A Letter from Juliette Razafiarisoa
From Madagascar
Greetings,
I had a training session for the student pastors at Ivato Seminary on 10-11 June went well. I am happy. It was a success. It was not compulsory but even those who have some other obligation arranged their time to attend the training. Only sick person and pregnant students were absent. There were 65 participants. They were enthusiastic. The two days seems short for them, but I was exhausted. At the end of the session, there were shout for joy and dance until late evening. They got the vision and were inspired. They were happy to be a change maker.
How did it work?
- Schedule : 9-12; 14-17 each day for the two days
- The training was held in the new chapel of Ivato Seminary
- I formed a technical team to help me with the preparation, organization, and execution so I could focus on the training.
- I hired a generator to prevent training interruption from power outages.(When my husband picked up the generator, he felt into my car and the windshield was broken. There were minor injuries to his face and head. He had pain for two days.)
- Fortunately, there was no power outage during daytime and the training went smoothly.
- I shared a certificate to mark the attendance of each participant and to facilitate the follow up when they go to the mission field.
- I did share evaluation form for participants. See below the diagrams of the evaluations.
Remark:
- Participants were active. One of them said: ”this Training model should start from the first year of studies and repeated each year until the graduation so that the students wrestle with the PAAS spirit.” One said: “Be prepared, it is a deconstructive and constructive mind-set and social habits, there must be opposition of those against change.
- There is a self-discovery after mirroring themselves to the scriptures and the facts around them.
- They need coaching as it is new for them.
It is obvious that there must be training for trainers to be effective. There must be a technical team. I cannot do everything. The objective is to have an extraordinary leader: message delivery, relationship, behavior, table manner, organizing meeting/event, time management, self-discipline……So, there were snacks and lunch for the participants. The technical team choose the menu, set up the table, clean up after use, do the recording of the evaluation and attendance sheets….
After hearing the feedback of participants, it is essential to go to the other seminaries (Mandritsara, Ambatondrazaka, Fianarantsoa) not only wait for the students to come to Ivato for their last year of studies to train them.
To conclude: There is hope, change will happen even slowly. These participants got the vision and are inspired. I have promised them that there will be training during school break (August- October) but for the next training session, participant will be limited to 15 persons. They lined up to register for the next session even the date is not fixed yet. The training is based on group work and participant’s engagement.
I have purchased a video projector, a printer a white board, toolkits for trainer. These are helpful for the training sessions.
Juliette is so grateful for the support FPCSA has provided her. She asked for our ongoing prayers as she continues her work bringing Jesus’ words of love and justice to the people of Madagascar.