Timothy Leadership Training Part 1

By Anthony:

I have just completed my first of three weeks of Timothy Leadership Training.  Here is a summary of what it is, taken from their website.

"TLTI" stands for Timothy Leadership Training Institute, an organization that took root in Africa in the 1990's and has since developed rapidly throughout the world. The mission of Timothy Leadership Training Institute is to train pastors, evangelists and lay leaders, enabling them to build viable and healthy congregations and communities in the spirit of 2 Timothy 2:2, "Entrust what you have heard from me to those who will be qualified to teach others." TLT goals include the growth of faith, generosity and productive work accounted for through regular reporting.

I took the first of three parts of this training last week in Houston and stayed with my cousin Andy and his family.   He is a Christian Reformed pastor here.  It was great to see them, but unfortunately I still had to drive a few hours each day of the training.  A Japanese seminary student, Keisuke, also stayed with them and we drove together.   We had some crazy adventures navigating the highways of Houston and got lost a fair number of times.  Here is a picture of us.

The training itself was good and is from a Reformed biblical perspective.  I am very excited to utilize this training in Uganda.  There have already been some TLT trainings in Uganda, but there is plenty more to do.  There are still many untrained pastors with no theological education.  And TLT is also really good for training up lay church leaders.

The curriculum is very simple, so there wasn't really much new for me.  But almost the whole time, you read passages of Scripture, so it was a great week of digging into God's Word.   The curriculum is centered around making concrete action plans to carry out what God's Word teaches, so even though all the passages were familiar, taking this training gave me a personal push to practically do the things God says.  The entire training consists of 7 manuals of about 14 lessons each, which can be taught very flexibly in whatever time arrangement one sees fit, whether teaching a couple manuals in an intensive week, or teaching one manual over several months of weekly meetings.  The manuals are: 1. Caring for God's people, 2. Stewardship, 3. Biblical Preaching, 4. Teaching the Christian Faith, 5. Serving God in Work and Worship, 6. Overcoming Violence in the Family, and 7. God's Plan for Sustainable Development. 

The style of learning is very interactive.  It is not one person lecturing.  Together the group reads Scripture and discusses.  But it doesn't have the subjective feel of "what does this mean to you?"  It has the feel of, "this is what God's Word says, so let's discuss how to carry out this clear teaching of God's Word."  If you were to glance at this material, you probably would not think to use it in a typical North American church.  But although simple, the material has a way of really getting you to change things in your life to carry out what God says, and I could see this material being helpful in churches here.  Below are some pictures of the small TLT group I worked with this past week.  We were the ones doing manuals 1 and 2.

We had a very international group of people at this training.  I am amazed hearing about the ways God is using TLT in various countries around the world.  The transformation that it brings in churches is hard to believe.  The material doesn't seem really incredible when you look at it, but God is sure using it in big ways.  Perhaps its simplicity is why it works so well.   I was also humbled hearing the stories of what local pastors are doing around the world.  They put in double the hours I do, with a tenth of the resources I have, and they do it for practically no money.  Their sacrifices are incredible.  And most of their stories we probably won't hear about until we are in Heaven.  Here is a picture of our larger group, praying for each person and their action plans.

I think TLT will be very helpful for the Ugandan pastors I know.  The goal is to teach them so that they can teach others.  And that can take place relatively quickly.  Once I complete all 3 weeks of TLT, I will be a master trainer.  The goal is to have a group of Uganda pastors who are master trainers (having completed all 7 manuals) who can go out and keep the teaching spreading.  I'll write more about Timothy Leadership Training as the year goes on.  I'll have my next training in June.  I would guess that TLT will be between 1/3 and 1/5 of the work that I will be doing in Uganda.  I'll figure exactly how much later when I am there.