Victoria, as you can tell from the photo above, is a power-house. She's been in ministry most of her life, currently serving in a church where her brother is the pastor. But she was in a slump spiritually when she heard about the training that was teaching Quechua women to teach the Bible to others. She attended the year-long course last year and credits it being a part of God's plan to equip her for an expanding ministry. This year she is part of the teaching team leading the workshops and giving the opportunity for growth in ministry to other Quechua women.
Our teaching team makes these lessons as learner-centered as possible. Group work allows for a lot of interaction, often allowing members of different churches, denominations and towns to get to know each other. It's pretty exciting!
In a culture where you don't want to be the odd-person out, where community identity is infinitely more important than individuality, writing your answers to questions on paper to present to the larger group is a stretch for these ladies...and it's worth it. The workshop participants get to learn from each other as well as from the teachers, who are learning a new educational strategy: Make learning possible, instead of feeding answers to their students.
One of the biggest distractions in class can be kids, who tag along with mom if no one else can watch them for the two-day long workshops. On Friday there were
3 kids making enough fuss that I eventually realized I'd be more useful keeping them occupied outside the one-room church. By Saturday morning there were
7 kids waiting for me. And by the end of that day, the neighborhood kids had found out where the fun was! I counted
14 kids making up games with me, singing songs we could remember, and telling stories. The best part was that I got to share the reason for lasting joy as we laughed and played together: Jesus in our lives and hearts!
Victoria, as you can tell from the photo above, is a power-house. She's been in ministry most of her life, currently serving in a church where her brother is the pastor. But she was in a slump spiritually when she heard about the training that was teaching Quechua women to teach the Bible to others. She attended the year-long course last year and credits it being a part of God's plan to equip her for an expanding ministry. This year she is part of the teaching team leading the workshops and giving the opportunity for growth in ministry to other Quechua women. 
Our teaching team makes these lessons as learner-centered as possible. Group work allows for a lot of interaction, often allowing members of different churches, denominations and towns to get to know each other. It's pretty exciting!
In a culture where you don't want to be the odd-person out, where community identity is infinitely more important than individuality, writing your answers to questions on paper to present to the larger group is a stretch for these ladies...and it's worth it. The workshop participants get to learn from each other as well as from the teachers, who are learning a new educational strategy: Make learning possible, instead of feeding answers to their students.
One of the biggest distractions in class can be kids, who tag along with mom if no one else can watch them for the two-day long workshops. On Friday there were 3 kids making enough fuss that I eventually realized I'd be more useful keeping them occupied outside the one-room church. By Saturday morning there were 7 kids waiting for me. And by the end of that day, the neighborhood kids had found out where the fun was! I counted 14 kids making up games with me, singing songs we could remember, and telling stories. The best part was that I got to share the reason for lasting joy as we laughed and played together: Jesus in our lives and hearts!
