Knowledge Character and skills are best forged in an apprenticeship but depend upon knowing God. This is done at the Nairobi Ministry Training Course held for one week every two months. One par
t of it covers key doctrines and church history while the other half deals with practical aspects of ministry such as understanding what the Bible means and teaching it to others. Although the programme is not designed to pre-empt formal theological education, it does provide some theological input:
- Principles of Biblical interpretation
- Basic Biblical and systematic theology
- Practice in the application of theology to issues of ministry
- An awareness of the need to distinguish error from truth.
- Some awareness of theological issues in preparation for theological /further study.
Apprentices will take it in turn to prepare and give expository talks from Bible passages and facilitators will give them feedback. This development and assessment of knowledge will take place regularly during NMTC weeks.
Skills
The main skill areas the iServe Africa seeks to address are:
· Preaching & Teaching - Apprentices are to be given a range of teaching opportunities as appropriate. These include one-to-one discipleship, youth/children’s work, leading small group Bible studies etc. The Nairobi Ministry Training Course will emphasize Faithful Bible Teaching in the African context.
· Discipleship: apprentices will meet with individuals in the church for one-to-one to Bible study. They should also do compassionate visits to encourage other Christians.
· Leadership - Opportunities should be given to nurture other Christians, prepare, lead and pray in public meetings, organize conferences and regular events and lead or a youth camp. Much of leadership is learnt by observation and hence apprentices should attend staff meetings.
· Evangelism - This includes caring and praying non Christians, understanding the gospel and explaining it, basic apologetics, knowing how to lead someone to Christ, giving
an evangelistic talk including the appeal to repent and believe, dealing with common questions and planning an evangelistic Bible study/course
· Weekly Fraternal - The ministry review discussions held between the apprentice and their mentor will help apprentices to grasp and assess the strategy of the church and be able to work for its progress, consider the ‘needs of the hour’, and develop an awareness of the importance of people rather than just structures and buildings.
· People - The important skills of understanding, listening, encouraging, rebuking, dealing with conflict and success, and personal and corporate decision making should be emphasized.
If you feel you need more information, please contact us. We are recruting now.
