Christians in Asia are getting Bible training through a ministry that takes the classroom to them.
...The training is vital because new Christians start preaching almost immediately in many developing nations, Hong Kong-based Asian Outreach's Jim Swanson told Religion Today. Heresies can spring up quickly and multiply when leaders aren't familiar with basic doctrines, he said.
..."Pastors will tell you that their greatest need is proper training in God's Word," Swanson said. On a recent trip to China he met three women, ages 21-24, who oversee a church of 1,000 people but who have had no formal training.
...Asian Outreach is helping them learn. The ministry's Great Commission Institute trained more than 9,000 indigenous Christian workers in 1999. GCI is a "mobile training program" that brings Bible teachers to Christian leaders in nations where missionaries are forbidden or restricted, Swanson said.
...International Bible teachers and national church leaders teach indigenous evangelists, church planters, and workers basic Christian doctrines. Two-week courses were held last year in China, Myanmar, Mongolia, Philippines, Cambodia, India, Nepal, Vietnam, Thailand, Pakistan, East Malaysia, and Bhutan, Swanson said.
...GCI will hold 35 training sessions for 2,000 Asian church leaders this year. More than 70 leaders attended four two-week courses in Vietnam and 33 evangelists and pastors from the Himalayas came to Nepal for courses this spring, AO said.
...No sacrifice is too great for indigenous church leaders desperate to receive Bible training, Swanson said. They travel on foot or by bicycle for days to attend the sessions. One woman shaved her head and sold her hair for money for a bus ticket, he said.
...Training sessions last all day and into the night. Swanson said he has taught from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. with only a five-minute break every hour in China. "They are so hungry and eager -- they pull everything you have ever known out of you."
...The Great Commission Institute has three levels of courses. New Christians learn the necessity of prayer, Bible study, holy living, and evangelism. Level two covers leadership principles, theology, sermon preparation, and praying for the sick and demon-possessed, Swanson said. Level three offers instruction in pastoral ministry, such as counseling and conflict-resolution.
...Classes on each level last two weeks. GCI teams visit a region for level-one classes and, if the response is good, return for levels two and three. "It's amazing to see the level of maturity they develop between levels," Swanson said. Eventually, those who have been trained take over the instruction of new leaders.
...Asian Outreach also supports more traditional Bible schools. The Tribal Discipleship Center in Chiang Rai, Thailand, has trained about 50 tribal Christian leaders to be pastors and evangelists, the ministry said. Graduates move to mountain villages where they start churches and train new Christians to evangelize. One graduate has a church with 200 members, AO said.
...The Yunnan Bible Seminary in Kunming, China, has more than 250 students. Minority tribes in Yunnan are experiencing a spiritual revival but have no trained leaders. Christians from across the territory come to the Asian Outreach facility "desperate for more training," pastor Gu, a worker there, said. "We don't have much to offer -- the facilities are basic and the staple diet is potatoes, but the trainees are happy they can feast on the Word and teaching of the Lord."
...More than 2,100 Christians in China graduated from a Bible correspondence course, AO's David Wang said. An additional 1,600 are nearing completion and some 4,000 more have just signed up, said Wang, who visited with key house church leaders.
