January 24-26, 2020, International Children’s Ministries was invited to participate in the 2020 training of new facilitators for Honduras Children’s Ministries’ Impact Institute, 43 participants gathered for the weekend which included presentations, reports, training, and times of ministry. The instructional team included Shaun McKinley, Ezequiel Tagle (interpreter), David Garcia, and National Children’s Ministries Director Abi Avila.
The training event began on Friday morning. At times, participants were gathered together in large general sessions, then broke out into three smaller groups to focus on discipleship training, leadership training, and facilitator training. The new one-day intensive from Children’s Ministries entitled “Influencing the Influencers,” was presented as part of the weekend’s training. Two powerful times of prayer and preaching were also held, as they Holy Spirit moved powerfully among the participants. Many cried, rejoiced, and worshipped freely as Scriptures were shared by the participants.
On Saturday afternoon, participants hosted an outreach event for the children of a nearby community where a new COGOP church is being built. 61 children attended, along with their parents. The program consisted of an illusion, music, presentation of the Gospel, small group prayer time, and refreshments. 35 children reported receiving salvation, as well as two teens and two adults.
On Saturday evening, the participants celebrated those who had completed the facilitators training, or the discipleship training, which was offered through a collaboration with Evangelism Explosion (EE).
At the final session of the training on Sunday, each region presented what they had received from the training and their goals for the coming year. A majority cited the “Influencers” training as having challenged them to expand their ministries to include efforts to partner with parents, grandparents, and teachers. Many mentioned intentions to begin immediately implementing strategies for reaching parents of newborns, working with their pastors to improve dedication services, and seeking ways to enhance the shared worship experiences so that children becoming participants and not just observers.
The Impact Institute in Honduras utilizes the Children’s Ministries Trainer’s Notebook for its content, restructuring the materials to be taught over twelve sessions in a prescribed progression. Discipleship programs and materials for the nation’s 30,000 children are provided for free through a partnership with EE,. In addition to the materials, EE training is also offered as a second level to the Impact Institute.
