The “turn around” time between my return from the Honduras mission trip and my trip to Houston to speak on the Latin American Leadership Training Workshop was not much over 12 hours. The trip home from Honduras last Thursday finished with a midnight arrival at the house. Friday morning came early and Friday was filled with repacking, a little time to visit with Jan, a little catching up, and an afternoon drive to Tulsa to catch a flight to Houston.
Bob Miranda has been working in Latin American leadership training for a number of years. The Latin American leadership workshop was held at the Memorial church facility in Houston. Participants included elders, ministers, and mission committee members from supporting congregations in the U.S. along with Latin American leaders who are participating in training more leaders.
Latin American churches desperately need local, indigenous leadership. Such leadership is lacking in a majority of the churches of Christ in Latin America. In the process of church planting and development, churches seldom (almost never) become self-supporting until they are self-governing. (I recognize the exception–in the U.S. older churches nearing the end of the church life cycle may be self-supporting when no biblical leaders remain, but such churches are generally composed of mature Christians and are self-governing even though there are no elders.)
The work of church planting must from the beginning include plans to involve the local members–in leadership and direction, in sacrificial involvement and giving, and in sharing the good news so that more churches are planted. Churches generally go through a process which includes self-governance (autonomy), self-sustenance (supporting themselves and their work), and then self-propagation (establishing additional churches through churches on the field). This requires local ‘ownership’ of the work, including mutual accountability, taking care of their own needs financially, and encouraging healthy leadership development. Latin American churches must be helped to escape the “pastor” system (or perhaps more accurately, the “priest” system). A local church will seldom grow to its full potential as long as leadership is centered in one individual–the preacher or evangelist. Even though North American missionaries mean well, centering the responsibilities for leadership and church governance in a missionary does not improve the situation. Local preachers who receive their funding from a distant church have little accountability in the local church system, and are usually not anxious to fulfill the responsibility to help the church chose local leaders since such tends to upset the system by which they live and survive.
This is the reason I am encouraged and excited about the Latin American Leadership Project. The program seeks to develop mature Christians who can provide appropriate and necessary leadership. Discussions during the workshop centered on how the future of the effort can be sustained. The development of a “core curriculum” that is taught widely, either by U.S. workers or by local leaders who are training more leaders, was suggested. Presently, the project includes modules focused on biographical studies of Old Testament and New Testament leaders, study methods, teaching methods, in-depth study of books of the Bible, biblical teachings or doctrines, church organization, the work of the church, worship, and various applications including family enrichment and God’s plan for families.
My presentation challenged those present to think of leadership at multiple levels of influence: (1) being an example in all of our personal encounters, (2) teaching according to our abilities and opportunities, (3) equipping the church for ministry or service, (4) training additional leaders through personal mentoring, and (5) training leaders who can train more leaders, according to 2 Timothy 2:2. This expanded view of leadership at multiple levels involves every church member in the work, provides biblical leadership at the congregational level, and seeks to develop the kinds of leaders the church needs in every place.
The weekend gave multiple opportunities for discussion, both with U.S. leaders and workers, and also with Latin American leaders from several countries. Shared fellowship, meals, table conversations, and informal visits were a serendipity of the weekend. Sunday morning I translated for one of the adult Bible classes at Memorial and also translated the sermon in the 10:30 a.m. worship service. Sunday evening I attended the bi-lingual service at the Northwest church and enjoyed the continuation of the discussions about the work before us.
What are you experiences and observations in Latin American leadership development? What programs exist to facilitate this process in as many places as possible? Do you know of available curriculum? I would appreciate hearing from you and receiving your thoughts–especially as they relate to leadership development in multiple locations and countries.