With 33 partner seminaries in 18 countries, Africa is vast and complex. Some of the countries have emerged from old wars (Liberia, Sierra Leone, Angola); others have fragile peace settlements (Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chad); others have experienced new conflicts (Kenya); while another’s economy suffers runaway inflation (Zimbabwe). Yet there is another reality to notice: the extraordinary growth of the Church in Africa. Seminaries are strategically important because this emerging Church needs trained pastors to teach and guide.

New modes of education delivery are emerging alongside the established pattern of residential studies, not only to reach more pastors and lay leaders, but also to provide more cost-effective ways to train. One small institution with only 30 full time students has over 400 students scattered all around the country in part time distance learning studies. Another partner institution equips a group of 40 teachers and church lay leaders through block courses offered during their vacations. Some institutions offer evening classes to professionals who are employed full time, and a few institutions now offer extension campuses where the lecturer goes to another city to offer the course. Amidst the challenges that face leadership training in Africa, Overseas Council’s partner institutions are changing what they do to make an impact for Christ.

One example is the Kampala Evangelical School of Theology (KEST) in Uganda. Using a modular/audit mode of training, KEST not only cuts costs in a challenging economy, but the seminary also allows more pastors to train and attracts professionals who desire more Christian ministry skills. One of the key benefits to these intensive week-long courses is that students only leave their places of work for one week every two months to complete a course. “This…is particularly designed for the pastors and professionals who cannot spend 15 consecutive weeks away from their congregations or employment,” KEST says. “This approach will increase the number of students and hopefully…offer the service without financial strain [to KEST].”

Special Note: Overseas Council welcomes Philippe Emedi
Rev. Philippe J. L. Emedi has been appointed Overseas Council’s Assistant Regional Director for Francophone Africa. In May 2005, Philippe joined the Accrediting Council for Theological Education in Africa (ACTEA) as Administrative Assistant and became the ACTEA Administrative Secretary for Accreditation from May 2007 until October last year, when he went on study leave in order to pursue his PhD studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. He has degrees in theology (Systematic Theology and Biblical Studies) and a post-graduate diploma in Education. He has previously served as a Bible college teacher, church pastor and director of Christian Education and is an ordained minister with the Free Methodist Church. He is fluent in several languages, including French and English. Philippe and his wife, Virginie, live in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, with their four children (Tania, 24; Yolanda, 22; Gilbert, 17; Cecelia-Karen, 12).

Shadrach (top right) and his family

Shadrach’s “extended family” at the Goshen Children’s Home

Children’s school to open in January 2010

Pharmacist Shadrach Lukwago helped established the now well-known Kiwoko Hospital Training Center for bible study leaders in the Luweero District of central Uganda. For the Kampala Evangelical School of Theology (KEST), it is the site of extension/non-formal programs where Shadrach serves as the program leader and teaches alongside visiting KEST lecturers. In addition, he leads the hospital’s mission team of over 40 staff members who are involved in evangelism, hospital ward ministry, church planting and church leadership training, which has helped to repopulate the war-ravaged district with people from all over Uganda. Shadrach also translated the Gospel of Mark into the local Luganda language, and it has been published through the Uganda Bible Society with over 10,000 copies in circulation. “[Shadrach] has energy and unmatched skills in community mobilization,” KEST says. “We are proud to have been part of his equipping for this good work.”

Shadrach and his wife, Norah, also run Goshen Ministries Uganda, which includes the Goshen Children’s Home where they care for 37 children, mostly orphans met during their village outreaches, and a children’s school that they hope to open in January 2010 for the orphans and the community at large. “God is using us to practically extend His love to them,” Shadrach says. “Some did not know Christ [but] have come to know Him.”

Overseas Council recognizes the value of graduate and post-graduate training for our institutions’ faculty members. Rev. Charles K. Bafinamene is one example of a faculty scholarship recipient seeking advanced training in order to better serve his institution. He successfully completed his Master’s degree in Theology and has begun his PhD work in South Africa to be completed in 2011. His dissertation asserts that the critical priority of the African Church should be its members’ spiritual growth and character, as opposed to numeric growth of the congregation. He says, “Seeking true conversions and leading Christians to a virtuous life as genuine disciples and witnesses of Jesus Christ remain a great challenge for the Church in Africa.”

In addition to his studies, Charles preaches, teaches and disciples as an Associate Pastor at the International Church of Pretoria. He also prepares bible study guides on leadership for African Operation, a Christian ministry promoting transformational leadership in Africa. Charles says scholarship assistance is vital to his training. “[I am] so thankful towards your commitment to assisting faculty members furthering their theological education. Your support…[is] a great relief and grace upon me and my family.” After completing his PhD, Charles will return to the Bangui Evangelical School of Theology (BEST) in the Central African Republic to continue serving as the Communication and Fundraising Director. “Once again, thanks for sustaining us. May our Lord’s grace and love be upon you all at Overseas Council!”

The final four 2009 Institutes for Excellence in Christian Leadership Development took place in Singapore September 21-25; Puebla, Mexico October 13-16; Beirut, Lebanon October 27-30; and Minsk, Belarus November 9-13.

The Singapore Institute gathered 63 leaders from Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Thailand. The Puebla Institute brought together 33 leaders from Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago. The Beirut Institute drew 29 leaders from Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Sudan, Turkey and the West Bank, while the Minsk Institute trained 51 leaders from Austria, Belarus, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine.

The four and five-day Institutes, themed “Nurturing Spiritual Formation in the Seminary,” focused on the hearts of students, not simply their head and hands, as part of a holistic approach to student growth. The seminary leaders were equipped with a deeper understanding of spiritual formation, so that it can be intentionally integrated into the entire program, curriculum and culture of their seminaries.

To read more about the Singapore Institute, click here; the Puebla Institute, click here; the Beirut Institute, click here; and the Minsk Institute, click here.

The 2010 Institutes for Excellence will focus on “Re-envisioning Seminary-Church Relationships.” Please look for updates next year. Click here to read about past Institutes held around the world.

[See Institute speaker lists in sidebar]

Please join Overseas Council in prayer for Africa:

• For the partner institutions that are trying to immerse themselves in the real needs of poverty, rampant AIDS, other illnesses, unemployment, corruption, bad leadership and other needs in Africa
• For the 2010 Institutes for Excellence that will focus on the relationship between the church and seminary in Africa
• For the Islamics Conference at the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology (EGST) in March 2010 that will explore ways to prepare future church leaders to adequately engage the Islamic culture, shepherd Muslim-background believers and address challenging socio-religious issues
• For each partner institution to continue to be on the cutting edge of ministry involvement with a wise balance among academic, spiritual and practical ministry activities
• For God’s provision and guidance as partner institutions embark on new training methods to reach more pastors and lay leaders
• For the faithful supporters of Overseas Council’s ministries in Africa and elsewhere around the world: pray for their families and work and that God would bless them abundantly