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Theological Education by Extension |
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Nurturing
God's growth (1 Cor 3:6f) When Sai walked in to the Bible training meeting, everyone was surprised. Yes, he was an elder in the church, but this new course was on The Christian Family and he had been divorced for as long as anyone could remember (20 years, in fact). Three
months later, when Sai walked into the same room with his ex-wife, Ravi,
everyone was even more surprised! She
told them how she still lived nearby and she'd seen an astounding change in how
he related to her and the family. Could she study what he'd been learning? The
course ended with trained church leaders, a new believer (Ravi) and a moving
service of rededication of marriage vows involving the whole of Sai's family. This
course was part of the Theological Education by Extension (TEE) programme.
TEE is a system of Bible training that has spread worldwide since its
beginnings in Central America half a century ago.
It is particularly effective in rural, semi-educated societies
experiencing rapid church growth – just like Cambodia.
In 1990 there were around 6,000 believers in Cambodia. Since then the church has grown by 10-30% year on year.
This means that churches are spread out and have leaders who are young
Christians coming out of an entirely Buddhist–animist worldview. Many rural
churches are in desperate need of trained pastors who can, in turn, disciple new
believers. Bible Colleges – important as they are - could not begin to keep up with this growth. Nor could the average Cambodian pastor study at that level, even if he was able to leave his fields, his family and his church(es). TEE – the largest course-based Bible training programme in Cambodia – is a mix of home study, group learning and ministry experience which takes place where the pastors live and work. There are now over 60 accredited course leaders running centres across the country. OMF is a founder member of TEEac (the TEE Association of Cambodia) and continues to support the rationalisation of Bible training in Cambodia. This year, TEEac has bought its own premises and used the saving on rent to hire a second full-time supervisor/trainer. It is gradually expanding its courses, its inter-denominational membership - and its graduates, who can then become new course leaders. Not
all TEE courses end quite like Sai's but given many leaders' basic Bible
knowledge, TEE is bound to impact their lives even before it filters down to
their churches. We praise God that
he is truly "giving the growth" in Cambodia.
As you pray for this to continue, please also pray that we will be
effective in nurturing God's growth through training programmes such as TEE. |