Travelling for the ministry to most states in southern Mexico has kept Francelia and I occupied these first six months of 2023. It has been a blessing to share about the AMO® Program, minister to women and youth, mentor seminary students, and work together with many of the trainers in Mexico. Francelia also continues writing additional children’s curriculum for the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico.
Recently, we visited ministry partners in Oaxaca to participate in a conference that they initiated. I wrote the following update for Chrysalis International, creator of AMO® Program:
Leaders of Amor y Proclamación Presbyterian Church in Oaxaca, Mexico presented an “Encuentro” (conference) for local churches. Parents and leaders representing at least fifteen churches attended. The purpose of the Encuentro was to cast the vision for parental involvement in the education of their children by sharing how God has challenged and blessed Amor y Proclamación and its families over the last ten years through the training and curriculum of the AMO® Program.
Rev. Josias Luna and his wife, Elizabeth, introduced their congregation to AMO in 2012, after being trained by Cristina Inchuastegui, Director of Training for Programa AMO® Español. Both Josias and Elizabeth established the program in Oaxaca and enrolled to became certified AMO trainers in Mexico several years later.
The Luna’s testimony and influence are rooted in the changes they first experienced in their own lives and in the priority they gave to biblical, Christian education for their children. The couple then recruited a team and have shepherded its effective implementation in the church ever since. Now, after 12 years of successful discipleship in their family and church, they are on the Chrysalis International faculty. Here they instruct classes in the formation of other Spanish-speaking AMO teachers, who seek certification through AMO’s nine-month online course.
The Encuentro was a dynamic three days of teaching, panel discussions, video presentations, and fellowship. AMO® Program trainer, Francelia McReynolds, began each day with a time of teaching and encouragement regarding the primary importance placed by God on the family. Rev. Josias and Elizabeth taught key sessions. Both spoke on the challenges that the congregation overcame to embrace this principle-based vision for education. They shared how they labored with patience and perseverance. Over time, more and more leaders in the church began understanding the need for a biblical approach to education and discipleship if their youth were going to flourish in their faith and be equipped for God’s purposes. Parents, teachers, children, and church leaders all shared their inspiring experiences.
A panel of AMO teachers described how the five-day AMO training challenged their traditional paradigms and equipped them for a deeper level of commitment to disciple the next generation. Their role acquired new importance for them as they studied God’s Word. They each commented on how blessed and awed they are by the work of the Holy Spirit in children. The children’s responses, participation in class, and Christian character growth throughout each year were cited as indicators that young children are truly capable of learning much more than what is typically expected.
Each teacher expressed the great difference they see between the AMO Program and the typical classes they presented prior to learning the biblical principles and Christian methods taught in AMO. Interestingly, one of the young teachers grew up in the AMO Program. She was taught by her grandmother, who was among the first teachers to pilot the program at Amor y Proclamación.
Another panel consisted of parents. One father described how he was completely transformed in how he viewed his child and his child’s education and discipleship. As he came to know and participate more in the program, he was convicted. He said, “As a father, I now understand that I am divinely responsible for the education and discipleship of my child.” He related how typical he was as a dad. According to his family and societal traditions, he stayed busy with work and assumed that the responsibility and authority regarding education rested with the public school and Sunday school. He and his wife now say they are better equipped and look forward to discussing and affirming what their child is learning in AMO and elsewhere. They receive blessing and prayer cards weekly in the program that help them have intentional times of blessing and prayer for their child. Committed to serving parents, AMO Program leaders have an innovative way of sending parents resources and information about their child’s lessons each week via WhatsApp.
During the panel discussion with AMO leaders, Esther Suarez, a pastor and educator in her denomination, shared her experience in founding a “Centro Educativo” or learning center. It was birthed out of necessity during the pandemic, when schools were closed. She started teaching her nephews at home and soon, parents from her church began bringing their children to her classes. She now has a full-fledged school with the AMO Program as its core and supplemental curriculum for subjects other than Bible, Christian history, Christian classic literature, and the arts. One of the elders of the church gave his testimony about the program saying, “During the pandemic, the one ministry we leaders had no reason for concern about was our AMO Program. We knew our people were well trained, dedicated, and had everything they needed to continue successfully discipling our children.”
Plans are in place for the Encuentro to be an annual event. Many Oaxacan parents and church leaders are now concerned to the point of looking for alternatives to public and private non-Christian education. Families at Amor y Proclamación are providing an important model from which others can learn. Pray for these Mexican churches and church leadership everywhere for discernment of God’s wisdom in raising up the next generation.
Blessings,
Chris
AMO MÉXICO 