Illustration Appreciation

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

They have excessive back pain from carrying large manuals

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

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

They cannot do anything in public without first giving focus questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Hand-Off

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cutting Holes in the Darkness

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.