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Ministry uses training program to multiply the church

Global Action estimates that up to 62 percent of the world's village pastors have no formal training, yet the Gospel is reaching further and further into the corners of the world, reports MNN.

Between poverty in the developing world and outright hostility faced by new converts to Christianity, the opportunity for training can be slim.

If they can't make it to seminary, Global Action will bring the seminary to them, which is why they launched the Global Module Studies (GLOMOS) training program.

It's effective because it fast-tracks the training to classes three days a month for ten months. These three days are packed with practical, relevant information in a classroom of 65 people, often from 35-40 different denominations. Thousands of pastors in Nepal, Sri Lanka, India, Ukraine, Honduras and El Salvador have gone through the GLOMOS program in the last ten years.

Take Pastor Nirvan, for example. He lives in the majestic foothills of the Himalayas. Raised as a Hindu, he gave his life to Christ and enthusiastically began sharing his life-change with anyone who would listen.

As a result, many people came to the Lord, and he became their pastor. However, he knew he needed more tools to effectively disciple the new Christians. He learned of the GLOMOS training program in his area, and he walked 50 miles to reach the center where the modules were being taught.

Asked how he could walk so far to be trained, he noted the perspective of distance. "This is not a problem. I have established five churches in three years, and I have my services on weekdays. Every church is roughly 30 miles apart, so I cover that distance every day. This means climbing mountains, crossing rivers, walking and running too. I hold the services from Monday through Friday, running every day to the next place. We don't meet on Saturday and Sunday!"

From there, on average, each student trains another five, using the same material resulting in exponential growth in the church.

The price tag to train the leader of GLOMOS unit: $930. There are hundreds of students on the waiting lists. Global Action also needs funding for the 985 people currently in the program.

A student can complete a day of study for $31. A three-day session costs $93 per person. So far, over 15,000 students have graduated around the world. Upon graduation, they receive a basic pastoral library--treasured tools for their ministries.

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TAGS: USA Global Action training program Global Module Studies pastoral library church growth

[02/17/2011]

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