ChristianWeek

Part of the globalization trend of business, transportation and communication has been a greater connection of the family of God worldwide. This new connection has created unprecedented opportunities and challenges.

One area of growing engagement has been Canadian leadership specialists teaching in developing world contexts. This connection can lead to feelings of both excitement and uncertainty. Is this a new opportunity for the Christian Church in the developing world to become increasingly mature and to take its place as an equal contributor on the world stage? Or is it really a paternalistic expression of our ecclesiastical and leadership models being transplanted—because at the back of our mind we really still believe "they don't know much."

Yet there is little doubt that the rapid growth of the Church in the non-West has created certain realities in terms of mature leadership, especially in the areas of rapid growth such as China and Cuba. A recent report from the Bangladesh Baptist Fellowship shows an increase from 12 churches to 456 since 1980. This kind of growth can inevitably create issues as leaders take time to emerge and to mature. Canadians are generally liked—because like it or not our nation hasn't left as large a political footprint in the world as our southern neighbor—leaving some doors open for Christians.

Perhaps the tension really boils down to context, research and conversation.

Historically, leadership training in the developing world was done by mission agencies who specialized in the region and either taught in the lingua franca or in the language of education—usually a Western language brought in by colonial powers. The long-term involvement in the region by the teaching staff brought a measure of cultural and social awareness.

Under review

However, the training was generally a Western model of theological and local church structure. This has come increasingly under review as it has been discovered that many major issues have remained unaddressed, leaving critical cultural and world-view areas that have not come under the Lordship of Jesus. Traditions like totems, bride-price and ancestor veneration have remained largely unaddressed.

In contexts where Christian leaders have emerged from major world religions like Islam, the Canadian Church has found it hard to understand the issues around the culture of worship that is relevant to someone formed in that context.

Having said that, it's evident there are felt-needs for leadership training in many parts of the world—and Canadians can provide a needed training opportunity for leaders and emerging leaders. Specialized, targeted training can be valuable if historic mission agency-driven training institutions have a problem being contextual and flexible in their curricula. And, in places where limited opportunities exist for relevant, balanced training, leadership training by Canadians is highly valued.

In the West, we generally package a product and then look for a market. We specialize and then develop our specific niche—mentorship to management. While this specialization works in the West, largely due to the diversity of options and access to whatever we have identified as the latest challenge, this is less true in the non-West. Consider the following example:

David Collins, executive director for the Tyndale Centre for Leadership, has been traveling annually to indigenous-led ministry in various parts of the world. After a recent Nigeria outreach to the animistic Ibo Edda people group, he set up "Project Teach" which will mobilize leadership trainers from Canada twice a year over the next three years.

In dialogue with the ministry leadership, Collins developed a list of priority issues to address. Some of the topics are quite surprising: Christian Ethics, Computer Appreciation, Church History and Life Management, as well as several other subjects.

The point here is that the program is being customized to the context. The stakeholders are all close enough to the ground to know the gaps. It's a targeted approach with an exit strategy which assumes that the ministry will be able to carry on without outside assistance.

Leadership treadmill

One of the realities in certain parts of the world, notably Central Africa and India, is the phenomena of "conference circuits." Once on a list, many indigenous leaders have access to the seemingly endless stream of conferences, many which deal with leadership issues. Yet, despite an increasing pile of binders and conference nametags, there seems to be little positive change effected on the ground. This may be due to less-than-relevant teaching topics or a culture of leadership position being affirmed by invitations to conferences rather than impact in the ministry context.

Canadians can also fit into larger institutions that may be having difficulty filling their teaching posts. This can be observed in Africa to Indonesia. I was once approached by the Baptist Convention of Eastern Cuba regarding the need for an ancient language specialist to teach in their seminary.

Perhaps the most important part of Canadians sharing their leadership training skills with brothers and sisters in Christ around the globe is that the learning can be in both directions. In many parts of the world, the political, social and spiritual realities develop the faith of Christians in areas where we have little growth or understanding. In a cauldron of lack, suffering and serious oppression, the family of God inevitably is strong in ways that reverberate with the story of the first-century Church. If we allow ourselves to get close enough, we will also benefit.

Brent Mitchell is president of Partners International Canada, which works to bring Canadians together with indigenous Christian ministries to advance the Kingdom of God. www.partnersinternational.ca