The vision of Africa Rural Trainers (ART) is to build up and strengthen the rural churches in Africa. The work began in 2008 when Anthony Wainaina, who is currently the head of the training programme in Kenya, was recruited by the Fraser Peckham Trust, a UK based trust founded by Jeremy Peckham, to assess what was being done to help train pastors in rural areas.
Anthony received partial sponsorship from Fraser Peckham Trust to take a Master of Divinity course at the then Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology (NEGST). The outcome of his research identified various reasons that hinder rural pastors from joining residential training. The major ones are:
- The cost of tuition, transportation and boarding is too high for the rural pastor.
- The rural pastor cannot be accepted in residential schools of higher learning because of their lack of formal education certificates.
- The only residential schools available for them are in Nairobi, or some other major urban centre, that are usually far from the pastor’s location.
- The residential training model separates the pastor from his flock and, also, from his family for the period when he is studying.
In summary, pastors in rural areas are poor. They have neither the necessary qualifications for urban Bible College admission nor the finance to pay for it. In addition, they are already pastors of churches and have to work their land to survive since rural churches are, typically, not able to support their pastor financially. Besides, the church in Africa has been growing at a fast rate leading to numerous churches springing up and trained pastors especially in rural areas have not been able to cope with the growth. Due to these challenges, the model that has been adopted is that, instead of waiting for the student to come to school, trainers are sent to the rural areas where they facilitate the training of the pastors within their context.
The Fraser Peckham Trust launched Africa Rural Trainers in order to support these pastors with a training that can transform their lives. Their mission is to train and equip rural pastors to be effective in their ministry, most of whom have little or no previous Bible training.
The training takes 3 years and consists of 36 modules. The teaching is shared between 3 full-time teachers, Anthony, Ben and Tom, and volunteer trainers. The pastors meet in their local communities for one week each month over the 3 years. They started with 3 training centres and 128 pastors completed the 3 year training and graduated in 2013. Out of these, 8 other centres were opened and in April 2017, 175 graduated from the programme. The centres are dotted across the country in the Western, Nyanza and the Coast provinces in Kenya.
Most of my work with ART involves developing manuals for the 36 modules that the teachers and the volunteer trainers can use in their teaching. The manual is specifically designed for the purpose of providing basic Bible teaching for rural pastors. It is aimed to help the trainer to be able to effectively teach and equip the pastors with the necessary knowledge and practical skills to handle the Word of God correctly as they serve their local churches.
It has been humbling and encouraging to hear how the Lord is transforming lives
It has been a great privilege to visit most of the training centres on various occasions and interact with the pastors and listen to their stories. I have interacted with them in their classes and interviewed them about their experiences. It has been humbling and encouraging to hear how the Lord is transforming lives through this training. Some of the responses were:
“What we were doing before was leading people astray out of ignorance. We are grateful to ART for the training because our eyes have been opened and now we can study and prepare a sermon.”
“I have been serving in church for many years but with a lot of limitations. I had a zeal to gain knowledge and understanding but, due to my lowly status and poverty, I could not. I thank God that the training is free and I don’t have to travel far for it.”
“Out of my poverty I could not afford to have Bible training. I have made so many mistakes in ministry doing things I was not sure of.”
When asked, ‘What things have you have stopped doing since you joined this training?’:
“I have stopped drawing people to myself – I used to see it as my church, my ministry, but now I’m pointing people to God.”
“I’ve learnt how to balance family and ministry.”
“I now take time to prepare sermons – doing exegesis and dealing with the context of the text.”
“I don’t do everything by myself – I have learnt how to delegate things in church.”
The need in Kenya alone is overwhelming
The vision is to reach other African countries, but, currently, the need in Kenya alone is overwhelming. Pray with us that the Lord will continue to work in the lives of these pastors as they train and that they will be enabled to correctly divide the Word of God. Pray also for the leadership and the future of ART, that the Lord will continue to provide for the work.
Judy Luhombo