose the ability to learn through our senses. Adult learners can quickly grow bored with an overuse of the same, tired methods. Most adults enjoy interactive methods as much as kids do, as long as those methods are appropriate to their age and experience level.

Take a few moments some time and look through your lesson plans, making note of the methods used. If you’re like most IOTs, you’ll probably find that you tend to use a certain few methods in most of your classes. We often fall back on those tried and true techniques we’re comfortable with like lecture, buzz groups and neighbor nudges. All of these are perfectly good methods. But even a great method can become boring if it is overused.

Hopefully, you realize that teaching adults is a little different from teaching children. Childhood learning is largely teacher-directed. Children listen and learn what the teacher says they must learn.

Adult learners are self-directed. They don’t want someone talking at them or down to them. They are generally motivated by a need they want to fulfill and they enjoy discovering for themselves.

Adult learners have a wealth of personal experience they bring to their learning. They don’t necessarily take what is said at face value, but tend to test what they hear against their own experiences.

Adult learners need to understand the rationale behind what you are teaching them. In other words, they want to know more than just what to do or how to do it. They need to know why. Your TCE instruction should be filled with answers to the why questions: Not just that we need to teach children that they are born with a sin nature, but why that teaching is crucial; not just that they should teach children to pray for missionaries, but why they need to do so. Answering the why questions takes you beyone the written notes and gives depth to your teaching.

Adult learners need to see the relevance of what you are teaching them. How can they use this material in their current role or task? What they do in class needs to be more than just an academic exercise. They don’t want to store up knowledge they will use “someday” – they want information and skills they can use now.

So, what are some effective, interactive methods you can use to spice up your TCE courses, reduce boredom and make sure your adult learners are truly learning? You’ll have to come back to the Café next week for part two!

Frog-Eating 101!

2008-07-14T11:08:00.008-05:00

What is the hardest task facing you today? This week? Is it a phone call you need to make? A lesson plan you need to write? A pastor or principal you need to visit? If you’re like most people, your tendency will be to put that task off as long as possible.

We have a way of rationalizing why we can’t do the task just yet: "I need to wait until I have more uninterrupted time" "I need to do more research first" "I’ll do it when I’m more..." (fill in the blank—awake, rested, energized, calm, etc.) We know deep inside that, in the time it takes to rationalize the dreaded task away, we probably could have completed it!

Brian Tracy wrote an interesting little book with the provocative title, Eat That Frog! He based his book on one of historical American humorist Mark Twain’s witty observations about life: “If the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you can go through the day with the satisfaction of knowing that it’s the worst thing that/s going to happen to you all day long.”

Tracy points out that our “frogs” are those biggest, most important tasks that we tend to put off. Yet they’re often the ones that can have the most positive impact on our lives or work. He suggests seeing those difficult tasks as a personal challenge. If we can make ourselves “eat that frog” first, it will give us energy and momentum for the rest of our day. Tracy says that completing a difficult task triggers endorphins in the brain, flooding our system with energy and well-being, similar to the effects of physical exercise.

Tracy recommends three “D” steps in eating that frog: decision, discipline and determination. First, make a decision to develop the habit of task completion. Habits are developed through practice and repetition. Once a habit is formed, it becomes automatic and easier to do.

Second, discipline yourself to do the hard thing first. Make that call, write that lesson plan, make that visit—whatever the difficult task, do it now! Fight every inclination and rationalization to procrastinate.

Third, determine to see it through. Sometimes we get a good start, but then we run out of gas partway through and the task remains unfinished. If you lose momentum halfway through, it may be even harder to start again. Determine to keep going and not give up until it is done.

May we add a fourth “D” word to this list? That would be dependence. No matter how disciplined and determined we are, we will surely fail without the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Doing difficult tasks is hard. Doing them in the flesh is impossible! (Study John 15:1-8, especially verse 5.) Ask God to give you the “want to” to get the job done. Ask Him to help you stay focused and to see it through to the end. Then, get to work!

So…what frogs are awaiting you today? With God’s help, you can do it. And when it’s done, you'll be toadally glad you did!

Has God given you some wisdom in frog-eating? Click the COMMENT link below and share with us what you have learned.

Are You Giving Effective Leadership?

2008-06-30T14:22:00.006-05:00

Leaders can have tremendous effects upon followers. Their impact upon the organization they lead (or the Teaching Children Effectively™ course they teach) can be profound and powerful. Fiedler and Chemers, whose extensive research on leadership has become classic, found that “The quality of leadership more than any other single factor, determines the success or failure of an organization.” Such a statement should be sobering to us as instructors of teachers as we stand before our students and train them to evangelize and disciple children. Did you realize that you and I share a vital responsibility in the success or failure of Child Evangelism Fellowship® and within that, the TCE™ courses?

What makes a leader effective? What are the qualities that keep him or her on the cutting edge? Although leadership has been a topic of intense debate and much speculation for thousands of years, there are several leadership qualities which surface again and again in research literature. Recently I did an in-depth study about effective leadership. Let me share three qualities that stood out.

1. The ability to communicate The ability of the leader to communicate positively with followers is of utmost importance. In our leadership role as IOTs, we must communicate a vibrant forward-looking vision, a vision of multiplying ourselves so that we can reach more children with the Gospel. As leaders we must be able to present an appealing vision which emphasizes the values, strategies, and mission of the group in such a way that our students and other followers will be motivated to support the effort. This in turn gives the leader more credibility with followers and motivates them to higher levels of achievement. There is no doubt that good communication skills contribute greatly to a leader’s success. How are you communicating with others? Will you commit to increasing your communication skills for a more effective ministry?

2. A high concern for people Effective leaders are concerned about the well-being of people. According to research, one of the three qualities critical to a leader’s success is a caring, responsible, and respectful attitude. He or she has a special sensitivity toward the needs of followers and the situations that may affect them. He or she is friendly and considerate, showing concern for their needs and feelings, demonstrating trust and respect and treating them fairly. Are you working to increase this type of concern for your students and co-workers?

3. The empowerment of followers A leader who empowers others works hard to develop and strengthen the capabilities of followers. This involves training. Every time we train a student to use the Wordless Book or to present a Bible lesson or to hold a Good News Club® we are empowering them to have a vital part in the ministry of CEF® and to have an impact in the lives of boys and girls. We are multiplying ourselves in others and empowering them to do the task. It seems like we automatically fulfill this quality of effective leadership as IOTs, however, will you ask God to make you continually more effective in this area?

As an instructor of teachers and a leader, you play a crucial role in Child Evangelism Fellowship and in the Teaching Children Effectively program. The success or failure of the organization is determined by the quality of leadership. Therefore, leadership is not a subject to be treated lightly. May God help each one of us to be ever mindful of continually developing our skills: the ability to communicate, a higher concern for people and the empowerment of our students to reach children for Christ. As a result, we will be more effective at working together to make a greater impact on our world through impacting the lives of the world’s children!

Martha Wright
Vice-President of Education

Thinking of Illustrations

2008-06-16T09:53:00.010-05:00

Coming up with good illustrations requres a lot of thought, and thinking is hard work! Remember the old Winnie the Pooh cartoons where poor Pooh is walking around in circles tapping his forehead and muttering to himself, "Think, think, think!" That describes a lot of us as we try to keep our teaching fresh and relevant for our TCE students.

During the IOT advanced training held at our CEF International Conference in May, we enjoyed an evening called Instructors' Cafe Live. It was a fun evening of chatting, eating and idea swapping. There were various tables set up to discuss different topics of interest to IOTs. One of those topics was illustrations.

The facilitator of the illustration group kept notes on what was shared regarding finding, filing and using illustrations in teaching TCE courses. A request was made that we publish the notes from that group in particular. Following are the random ideas that were compiled from those discussions.

1. What makes an illustration effective? It relates to the topic; real life situations; something demonstrated in the lives of the children I’m teaching (GNC); a quote that inspires me personally; if I can visualize it in my head (this helps me understand it better); if it speaks to my heart first; illustrations that are current—not outdated; something that God has taught me or I have gone through (good to use for the devotions); personal events with children.

2. How do you file illustrations? Have a file folder in my drawer & put them in when I find them; when I find them I put them in my lesson plan or file folder on the corresponding TCE subject; have a file on the computer that has illustrations and testimonies; on my computer my files are divided by TCE class subject; have an illustration pool file on the computer where new illsutrations are stored by subject. When one is put into a lesson plan, it is removed from the pool; have a notebook and write down things I hear, then file them.

3. Where do you find your illustrations?

The Instructors' Cafe

Country Living magazine (funny things kids say)

E-mails with quotes, statements from various people

Our Daily Bread or other devotionals

Reader’s Digest

Google search for kid related stories

E-Sword (has a section of illustrations)

sermonspice.com (video clips)

The Story File by Steve May (an illustration book)

Children’s Defense Fund reports

Nwspapers (look for local statistics related to children (ask someone clip newspaper articles for you)

reverendfun.com (cartoons)

religioustolerance.org

Quotations from Children’s Bible Essay’s

The Speaker’s Quote Book by Roy B. Zuck (good to use for introductions & illustrations)

Things that kids say in club (note: have a helper write it down for you)

Pastor’s sermons

Answers in Genesis

Liberty Counsel (lc.org) for updates on school happenings

Other IOTs

Books used in personal reading (devotional, biographical and personal experience books are good);

Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations by Paul Lee Tan.

4. How do you keep from repeating illustrations or overlapping with other instructors? Only use an illustration for six months so you keep updated/fresh; if another IOT in my TCE course uses one of my illustrations I refer back to it and try to tie it with my class; before I teach, look over my lesson plan and try to update and improve on my illustrations; change at least one illustration each time i teach; discuss with co-workers what intro/conclusions & illustrations each are planning to use so there is no overlapping;

An additional note on using quotes as illustrations: Try to find some background information on the person you are quoting so TCE students have a frame of reference for the quote they are hearing (i. e. who exactly was William A. Ward, who said so many insightful things about teaching? Google his name and find out!)

We hope these ideas are helpful and have perhaps made you think about how you find, file or use illustrations. If you have anything to add to these ideas, please click the COMMENT link below and share them with the rest of us!

Rekindle the Light

2008-06-02T12:28:00.006-05:00

Every human being loves to feel appreciated. No exceptions! Sometimes a word of appreciation provides just the spark we need to keep going.

Albert Schweitzer once said, “Sometimes our light goes out but is blown again into flame by an encounter with another human being. Each of us owes the deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this inner light.”

As teachers and instructors of teachers, we all love to hear words of appreciation from our students. Their gratitude helps validate our ministry and gives us hope that God is still using us to touch lives. Many of us keep “encouragement” files where we store those kind notes, letters and emails from students. We often turn to that file on days when we need a reminder of why we do what we do!

It’s easy to get so caught up in our own need for appreciation that we forget about encouraging others the same way. Why is it we are so quick to criticize, complain or judge, yet so slow to appreciate? Try this little exercise: close your eyes for a few moments and think about someone whom God used in the past to rekindle that light in you. Perhaps it was a teacher, a mentor, or maybe just someone who shared a word of encouragement at just the right time.

Now, here’s your assignment! Sometime in the next 36 hours, commit to sharing a word of appreciation to that person. It could be a phone call, letter, email or even a personal visit. If that person is no longer living, you might want to drop a note to a family member or at least offer a prayer of thanks for that person’s life.

Do you think your appreciation will make a difference. Writer Barbara Glanz challenged a group of people to do this assignment. One man in her group reported back that he had thought immediately of his 8th grade teacher—a woman who had been everybody’s favorite teacher because of the way she challenged them. He located this, now elderly, woman and wrote her a note of appreciation. To his great surprise, she wrote back.

Here is her letter:

“Dear John, You will never know how much your letter meant to me. I am 83 years old, and I am living all alone in one room. My friends are all gone. My family is gone. I taught 50 years and yours is the first ‘thank you’ letter I have ever gotten from a student. Sometimes I wonder what I did with my life. I will read and reread your letter until the day I die.”

The man was incredulous. He said with tears, “She is always the one we talk about at every reunion. She was everyone’s favorite teacher. We loved her! But no one had ever told her.”

So…write that letter or email. Make that phone call or visit. You just never know how God will use your act of kindness and appreciation to rekindle a flame in someone’s heart!

Here’s the last part of your assignment: Click the COMMENT link below and tell us who God brought to your mind. No names please—just tell us if it was a teacher, coach, relative, mentor, etc. If we all do this assignment, there are a lot of folks out there who are about to get rekindled!

List Your TCE Courses on the Web!

2008-05-27T08:30:00.001-05:00

We now have the capability to list your upcoming TCE courses on the CMI website. To be most effective send in the information as soon as you plan to have a course. Even if you have not decided on the exact dates, you can send in the month or season you will begin the course—such as September 2008 or Fall 2008. Then when you know your exact dates let us know and we will make the change.

The course information you send in will also be placed in the Teach Kids! Essentials publication every other month beginning with the August issue. (Check the side bar for deadline dates for sending in the information.)

Following is the information we need:

* Location of course (city, state)
* Course dates, Beginning—End (or beginning month or season)
* Name of the contact person
* Contact telephone number

Send the information to Cheryl Oetting at Cheryl.Oetting@cefonline.com, or fax to 636-456-4435 or mail to CEF, Cheryl Oetting, PO Box 348, Warrenton MO 63383.

To view courses listed, go to the website, http://www.cefcmi.com/ and the “Our Training” page should come up. Click on "Browse Programs of Study"; then click on Teaching Children Effectively (either Level 1 or Level 2). Click on the icon with the two people (like the icon pictured above).

Register your TCE course with the Department of Education at least one week in advance of its start by sending in the TCE Course Registration Form along with the course schedule. If you do not have a Course Registration Form email Cheryl Oetting for one. Email, fax or mail the completed form with the schedule to Cheryl.

We have about 16 different schedules for TCE Level 1 for your use. How do you get them? Ask Cheryl.

Send in all Student Registration Forms as soon as your course begins. Please do not wait until you send in Request for Certificates to send in the Registration Forms. All certificates—TCE Level 1, Level 2 and CEUs are $5.00 each.

We look forward to assisting you in promoting your TCE courses by listing them on our favorite Website!

Happy Memorial Day

2008-05-26T10:56:00.003-05:00

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is an American holiday of remembrance and traditions for soldiers who have died in our nation’s service. There are many legendary stories as to its actual beginnings.

Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, and was first observed on May 30, 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soliders at Arlington National Cemetery.

Today, Memorial Day is celebrated as a day to remember those who have sacrificed their lives for our liberty. We pause as a nation and give thanks for their heroic service to our country.

To all of our servicemen and women we say thank you and may God continue to bless our nation with freedom.

Culture Changers!

2008-05-19T08:30:00.000-05:00

Have you ever heard of Rev. Dr. Michael E. Haynes? He is a retired pastor from Boston, now in his 80s. He pastored the same historic church for over 50 years. His ministry in the tough Roxbury section of Boston served a neighborhood overwhelmed with drugs, gangs, violence and racism. Dr. Haynes said of his ministry, “Those three or four city blocks are what I’ve given my whole life to. It’s been my world.”

Some would be discontented with such a “small” ministry. But Dr. Haynes knew how to make the most of what God entrusted to him. He sought to reach the youth of his neighborhood and be a culture changer one child at a time.

Many experts believed the youth of that neighborhood were beyond hope and destined to lives of violence, addiction and crime. But Dr. Haynes believed those kids could be reached and changed. In an article referring to the young people Dr. Haynes has influenced in 50 years of ministry, the Boston Globe wrote, “They are now surgeons, presidents of school boards, high school principals, journalists, policemen, lawyers, political aides, FBI agents, former UN officials and bankers." Many have also gone into vocational ministry.

Dr. Haynes believed the future good of those four city blocks depended on raising up a generation of leaders. So he expanded his ministry to begin a leadership training program. His program drew the attention of a local seminary, and soon his church became an extension campus of the seminary. Today, his church is one of the leading urban training centers in the USA, training people in six languages for leadership in urban ministry.

Though retired, Dr. Haynes is still intent on affecting the culture of his city and the country. And he still lives in the same four-block neighborhood of Roxbury.

Have you ever considered how your ministry as an IOT is affecting the culture where you live? Maybe others have given up hope for the kids in your area. But, as you faithfully train teachers and send them into your local neighborhoods and schools, you are making an impact on a generation! You are a culture changer!

Some people aspire to greatness. They want to have worldwide fame and influence. But God’s idea of greatness is all about faithfulness and servanthood. Maybe you minister in a small town or rural county. Maybe you will never move beyond the “four blocks” of your home area. Be faithful to the task God has given to you. The children whose lives your ministry touches may go on to have great impact in the world, further influencing the culture for Christ for generations to come.

We're Ba-a-a-a-a-a-c-k!

2008-05-07T20:02:00.007-05:00

No, these are not refugees from some female Mafia group! It's our own Lynne and Lisa disguised as...um...Deal or No Deal, case carriers. Actually, this was Tim and Dave's job, but the girls took over! This is just some of the fun we had at the IOT Adv anced Training at Ridgecrest. Check our this brief video montage to see some of the happenings!

You can view these and more pictures in the special slideshow in the sidebar on the right.

About 70 IOTs attened the two-day event which preceeded the International Conference. We had folks there from various regions including Africa, Asia, Latin America and North America. It was fun to see old friends and make some new ones! All of the class sessions were interactive and interspersed with fun give-aways. Everyone went home with a heavier suitcase!

Our Instructors' Cafe Live on Tuesday evening was great fun, too. We had good eats and special mugs to enjoy the coffee and tea. Six tables were set up for chats about various subjects of interest to instructors such as, illustrations, intros and conclusions, making classes exciting, etc. Everyone chose a table to start with, then rotated to different tables every 15 minutes. There were lots of good ideas shared and most everyone came away encouraged and inspired to try some new things in their next training opportunity.

One of the things we did at the training was to plug the blog! We really, really encouraged all IOTs to come and visit us here at the Cafe. Hopefully, we will see some new faces popping in here from time to time!

Those of you who were at the advanced training remember, we don't want to let the discussions and idea swapping stop now that we're home. Let's keep the conversation going!

Thanks to all of you who took time to attend. Please click on the comment link below to leave a testimony of what the advanced training meant to you.

Closed for Conference!

2008-04-30T00:00:00.000-05:00

The Café is closed this week, as many of our staff and readers are at the CEF International Conference in Ridgecrest, NC. We hope that those IOTs attending the pre-conference will enjoy the Instructors’ Café Live! on Tuesday night.

Please pray for the conference—for safe travel for attendees from all over the world, for the Bible teachers and workshop leaders and for a good spirit of fellowship with our CEF family.

We will re-open the Café next week when we return here to Warrenton. See you soon!

Retraction!

2008-04-22T09:22:00.007-05:00

This just in from the "Don't Believe Everything You Read" department! The inspiring story that was posted this week, Robby's Night" turned out to be untrue. Sharp-eyed Cafe visitor, Cora Johnson, tracked it on snopes.com and found it to be one of those annoying fake stories circulating on the Internet that sounds so good, but is not true. Our thanks to Cora for her kind and tactful e-mail to let us know.

We have removed the post and apologize to our Cafe visitors. We try hard to make sure we are not passing along urban legends, but this one escaped notice. We would also take this moment to caution all our IOTs to use illustrations with care. Some fake stories take on a life of their own and get circulated for many years as true accounts. Using such stories can hurt our credibility over time. If you have any doubts about a story's origins, go to http://www.snopes.com/. You can put the story title or key words into their search engine and see if they have any data on it.

Now, to make up for our error, we present an illustration you can use with confidence! The following poem, penned by Barbara Ryberg, has been around for a long time. Barbara's words are a challenging reminder to teachers about preparation and taking our ministry to children seriously. She had a Sunday school class in mind, but it certainly applies to a Good News Club as well. You could use this poem as an illustration in TCE classes such as Importance of the Teacher, Managing Your Classroom or Bible Lesson P&P, session 1 (teacher's preparation). Enjoy!

Defeated (by Barbara Ryberg)

I meant to study all the week
And very carefully prepare.
I meant to kneel—yes, every day
And bear each child up in prayer.
But I was weary and I found
So many things that I must do—
Important things that could not wait;
The week was gone before I knew.

I meant to visit several homes
And mail some cards to absentees
To let them know that they were missed,
For such a word is sure to please,
And often brings them quickly back.
But, somehow every day went by,
And not a single card I sent.
And now I ask, “Why didn’t I?”

So this morning when I rose
I tried to study while I ate.
I briefly read my lesson,
And hurried out, five minutes late.
I found them singing, and I dropped
Breathless, ashamed, into my seat,
For I intended to be there
That I the earliest child might greet.

Time for the lesson, and a group
Of eager voices beg their turn
To quote by heart the memory verse
Which I, alas, forgot to learn.
And so I stumbled through the hour,
And built with stubble, hay and wood
Instead of gold and precious stones
And silver, as His servants should.

“Go feed My lambs,” was His command
And shall I hope for them to live
On little morsels such as this,
When mighty feasts are mine to give?
Forgive me, Lord, that I should treat
Thy Word in such a shameful way,
And may I never stand again
Defeated, as I’ve done today.

Becoming the Sycamore Tree

2008-04-15T14:24:00.011-05:00

Youth pastor, David Skidmore, tells about trying a role play to make the story of Zacchaeus more interesting for the children. He assigned various kids to each part, and had an adult helper play the part of the sycamore tree. After the drama (“with a few giggles as ‘Zacchaeus’ made his way up the ‘tree,’ hitting a few ticklish spots on the journey”), they all sang the familiar song about Zacchaeus. Then he asked the children, “What would have happened if Zacchaeus had not climbed the tree that day?”

One eight-year-old girl responded, “His song wouldn’t be as much fun to sing! “

The pastor imagined this new version of the song:

Zacchaeus was a wee little man
A wee little man was he
He started to climb in a sycamore tree
But he didn’t...
And then...he went home.

The little girl was right--not much fun to sing. Her response made the pastor think of all the children he was ministering to whose songs weren’t much fun to sing because “their faith was so small...and the crowd was too tall...and they had no sycamore tree to climb.”

Then he realized the truth. For many years he had been trying to BE Jesus to the kids. He tried to save them and heal their hurts. But that wasn’t his job. He was called to be the sycamore tree! He says, “Like the sycamore tree, my job is to lift the (children) above the crowd so they might see the approaching Savior."

This is what TCE is all about. We train teachers to be sycamore trees. It is not their responsibility to save the children in their clubs, but to give them a new perspective and an opportunity to meet the Savior.

Pastor Skidmore concludes with these powerful thoughts:

“Luke eventually tells the story of another tree.
The first tree holds a man living a lie.
On the other tree hangs a Man dying for truth.
Zacchaeus climbs a tree to get the attention of Jesus.
Jesus climbs a tree and dies to get ours.
Being a tree is easy.
Being a Savior is not.”

Your TCE students will have many children in their clubs whose songs are not much fun to sing. But as you train your teachers and listen to their practicum lessons on Zacchaeus, you can remind them that they have the awesome privilege of being the sycamore tree to those kids God entrusts to them!

CMI Goes Online!

2008-04-08T14:03:00.014-05:00

We are celebrating! CEF is excited to announce the launch of CMI Online! Check it out at: http://www.cefcmi.com/online/
Our new online program gives students the flexibility to receive specialized training in children’s ministry in the comfort of their own home! Now YOU can study in your pajamas!

Two individual seminars are available now at no charge: Can Children Be Saved? and The Gospel Prepared for a Child’s Heart. They can be viewed by individuals or groups. These seminars include printable student notes and an audio presentation synched with slides.

These are the first two sessions in the Teaching to Transform seminar series. Each month new seminars will be added until all nine are available. To access these seminars directly, visit http://cefcmi.com/online/course/category.php?id=22.

A free demo course, The Romans Road for Children, will be available soon. It will allow participants to experience online learning and determine if it is suitable for them. TCE Level 1 will be the first full 8-week course to be added online and will be available later. Keep watching the blog for updated information on these courses.

We have also updated our regular CMI website, adding links to our online training. Check out our new look at http://www.cefcmi.com/. Both the regular site and the online site have been added to our list of favorite links in the sidebar on the right for your convenience.

We thank God for the gifted people He has provided to our staff who have worked endless hours to make the online program a reality. Please pray with us for God's continued direction and blessing as we work on the TCE course content and other training we hope to launch in the near future.

We hope you will visit these sites today, and let your teachers know about this wonderful new resource!

Running a Race to Rescue Children

2008-03-31T14:02:00.005-05:00

Have you ever thought about how being an IOT is like running a relay race? It takes a team to win the race, with every member contributing. Each time you teach a TCE course you are handing off that baton to your students.

Sheri Sylverson, CEF director and IOT, captured this thought in her recent e-mail newsletter for River Valley CEF in Arizona. Sheri's associate director, Dorothy Delano, gave us permission to share these thoughts with you. So…here is our guest blogger, Sheri Sylverson!

As Christians we are to run the race in order to win; and we are definitely in a race...a race against time as we seek to tell children of Jesus Christ and His saving blood. This isn't a sprint or a dash but rather more of a relay. Each of us in our own way is running a leg of this race, carrying our own baton. Each partner in this relay will share in the reward, when we cross the finish line into heaven.

Until that time, though, each person needs to remain faithful to his or her specific spot on the team; whether it is teaching, helping, praying, baking snacks, encouraging, or anything else. We are running together to save precious lives.

TCE 1 is Effective

Teaching Children Effectively, Level 1 is effective, according to the students currently taking the course. Six women work hard every Saturday as they learn new concepts and are challenged to use what they now know in reaching children with the Gospel. Five of the students currently work in a local Good News Club and they are already putting their new skills to use.

Wordless Book Works Wonders

On the first day of Teaching Children Effectively Level 1, the students were taught how to use the Wordless Book. The following week, Cheryl Shaffer taught four children a craft at her church. Somehow the conversation turned to knowing Jesus and Cheryl realized she didn't have anything with her! Not a Bible, a tract, or even the little Wordless Book. She hurried upstairs and got a Bible from the pastor. Thankfully, Cheryl had just presented the Wordless Book to a TCE Level 1 instructor for evaluation the previous Saturday. She clearly presented the Gospel to the children and three of them asked Jesus to be their Savior.

Not only did Cheryl get an "A" on her Wordless Book presentation, she also gets an "A" for Adapting to a tough situation, being Accountable in sharing what she knew, and taking Action when a need presented itself.

Isn’t that a great testimony? Also a great reminder to be faithful in running the race. Are you faithfully handing off that baton to those TCE students so they can continue the race, even when you're out of the picture? Thanks, Sheri, for a great reminder.

Did you know that you, too, can be a guest blogger? You can! Do you have some inspiring thoughts for other IOTs or some stirring testimonies? Just e-mail them to Lynda.Pongracz@cefonline.com. We will take care of editing and formatting for the blog. We look forward to hearing from you! In the meantime, keep running that race!

IOT Deal or No Deal!

2008-03-25T13:27:00.027-05:00

Are you coming to the IOT Advanced Training Pre-Conference Seminar at Ridgecrest? We hope so! This two-day event (April 29-30, from 9:00-4:00), presented by the “IOT Game Show Network,” will be jam-packed with helps, encouragement, information, creative ideas, free stuff and FUN! (You know the education folks can’t do anything without having FUN!)

Just to whet your appetite, here are some of the great sessions in store for you:

Day 1 - TCE—What a Deal for Training Teachers!

What’s In Your Spiritual Briefcase
Developing Million Dollar Class Sessions
Enhancing the Art of Effective Demonstrations
Lively Lingo for Effective Evaluations
Strategic Scheduling for Inquisitive Instructors
Maximizing Your Message with Marvelous Methods

Tuesday Evening’s Special Event – the Instructors’ Café Live!
You are invited to a very special evening at the Café! We’ll provide the munchies and other cafe delights. You can just come and kick back, relax, eat, chat and swap ideas with other IOTs and the education staff. Bring along your best TCE ideas for illustrations, introductions and conclusions, promotion, recruiting and follow-up. It will be a great night of fellowship and encouragement!

Day 2 - How to Keep Your TCE Courses out of Jeopardy!

Asking Yourself The Tough Questions
Keeping Yourself on Track
CMI Online – Our Newest Training Venue
Keeping the Peace - Resolving Conflicts Biblically
Building a Ministry Team through Coaching and Mentoring
Commitment in Ministry

Throughout both days we will have lots of “stuff” to give away. Everybody will go home with something—some may go home with a lot of somethings!

So, make plans to join us April 29-30 for this great two-day event just before the International Conference! Click the CEF link in the sidebar and follow the conference link to get all the info you need to register for this session. We’ll be looking for YOU at Ridgecrest!

It's Empty!

2008-03-20T16:10:00.001-05:00

Little Philip, born with Down’s syndrome, attended a third-grade Sunday school class with several eight-year-old boys and girls. Typical of that age, the children did not readily accept Philip with his differences. But because of a creative teacher, they began to care about Philip and somewhat accepted him as part of the group.

The Sunday before Easter, the teacher brought a container of plastic eggs that open up. She gave one to each child and told them to go outside on that lovely spring day, find some symbol for new life and put it in their plastic egg. Then they would bring their eggs back inside and share their new-life symbols as each was opened.

After running about the church property in wild confusion, the children returned to the classroom and placed their eggs on the table. Surrounded by the children, the teacher began to open them one by one. As each was opened, the class would ooh and ahh over the flower, leaf or butterfly within.

Then one was opened, revealing nothing inside. The children exclaimed, “That’s stupid. That’s not fair. Somebody didn’t do their assignment.”

Philip spoke up, “That’s mine.”

“Philip, you don’t ever do things right!” the children said. “There’s nothing in there!”

“I did so do it right,” Philip insisted. “It’s empty. The tomb was empty!”

Silence followed. From then on Philip became a full member of the class.

Philip died not long afterward from an infection most children would have been able to shrug off. At the funeral this class of eight-year-olds and their Sunday school teacher quietly walked up to the front, but not with flowers. One by one, each child came and placed on the altar an empty plastic egg.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

Happy Resurrection Day

from your friends at CMI!

Are You a 212° IOT?

2008-03-17T12:11:00.000-05:00

What does it take to impact the lives of your teachers? What does it take to make your TCE class session dynamic? What does it take to keep plugging away at those TCE courses? It takes a 212° instructor of teachers!

Mac Anderson, businessman and founder of the company, Successories, has a Web site called Simpletruths.com. On his site, he take the quotes and other inspirationsl writings that are the basis for his motivational products and puts them into gift books and short video clips. These are mainly for the business world—but many of them have good application for ministries like ours.

Not long ago, Mac Anderson and Sam Parker wrote a gift book titled, 212° …The Extra Degree. The principle explored in this book is as follows (from simpletruths.com):

At 211 degrees...water is hot.
At 212 degrees...it boils.
And with boiling water, comes steam.
And steam can power a locomotive.
And, it’s that one extra degree that...Makes all the difference.

The authors go on to say that one extra degree of effort can make all the difference in our livess as well.

We would undoubtedly agree that the Lord Jesus was a 212° person. He gave His all in every area of His ministry. He gave 212° to His relationship with His disciples; He gave 212° of his time and energy in caring for those in need; He gave 212° to His redemptive work on our behalf.

So, how does this apply to us—His servants? Maybe some of us have been satisfied to give 211°. But one degree short of the boiling point is just tepid water! It accomplishes little. As Mac says, that one extra degree of effort separates the good from the great!

What difference would one extra degree of effort make in your ministry as an IOT? Think of applying one extra degree of service to your students; one extra degree of preparation to your lesson plans; one extra degree of enthusiasm to your teaching; one extra degree of follow-up to your TCE courses.

God tells us in Colossians 3:23-24, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance; for ye serve the Lord Christ.” God deserves—and expects—212° from us.

What is your ministry temperature today? Need a little more inspiration? Go to http://www.212movie.com/ and watch the short video clip. Then go back to those TCE courses and be a 212° instructor of teachers!

Lead Like Jesus

2008-03-03T16:01:00.007-06:00

A few years back, many Christians were wearing bracelets and t-shirts with the letters WWJD on them. Asking, “What Would Jesus Do?” caused many to consider their thoughts, attitudes and actions in light of the example set by the Lord Jesus Christ.

When it comes to teaching TCE courses, maybe we need a new acronym: HWJL: How Would Jesus Lead? In some sense, Jesus was an instructor of teachers. He trained the 12, and other disciples, to continue His work after He would return to the Father.

If we want to lead like Jesus led, what would that look like today? Writer Stan Toler has some excellent thoughts on this subject in his latest leadership newsletter. Toler points out that Jesus was a servant-leader. “His sincere and compassionate interest in others was an investment that resulted in their world-changing achievements.”

Following are three aspects of Jesus’ leadership style, adapted from Toler, that we would do well to emulate in our TCE courses:

1. Jesus accepted people as they were and helped them to become better. Toler points out that a sports team’s victories come from a coach’s investment over many months. The successful coach communicates belief in the team and focuses on fine-tuning the players’ skills.

Are you investing in your TCE students? Do your students know you believe in them? Are you helping them improve their skills as teachers and child evangelists?

2. Jesus understood that God-given abilities are stored in jars of clay. He didn’t give up on people. He didn’t expect too much too soon. He didn’t put them in a box. He gave them guidance, but also freedom to develop according to their own personalities.

How are you doing in this area? Are you patient as your TCE students grow and learn, realizing that not everybody will “get it” the first time around? Do you give your students freedom to be themselves, rather than expecting them to teach like you? Do you give them second chances to succeed? Third chances?

3. Jesus brought out the best in the worst of people. He knew that in order to lift up, you sometimes have to stoop down. He saw the gem beneath the rough surface and patiently polished that gem until it shone with His own reflection.

How is your vision of your TCE students? Are you able to see past the sometimes rough exterior to the gem God has placed within? (Sometimes it takes a lot of searching to find that gem!) Are you gently polishing that gem with your kind and encouraging words? Are your TCE students increasingly reflecting the image of the Lord Jesus Christ as they learn from you?

These are just a few of the leadership principles we see in Jesus—there are many more. But just putting these three into practice will keep us busy for some time! Let’s pray for each other that we will all become IOTs who lead, more and more, like Jesus led.

The Fatherless Generation

2008-02-19T09:25:00.008-06:00

We all know that broken families permeate our society. Today's kids are known as the “fatherless generation.” In your clubs you undoubtedly have lots of children from divorced families, many of whom seldom see their fathers.

The National Center for Fathering (www.fathers.com) has done a number of research studies in this area. They recently released some sobering figures on the problem of absent fathers in today's culture:

1. An estimated 24.7 million children (36.3%) live absent from their biological father.

2. There are almost 17 million children (25%) living with their single mothers.

3. 1.25 million or 32% of all births in 1995 were out-of-wedlock.

4. Today nearly 4 out of 10 first marriages end in divorce, 60% of divorcing couples have children, and over one million children each year experience the divorce of their parents.

5. One out of every six children is a stepchild.

6. There are nearly 1.9 million single fathers with children under 18.

7. 4 out of every 10 cohabitating couples have children present, and of children born to cohabitating couples, only 4 out of 10 will see their parents marry. Those who do cohabitate experience a 50% higher divorce rate.

8. 26% of absent fathers live in a different state than their children.

9. About 40% of the children who live in fatherless households haven't seen their fathers in at least a year while 50% of children who don't live with their fathers have never stepped foot in their father's home.

10. Children who live absent from their biological fathers, on average, are more likely to be poor, experience educational, health, emotional and psychological problems, be victims of child abuse, and engage in criminal behavior than their peers who live with their married, biological mother and father.

What can we do about this plague on our nation? As instructors, we need to educate our teachers concerning this issue. Share the statistics with them in your training programs. Use illustrations about the negative effects of fatherlessness on this generation.

We can also remind teachers to pray for children who are growing up without a father present in their homes. We can encourage positive male role models for these children by challenging more men to get involved teaching Good News Clubs!

We need to teach children what God intended for the family, and especially for the role of the father in the family (Scripture has lots of examples of how NOT to father!).

Most of all, we need to teach children about God the Father, who loves with a perfect, pure love, who disciplines His children for their profit and who has a listening ear and wise guidance for every situtaion.

The statistics paint a bleak picture for this generation. This is all the more reason to challege our teachers to reach the chiildren with the Gospel. Remember, no child is truly fatherless who knows God as his heavenly Father!

Self-Evaluation!

2008-02-12T10:41:00.000-06:00

How do you know if your teaching is effective? If you are a new instructor of teachers, you may feel unsure about how well you are communicating the TCE curriculum. If you’ve been teaching TCE courses for a while, there is the risk that your teaching is becoming stale. In either case, it’s important to take time to evaluate how you are doing as an instructor.

Dr. Howard Hendricks, Christian educator from Dallas Seminary, is a strong believer in the process of self-evaluation. He explained its importance in an article for Christianity Today as follows:

“Teaching without evaluation can erode my effectiveness in many ways. Poor methods become ingrained habits. I can assume I'm doing better than I really am and become complacent. I can conclude something works when it actually doesn't. I can lose touch with my audience, teaching in a vacuum. Also, time exaggerates my idiosyncrasies rather than lessening them. And without anything to keep me on my toes, I can get sloppy.”

If Howard Hendricks, with all his many years of teaching experience and credentials, sees such value in evaluation, how much more do we need to consider its importance in our training ministries?

Of course the truest way to test our teaching is by our students. What results are you seeing in their lives and ministries? Are they motivated to teach a Good News Club? Are they applying the TCE principles when they teach children? As instructors, we are not entirely responsible for the actions of our students. There is a point where it is up to them to apply what they have learned. Our job is to make sure we are doing all we can to give proper motivation and equip them to do the task effectively.

Sometimes we don’t see results right away. Dr. Hendricks reminds us that instructors must be patient people! Remember it’s not so much a question of “where are they?” now that I’ve taught them, but rather “are they moving in the right direction?”

Another way to gauge the effectiveness of your teaching is to observe the immediate response of students in the classroom. Do they ask questions? Do you hear them in further discussion about your topic after the class is over? Effective teaching often raises more questions than it answers. It causes students to consider things they never thought about before. If all your students head for the door after class without further comment, you might need to examine what was accomplished in your class session.

One way to raise the effectiveness of your teaching is through your illustrations. Do you illustrate your points with good stories or testimonies? Hendricks says, “Narratives improve communication.” Make sure you are choosing good illustrations from your own and other teachers’ experiences with children in GNC settings. And be sure to update your illustrations from time to time--that will keep your teaching fresh!

To self-evaluate, try using these three questions:

1. What did I do well? Don’t just highlight your failures. Affirm and reinforce the good!

2. What did I do poorly? Did you sense a place where you didn’t connect or communicate clearly? Think about why and what you can do about it the next time.

3. What should I change? Do you need more or better illustrations or newer ones? Do you need more class involvement or more variety in your methods? Make the necessary changes in your lesson plan NOW while it’s fresh in your mind.

Evaluating our teaching takes time and discipline, but it’s necessary if we are going to have effective ministry. Just remember this thought as you evaluate yourself: You’re never quite as bad as you think; nor are you quite as good. But, with evaluation, you can always be improving!

What are your thoughts on self-evalution? Click the Comment link below this post and share your thoughts with us!

Wonder Time

2008-02-04T09:30:00.000-06:00

Were you carefully discipled when you came to know Christ as your Savior? So many Christians were not. Many testify that they came to know Christ, but then floundered in their faith for several years until someone began to teach them how to grow in significant ways. For some, it was many years before anyone told them how to have an effective quiet time with God. Consequently, many Christen adults do not make daily time with God a priority in their lives.

We trust, as you are teaching TCE classes, you are helping your students know how to use the devotional books in club and how to have an effective Wonder Time. Brief information on Wonder Time has been included in the TCE manual in the class on the GNC Program, but you may want to give more detailed helps.

The CEF download site has a full seminar on Wonder Time, including student and instructor notes and PowerPoint visuals. We encourage you to get these materials and make that training available to your students. The clubs that are having the most success with children consistently doing their devotional books are ones who make time in club for an effective Wonder Time every week.

We frequently receive testimonies of how children’s lives are being changed by their daily quiet time with God. The picture above was sent in by a proud mom who sent the following testimony:

"I went in to check on the kids before I went to bed. Jordan, age seven, was reading her Bible and doing her daily devotion. I told her to finish it up and go to sleep. She said OK … check out what I captured with my camera. Have you ever seen such a sight? My sweet Jordie got caught with her Bible open! She got her 60-Day Wonder Devotional Book Friday at the Good News Club after school program and she has been doing it everyday. She even worked ahead and is on day 8 now."

Just last week we received another testimony from a GNC teacher of how God used a particular devotional in one clubber’s life:

Logan, age seven, gave his life to the Lord last month on Jan 15th, his dad’s birthday. Logan's Dad said, "Those little devotional books that Logan receives are great, and it was at the end of his current Wonder Time that he responded to the devotional titled, How Can I Be Ready for Jesus' Return?" Logan’s parents had the joy of leading him to the Lord! Logan had been coming back (for counseling) during the invitation at club, and was very close to a decision the last time he responded, asking more intense questions. What a birthday present for his Dad. How awesome, not only is he his daddy's son, on his spiritual birthday he became his daddy's little brother too!'

You just never know how God is going to speak to a child during his quiet time. Share testimonies like these with your teachers to inspire them to emphasize the devotional books in their clubs.

Wonder Time is being done in many GNCs around the world! Pictured here are children in clubs in Poland and South Africa with their devotional books.

Challenge your teachers to make sure they are having their own daily quiet time with God. They may even want to use the same Wonder Devotional Books their clubbers are using. If daily time with God is not important to them, they won’t make it important to the children!

Remind your teachers that, through Wonder Time, they have the opportunity to help children develop a lifelong habit that could have far-reaching implications.

Happy Anniversary to Us!

2008-01-23T09:55:00.000-06:00

This month marks the first anniversary of the Instructors’ Café! Back in 2006, we in the education department were talking about how we could communicate more regularly with our instructors in the field. Sending out mailings has become expensive and time-consuming. One member of our department had started her own blog and that started us thinking about the possibility of having an instructors’ blog.

It took time to decide on a name and a look for the blog. Our creation and design team included Pat Johann, Cheryl Oetting, Carol Nolen and Lynda Pongracz. We settled on the name Instructors’ Café because it sounded like a cozy, friendly place to spend some time—and that’s what we want the Café to be!

Next came the difficult task of designing the header—Carol’s tech skills were greatly appreciated at this point! Then we had to decide on the content and layout. Since most of us had never worked in “blogdom” before, this was quite a challenge! Some of us have become quite handy with “html” code! Finally on January 22, 2007, everything was in place and the blog was officially launched!

The first month, we had around 153 visits to our site. The numbers have slowly grown over this first year. Now we average around 200 visits a month. We have tried to get the word out about the blog every chance we get. We are so grateful to those of you who stop in to visit regularly.

Our biggest challenge now is to get our instructors in the habit of checking the blog each week. Many people confuse a blog with a Web site. The blog is much more dynamic and is constantly being updated. We encourage our instructors to bookmark the site and get into the habit of checking in at least once a week. If you know other instructors in your area, please encourage them to visit the blog regularly.

Besides increasing traffic at the blog, our other goal for this year is to get our visitors to interact much more frequently. We encourage you to leave comments on various posts, and respond to others' comments. Think of the blog as an online conversation!

We have noticed that some are utilizing the “shoutbox” feature, leaving scrolling messages and responding to others. That’s great! The more we can open dialogue between instructors the better. We are a family and we need each other! Maybe your comment will be just the encouragement someone else needs to hear. At other times, sharing your burden or question will allow others to minister to you.

If you have ideas or suggestions for the blog, please let us know. We try to offer a variety of information, education and encouragement in our posts. If there is something you’d like us to talk about, please drop us a note. We’ll do our best to implement your ideas. Please send your blog ideas to Lynda.Pongracz@cefonline.com.

Maintaining the blog takes time and work, but it's also been fun! We look forward to the year ahead and all the opportunities we will have to visit with you at the Café. Together, let’s make the Instructors’ Café THE place to be for all our IOTs!

PS: Be sure to vote in our blog poll in the sidebar!

Schedules 'R Us!

2008-01-21T14:15:00.000-06:00

One of the most time consuming parts of setting up a TCE course is developing the schedule. As you know, many times you have to modify schedules to fit various situations—it’s definitely not a “one-schedule-fits-all” world!

Of course when you modify a schedule, you have to be careful that you're keeping the order of classes correct so one session builds upon another as originally intended. You also have to allow students adequate time to prepare for assignments and practicums.

Once you have the basic schedule worked out, you have to print it in some readable form, with instructor names, and send it in to Lynne Herlein, our intrepid TCE Program Director, who checks it over thoroughly to be sure it is complete and correct. If there’s a problem, she will contact you to fix it.

Wouldn’t it be great if someone could come up with a whole bunch of different schedules and set them up so you could just type in the instructors’ names and print them out! Well, your wish is our command! Lynne has kindly taken the time to work out a whole bunch of different schedules for TCE Level 1 and set them up in block form so all you have to do is enter the instructors’ names in each block.

No more wondering how to fit everything into a shorter schedule! No more checking and re-checking to see if you left any classes out of the schedule! No more wondering if you have the classes in the right order! No more waiting for that dreaded call from Lynne saying you have to fix the schedule!

So, what kind of schedules are we talking about? Glad you asked! Here's a list of the formats that are available:

3 weekends
4 weekends
6 days
7 days (three versions)
8 days
2 1/2 weeks
4 weeks
4 weeks (3 nights each week)
5 weeks (two versions)
9 weeks
10 weeks
12 weeks

How do you get your hands on one of these wonderful fool-proof TCE Level 1 schedules? It’s easy! E-mail Cheryl Oetting (Cheryl.Oetting@cefonline.com) or call her (636-456-4321 ext. 291) and ask her to send it to you! At this time only Level 1 schedules are available.

When you’re preparing to set up a TCE Level 1 course, just select the schedule that fits your time frame (you can modify individual starting and ending times if necessary), add the instructor names and send it to Lynne for approval. We’ve taken the guesswork out of it for you!

So, stop sweating over those TCE schedules. Contact Cheryl and let her know what you need. That’s one major detail of teaching TCE you can check off your list! Say thank you!

You’re welcome!

Are You PowerPoint Savvy?

2008-01-14T13:18:00.000-06:00

Many of us use PowerPoint regularly in our TCE courses, as well as in other training venues. In TCE, you most likely use the PowerPoint slides provided by our office. But there may be times you add your own slides or times you are making up a promotional or other presentation from scratch. As PowerPoint has become more widely used in business, research has been done to determine what techniques enhance presentations and what might detract from them.

Steve Williams, a discipleship specialist with LifeWay Christian Resources, has studied the use and trends of PowerPoint teaching and he offers some sound advice for presenters. Steve says, “People comprehend three times as much when they see an image." In other words, they not only remember it—they understand it! Isn’t that what our goal is in our training ministries?

To assist presenters, Steve has identified what he calls, “Seven Deadly Sins of PowerPoint.” He says these are mistakes that will “most assuredly kill your presentation faster than anything.” Here is an adaptation of Steve’s list (used by permission):

Deadly sin # 1 - Too little contrast - the result of using text and backgrounds of similar colors. Make sure there is enough contrast between them so text can be easily read. Note: color contrasts that look good on your monitor may not look as good projected on a screen. Try out your presentations with a projector to see how they look.

Deadly sin # 2 - Too many colors - for text and objects can result in a rainbow effect. Two text colors per slide are usually enough to look good and be readable. Three different text colors are enough for an entire presentation.

Deadly sin # 3 - Too much text - makes a slide look cluttered and hard to read. Use the five and 10 rule. Limit each slide to about five lines of text that can be read in about 10 seconds. Six lines are OK, seven if you have to ... but when you get beyond that you have too much text.

Deadly sin # 4 - Text that is too small - makes people have to strain to read it. This will distract them and cause them to miss hearing the point. Another good reason to test your slides projected on a large screen. If in doubt, make text larger.

Deadly sin # 5 - Too many bullets - makes a presentation predictable and boring. Bullets are great if used sparingly and wisely. Try using "unbullets" like pictures or placing text inside various shaped objects like ovals, rectangles or circles.

Deadly sin # 6 - Too many transition effects - can disorient the viewer. PowerPoint 2000 gives you 60 or 70 effects, but they shouldn't all be used in one presentation! Use a maximum of two to three different effects throughout your whole presentation.

Deadly sin # 7 - Using boring slides - can put the audience to sleep. Effective use of colors and graphic objects can add appeal to presentations and make people want to watch them.

Williams says, “By eliminating the seven deadly sins from your presentations, you will encourage your audience to focus on your message and learn more, and they won't think you started using PowerPoint yesterday."

Here at CMI, we appreciate so much the work that Pat Johann puts into our PowerPoint visuals for TCE and other training programs. She is frequently updating our visuals to make them as effective as possible.

We recommend that you implement these suggestions to update your own PowerPoint visuals or in creating your own presentations. Let’s strive for excellence, not only in our teaching, but also in our visuals!

Happy New Year!

2008-01-07T10:47:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year! Your CMI team is back in action. Did you miss us? We are looking forward to another year of serving you and our students here in Warrenton.

Can you believe it is 2008? A new year stretching ahead is exciting. It’s like a book full of blank pages just waiting to be filled in. Writer Edith Lovejoy Pierce said, “We will open the book: Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.”

So, what will you write in your book this year? As Christians we don’t put much importance on making resolutions. But we all have hopes and dreams—prayer goals—for the days ahead. Our books will fill with our experiences, our successes and failures and the lessons we learn. Each of us will look back on our book at the end of the year and see how God directed our days and ordered our steps.

Our prayer for you in this New Year is that you will experience God’s tangible presence, sense His unmistakable direction, rejoice in His unfailing love and grow in His amazing grace.

What are your prayer goals for the year ahead? Click the comment link below this post and share with us what you want to see God do in your life and/or ministry in 2008.

Politically-Correct Greetings!

2007-12-18T18:59:00.000-06:00

Isn't this a strange day in which we live? People can't even wish each other a simple "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year" without getting into trouble with somebody! In the spirit of fun, the following tongue-in-cheek greeting was written in the most careful, politically-correct language possible. Enjoy!

Please accept, with no obligation implied or implicit, our best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all and a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great, (not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country or is the only "AMERICA" in the western hemisphere), and without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, or choice of computer platform of the wishee.

(By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms. This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and
warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.)

Whew! Well, politically correct or not, your friends here at CMI wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Blessed New Year!

True Christmas

2007-12-06T11:19:00.000-06:00

Christmas is coming and once again the battles are raging in our country over the “political correctness” of this special celebration.

The secular world never seems to stop trying to remove all aspects of God from our culture. Christianity seems to be under attack now more than ever.

As believers, we refuse to cave in to the cultural downsizing of Christmas. We love and want to share its true meaning. So, in the spirit of political INcorrectness, we offer you this original poem:

True Christmas
by Lynda Pongracz

We’ve reached that special time of year
When all the world takes pause
To think about our Savior dear,
Or revel in Santa Claus.

Each year the battle rages on
Between two different views;
To celebrate God’s only Son,
Or bow to this world’s ruse.

The atheists would love to see
A festive celebration
Of secular and worldly things
Across our diverse nation.

But we know well without a doubt
No matter what may be,
That Christ is what it’s all about;
He came to set us free.

When we believe God sent His Son
To pay our debt past due,
We can rejoice that it’s been done
And celebrate Christmas true!

So, as you celebrate that day,
Don’t bow to worldly views;
Be bold to tell of Christ, the way,
Proclaiming the Good News!

CEF workers all around the world are proclaiming that Good News to children in Christmas party clubs. Let’s pray for much fruit this month as many children hear about the true meaning of Christmas.

Sometimes You Just Have to Smile!

2007-11-26T19:19:00.000-06:00

Well, the Christmas rush has officially begun and maybe your nerves are already a little frayed around the edges. So, this week at the Café, we’d like you to just sit back and smile as you enjoy some of these gems from the minds and mouths of the little ones. You might see ways you can use some of these as illustrations for TCE classes—but really, we just want you to relax and enjoy!

Ancient Artifact

A little boy opened the big, old family Bible with fascination, looking at the old pages as he turned them. Then something fell out of the Bible and he picked up and looked at it closely. It was an old leaf that had been pressed between the pages.

"Momma, look what I found," the boy called out with astonishment. "It's Adam's suit!"

Animal Crackers
When a mother returned from the grocery store, her small son pulled out the box of animal crackers he had begged for, and then he spread the animal-shaped crackers all over the kitchen counter.

"What are you doing?" his mom asked.

"The box says you can't eat them if the seal is broken," the boy explained. "I'm looking for the seal."

Feeding Shamu
At Sea World, our grandson absolutely refused to see the show featuring Shamu the killer whale, but he wouldn't tell us why. No amount of discussion could get him to change his mind.

Later, when we got home, we discovered the reason for his reluctance. It seems his Aunt had told him how exciting the show would be because, "They choose children from the audience to feed Shamu."

Rough Boys
A little girl asked her mother, "Can I go outside and play with the boys?"

Her mother replied, "No, you can't play with the boys; they're too rough."

The little girl thought about it for a few moments and asked, "If I can find a smooth one, can I play with him?"

Gabie-isms
Following are some interesting insights from a five-year-old boy named Gabriel (Gabie):

Gabie’s observation upon walking into Walgreens drugstore:
"Man, when are they ever going to get around to painting this place? The walls are still white -- not green!"

Gabie the mathematician:
I invented a new number. I call it “ten-ty” It's another word for a hundred. Ten-ty is a little more than ninety.

Gabie, after getting a cactus needle in his ankle:
"Mom, this injury is pretty serious. I think I'm going to need a cast and a handicapped parking pass."

Gabie the Gourmet:

Gabie: “I'm going to make your sandwich today Mom. I have a new recipe you're really going to like. It's called a peanut butter, honey, bologna, tuna sandwich.”

Mom: “Uh, sounds great Gabie, but I think I'm already making my own sandwich, so I’ll pass.”

Gabie: “But Mom it's not a pain to make at all. And it's my yummiest sandwich ever. You might even get addicted to it. That means you want it all the time.

Mom: (thinking there's little chance of developing a peanut butter, honey, bologna, tuna addiction, but you never can be too careful) “No thanks Gabie.”

Gabie (persistent as ever): “If you like it you can make it on your own. But you might need a little bit of help, so I'll help you with it. I'm the only one who knows how much to put in it. And which side to put the peanut butter on. It has to go on a certain side.”

Mom (half annoyed, half amused): “Listen Gabriel, I don't think I would like those ingredients together. Thanks for offering, but I really truly do not want a peanut butter, honey, bologna, tuna sandwich.”

Gabie: “But how do you KNOW you won't like it if you've never tried it?!?”

Mom’s thoughts: Help! He's using my own logic against me. It's hopeless. Do I give in like a coward and let him make the sandwich, take a few nibbles off the edges while he glows with pride and then dispose of the rest when he trots off to watch Sesame Street, or do I hold my ground??.

Mom’s reply: “You betcha!”

Gabie the con-man:
Gabie: “Hey, lets all have some pudding.”

Mom: “Sorry buddy. We can't have pudding right now, it's lunchtime.”

Gabie: “But I want some pudding. We could each have a different flavor.”

Mom: “No Gabie. It's lunchtime.”

Gabie: “Oh, alright... then can I choose what we have for lunch?”

Mom: “Sure. What should we have for lunch?”

Gabie: “Pudding!”

Mom: **sigh**

So, are you smiling yet?? We hope so! Do you have a favorite kid’s quote, goofy observation or words of wisdom? Click the “comment” link below and share it with us. We all need to take some time to smile once in a while!

Give Thanks

2007-11-15T11:10:00.000-06:00

We’ve arrived at that wonderful time of year here in the states called Thanksgiving. It’s supposed to be a special time when we celebrate the first settlers to our nation and give thanks for all our God has provided for us.

Of course, like many other aspects of our culture, things have become a bit twisted. The focus has shifted to food, football and shopping, doubt has been cast on the true motives of the Pilgrims and it’s not even politically correct to call the holiday Thanksgiving anymore! Some public schools are now calling it “Diversity Day” – oh brother!

Eric Reed, the managing editor of Leadership, put it very well when he said, “Santa is seizing November. And Pilgrims, once champions of religious freedom, are being sacrificed as bigots on the altar of political correctness. So who's calling us all to give thanks now?”

Good question! We have become a nation of ungrateful people. We’d often rather complain about things we don’t like, don’t have, can’t do or wish we were, instead of giving thanks to God for all He has provided and all He does and continues to do for us.

Consider these thought-provoking words from theologian Patrick Henry Reardon:

“Suppose for a moment that God began taking from us the many things for which we have failed to give thanks. Which of our limbs and faculties would be left? Would I still have my hands and my mind? And what about loved ones? If God were to take from me all those persons and things for which I have not given thanks, who or what would be left of me?”

Indeed, if God took from us all for which we failed to give Him thanks, we’d surely be in big trouble! One thing we can be thankful for is that we have a God of abundant grace and mercy. Psalm 103 reminds us to praise God and not forget “all His benefits.” This is a great time to do as the old Gospel song suggests: “Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your many blessings, see what God hath done!”

When we count our blessings here at CMI, we count all of you, our instrucctors of teachers! We are so grateful for each of you and the time and energy you give to equip teachers to reach and disciple the children. Thank you for your labor of love.

May you and your family have a blessing-filled Thanksgiving!

An Instructor's Influence

2007-11-06T09:29:00.001-06:00

A while back, we received a wonderful testimony from CEF instructor Alice Smith in Corpus Christi, Texas. Alice (who has served with CEF 51 years!) wrote to tell us about an amazing lady named Mary Gates and her daughter Mary Fayne. We thought you'd enjoy reading this testimony.

Alice writes:

I had another call today from Mary Gates, 91 years old, asking for more Wonder Books and devotional books. Those calls come about every two weeks, and I usually send her from 4 to 6 Wonder Books, which at the first opportunity, she passes on to the mom's and children who need Jesus. She knows the mothers will read the books to the children, and will hear about Jesus too.

Recently, she told me the story of her daughter, Mary Fayne, and how she came to Jesus. I was so touched by the story, that I asked her to write down the information for me. For those who might be interested in CEF history from way back, the Navy couple she mentions in the article are Lowell and Betty Eason. Betty Eason was the daughter of Shirley Wisner (a long-time CEF instructor of teachers). The saddest part is that Mary Fayne is now very ill with Alzheimer's. Her 91 year old Mom, who is incredibly sharp, always tears up as she tells that.

CEF has a rich history in Corpus Christi and we want to make it available for folks to enjoy, especially as we celebrate together the 70th anniversary of CEF.

Not Too Young!! by Mary Gates

In 1945, my neighbor and I went to a CEF teacher training class in Corpus Christi, Texas. We took along my 4 year, 8 month old daughter, and her 6 year old nephew. The teacher was a young Navy wife, whose husband was with her that day.

She presented the message of salvation so well, that when the invitation was given, two little hands went up! She took the little boy aside and her husband took my daughter, Mary Fayne, over by an open window, which had no screen on it. He took her on his knees, reviewing the plan of salvation. She told me later she knew if she had fallen out of that window, she wouldn't have been ready to meet God! She prayed to receive Jesus as her Savior that night.

The next Sunday, as I went to my Sunday-school class, I told the pastor that Mary Fayne wanted to talk with him. He was a tall man, so when he saw her coming, he knelt down so he could understand her. Later, when she was baptized, the pastor told the congregation, "If you don't think she knows what she is doing, just come up and ask her questions."

Mary Fayne was a witness to the children in our neighborhood. She would bring little friends home and ask me to tell them about Jesus. One day a little boy knocked on my door. He said, "Mrs. Gates, will you tell me about Jesus? I want a clean white heart like Mary Fayne has."

She witnessed in grade school and high school and encouraged her friends to memorize Bible verses. Many of them joined her in Bible Memory Association, an organization that rewarded people of all ages for memorizing Scripture.

Mary Fayne taught first grade for 21 years in Bryan, Texas, mostly at Allen Academy Christian School. She always prayed in the classroom and encouraged the children to pray. She later said, "I am thankful for a loving God who loves little children, and for a pastor who understood a little child's heart."

I'm sure there will be many in heaven whose lives were touched by her loving, caring ways! And it all began at a CEF teacher training class!

Isn't that a powerful testimony of the long-term influence an instructor of teachers can have? As you teach those TCE courses, remember God may be working in ways you can't see. Generations from now, someone may testify that their fruitful life and ministry began in YOUR TCE class! What a legacy to leave behind!

If you have a testimony of a teacher or child touched through your training ministry, e-mail it to Lynda.Pongracz@cefonline.com. Include a picture if possible. We'd love to feature your testimony here in the Cafe! It might be just the encouragment some other IOT out there needs.

Important Stuff You Should Know

2007-10-26T15:41:00.000-05:00

Every now and then here at the Café, we want to give you updates and reminders of important details that pertain to your ministry as an IOT. Please take note of these items and pass this information along to other instructors who may not have access to this blog.

IOT Credentials
The renewed IOT, LTI and Preschool credentials have been mailed. Along with the credential are a new Update CD and a letter. Please read the letter carefully as it refers to requirements for maintaining active status as an instructor.

If you do not receive a credential and think you should have, please e-mail Cheryl Oetting at Cheryl.Oetting@cefonline.com or phone her at 636-456-4321 ext. 291.

Teaching in Teaching Children Effectively™ Overseas
Several of our IOTs on occasion have taught in a TCE™ course overseas. This is great that you are able to do so. Remember though in order to teach a TCE course overseas you will need permission from your state director, the USA department, international ministries department and the national CEF office of the country that you wish to teach in.

Overseas courses are not registered with the CMI office; therefore, if you want the overseas TCE course to count towards your one a year required course, then you need to e-mail Cheryl Oetting at Cheryl.Oetting@cefonline.com giving her the name of the country, dates of the course and list the subjects and practicums you will be participating in.

Advertise Your TCE Courses in Teach Kids
Remember you can have your TCE courses listed in Teach Kids magazine. The deadline for sending in your course information for the January/February issue is November 1. Send in the beginning date, location (city, state) and a contact telephone number to Cheryl.Oetting@cefonline.com and we will send the information to the magazine.

CMI Online
We are hard at work preparing for the launch of CMI Online! The first phase will involve individual seminar subjects presented with audio and PowerPoint.

The second phase will be a three week course called The Romans Road for Children. That course will give students a taste of what online learning is like. It will involve streaming video presentations, downloadable student notes, interactive discussion boards, live chats, quizzing and assignments.

Later in 2008, we will be launching TCE Level 1 online. Right now CMI staff members are busy taping class sessions and writing instructional materials to guide students through the online process. A new CMI Web site is under construction. Keep watching for the new site. It will contain a link to CMI Online.

CMI Online Instructors
Are you ready to be an instructor in cyberspace? When we launch CMI Online, we are going to need lots of online instructors to facilitate the courses. We are hoping to provide training for online instructors early in 2008. If you think you might be interested in becoming an online instructor, please send an e-mail to Carol.Nolen@cefonline.com. You will not be obligated, but Carol will keep your name on file so we can send you further information as it becomes available. This will be a great opportunity for you to discover your “virtual” self! :-)

That’s the latest IOT news from headquarters! Thanks to all of you who stop in regularly at the Café. We appreciate your interest and hope this blog is a help and encouragement to you. If there is something particular you’d like to see on the blog, please let us know. Drop a note to Lynda.Pongracz@cefonline.com and share your suggestions and ideas with us. Also, let your fellow instructors know about the blog. We’re still meeting IOTs who don’t know about the Café and they’re missing out on all the fun!

What Kind of Teacher Are You?

2007-10-16T08:23:00.000-05:00

Your blog team apologizes for the delay in updating the posts. Here at CMI, we've just completed a very crazy couple of weeks with a large group of students. Weeks six and seven at Institute are always very busy. We run three modules simultaneously: IOT Level 1, IOT Level 2 and Dynamics of Teacher Training. Extra students always come in for those modules.

We had an added challenge this time around. Just before week six began, we learned that Grace Swensen fell and broke her hip. That meant she and Joanne Anderson would not be here to teach the IOT Level 2 course. The rest of us scrambled to cover all the bases. Many of us taught classes we don't usually teach--or had not taught for a long time. We also had to bring in some outside staff to help with practicums.It was quite a challenge, but God provided the needed strength and wisdom.

Please join us in praying for Grace's recovery. She is home from the hospital, but is dealing with uncomfortable side effects from her medication. If you want to encourage Grace and Joanne, you can send a card to them at: 225 Hialeah Lane, Grayslake, IL 60030, or e-mail them at gswensen@sbcglobal.net.

Now to today's post! Stan Toler is a motivational speaker and writer. In a recent publication he listed qualities of a good teacher. We thought this list was very appropriate for those of us who are IOTs. See how you rate in these five important areas:

1. Teach sincerely
People are not only affected by your skills, they are influenced by the way you live. The greatest lessons you will ever teach will come from your own experience. Your transparency will be a greater source of inspiration than your facts or theories.

2. Teach purposefully
Vibrant teaching focuses on building productivity and responsibility. It observes weaknesses and teaches strengthening. It recognizes possibilities and offers plans. It estimates damages and offers reconstruction.

3. Teach methodically
Methods must fit the occasion and lessons must be aimed at the learning level of your students. And don’t forget, steady doses are better than overdoses.

4. Teach sacrificially
Every teacher is given a moment—a window of opportunity--that may never open again to influence a life. You may have to subtract time or energy in order to add the resources for someone’s development.

5. Teach sympathetically
The best teaching comes from the heart. Your students not only need your experience, they also need your attention. Teach them by not only respecting who they are, but also by what they will become.

Someone has said, "We should be in the business of building people up. There are too many people in the demolition business."

Our prayer for you, as an IOT, is that you are building up your students through your compassionate teaching.

Comment on this post? Click the comment link below and tell us what you think!

Teaching Children the Truth

2007-09-17T09:48:00.000-05:00

We are all aware that the majority of people in our world today do not hold a biblical worldview. In fact, George Barna discovered from his research that "only five percent of Americans hold to a biblical worldview." That's pretty frightening, isn't it?

Barna also discovered only 35 percent of Americans believe in absolute standards of morality -- that is, believe that right and wrong do not change with time or circumstances. No wonder we have children in our clubs who are skeptical about the Bible and about our God!

Postmodern philosophy teaches children that there are no absolutes, truth depends on the circumstances and there is no one right way to believe. It teaches them that they should be "tolerant" of all belief systems and that all are equally valid.

If you've been reading the messages in the Shoutbox in the sidebar on the right, you probably saw the timely question from IOT Deb Gephardt. She asks:

I'd like to hear how some of you may have dealt with/taught others to deal with children who do not accept the Bible as truth and perhaps do not accept that God exists. What are some ideas to begin helping these children as we share the Gospel?

So, what are your thoughts about this? What are you doing in your clubs to help children understand that God is real and the Bible is Truth? Probably many of your TCE students have the same struggle with children in their clubs.

Click the comment link below this post and share your ideas with us. Let's help each other think creatively about how to bring today's children to the Truth!

Little Witness

2007-08-31T09:52:00.000-05:00

What does a frog have to do with witnessing? Glad you asked! Alice Smith, an IOT from Corpus Christi, TX, sent us the following story. Read this wonderful account about how God used a little guy to be a witness for Him,

Last fall my 9-year-old son, Austin, had his tonsils removed. Before the surgery, Austin's anesthesiologist came to start an IV. He was wearing a cool surgical cap covered in colorful frogs. Austin loved that "frog hat."

The doctor explained that he had two choices. He could either try to start the IV right away, or he could wait until Austin was up in the operating room. In the OR the doctor would give Austin some "goofy" gas, and start the IV when he was more relaxed.

"So, Austin," he asked, "which do you want?"

Austin replied, "I'll take the gas."

But when the doctor started to leave, Austin called, "Hey, wait."

The doctor turned. "Yeah, buddy, what do you need?"

"Do you go to church?" Austin asked.

"No," the doctor admitted. "I know I probably should, but I don't."

Austin then asked, "Well, are you saved?"

Chuckling nervously, the doctor said, "Nope. But after talking to you, maybe it's something I should consider."

Pleased with his response, Austin answered, "Well, you should, 'cause Jesus is great!"

"I'm sure He is, little guy," the doctor said, and quickly made his exit

After that a nurse took me to the waiting room. Someone would come and get me when Austin's surgery was done.

After about 45 minutes, the anesthesiologist came into the waiting room. He told me the surgery went well and then said, "Mrs. Blessitt, I don't usually come down and talk to the parents after a surgery, but I just had to tell you what your son did."

Oh boy, I thought. what did that little rascal do now?

The doctor explained that he'd just put the mask on Austin when my son signaled that he needed to say something.? When the doctor removed the mask, Austin blurted, "Wait a minute, we have to pray!"

The doctor told him to go ahead, and Austin prayed, "Dear Lord, please let all the doctors and nurses have a good day. And Jesus, please let the doctor with the frog hat get saved and start going to church. Amen."

The doctor admitted this touched him. "I was so sure he would pray that his surgery went well," he explained. "He didn't even mention his surgery. He prayed for me! Mrs. Blessitt, I had to come down and let you know what a great little guy you have."

A few minutes later a nurse came to take me to post-op. She had a big smile on her face as we walked to the elevator."Mrs. Blessitt, I couldn't wait to tell you something exciting that your son did."

With a smile, I told her that the doctor already mentioned Austin's prayer.

"But there's something you don't know," she said. "Some of the other nurses and I have been witnessing to and praying for that doctor for a long time. After your son's surgery, he tracked a few of us down to tell us about Austin's prayer. He said, 'Well girls, you got me. If that little boy could pray for me when he was about to have surgery, then I think maybe I need his Jesus too."

She then recounted how they joined the doctor as he prayed to receive Christ right there in the hospital. Wow! Austin had played a small part in something wonderful. But then, so did the nurses who prayed and witnessed.

I thought about John's words in his Gospel, "One sows and the other reaps" (John 4:37). Austin's experience taught me that, although we never know which role we may be called to play, in the end it doesn't matter. What's important is that we remain faithful in sharing the Gospel.

Isn't that a great story? It would make a good illustration in your TCE Level 2 class on Being a Witness for God. It could also be used in Level 1 in the class on Encouraging the Newly Converted Child. You can probably think of other ways to use this story. Thanks to Alice for sending it our way. If you have any good illustrations like this one, send them to us and we'll post them here in the Cafe so other IOTs can benefit from them.

Also, our thanks to Alice for the too-cute video we've placed in the sidebar. Click on the arrow and watch this adorable little girl give her version of the 23rd Psalm. Great motivation for teaching Scripture memory verses to kids!

Got Margin?

2007-08-20T16:39:00.000-05:00

Have you noticed lately how busy—and tired—we all are? Consider these statistics:

People now sleep 2½ fewer hours each night than people did a hundred years ago. You’re sleeping less than your grandparents did.

The average workweek is longer now than it was in the 1960s.

The average office worker has 36 hours of work piled up on his or her desk. It takes us three hours a week just to sort through it and find what we need.

We spend eight months of our lives opening junk mail, two years of our lives playing phone tag with people who are busy or who are not answering, five years waiting for people who are trying to do too much and are late for meetings.

We are a culture that is chronically rushed, chronically late and chronically exhausted. Many of us feel like Job did when he said, “I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil." (Job 3:26 NIV). Simply put, we’re stressed by the pace of life.

Besides being instructors of teachers, most of us also wear many other hats. Maybe you are also a local or state CEF director, you have ministries to coordinate, meetings to attend, reports to fill out, newsletters to write, clubs to teach and teachers to train. You also have family responsibilities, church responsibilities and maybe even community responsibilities. The question is, do you have margin?

Margin is a change of pace spot in your life. It’s been described as the space between your load and your limit. Margin is time spent doing something a little different than usual—a way to relax your mind and spirit. For some, margin is going to the gym or to Curves. It might be taking a walk or working on a favorite hobby. Sometimes margin means getting away for a while. Sometimes it means taking time out for coffee with a friend.

Why do people already busy in ministry need margin? Because most of us are on constant overload and headed for a crash! Dr. Richard Swenson, a medical doctor, says this:

“The conditions of modern day living devour margin. If you’re homeless we direct you to a shelter. If you’re penniless we offer you food stamps. If you’re breathless we connect you to oxygen. But if you’re marginless we give you one more thing to do.

"Marginless is not having time to finish the book you’re reading on stress. Margin is having the time to read it twice. Marginless is our culture. Margin is counter-culture, having some space in your life and schedule. Marginless is the disease of our decade. Margin is the cure.”

God knows His workers need margin. Consider Elijah. He was working overtime as God’s prophet—speaking, traveling and performing miracles! Then he went into total burnout—even becoming suicidal How did God respond? God knew His prophet needed margin and provided it through rest, physical nourishment, reassurance of His presence and help and a helper—Elisha. (1 Kings 19:5-18)

Jesus knew the importance of having margin in our lives. He consistently made time to get away from the work for rest and reflection. He made sure His disciples also took time away from the crowds. He invites us to enjoy a balanced ministry (Matthew 11:28-30).

What will margin do for you? It will give you time to think, relax and enjoy life. It will improve your health, giving you body time to rest from daily stress. It will improve your relationships, providing time to reconnect with significant people in your life. It will increase your effectiveness in ministry, enabling you to appreciate what God is doing through you and giving you renewed vigor to serve Him.

So…how are you doing in the area of margin? Do you have a hobby or interest that has nothing to do with CEF? Do you plan time into your schedule to just relax or do change-of-pace things? Are you making time for family and friends? Click the comment link below and share with us how you put margin into your life…or how you intend to do so in the future!