Little Witness

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?

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!

Good Ideas Needed!

Don't you wish sometimes that you could pick the brain of another IOT for help with things like introductions, illustrations and promotion?

One thing we've learned out here at CMI is that no one person has all the great ideas! It's when we get together and pool our creativity that really good things begin to emerge. That's why when we work on developing new classes or updating old ones, we work in groups and bounce ideas around until we arrive at the best one.

Since you are all scattered around the country--and around the world--it's a little harder to get that kind of input. But that's why we created the Instructors' Cafe! One of the purposes of this blog is to create a virtual conference room where we can share ideas with each other. We don't want you to just read the blog and move on. We want you to interact with us and with all our IOTs out there.

The easiest way to interact with a blog subject is to click the "comments" link at the bottom of each post. Type your ideas or other thoughts in the comment box, choose your identity (you can click "other" and type your name, or click "annonymous" and remain a mystery!), and click "publish your comment." That's all there is to it. Your comment will appear on the comment page in the order it was received.

The Instructors' Cafe is designed to be a meeting place for friends to gather and talk (bring your own cappuccino!). Please take a moment to respond to the posts--especially when your input is requested. That's the best way we have to come together and encourage and help one another. If each instructor reading this blog submitted just one idea, think of all the good input that would benefit all of us!

If you just want to say "howdy" to the rest of us, you can do so in the little Shoutbox in the right sidebar. Just click "name" and type your name, click "message" and type your brief message. You can add a smiley face if you want by clicking "smilies", then just click "shout" and your comment will appear in the scrolling box. The chat room link at the bottom of the box is for Shoutbox Pro and is not connected to our blog. Go there at your own risk!

We also encourage you to go to the guestbook (in the sidebar on the right) and click "view guestbook." You'll see comments from other IOTs there, often sharing prayer requests or testimonies. Sometines they are asking for help. If you can offer help to them, either e-mail the person or leave a comment in the guestbook or on the post comment link. If you want to leave your own question in the guestbook, click "sign" and be sure to include your e-mail address.

Recently, Rex Eads left a message in the guestbook asking for help in promoting TCE 1 and 2. Here's your chance, IOTs, to be a help and encouragement! What are some of your ideas for promoting your TCE courses? Click the comment link below and tell us at least one idea for promotion that works for you.

We love that you are visiting the Cafe every week. Now, let us know you're out there by talking to us and to each other!

Appreciation

In TCE Level 2, we teach a class called, Developing the Child’s Appreciation of God. We all know how important it is in our spiritual life to show our gratitude to God for all He is and does for us. But that expression of appreciation should extend to God’s children as well. As believers, we should be quick to encourage and show gratitude to one another.

In his Tuesday Mornings newsletter, Dr. Tom Barnard shares the following story, reminding us of the power of appreciation.

Jaime Escalante, the teacher on whom the movie Stand and Deliver was based, tells an amazing story about a mistaken identity and the difference it made in a young man’s life.

This teacher had two students in his class who were both named Johnny. One Johnny was an excellent student, a happy child, and always had his homework completed on time. The other Johnny was always in trouble, never had his work finished, and generally made the teacher’s life miserable.

The night of their first PTA Open House of the year a mother stayed after the meeting to ask about her son, Johnny, and how he was getting along in the class. Assuming it was the mother of the “good” Johnny, the teacher replied, “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate him. I am so glad he’s in my class.”

The next day, for the first time all year, the “problem” Johnny had all his work done, he spoke up in class, and never once caused a disruption. He even volunteered to help another student. The teacher was astounded!

At the end of the day when everyone else had left, “problem” Johnny came up to the teacher and said, “My Mom told me what you said about me last night. I haven’t ever had a teacher who wanted me in his class.”

That Johnny became one of the best students the teacher ever had – and all because of a mistaken dose of appreciation!

No matter who or how old we are, we all want and need to be appreciated. Your TCE students need it. The children in our Good News Clubs need it.

How do you express appreciation to your TCE students during and/or after the course? How do you encourage your TCE grads to show appreciation to the children they teach? Please share your ideas in the comment section by clicking the link at the end of this post. Let’s help one another in this crucial area of showing appreciation.

By the way…did we mention how much we in the department of education appreciate YOU?? We do!! You are the best, and we are so grateful for your sacrifice of time and energy to train those teachers out there. So, keep up the good work!