Ellen Pitakaka
A Solomon Islands Sabbath School leader shows that a training only matters once it reaches the children.
Many of us come home from a workshop full of ideas. We fill a notebook, keep the handouts and promise ourselves we will use them someday. Too often, someday never comes.
Ellen Pitakaka chose a different path. After attending the Alive in Jesus training in Honiara, she didn't wait. She put what she had learned to work straight away, and in doing so reminded us of a simple truth: learning is only half the story. The other half is how quickly we put it into practice.
Passing it on while it was fresh
Back home, Ellen gathered the Children's Sabbath School teachers at Jah Mountain Tent Church (JMTC). She shared the ideas and approaches from the training while they were still clear in her mind.
That speed made a difference. A training kept by one person helps one classroom at best. A training passed on to a whole teaching team reaches every child those teachers serve, week after week.
Teaching without a classroom
JMTC does not yet have a proper space for its children. Sabbath School happens in a simple tent setting, with stacked plastic chairs and whatever materials the teachers can bring.
Yet the teachers have not let that hold them back. They remain committed to making Sabbath School interactive and meaningful. With fresh ideas from the training, they keep finding creative ways to help every child engage with the lesson and with Jesus.
Their example shows that good children's ministry starts with willing hearts, not perfect buildings.
Why it matters
"God wants every child of tender age to be His child, to be adopted into His family." — Ellen G. White, Child Guidance
Our children are precious to God. The years they spend in Sabbath School shape how they see Him for the rest of their lives.
That is why trainings like Alive in Jesus matter, and why acting on them quickly matters even more. Every week a good idea sits unused is a week a child could have been reached.
Learn it. Share it. Live it.
Ellen's story is a challenge to every one of us who has sat through a training and taken notes. What we learn is a gift, but it only bears fruit when we pass it on.
So the next time you attend a workshop, don't let your notes gather dust. Share them with your team that same week. Try one new idea the very next Sabbath.
Together, let us help our children grow in faith and in love for Jesus.
