Relational connection is vital to ownership and multiplication. Whether it is a connection to your sports team, book club, or brand, what we bond to indeed is what we multiply and share. As people, we have a core need to belong, to be part of something greater.
This is the reason that in our Celebrating Children Workshops (CCW) we start with the implicit message, “You belong”. We demonstrate that each person’s voice matters from the very first day of class. Each participant introduces themselves and says a few things about themselves. We invest in one-on-one interaction, from sharing meals to more intentional times of class discussion and small group meetings. We incorporate what we know about them into our teaching – reminding them, “You belong”. We have seen that this sense of belonging translates into ownership and participants return home and begin multiplying what they were taught. We continue to be humbled and filled with joy at the reports we hear about how this curriculum is impacting families and children!
Oscar Nibigira of Burundi exemplifies this type of multiplication. He was introduced to the curriculum by Edmond Havyarimana, a dedicated facilitator of CCW in Burundi. He was excited and motivated to become a facilitator and attended the CCW in Arusha. Upon completing the CCW, he returned home and began to figure out how he could multiply what he had just learned. He submitted a proposal for how he planned to multiply the curriculum. We rallied and raised finances for him to run a training for women who attended a weekly meeting at Muyange Church from May 2nd- July 28th. He had 87 women in attendance and they learned about the value of the child and the importance of pregnant women eating a nutritious diet. The woman left with a new understanding of their role in their child’s life. What happened next is truly an example of the quality of people that are being trained – the church saw the impact the teaching had made on their congregants and asked Oscar to return and run another training for their teachers at a school run by the church, Muyange Christian School. Although he did not have funds to run additional training, he had the unwavering belief that the curriculum changes lives and therefore must be run, no matter the cost. He did not ask us for more money but used his own finances to support this training. He reported, “Materials (copy-books, pens) and my transport during these 3 days, I took it from my own pocket. It was my contribution to CCW”. He trained 11 teachers with a potential impact on 2,781 children.
As we were writing this report we got another WhatsApp message from Oscar.
“Just to give you a little report. The EEAC church had organized a training of Sunday school teachers from all local churches in the country which was held from September 4 to 6, 2024 and there I was invited as one of the trainers. This is an opportunity for me to share CC lecturings. In these three days, I was given 3 sessions and I shared 3 sessions
- God’s intentions for children
- Listen to children
- Program planning (module 7, session 3)
We counted 92 participants who were Sunday school teachers from 68 churches and who represented 6,886 Sunday school children. This means that we have trained 92 people and 6886 children will benefit from these lessons.“
The strategy works. Leaders like Oscar can contextualize the material, get into the places we as a Loom team cannot, and help people think differently about God’s intentions for children and how to make them thrive. Thriving Children means Thriving Communities.
