“I am a graduate of the Central American Biblical Institute and the
Seeds of Guatemala Seminary, but I have always had problems putting my ideas
into practice – the ideas I had never went anywhere,” expresses our brother in
Christ, Francisco Cano, pastor of the Mennonite Fraternity of Nicaragua.
In the Timothy Institute, Pastor Francisco Cano found this element that
his ministry was lacking of converting inspiration into implementation. “In the Timothy Institute, they taught us a
very simple way of making Action Plans, and the teachers did everything they
could for us to put that technique into practice so that we wouldn’t leave the
ideas in the air or just on paper. That
is one of the things that I am most grateful for,” adds Pastor Cano.
Recently, the Timothy Institute celebrated its first graduation in
Central America from which 13 pastors from different denominations received
their certificate from trainers and teachers.
But it isn’t the diploma that most excites Pastor Cano, rather the
results that he has achieved in implementing the Service Plan in the “Malaco”
community in the city of Granada. “Now,
the community admires us when before, they feared us,” he describes.
Previously, Pastor Cano and a group of leaders had evangelized in the
Malaco neighborhood, a sector ravished with poverty, domestic violence, and a
growing number of children on the streets.
“We had evangelized, but we hadn’t done any kind of service, and the
people felt down because of us. The
Timothy Institute expanded our view, and that was how we decided to create a
work plan that included community service,” explains the pastor.
“After a year in Timothy, we decided that we needed to feed the
children. Then we helped the families
that were impacted by the overflow of the lake.
After that, the church was convicted to open a fund for giving out small
loans. We started with a small fund of
$600, and with that money various pulperias
and tortillerias were strengthened.”
Now the church “Jesus Christ is Lord” has a plot of land donated by the
Malaco community where they are already working to build a “place of worship,
provision, and education” where children, youth, and women can find an
improvement for their life.
The experience of Pastor Francisco and his congregation encourages us,
as God’s Agents of Transformation in our communities, to take all of the
necessary steps to convert the ideas God give us into concrete actions that
demonstrate his love and his purposes.
“The difference between a dreamer
and a visionary is that a visionary, besides just having good ideas, has the
audacity to take the first step.” Steven Furtick.
More about the Timothy Leadership Trainning Institute on
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Timothy-Leadership-Training-Institute/190872064275717
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Timothy-Leadership-Training-Institute/190872064275717
