Kindness and Compassion
Giving Your Gifts: Empowering People to Use Talents for Ministry
Calvin Watkins Sr. never imagined that his church in North Carolina would grow from 60 to 600 members in just three years. Yet, that’s exactly what happened. It all started in 1982, when Watkins founded a ministry training program called “University of Saints” to help lay people recognize and dedicate their talents to God. The program became a monumental success in Watkins’ church. Word quickly spread and today, the University of Saints empowers lay people to realize their talents all across the world. Watkins currently serves as the Southwest Region Conference president, and the program is now being implemented in both English and Spanish across the Conference’s five-state territory. “I don’t train people to be Bible workers,” says Watkins. “I train them how to be themselves. Everyone has something that
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God can use. I want you to be yourself and to discover what your talent is.” Watkins recalls one woman telling him she never imagined that her talent could be used for God. She created delicate flowers out of toilet paper. Every day, she carefully dyed and rolled toilet paper into flowers for the sick and hurting. People in the neighborhood knew and loved her. After attending the University of Saints, she started to dedicate her flowers to God. Although she never led a Bible study, that woman taught many people about God’s love, connecting with them through her floral creations. In the Southwest Region Conference territory, which encompases Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, there are currently between 400 and 600 University of