Converting ideas into actions

Converting ideas into concrete actions is always a challenge.  

“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.

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