The past two days have certainly been a blessing. Because of our “class’” advanced knowledge on HIV/AIDS, we were able to change up our teaching mentality from a beginner mentality to an advanced mentality. Instead of teaching material which was being received for the first of second time, these participants had been exposed to information several times. We were able to call on them to review concepts before we presented the concept, too cool! I can also say that all 5 (us, plus Emmy, our translator/friend) of us learned something new over the past two days.
The second day of our two-part training session has been universally known among the Tugende team as the fun day as it is the day where we introduce the cube and spend time diving deep in to God’s word and how He has the answers as it pertains to slowing and stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS. As much as I enjoy and appreciate the cube, I love the scripture which backs up the 8 principles behind slowing and stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS. I feel as though these principles truly empower the Christians we are working with. Glorious.
To end the training, I closed with a short reflection exercise reviewing Matthew 5:14-16. “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let you light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” I asked the CPTs how this related to what they had been learning over the past several weeks/months. One guy blew me away, because I could see that he got it. He knows he has been called to spread the knowledge and information all over his town/village. A very cool moment for me. Additionally, once everything had been concluded, I was thanking the CPTs for their contribution and time spent. In that moment, God spoke deeply to my heart. It was a surreal moment for me as I realized this group was now fully equipped to move out into their village to make a huge difference in the lives of many. Setting religious difference aside, they have the potential to impact thousands! Totally unreal.
God had definitely been with us and blessed our time as we learn more each day about God’s indescribable love for us.
We have been very blessed as we have all been very healthy throughout our time here. Thank you again for all your prayers, love, support, blog comments, and thoughts throughout the day!
Much love,
Michelle