Jan 2010
Dear Friends,
My time on furlough was a refreshing time. I arrived back in Mexico on November 30th and spent the next couple of weeks getting caught up with the requirement for two classes. Just about the time I was done with all things seminary...the holidays were upon us. I spent the two weeks with my co-workers Dave and Johann Hyde; it was some great fellowship, not to mention catch-up time on what’s going on with the ministry and what’s coming up next.
Before the holidays were barely over I was on the road again. I’d been invited by some fellow missionaries to help with a teacher training project. The project would include 2 weeks of intensive training for 65 teachers. Yes you read that right 65 teachers! There would be 7 instructors including myself that would carry out the project. The intent of the project was to train these teachers how to organize and run a weekly Bible Club. The teachers would include teenagers and adults alike.
My friends were coming down from Saltillo (about 3 hrs from the border) and we would be meeting up in Toluca (about an hour from me) and then travel on to Tlapa, Guererro (another 6-8 hours down the road). We all made it and met up in Toluca just fine (finding a place to meet in a strange city is always fun), we ate lunch and proceeded on, only thing is no matter how good your driver and navigator are if you’re in a city where the street signs are confusing and ill-placed you’re looking at an adventure! We were in a 15 passenger van hauling a utility trailer full of materials AND all of our luggage. Well we ended up getting lost trying to get out of Toluca and about 5 hours later ended up only about 2 hours down the road. We spent an unscheduled night in a place named Cuatla; we couldn’t travel any further or we would have entered the mountains in the dark which is definitely not something you want to do on a narrow winding road.
The next day we headed out early as we had a 5 hour drive and were scheduled to begin classes that same evening. After driving through the mountains to get to Tlapa we were VERY thankful for the decision NOT to drive on in the dark the night before...those roads are really winding and narrow. Watching as semis passed us and us them really helped to keep our prayer lives up to date!! If you’re subject to motion sickness this would not have been the trip for you. We made it with about 2 hours to unpack everything and get organized for our first classes. It was crazy, we were tired from the trip but we were ready to go!! And boy did we go!!
So, the ministry where we stayed and did the classes, Wow what a blessing! We were staying at a children’s home that was established by missionaries. The purpose of the homes (there is one for girls and one for boys) is to provide a home for children who are from the surrounding mountain regions but don’t have the opportunity for school as there are none in their areas. The children come to live in the home from as young as the age of 6 until they graduate. While the homes operate in some sense as a boarding home while they attend school, the greater purpose is the opportunity to share the gospel with children they might not normally be able to reach AND raise them in a Christian environment. During summers and holidays the children return to their homes but otherwise live there. The staffs of the homes are so very loving and caring of all the children. Not only do they house and feed them they are very literally raising these children. They help with the homework, do the laundry, discipline when needed, and play with them all that you would do when raising children. There are some who have gone onto to Bible School to prepare for ministry.
The reason for us being in Tlapa was that currently the teens of the homes and the adults of the local church (both of the same ministry) were visiting regularly in the surrounding areas but didn’t have any organized way of ministering to the local children they encountered weekly, they were wanting to reach those that were unchurched, to go to them. That’s where we came in…we came to show them and train them in all the facets involved in carrying out an effective weekly Bible Club.
The classes were intensive classes as we were only there for two weeks. The classes included a philosophy of why we should reach children, how to reach children, why and how to use music, how to teach a memory verse effectively, how to maintain discipline in club, the challenges in doing a club in the open air (because that’s where most of them would be held) how to teach the Bible lesson and applying the Gospel throughout the lesson. We also taught them clown skits and puppet sketches, review games and a host of other fun tips and techniques.
The modules to be taught were divided amongst the 7 instructors and we were off. The class time was organized like clockwork as one instructor finished, the next was ready to go with their module. There were also times for workshops with the students so they could practice what they’d been taught and there was also a time of presentation by each student when they were evaluated.
The evaluations usually had the students on pins and needles but once they got going they found that they were catching on and doing a really great job. You could feel the excitement and ok even some of the fear but the place was hopping and buzzing!
The younger children of the home who were not involved in the classes would come in during the evening demonstrations. During the evening demos we essentially did everything that would be done in a day of club; songs, memory verse, clowns, puppets, Bible lesson with a presentation of the gospel and an invitation. Every night during the demos an invitation was given and every night a child or two would come forward and we dealt with them individually, most came for assurance of salvation, but there were 2 or 3 during the two weeks that made a decision for salvation for the first time! How awesome is that?
The last Saturday we were there the teams (we’d been divided into teams to work together throughout the training) we went out into the surrounding neighborhoods and invited children to come to the Bible Club. The clubs were held impromptu and conducted wherever there was a spot available, be it indoors or outdoors, on a curb, under a tree, in a room of a house, out in the open with just rocks to sit on…literally anywhere.
For the team I went with we found a little store that was closed so we met in front and sat the children on the curb while we conducted the Club from the middle of the street (not a busy street). The team went around inviting children door to door, at first we weren’t sure we’d find children to come but slowly but surely we had a group of children…we ended up with 16 not including all of us in the team. While the children sat on the curb we did our thing. I got to teach the Bible lesson which was about Cain and Abel (one of my favorites to teach). I stood in the middle of the street which was basically just one lane (two if you forced it) and just moved out of the road if a car came by. We sang, we learned our memory verse, we did the clown skit and puppet sketch right there in the middle of the road. People occasionally passed by and watch but they left us alone. In the end we had 3 children who made decisions for salvation.
In our own Bible club here I usually only know how many we had because of refreshments. I do what I do and let the Holy Spirit take care of who, where, when and how many. In the Bible clubs we established that Saturday we had 335 children in attendance and 103 (I think) make decisions for salvation.
The day finally came that it was ready to pack up everything and say our goodbyes. The goodbyes were bittersweet as we’d spent two entire weeks with all these people and had formed bonds with different ones. We left impacted by what we saw in the overall ministry and prayed that we’d made an impact in a small town in the state of Guererro. We left behind 14 teams in place which is 14 clubs that go on weekly now where there once were none and we left teachers trained. We’ve been invited to come back next year to give the next level of classes.
I heard yesterday from one of my fellow instructors that the director’s wife of the homes had written her and told her the clubs are growing and the teams are improving each week, they’re excited about what they get to be a part of weekly. The local church and the teens of the homes are having a greater impact in their area.
I do have one prayer request; we left them with all the materials needed to run a club for 5 weeks. Soon they’ll need more materials but the expense for outfitting 14 teams is costly. They asked that we would help them pray the Lord would provide the funds so they can continue with the current program as it is so effective. The class next year involves how to actually make all the visuals and prepare the lessons themselves but until then they’ll have to rely on materials that are ready made.
The two weeks were a huge investment in something we on the team are all truly passionate about…preparing and equipping as many teachers as possible so that we can reach more children. I had a wonderful time working with this team…I’ve had an opportunity to learn from them and work with them now for about 5 years and I look forward to more opportunities to travel with them to other areas around Mexico and conduct these training courses.
Teaching Them to Reach Them,
Cynthia Castillo
PS I have posted over 100 pictures of the time there in Tlapa on my Facebook page (Cynthia Castillo). If you’re not currently on my friend list but would like to see them just drop me an invitation with a note letting me know you saw my prayer letter and would like to see the pics. I update Facebook regularly if you want to know what is going on here in Mexico City.
