Shepherding Good Shepherd's Teachers

For several months I have been building relationships with key people at Good Shepherd church. After gaining permission to coach Sunday school teachers and hold teacher training, AZ recently held a workshop for its teachers. After planning what it would look like, Andrea Hilty and I held a two-hour seminar, touching on several aspects of Christian education.

The workshop began with Andrea fielding discussion on topics such as, What is Christian education? Are children able to learn? How do children learn? Who is responsible for training children spiritually? Because many Zambians do not believe that children are able to learn, Andrea set her daughter, Ireen, before the teachers and asked her some simple catechism questions. She then encouraged the teachers to train their children in the fear of the Lord because they are the major influence in their lives.

After this I shared several points on preparing their hearts for teaching. From Isaiah 55:10-11 I showed them that God has a
purpose for His Word~it will not return to Him without doing its work. Then, from II Corinthians 5:19-20 I shared the great privilege we have as Christ's ambassadors.

We then divided the group into two and did a mini study on What Made Jesus The Greatest Teacher? Looking at several key NT passages, the teachers discussed who, why, how, and what Jesus taught. After coming back together we shared what we had found out in our studies.

The afternoon concluded with the teachers giving impromptu object
lessons with various, simple items~candle, loaf of bread, doll, and seeds. It
was exciting to see how eagerly they volunteered~and, the lessons were sound and well done.

(Pictures~top, Andrea with Ireen and Andrew Mukuyamba and Tamara Mulenga. Next, me, sharing with the teachers. Third, Mrs. Mukuka, who learned cultivation as a child, gives an object lesson using seeds. Last, the Sunday school teachers of Good Shepherd.)