GLOBAL TRAINING UPDATE

Training Local Leaders In Southeast Asia

In January 2023, RTIM’s Global Training Team had the privilege of launching a new Training site in South Asia. Located in major city, this site was originally planned for a 2020 launch date. But the COVID pandemic derailed those plans. In the Lord’s providence, he delayed the launch of the site until this year.

A key part of our strategy for training local leaders is building a team of qualified volunteer teachers. We partnered with a local church in Canada to build this team. They proved to be a skilled group of people, checking all the boxes for great cross-cultural teachers. They were skilled in the course content and showed great teaching flexibility in the delivery and application of that content. We’re so grateful for this great team! Without them, and other church partners like them, it is hard to pull off these trips!

An additional key element of our strategy is our Site Coordinator. This person is a trusted local partner who can pull together a group of pastors and leaders for a training. In this case, the Site Coordinator is a local national pastor who has a heart for training his fellow under-served pastors. The insight he provides into his context is so valuable to us, because it helps us understand the particular pastoral and theological questions that need addressing.

We arrived in the city on a Saturday, in time for a few people on the team to attend the local church service led by our Site Coordinator. For security reasons, not everyone on the team was able to attend. But for the three who did go, it was certainly one of the highlights of the trip.

By worshiping with our brothers and sisters in South Asia, we see a tangible image of the important work we are engaged in. Each one of the pastors and leaders we taught are part of small local churches around the area. Our goal is to help them grow in their pastoral skill and theological training to contribute toward healthy churches being established. To see the life of the local church in action is a tremendous encouragement toward faithfulness in this area.

At this site, we had the opportunity to spend a few busy days teaching a group of about 45 men and 40 women. The men walked through an overview of the Old Testament, while the women did an overview of the Bible. This site was a first for us. This was the first time we conducted a men’s and women’s training event at the same time in the same location.

The result overwhelmingly positive! At the end of the week, both the pastors and the women expressed their appreciation for the training and shared how encouraged they were by the teaching. As a teaching team, we were just as encouraged by their kind words and their enthusiastic hunger for God’s Word. One pastor said: “This was first time I attended a training of this kind. The teachers helped me to better understand the story of the Old Testament.”

Lord-willing, this was just the first of many more teaching trips at this site. We are grateful for a great group of students and a gifted teaching team! We thank God for the opportunity and trust that his word will cause growth in the hearts of all involved.

NATE BROCK Training Facilitator - Europe

Nate grew up on the mission field in Northern Italy and currently lives in Louisville, KY, with his wife Rachel, and their four children (Charlie, Will, Kate, and a baby boy coming in Dec ’21). He is a graduate of Clarks Summit University as well as The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (M. Div. in Christian Ministry). Prior to his role with Reaching & Teaching, Nate served as a pastor in Indianapolis, IN.