After the official welcoming ceremony for 6 new lay collaborators committed to the communities of the Infant Jesus Sisters, on 28 October 2023, the same group met for a training session from 23 to 25 February 2024 at Cheras House in Kuala Lumpur. The programme included :
- sharing sessions (on prayer and its influence on daily ministries and on the beginnings of Nicolas Barré's life based on chapter 1 of 'Better Than Light')
- talks: Professor S.C. Loh on "Effective teaching skills for educators"; Father Lawrence Andrew SJ on "The pedagogy of Blessed Nicolas Barré" and Ignatian pedagogy.
Two lay collaborators, Shanti Carol & Elizabeth Chong, said: "Together with our school board members, headteachers and learning centre coordinators, we enjoyed the sessions which were interactive and engaging. Topics covered included 'teaching or educating', the role of educators, 21st century skills and creative teaching methods. It was an opportunity for some very interesting debates with all the participants! Among other things, we came up with a few key points: learning to be patient in ministry, putting prayer into teaching practice, teaching children to use their imagination to stimulate their intellectual capacities, letting pupils learn through experience, etc."
The next meeting of lay people from all the Infant Jesus Sisters provinces in Asia will be the Asian forum scheduled for October 2024.