It is less than 3 weeks since Elevate and Joseph returned to Malawi from the UK, but they have immediately got back into their training programme.
On Saturday 12th, Elevate and Joseph were back at the Evangelical Bible College of Malawi, where the academic year is drawing to a close. They carried out Level 2 of their CFCM syllabus, and 33 students attended.
Many of these students are training for the ministry, and it is hoped that receiving CFCM training while at Bible college will show them the importance of children’s ministry, so that they do not neglect the children when they become pastors. Level 3, which contains the practical session to make sure the students have absorbed the lessons, will take place for these students at the start of the new academic year. Elevate and Joseph were helped by volunteer trainer Frank Mikondo, himself an EBCoM graduate.
Then on 18th and 19th Elevate and Joseph went to Tchoda to complete Levels 2 and 3 training. This was a very different group of students, and took place in a very different setting. The college classroom was exchanged for the shade of the trees outside the home of the chairman of children’s ministry. On the first day of training, 11 village Sunday school teachers were taught Level 2, which includes such topics as teaching a child to pray and counselling a child in the way of salvation.
And 23 teachers came to complete Level 3. One of the topics covered was how to deal with troubled children, and issues of safeguarding and child protection caused much discussion. In this rural area, many children drop out of school, their parents putting them to use minding goats or selling things. Many parents are unaware that this is illegal, but consider it to be normal and acceptable. The teachers felt that they needed to do something to bring safeguarding training to parents, to make them aware of how they should be protecting their own children.
The Level 3 students were given time to go away and prepare a Bible lesson and memory verse, and demonstrate how they would use the scriptures to explain the Gospel to children in their Sunday school classes.
On the second day of training, all students had the opportunity to demonstrate what they had learnt. Practical assessments started at 7.30 in the morning, and went on till 4.30 in the afternoon.
A total of 26 students received certificates for completing the course and passing the practical assessment. Certificates were presented by Pastor Kazembe, who is pastor of Living Waters church and the chairman of children’s ministry in Tchoda. Also present was Pastor Mike, the vice-chair of the pastor’s fraternal. It is always good to have the support of pastors, because they are the ones who will ensure that the Sunday school teachers are encouraged to teach the children conscientiously.
Two of the teachers who showed a particular aptitude and passion for children’s ministry and ability to lead and direct have been chosen to attend the next CFCM Training of Trainers Course, so that they can be equipped to train new Sunday school teachers in the area. Also, as part of Children for Christ Ministry’s evaluation process , Elevate and Joseph will be returning to Tchoda during 2025 to visit the Sunday schools to see how well the teachers they have trained are putting their training into practice.
cfcmuk.org 