"But as for you, continue in what you have learned..."

Sometimes you just have to put one foot in front of the other in order to walk in God's will. This was Paul's advice to his disciple, Timothy, whom he was mentoring for ministry: "But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus." This advice has been very important for us in our work with Timothy Leadership Training (TLT), an informal leadership training method we have been successfully using in Haiti for the last two years. What makes TLT unique is that it insists on an "Action Plan," which is a practical plan of how participants will use what they have learned in their life and ministry. As TLT facilitators, we have long witnessed how TLT separates those who seriously want to grow in their life and ministry from those who just want to get a "certificate" showing that they have attending a training event. Those who want to grow actually do their Action Plan! But it has not been easy to see so many promising leaders who come only for the certificate (which, unfortunately for such persons, can only be awarded to those who complete their Action Plans) fall out of the training. However, we are reminded from Jesus' Parable of the Sower that when the seed does fall on good ground, it can yield thirty, sixty or even one hundred-fold (Matthew 13). What is required is that we, as TLT facilitators, do what Paul told Timothy to do: "Continue in what you have learned..." It is just these times that the Spirit blesses us in unexpected ways. By the way, the picture above is Zach getting his TLT "Master Trainer" certificate (at the recent TLT conference in Houston, TX) after finally completing his Action Plan!