ENABLE 3
August 2004

“Intelligent men spend their lives learning. The others don’t stop teaching”
(Ricardo Rabella)

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As I have been training several trainers in the last months, I have thought about the question: What makes a good trainer? Let us think together on this important matter in this third issue of Enable. May it inspire you to press on in the same journey the apostle Paul undertook: “What you have heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others as well” (2 Timothy 2: 2).
Edith Vilamajó

ENABLING YOU WITH STORIES

Contagious Christian training for students and youth in Spain (July 2004).
“The weekend went really well. I was very glad to see you; I loved the training and we laughed a lot! I want this to continue. I want to have a great challenge, not only personally but also as a group, to see if I can apply all I have learnt. Now it can be very easy to say that I feel stronger to evangelize but I won’t know until I don’t have the opportunity before me. But I also realize that I am responsible to find these opportunities, so here I am… Now I will look for these opportunities and will make the most of them (Raquel, student)”.

ENABLING YOU TO BE CHALLENGED
My friend Marcello said he would stop by for my birthday party, but he didn’t. I was frustrated and sad. He had not returned my last phone calls either. I tried again this week through an e-mail. He said he is very busy. Even though sometimes it feels that I always have to take the initiative, I will press on because my friend is not a project but someone that I love and that Jesus loves.
Think: Do I put my friends first?

ENABLING YOU TO BE TRAINED
Think: What makes a good trainer?
• Gifts: “We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us” (Rom.12:6). We all receive gifts but we do not all receive the same gifts. A trainer will most likely have one or a combination of the gift of evangelism, the gift of teaching and/or the gift of leadership. A good trainer acknowledges their gifts and puts them into action.
• Training: Good trainers are promoted through training. On the one hand, good principles inform good training; feedback and evaluation of strong and weak points inform the trainer on where they are and where they should be focused in order to grow. On the other hand, trainers are responsible for their training by ongoing study and adjustment of the curriculum to the needs of students.
• Experience: “Even though potential leaders are born, effective leaders are made” (B.Goodwin). This truth is also applicable for trainers. A trainer becomes a good trainer not only when they have trained a number of times but also when their training proves effective. The results of a good trainer are seen in the appropriate change in participants.

ENABLING YOU WITH RESOURCES

The booklet The Trainer's Pocketbook by John Townsend has been very useful to me for tips on how to become a better trainer. I encourage you to have a look at it!

Thank you for your time. Tell us your stories; send us your comments and your questions... We are looking forward to hearing from you.

Edith Vilamajó