Establishing Schools

Over the next few decades, there will be significant shifts in where Christians live and where Christianity is growing. For example, by 2050, Africa’s population will double to over 3 billion people. When combined with estimated adult conversion rates, this will lead to 4 out of 10 Christians living there. At the same time, the percentage of Christians living in North America and Europe will decrease. The explosion of the overall population and Christianity in Africa exacerbates an already existing challenge. There are simply not enough trained ministry workers to care for the growing Christian population in these areas.

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.

Equipping Pastors

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. To help address these growing needs, our organization will come alongside these pastors and provide the teaching and resources they need to continue to grow personally, spiritually and doctrinally.

To that end, our schools will ensure that pastors partnering with our program receive the training they need, which includes:

  1. Live teaching from lead pastors, ministry leaders, and biblical scholars in a week-long intensive format several times a year

  2. School materials and other ministry resources in the student's native language

  3. Video teaching

  4. Training and curriculum designed to equip a pastor to identify and provide for another pastor to plant a church

Encouraging Community

Beyond the classroom, we will ensure that our schools will support local ministries in their community, as well as encourage local pastors to form networks to identify, equip, and plant new pastors. To this end, we work with local network leaders to ensure our spaces are utilized for other ministries when they are not actively used for pastoral training.

For example, in Liberia, we have identified a partner who is currently investing in pastors and in their local community. Through this partnership, we have been able to purchase land for our first location, install cornerstones and grade the land for construction that will begin early next year. Along with pastoral training the site will have ministries focusing on child literacy, sex trafficking, economic renewal, and leadership training. Furthermore, a church will meet on Sundays ensuring that this site is open seven days a week for ministry. Over time, these schools will become a core part of local ministry taking place in their respective communities.