Empowering Training Initiatives
Over the next few decades, there will be significant shifts in where Christians live and where Christianity is growing.
According to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity, as many as 85% of ministry workers in these areas have no formal theology education or training in identifying, equipping and recruiting new pastors. While there are just under 300 Protestant seminaries in North America, serving half a billion people, there are approximately 40 in Africa for three times as many people. When looking at the population shifts that will occur over the next 30 years, the disparity in available Christian education will only get worse.
We raise funds to launch and support indigenous-led training programs for church planters called to pastoral education, church renewal, and planting. This means partnering with local ministry leaders to create accessible seminaries while collaborating with specialists in curriculum development and translation to ensure culturally relevant, doctrinally sound resources.
Equipping Indigenous Leaders
We understand that the specific needs of each community we partner with will be very different. The pastors we partner with will have differing levels of education, and the local ministry needs will be diverse. Therefore, we want to ensure that the resources we provide meet those specific needs. Through targeted fundraising, we equip indigenous church planters with the tools for personal and professional growth, including connection to partners for construction of ministry spaces and custom curricula.
To that end, schools funded by EFI will ensure that pastors partnering with our program receive the training they need, which includes:
Live teaching from lead pastors, ministry leaders, and biblical scholars in weekly teaching and week-long intensives several times a year
School materials and other ministry resources in the student's native language
Video teaching for remote locations
Training and curriculum designed to equip a pastor to identify and provide for another pastor to plant a church
Encouraging Sustainable Communities
We build networks among indigenous leaders to identify, equip, and deploy new church planters, while encouraging local ministry that renew communities through Gospel outreach.
Our support extends to helping them establish profitable, debt free enterprises that fund ongoing pastoral training and church planting without permanent reliance on external aid. We have already seen the benefits of this with our partners in Liberia where the businesses have already started generating profits that help sustain and expand the ministry.