FROM THE FIELD                                                             January 19,2014

THERE’S MORE THAN ONE WAY TO SKIN A CAT

At the top of the list of our duties overseas with our sister synods is the assistance we give in training men as preachers. What comes to mind for most people naturally is the route of a seminary or Bible school. We have gone this route in Africa and India bringing men into a set up where through sponsorship support from the CLC the men are trained in the Word. This has lasted anywhere from two to five years. In the CLCI in India we have consistently 38 men in study in the three year seminary program. It started out as a two year program and was expanded to three. There are always men on waiting lists to enter. And for those men who cannot get away from congregational and family responsibilities they go through a colloquy which involves studying and being tested on the catechism.

An expansion of this latter  method to train men is to bring them into the teaching set up for a period of maybe 4-6 weeks and then let them go back home and return again for another stint and so on. This is what Mark Bohde would like to begin in Thailand and we pray it can come about. In the area of Chiang Rai men might be able to come not only from northern Thailand but also from neighboring countries like China, Vietnam, etc. This method takes into account a number of factors:

• The men have families that they would have to be separate from for a time.
• They may live a good distance from the teaching site and could not travel back and forth each day.
• The men would not be removed from their local culture and environment for too long and therefore they would not lose touch with things at home.
• They can utilize what they learn on their return and then go back for more.
• They may have farming or other work that needs to be done to support their family.

These factors have also pushed forward the approach of theological education by extension or TEE . This was initiated by some Protestants in South America  over forty years ago. It has proved a viable way of training leaders and preachers. This is where the teacher or leader goes to the locality where there is a nucleus of men to be trained and teaches them on the spot. This way there is no dislocation whatsoever. It also allows older men and those who have regular jobs to participate in training.

For the 517 men we have at this time in the Berea Ev. Luth. Church in India the vast majority went through training this way. Although a two year Bible Institute was started several years ago with a steady enrollment of around 18, most pastors enter the BELC through the TEE approach. They had regular classes for one or two days a month for upwards of two years. Having gone through the basics they were then in fellowship by their agreement with what they were taught. But the meetings did not end at that point. It was stressed that the one day a month meetings would continue indefinitely. The learning continues as studies are done by the district chairmen or the missionaries or visiting pastors and teachers. The CLCI fulfills this ongoing study with pastoral conferences.  As one wise man once said, our learning only ends when we meet The Teacher face to face. At this time we have a new group of 214 men in the BELC undertaking this TEE in a variety of locales. We need to be able to be versatile and adaptable in our foreign fields for the situations we face.

Even on Paul’s first missionary journey we see his ability to shift. At Antioch in Pisidia Paul and Barnabas begin to shift from Jewish work to Gentile, “It was necessary that the Word of God should be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold we turn to the Gentiles.” Acts 13:46 Oh, if we were only so able to change direction! The shift was significant from the synagogue to house worship and places like the Hall of Tyrannus. The lessons can be learned, though we have to admit that we are tardy in our education. I know I am.

In  American football the touchdown is more nimbly and speedier made by bobbing and weaving and shifting about on the field as the ball is carried; not by just  plodding straight ahead without variation no matter what the situation. One can use the old flying wedge  and sheer force to cross the line, but think of the cost and time with not necessarily always a TD in the end. May God give us the swivel hips in addition to our normal plodding feet.