These are a few of the countries where some recently CHE-trained missionaries are working. From January 19 to 23, fourteen participants gathered in Camby, Indiana, to learn the basics of Community Health Evangelism…TOT I (Training Of Trainers). If you recall, a few years ago the FAME board made the decision to begin guiding their focus of ministry towards that of preventive medicine. CHE was simply a strategy chosen to help accomplish this goal. Seeing the holistic transformation that can come to an entire community through CHE, FAME urged their partners around the world to incorporate the model into their ministries. Though many of the week’s participants were not FAME partners, Rick, Tom and I were overjoyed at the thought of CHE being taken to the four corners of God’s Kingdom.

Hearing the many stories of their ministry experiences…sharing the cultural norms of life in their neck of the Kingdom…a popcorn and movie night of video graphed African CHE projects…were all added highlights of the week. But the most satisfying thing was by the end of the week…to visibly see those ‘wheels turning’ as faces light up with an “ah-HA!” moment for how CHE could be used in their individual ministries.

There is a series of three lessons taught towards the end of a TOT I training…Objective Setting, Step Planning and Seed Projects.

Seed projects are used ‘early on’ during the process of entering a community with CHE. They create awareness for what CHE is and promotes enthusiasm for getting the program started.   These are small scale, low cost projects that use local resources and are accomplished in a very short amount of time. It addresses a need recognized by the community. And because it is carried out by the people, for the people, the likelihood of success is increased!

Objective setting and step planning go hand in hand and lead up to a seed project. It is simply writing a clear, realistic, measurable goal and then outlining the proper sequence of steps to accomplish that goal. This task-oriented planning includes listing of equipment, supplies, services and workers needed for each task…again, increasing the probability of a successful seed project.

It was a great week…our first FAME sponsored TOT training in America!   Pray with us as these participants share the seeds of CHE they have learned among nationals they are ministering to…and that God grow and multiply them.