A Winning Testimony from Louisiana

Kay Taylor, CEF director for West Central, Louisiana, sent in a testimony from TCE graduate, Charles Rogers, assistant pastor of Hosanna Baptist Church. We are excited about the passion this pastor has for reaching the children in his area. As you enjoy the following excerpt from Pastor Rogers’s testimony, please note things his instructors did that impacted him (does that sound like a focus question??).

“I have known several people involved with CEF who have benefited in their walk with Christ by participating in Back Yard Bible Clubs as children. My current senior pastor has had a several decade walk with CEF and through him I have seen the superior application of CEF in the work of evangelism at both the adult and child levels.

"TCE Level 1 training [presents] the clear and urgent needs that exist for children to develop a walk with Jesus Christ. It is this passionate urgency that dramatically helps adults to put aside fears and rise to the challenge of presenting the Gospel of Jesus Christ to children.

"The material is simple, focused and clear. The reasons for each step of the process are well explained. Repetitive group teaching methods with group accountability and comment is a very effective format for teaching. Role playing for development of teaching skills is excellent for teaching and evaluating skills. Tool development and usage are enhanced by the examples taught by the training staff. They make it clear that one of their goals is for the participant to have success. Their patience and “war stories” are greatly appreciated.

"TCE Level 1 training was a must for me despite the fact that I have extensive seminary training in evangelism and have already identified our children’s evangelism coordinator. Our region has been without a director for a few years. Hosanna Baptist Church is the only active CEF church in our region, therefore, we will act as an interim regional director as we seek to get other churches involved in CEF."

Pastor Rogers and his church have a plan to develop Good News Clubs in several neighborhoods in their area. They are also making contacts for after school clubs in several locations. We praise God for pastors like Charles Rogers, who have a burden and vision to reach the children! May his tribe increase!

We also praise God for dedicated IOTs like Kay Taylor. Did you notice all the things she and her fellow instructors did that impacted this student? We noticed words like focused and clear, well explained, passionate urgency, enhanced by examples, patience and “their goal is for the participant to have success.” Wow! No wonder this TCE grad is so excited and motivated!

How are you doing in some of those areas in your TCE courses? Not every student will leave TCE as fired up as Pastor Rogers is, but that should be our goal as instructors. Great work, Kay! Hope you and the pastor get lots of use out of those colorful soccer balls!