A letter from Chris McReynolds on the U.S.-Mexico border
August 2011
Amistad Prayer Update
Teachers and creativity.
This week Proyecto Amistad hosted its second teacher training for AMO Program where 30 church volunteers representing five Mexican Presbyterian churches (from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Castaños, Monclova, and Coahuila) and one Christian school in Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila received valuable training to be used in their own ministries. They learned to teach children the potential that God has placed in each of their lives before they were even born!
This education method focuses more on who the child is in the eyes of God rather that what the child does—like scoring well on a test, for an example. This gets the child thinking about their God-given potential and relationship with God and then transformation occurs from the internal (heart, thoughts, beliefs, worldview, etc.) to the external (behavior, actions, manner of living, treatment of self and others, etc). This is taught directly from the Bible and through literature classics rich in Biblical principles, Christian history, and the arts. The program is very well received by volunteers, and the children love it!
Focusing on who God created each child to be—a reflection of Jesus Christ—has proven to be a tremendous blessing for about 140 children in our programs over the last nine months. We expect at least five programs to start/restart this fall. As insecurity continues to be a concern in Mexico, we ask for your prayers.
AMO teacher training, Nuevo Laredo 2011.
On Tuesday, during our training, we could hear shots from the street a few blocks away that were later confirmed to be the military killing the local leader of the drug cartel here in Nuevo Laredo. We thank each of you for your prayers and support for this training and our Club Amistad programs, where we apply the AMO concepts and materials.
Next week Roberto and Kassumy Medina, myself and others will be attending a special Christian education workshop in Aguascalientes, Mexico, to learn more from the developers of AMO about how to further develop holistic Christian education for children. We ask for your prayers for that training.
Blessings,
Chris
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