Paula, before you started to lead, what caught your attention the most in the participating cell group?
What attracted me the most was that people cared about me. I got there they didn't even know me, I didn't know them and from the first moment they embraced me, you know, they took care of me.
I felt that it was a totally different environment from what I was used to, and that was fundamental for me to continue in the small group.
What motivated you to lead a cell group?
I was always passionate about the cell group model from the beginning, from the first cell group I attended.
And it happened that I grew up, I participated more in the cell group, I attended church services and the moment came when I said: “wow, I need to take a step further, I have already done everything I had to do at that level that I am at, so I need to walk a little further”.
I started the baptism course, I remember that my leader wasn't even aware, I started on my own.
I thought it was sensational, I really liked it, I told my cell group the week of my baptism that I was going to baptize and they were super happy.
It was very funny that they had no idea that I was taking a course. As soon as I baptized my leader called me to be a leader in training.
I accepted without even thinking twice, I loved that, I loved cell-group model, so I really wanted to take a step forward and I knew that I needed this to get out of my comfort zone.
After taking the position of leader in training, did you even take the leader training course?
I started taking every course I could, from basic to advanced. Even when Letícia went to multiply she didn't even know that I had done it all.
What were the biggest challenges you faced at the beginning of your journey as a cell group leader?
The first challenge was already at the first cell group meeting. The mother cell group was very large, we had about 40 people.
My leader said she was going there to help me out at the first meeting, but she had a problem and couldn't go.
It was very good, but I still had a problem giving the floor, being able to convey things without being too nervous and I was still very nervous at the beginning.
However, that suffocation was good for me to chase after to get better. Sometimes giving the floor at the beginning is difficult, but it is something that can be worked on and gradually improved.
In addition, reconciling my entire life with cell group leadership was very complicated. I do a lot of things, I have a lot of responsibilities outside the cell group.
But I think leading a cell group is a very big responsibility, after all, God placed it under our responsibility. We can't do it anyway. We are taking care of people that God has placed under us, this takes time, we have to get in touch, help them grow, and everything else.
Now inside the cell group, the biggest difficulty is precisely attracting people to participate in the group. However, we use some strategies to overcome this obstacle.
What are these strategies?
Many people have the wrong idea of what a cell group is, what a church is. They have some resistance to this.
When we do something that breaks all those bad expectations, in a way, it makes them change their minds a bit and open themselves to this opportunity to get to know the small group.
Our groups use the strategy of creating attractive cell group meetings.
We really like to celebrate Friends Day, harvest events, evangelistic events, etc. We always come up with a different theme, or snack.
We always make this decision as a group, because it's not just me who has ideas, everyone in the cell group has an idea.
We play like this “what ideas do you have for the next friend's day or for the next event”, then the crowd says, “Oh, I think we could make stuffed potatoes”, “Oh I think we could make a pasta evening”.
And does that involvement happen in a cell group meeting or outside the traditional meeting?
In a variety of ways. Sometimes at the meeting I say this: “Look guys, in 3 weeks it will be friend's day, they are already thinking of ideas so we can decide what it will be”. Then we remember the people on WhatsApp and people are throwing ideas there too.
We usually hold a monthly planning meeting with our cell group, with the nucleus. In it we talked about Friend's Day and at the next cell group meeting we let us know: “Guys, friend's day is coming up, so we have some suggestions and we would like to hear your ideas”. And during the week we remember the crowd.
Are the dynamics of these “attractive meetings” different from a traditional one?
Look, first of all, we like to create a very special environment, we make a different decoration, something thematic.
Recently it was cake and cane juice day. We decorated the environment to leave it with a pastry atmosphere. There was someone frying, a small bench, small tables with a menu.
They are already surprised by the decor and the relaxed atmosphere.
People arrive and say: “Wow how different!”. First of all, I'm not even paying to be there, it's free. People are doing this for free for me, how cool.
In these meetings we leave more time to talk, to chat. Since people don't know each other they need more time to get to know each other at least a little bit.
After that, we make a dynamic to involve the whole crowd. The dynamics of Friend's Day are very interactive, the goal is for people to get to know each other and talk a little about themselves.
Then there's a compliment. We usually add some well-known or very easy to understand songs to celebrate Friends Day, because there are a lot of non-believers there. People who are not familiar with this type of music.
The highlight is the moment of the word. In traditional meetings we separate, the girls are separated from the boys, because it gives more freedom for each one to speak. But on Friend's Day, specifically, everyone sticks together.
Often there is a boy who called a girl or vice versa, a lot of people are in that environment and know practically no one. So they're more comfortable with everyone together.
In the end, we still have a little time left to go back to the staff for a snack, “Oh, there's a snack left so let's finish eating here” and to give that time to say goodbye, to get in touch with people just to fill in the célula.in.
At this end, we give a souvenir, a chocolate, something like that, and write down the person's prayer requests, and we even use this to chat later, after the cell group.
Is that extra effort to organize the meeting worth it?
Of course, it's worth too much! Because it's funny we waste time. And we do this mainly for non-believers, but we had a lot of fun in the process.
It also strengthens the relationship in general, both between the people in the cell group and me and the person I invited.
Tomorrow or later, even if this friend of mine does not become a participant in the small group, when he is going through a difficult time without a shadow of a doubt he will remember that he has a person, a group willing to help him.
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