Department directors from across the Southern Luzon Philippine Union Mission gathered for a Training of Trainers (ToT), a leadership development initiative designed to help leaders serve well today, and to prepare others for tomorrow.

At its core, the ToT is not simply about improving performance. It focuses on preparing leaders for greater responsibility, strengthening succession, and building a culture of disciple-making across the field.

More Than Performance

One message echoed clearly throughout the training: performance alone is not enough. While skills and efficiency matter, they must always be rooted in Christlikeness.

“Doing things well is not enough if we forget Christ,” Pastor Jose Orbe, Jr. shared. “If performance becomes the focus and Christ is no longer at the center, we will fail.”

Because of this, participants were continually brought back to a deeper goal. Every competency developed, every training conducted, and every leadership role embraced must lead to one outcome—becoming more like Christ. From this foundation, meaningful and lasting ministry grows.

This same principle was already set at the beginning of the program through the keynote message, reminding leaders that doing things right is not enough if we are not doing the right thing.

“Mission without execution remains a dream. Execution without mission becomes mere activity,” Pastor Gerardo Cajobe, SLPUM president, emphasized.

Participants were challenged to look beyond activity and examine whether their efforts are truly aligned with God’s mission. The aim is not simply organizational effectiveness, but missional faithfulness. Every training, program, and plan must ultimately support disciple-making.

A Clearer Understanding of Leadership

The training also gave directors the opportunity to revisit their calling. When they were elected, they were not merely assigned responsibilities—they were entrusted with a mission.

Leadership was presented not as simply overseeing programs, but as carrying a clear and intentional role in God’s work. Directors are called to ensure coordination across ministries, provide training for leaders, advocate for mission priorities, and exercise leadership that guides the Church forward. Above all, their work must contribute to one shared goal—making disciples who make disciples.

Moving Toward Integrated Training

As part of the training, each mission was tasked to develop its own training module for a specific event, aligned with the measurable goals of the I Will Go Strategic Plan—mapping out objectives, identifying resources, designing activities, and setting evaluation indicators before presenting these to the group. This hands-on process ensures that what is learned can be directly applied as leaders prepare training events that respond to the needs of their church members.

This approach reflects one of the key highlights of the ToT—SLPUM’s move toward Integrated Training Events.

In the past, departments often conducted trainings separately. While done with good intentions, this sometimes led to overlapping schedules, repeated content, and increasing demands on members’ time and energy. Over time, this resulted in fatigue, duplication, and uneven follow-through.

In response, SLPUM is now aligning its ministries through eleven integrated training events that can be brought directly to local churches. These trainings are designed to help departments work together, share resources, and move with one clear direction.

By working as one, ministries are able to reduce scheduling conflicts, improve participation, and create more sustainable efforts. More importantly, integrated training ensures that every activity contributes to a clear outcome—helping people grow as disciples and leading others to Christ – bringing focus back to what truly matters.

Passing the Mission Forward

“The mission does not grow by what we keep, but by what we pass forward,” reminded Josue Fofue, Jr., SLPUM treasurer.

Participants were reminded that truth is not meant to be kept for ourselves alone—it is meant to be shared, taught, and passed on. What is entrusted today will shape the faith of the next generation.

As the Training of Trainers came to a close, participants left with a renewed sense of purpose—not only to lead, but to equip others, multiply the work, and carry the mission forward.

Through initiatives like the Training of Trainers, SLPUM continues to invest in leaders who will help build a church that is not only active, but truly aligned with God’s mission.