SIBI Satellite Schools - Southeast

New Satellite School to Begin in Southwest Georgia

Byron English is an evangelist in the communities of Cuthbert, Edison and Lumpkin, Georgia. Byron had received a letter sent from Sunset introducing the Satellite School Program. The letter contained the story of a young lady who became a Christian through the Erie Bible Institute in Erie, Pennsylvania. He immediately could see the potential impact that could be made in his ministry if he could establish a satellite school.

Byron moved to southwest Georgia a few years ago because he saw an opportunity in the Randolph County area. He and his wife, Lola, have been reaching out to the drug nests in their community through benevolence of food and clothing and counseling with people who are living destructive lives and destroying the lives of others. Together they are making a difference.

His vision is to use the satellite school, first to strengthen the churches in the area through the knowledge of God's word; create a greater awareness of the mission field beyond their door; and then teach, baptize and teach those who are brought to Christ from these three communities.

Why Summer Months are Perfect for Planning a Satellite School

Recently, I spoke with someone who is considering the start-up of a satellite school in his congregation. One of his concerns had to do with how to facilitate courses that were as new to him as they were to students in his class. Here are five ways to achieve your goal and have the confidence needed to be a better facilitator.

1.     Submit the Statement of Intention to Sunset, if you are ready to launch your school within the next three months. This is simply a form that states the intention of the leadership of the congregation, that they are prayerfully taking steps to establish a satellite school within their congregation. This allows the Extension Department and your Field Representative to become involved to offer assistance as needed, as well as their expertise. This form can be found under Resources.

2.     Decide on a course to study. If you are just beginning, I highly recommend the course on The Life of Christ by Richard Rogers. It covers the life and teachings of Christ in 24 lessons in an engaging way that will endear your students to the Christ even more. It is an excellent way to begin.

3.     At least two or three months before classes begin, thoroughly study the course. This will give enough time to personally work through the material. Remember, however, the facilitator is not the instructor. The responsibility of the facilitator is to know each course well enough to re-enforce the instruction.

4.     Add the recommended textbooks of each course to your personal library. Read these books. They are recommended to help provide a working knowledge of the subject on things like geography, ancient cultural customs and history.

5.     Enrich your knowledge of the subject through the resources that are available from the Sunset External Studies website. These resources can be found at www.extensionschool.com under classroom audio courses. There, you can download the resource catalog in PDF format.

If a facilitator will give prayerful attention to these five things, he will insure quality instruction for his students, and be able to enjoy many years of equipping and training for the future of the congregation.

Make plans this summer to begin in the fall.