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United with Sunday School Teachers
[vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]The crucial role that Sunday School plays in churches cannot be overemphasized. It is through Sunday schools that kids are taught discipline and morals and it is where a child’s upbringing is shaped in a righteous way. It is also where their spiritual welfare is strengthened from a tender age. However, without proper training, Sunday school teachers usually experience difficulties in reaching out to the children in a way that is interactive but persuasive.
Without a collaborative approach, Sunday schools become monotonous and, at times, dull to the children. At There is Hope, we work with Sunday school teachers from Dzaleka Refugee Camp and the Malawian communities around the camp to improve their teaching tactics and boost their existing knowledge in that area. We conduct seminars and conferences for these teachers through the Children’s department under our Spiritual Development programme.
From 28th to 31st August this year, we hosted one of such seminars in partnership with the Sunday School Teachers Unite Movement (STUM). The training was organized with the purpose of encouraging teachers to share ideas and explore effective communication methods to use in their Sunday school classes. It was a powerful three-day conference where the teachers socialized as they were trained in different interactive ways of teaching the Bible to children, among others.
“The teachers are hungry to grow and love to learn new ways to teach the children about Jesus Christ.” Explained Amy Collet, our Children’s Worker while adding that it is important for these teachers to have knowledge of good teaching practices that can be applied in their settings.
The turn up at the event was huge. 40 Sunday school teachers from 20 different churches attended the function. The participants could not hide their excitement at the new things they learned.
Natalie from PEFA Church was one of the attendees.
“I learned how special children are and how to approach them when teaching them the word of God. This lesson will help me a lot in my work.” She commended, “Children are the church of tomorrow and we have to start training them now.” Natalie explained that the skills she gained from the seminar will help not just her but fellow Sunday school teachers at her church as well. She remarked that this was not the first time she had attended such a seminar and with each training, she learns a fresh interesting subject. This, she confirmed, has grown her teaching skills and interaction with her Sunday school kids.
Audrey, another Sunday school teacher from Revival Church at Dzaleka agreed with Natalie, commenting that it is difficult to efficiently teach kids if one does not understand how they think.
At the end of the seminar, the teachers received text books and lesson materials to utilize in their respective churches. Most of the teachers have very limited teaching resources and the materials will help in furthering their teaching experience.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][/vc_column][/vc_row]