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A self-reliance group meeting works like a council and is different from most church classes, lessons, or workshops. There are no teachers, trainers, or experts. Instead, a facilitator helps members as they counsel together, learn together, mentor each other, commit to act on what they are learning, and hold each other accountable for those commitments. As a facilitator you may be a great teacher, have a good education, or be good at business, but that is not why you have been called. Your primary role is to help the group mentoring process work. That is best done by helping the group follow the materials as they are written, and by letting the group and the process be the teacher. Your goal is to help the group learn how to rely on themselves, their group members, and most importantly, on the Savior. An effective group provides mentoring through encouragement and support, accountability for making and keeping commitments that lead to self-reliance, helping members solve their own problems, and through increased faith in the Savior. The materials are designed to help create this among group members. And it is important that they not come from you as the facilitator. Let's listen to the experience of a facilitator in the Dominican Republic as she learned the difference between teaching and facilitating. [SPEAKING SPANISH]
This group mentoring and counseling process, together with the workbooks and videos, creates a dynamic learning environment that strengthens each member in their development of a self-reliant life. You will fulfill your role as a facilitator as you focus on facilitating this process, rather than on teaching. As you do so, you will be helping each member of the group become more self-reliant. [MUSIC PLAYING]