Cutting Holes in the Darkness

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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!

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?

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

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

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!

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

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!

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!

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!

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!

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

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!

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

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!