I remember the first time I heard someone say that they were offering T4T. I had heard that it came from China. Well, I knew they drink tea in China, so I thought it must have something to do with having tea. I was quite mistaken. But, certainly never did I imagine that it would be something that the Father would allow me to see in action.
T4T is Training for Trainers. It is a method of training believers to then go out and train others, who in turn, train others. It is a vision of multiplicity. It is something that I have dreamed of seeing take place, but I don't think I ever imagined that I would.
Storying is my heart. It is what I love to do most. I love to share His story with preschoolers and senior adults, alike, whether in North America or half way around the world. I am most comfortable with my shoes off, sitting on the floor, sharing a story from God's word.
ST4T combines this dream of multiplicity with my passion for storying.
Through a series of circumstances, I was given the opportunity to join 5 amazing ladies and their incredible professor, from the states, in the big city to lead an ST4T conference for national women. I was humbled by the opportunity that was placed before me. I was intimidated by all that I don't know and all the Hindi I don't yet understand. I was almost convinced that this was impossible. I was sure that these friends who had come from so far away would be terribly disappointed in my inabilities.
Suddenly, the Father spoke. As if audibly, I heard, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Cor 12:9) A relief came upon me. It wasn't possible for me to do this. It was only by surrendering my weakness to Him that this dream could come true. Only through Him could this dream become a reality.
"Great is Thy faithfulness," resounded in my heart throughout the week of the conference. Flexibility was the word of the week; fluidity was required. The plan changed more often than I could keep up with.
These friends had come with the intention of leading a 5 day conference for a large group of national women. On Sunday evening, I heard the pastor announce that a 3 day training would be offered and only 10 national ladies had been invited. Immediately my mind began to spin. What was I going to tell these ladies who had come so far? All I knew to do was to calmly assure them that we would keep busy and there would be purpose in every day.
We began the conference on Monday with 11 national ladies present. Typically, we expect that number to decrease each day. Women have responsibilities that very often are required to take priority over events for them. Monday night we prayed that those 11 ladies would return, and Tuesday morning there were 14 ladies. Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, we prayed that again they would return. Wednesday there were 16 national women hungry to learn more of His story and how to share it effectively.
As Wednesday approached (the final scheduled day of the conference), I became anxious about what I would plan for Thursday. Wednesday came to a close and the women attending the conference were disappointed that they had been given such a limited time to be out sharing the stories in the community. I proposed that we meet back on Thursday, with the only plan being to share stories in the community for a few hours. To my complete amazement, the always late (hours late) South Asian women, were, in fact, 10 minutes early and ready to run to tell His story to their neighbors and friends!
Thursday's program was coming to a close. Again, I didn't have a plan for the coming day (which is quite unusual for the planner that I am). The pastor approached us and asked us to come to another church to train the ladies there with the ST4T stories and principles. I was elated with this opportunity, and with the fact that now we had a Friday plan.
I hoped a couple of the ladies who had been with us since Monday would be there, but I wasn't sure who would join us.
As we reached the roof of a building, we were in the open air. There was construction taking place immediately on either side of the building. The tin roof over our heads was home to a large, and noisy, flock of birds. We had arrived at the church where the one-day training would take place. It was loud. Dirt was blowing in on the breeze. I knew the day would be different from all of the others.
Indeed, it was different. Three of the national ladies who we had trained decided to join us for this one-day training. I spoke to them. I explained that we could really use their help. I shared with them that they had learned everything and that they could in turn teach the stories and method to these new ladies.
The ladies spoke right up; they jumped right in. They were training! They had been trained, and were now training. It was ST4T right there before my eyes.
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.
~Heather
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