GLOBAL TRAINING NETWORK LEADERSHIP
We recently concluded the Global Training Network annual leadership gathering in Phoenix, Arizona. GTN started in 2004 with two staff (Paul and Lisa Madson) in one country (India). In just fourteen years it has grown to more than 130 staff, who are training in 77 countries. Over 270,000 leaders have been trained.
WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO: UNTRAINED LEADERS
The Christian movement is growing worldwide. In the past ten years more than 300 million people have become Christians.
10 million of those are in Europe and North America
290 million are in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
80% of the leaders in those areas have no formal Biblical training
GTN exists to equip and encourage those existing and emerging leaders. The Apostle Paul wrote as the Christian movement was spreading in the first century that his disciple Timothy should:
“…be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.”
This is what GTN exists to do: equip leaders, who will equip leaders, who will equip leaders. We seek to equip and multiply leaders who are “grace oriented, Gospel centered, and globally focused.”
A SECOND LAYER OF GTN TRAINING: THE DIVINE EXPEDITION
The basic need for emerging Majority World leaders is to gain basic Biblical knowledge and pastoral skills. This involves Head, Heart, and Hands:
Head—to know the Bible
Heart—to develop godly character and integrity
Hands—to be able to preach, teach, reach, and counsel.
This is the foundation that our Divine Expedition training builds upon.
The Divine Expedition is the next layer of training. Phil Graf and I gave a PowerPoint presentation during the GTN leadership gathering in Phoenix in which we presented the an outline of our training and the process involved. Below are three bullets from our presentation (let us know if you would like a copy of the entire PowerPoint presentation):
Purpose of our training
Equip and multiply leaders who:
- Reach people for Christ
- Make disciples
- Develop leaders
- Plant and strengthen churches
Method of our training:
- Biblically based, Christ centered, grace oriented, Interactive workshop
- Head, Heart, Hands
- Five “D”s of Discover, Demonstrate, Discuss, Diagram, and Do
Levels of leadership development:
- Participant
- Contributor/Observer
- Co-Presenter
- Lead Trainer
- Master Trainer
Indicators of success (what we’re after):
- Multiplication of Master Trainers (nationals)
- Multiplication of four generations of leaders
- Multiplication of people coming to Christ, disciples made, leaders developed, and churches planted and strengthened
Next up will be trainings in Ethiopia with Mark and Gayll Phifer-Houseman.
I love what we do and who we do it with (GTN staff and national leaders around the world like Ethiopian Tariku pictured right).
For the King and His kingdom,
Linus, Sharon, and the GTN staff and Divine Expedition team
On Expedition + 