Undeterred by the nationwide community quarantine that started in March 2020, CSMI went online in fulfilling its mandate of strengthening the churches, equipping the saints and reaching mankind. From the last Saturday of June until the last Saturday of September this year, CSM held nine webinars covering various topics to help churches and families cope with the pandemic, at the same time, offering hope through the Good News of the Lord Jesus Christ.

CSMI’s first-ever virtual seminar in its 30-year history was the two-part “How to Effectively Study the Bible” series led by Dr. Michael Janapin of PBTS-Baguio to kick off the online training season last June 27, 2020.  The succeeding webinars dealt with mental health challenges during Covid-19, finding opportunities during crisis, managing finances, teaching kids to do devotions, homeschooling, spiritual nurturing by parents, leading the church in homes, and telling Bible stories creatively.

CSM authors (Willy Chua, Grace Chong, Grace Dousel, Beth Flores, Jason Tan, Raquel Lomugdang) and favorite resource persons (Dr. Michael Janapin, Alain Dizon, Millie Espino) comprised the impressive line-up of speakers. The recorded total attendance of 598 from 397 churches does not include those who viewed the webinars via social media streaming (Facebook Live).

The existing restrictions on in-house gatherings also enabled the three-month virtual training season to reach more people both here and abroad. Actual registered participants outside NCR (231) came from the Bicol region, Cebu and Iloilo in the Visayas, Davao, Ozamis, and Zamboanga in Mindanao, and overseas (23) from as far as Bahrain, Japan, Australia, Canada, and the US. These trying times of restricted contact have made CSMI a catalyst for training people previously inaccessible in the old normal. The Lord is sovereign, indeed!

Storytelling Webinar Wraps up CSMI’s 1st Training Season

Church Strengthening Ministry Inc. (CSMI) wrapped up its “first quarter” of virtual seminars and workshops with the “Creative Ways to Tell Bible Stories” webinar facilitated by CSM trainer Raquel Lomugdang last September 26, 2020.  Excited Sunday school teachers and parents filled the Zoom meeting room, eager to learn how to teach kids better in this so-called “new normal.” This first online Sunday school workshop featured breakout sessions and group presentations, the staples of VBS and Sunday school training seminars. Expect more learning opportunities from the next online Sunday school webinars that will be posted on CSM’s FB page.

Kickoff event of the Online Sunday School Workshop series—training webinar on Creative Ways to Tell Bible Stories led by CSM Trainer Raquel Lomugdang last Sept 26, 2020

Breakout session group 1 made storytelling props led by Raquel Lomugdang

Breakout session group 2 did radio drama

Breakout session group 3 did role playing