Positive Responses to Prevention Training
When I am in the planning stages for an ENGAGE training with a church, of course, I have no way of knowing ahead of time how the training will go and what will come out of it. My overall responsibility for each event is to prepare well and to pray faithfully. I can then go into a training confident that God is in control. In order to get feedback, we ask attendees to fill out an evaluation after each training. These are just a few of the responses we received in 2019:
Which lesson/activity impacted you most?
• God’s vision for community
• We need to pray for victims, traffickers, and buyers. They all need Jesus.
• How prevalent trafficking is
• Learning the four types of trafficking … unaware of organ trafficking
• Vulnerability
How can you see yourself using this training in the future?
• I will use this within the foster care system.
• I think of this training as an addition to the toolbox God has provided for me. I serve the poor and homeless (men and women). I know this will be used in the future!
• Working with 18-30 year olds at our church
• Using my cooking skills to help young people
• Praying about how God wants to use me in our community
We praise God for the ways he is working in the lives of these he has called to action, and we pray that they will continue to have a heart for the vulnerable in their communities.
One unexpected outcome of the training at Crosspoint Church (Niceville, Florida) in November was a newspaper article that one of the people who attended wrote. In January, five newspapers in northwest Florida published the article, and it has generated some interest in the ministry of HOPE61 that we are so grateful for but certainly never anticipated! If you would like to read the article, which does a great job of explaining more about ENGAGE and HOPE61, you can read it here. Many thanks to Alice, writer of the article!
If you want to learn more about hosting an ENGAGE training at your church, we would love to hear from you.
By Lori McFall, HOPE61 Trainer