The First Hearts
Before they ever enter the classroom to teach the children, the otLIVE instructors are reading, studying, and learning the Bible lessons. Theirs are the first hearts touched by the impact of God’s Word. After all, they are the first to see the big picture storyline of the Bible presented in such a fun, interactive way with hand signs and key words.
Walk Thru the Bible Southern Africa—working together with Starfish Malawi—trains local Malawian instructors to teach the good news of God’s Word to the children in their area using their common language. Key to the effectiveness and growth of the work in Malawi is the ongoing training and encouragement of the instructors who work so faithfully in schools in this area.
Walk Thru not only trains local people as instructors to teach otLIVE in the schools, but they continue to work with, update, and enhance their skills. They also train these instructors to train new instructors.
The instructors are dedicated and enthusiastic. The otLIVE hand signs involve a lot of movement, which helps the hand signs and key words stick—and stay—in the children’s minds. The instructors’ energy and passion for the story of the Bible makes learning more fun for them and for the kids. Consequently, the children look forward to the instructors coming and make sure they go to school on the days when the WTB instructors are there.
During her visit to Kalonga Primary School last November, Karen saw this firsthand. “What impressed me the most was the excitement of the teachers, of Wiseman and Sarah and Tiwonge, and how they engaged the children and how they knew the Word of God themselves so well. They had a love for teaching and they were fun and funny. The kids were so into it. They were doing all their hand signs and having so much fun. It was such an amazing
experience,” she says.
Tionge gave Karen a piece of paper, which was her handwritten lesson plan. Karen says, “It was all the different things that she was trying to teach the children that week. On her lesson plan was the meaning of terms like repentance and baptism. And in her teaching, she explained this to the children, to the 6th graders. It was so amazing, so wonderful to see her teaching these foundational, scriptural concepts.”
The training that instructors like Tiwonge (the WTB instructor teaching otLIVE that day) and Sarah and Wiseman receive from Walk Thru the Bible helps them refine their teaching skills and technique. More importantly, the instructors’ own lives are changing as a result of teaching otLIVE. They get to know the Bible better as they teach, and they are growing in their own walk with the Lord. Plus, they feel that God has called them to this work. As one instructor says, “God created to me to teach!”
Tionge says that this course has opened her eyes to the goodness of the Lord and taught her to rely on Him only. She also teaches others outside the classroom, telling her family, friends, and other Christians to depend on God, to know His Word, and to pray more fervently than ever before.
For Wiseman, the training has helped him to be an effective leader and enables him to train other otLIVE instructors. “I have learned new ideas on how to make my lessons better and to attract the interest and attention of the learners so that they are involved in the story,” he says. Wiseman also has learned how to handle difficult learners by treating them with the love of God.
The training has not only helped instructor Bornwell to perfect his storytelling and improve his hand signs, but it also reminds him that he is part of a team, that he is not on his own. Teaching otLIVE makes him “want to tell these Old Testament stories to my family, people at my work and at church. My own walk with God is growing deeper,” he says.
Some instructors have learned how to change their teaching style, to try different approaches and tailor the story to suit their audience. Several have commented that it has made them think about illustrations and applications from their own environment, their own lives and experiences and even the world, which will further illustrate the story.
Another instructor notes that teaching God’s Word has reminded him that he needs to forgive a friend, despite what that person has done to him. He has been reminded, too, that he needs to respect the Word of God, a value that shines through his teaching to his students.
Perhaps most powerful of all, Agnes shares that she has learned to ask the Holy Spirit for help when she practices her otLIVE sessions for the schools. Praying beforehand prepares her heart and invites the Holy Spirit into the classroom with her, where He can use Agnes and her colleagues to sow His Word into the hearts of the children.
Multiplication Lessons
Excitement about learning the Bible has grown beyond the children in the schools where Walk Thru the Bible is present. Other schools are now approaching the WTB instructors and asking them to bring the otLIVE lessons to their schools, as well. The new schools have heard about what is happening in the schools where it is currently being taught. The instructors have heard comments like “What you teach is so much better than our religious education lessons.”
Walk Thru the Bible is responding to these requests by training more instructors for otLIVE and now, for ntLIVE. This excitement is an excellent opportunity to reach more children in Malawi than ever before. As one teacher pointed out, “otLIVE is teaching the children the gospel in a way that they can understand. It is a wonderful evangelism tool.” Even children of other faiths are enjoying the lessons and being exposed to the truth of God’s Word and the gospel. And the numbers of people coming to Christ are multiplying.
After her trip to Malawi, Karen shares this excitement. “Just to see the ministry firsthand in another part of the world makes it even more special. Walk Thru the Bible exists to help people everywhere live God’s Word. And it’s such an amazing thing that these children are learning the Bible at this young age. It was so beautiful to watch.”
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