Caring for and cultivating Christlike character in children—especially those at risk.

From My Heart

Timothy and the Ripple Effect

October 2008

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One of the slides we use in our international PowerPoint training for church leaders, teachers, and parents is entitled “The Ripple Effect.” It features the photograph you see on this page: A pool of quiet blue water has just been transformed into a series of dynamic and growing concentric circles that move outward from the entry point of a solid object dropped into the pool.

Our purpose in this slide is to show adults who care for children that they have a significant influence on those kids. Whether positive or negative, that impact is a natural result of their frequent contact with children who constantly watch and often imitate their attitudes and behaviors. The ripples continue outward as influential adults affect children, children affect families, and families affect neighborhoods.

Jesus Christ intervened in human life to profoundly transform our present and future. In His honor, our ultimate objective is to train and encourage influential adults to be men and women of Christlike character who intervene in the lives of needy children. Their position gives them the privilege—and responsibility—of creating a long-term and transforming ripple effect of Christlikeness: Children who as adults will walk in a manner worthy of their calling (Ephesians 4:1-3). Our prayers and intervention endeavors focus on stimulating those dynamic and growing ripples of Christlikeness.

The Apostle Paul saw his protégé Timothy as a man of Christlike character who could continue the ripple effect Paul began in Ephesus. He dropped Timothy into that pool of Ephesian life and commissioned him to make more ripples: “…Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:1-2).

This is the model for MTC’s three-year “More Than a Million” ministry endeavor in India. In September we trained approximately 1,250 Indian leaders, most of them pastors, to teach our Character Solutions International methods and materials. That was an early ripple effect. These “master trainers” will train an average of 20 more trainers apiece to use CSI methods and materials, for a total of 20,000 faithful men and women who will be able to teach others also. The ripple effect will continue as this group of about 21,250 trainers teaches an estimated average of 45-50 youth and adults apiece, for a total of more than a million who are added to “India’s Timothys.”

But can these ripples of more than a million people make a difference in a country with more than a billion people? I cannot predict exactly how these Timothys—and the children they influence—will make a difference, but this I know well: Christlikeness always makes a difference. And to this we are called. We expect that these Timothys will intervene in the lives of hundreds of thousands of children—perhaps another million.

Can you imagine the joy we will have when we all get to heaven and finally have the time and opportunity to meet some of these children whose lives were transformed by your and my heart-filled support and prayers during this three-year journey? The joy of that worship will make our journey worth it.