Introduction:
A follower (disciple)
of Jesus Christ needs to grow towards spiritual maturity for his (her) own walk
with the Lord and should impact and influence others around him (her) that they
will grow in their spiritual walk, being a witness of the gospel and diligent
teacher of the word of God. For the gospel and the Word of God to penetrate
into communities wide and deep making transformations and behavioral changes,
leading people to the Kingdom, the ministry of Biblical Teaching has to become
more organic in natural real life environments and less a professional
vocation. Apostle Paul asked Timothy his disciple to train faithful men who
will be able to teach others also. (2 Tim 2:2). This is Biblical and we need to
get back to the Biblical mandate of Mission and the Great Commission, instead
of perpetuating mission and witness a project of an agency external to the
community. In India, with thousands of communities and hundreds of languages
within, the preachers of the Gospel and the teachers of the Word have a greater
role in empowering the people of God to be students and teachers of the Word.
Training Native Teachers (TNT), focus on this at the very lower strata of the
society.
Native Teachers:
‘Native Teachers’ is referred to people at the grass-root level communities-
men and women- who become opinion leaders and role models to people in their circle
of reference or influence. A coach will train native teachers with the goal of
equipping them to be trainers in their contexts. Native Teachers are the
faithful men and women of God who will become teachers for his or her
people.
The Native
Context: A contrast
India, the
subcontinent, is full of people; over one billion (1.2 billion).
India…
1.2 Billion People
6,38,365 Villages
73% people live in villages
2549 communities/ people
groups
438 living languages
Over 1,600 dialects
Literacy in India…
National 72%
Urban
79.9%
Rural
58.7%
Female
Literacy in India
Urban : 72.9%
Rural
: 46.1%
|
73% of the Indians
live in rural villages. People of India belong to diverse cultures, over 2,800
major people groups or ethnic communities.
Each of these
communities has their own heart language. They speak over 400 languages and
about 1,600 dialects. Among these
languages only 22 are officially recognized as regional languages in India.
Though 72 percent of the people are said to
be literate, illiteracy is a major challenge in India. Literacy is rare among
most of the adult poor, rural villagers and tribal population of India.
As per the
latest records available, the literacy rate in urban India is 79.9% while
the literacy in rural India is only 58.7%.
There is a
greater disparity in the female literacy rate, where it is 72.9% in urban India
but only 46.1% in rural India.
Many people and communities in India still
live in the oral tradition. Many of them have not gone to a school. They do not
make sense of a news paper or do not read a bus board when they need to travel
occasionally. This is true of the urban poor too. Most of these slum dwellers
or the homeless were never educated and do not send their children to schools
even today.
Training Native Teachers: The Need
Almost all the theological
and Bible colleges in India cater to the educated young people from the middle
strata of the society. Most of the Seminary educated graduates hardly go to the
lower strata of the society as missionaries though there are exceptions. It is
quite usual that they press on towards climbing the social and theological
ladder. As the number of tele-evangelists who feed the ‘sprouting Christian TV
channels’ increase and as the concept of mega church pose a role model for the ‘new
generation Church’ for the preachers and teachers in the making, the vast
majority of the poor villagers still remain the least reached. The native people groups, the poor villagers,
the illiterates, and the marginalised people listen to the gospel or learn the
Word of God only when someone go over to them.
It is all the more
important today in a country like India, to take the Biblical training to
people where they are in their heart language. Community based ministry
training can enhance the lay leaders at the grass-root level to be effective
teachers and trainers and empower the believers to be effective witnesses among
their own communities.
Why should there
be a focus on developing Native Teachers
- (Here are a few points derived from personal observations and discussion with preachers, teachers and individual believers)
- A big majority of Christian ministers do not work towards equipping believers or members of their Churches with the study of Word.
- Many who have flavour for learning and teaching, break away to start new ministries or churches and continue with the same pattern of leadership.
- Most of the lay members of churches believe Bible has mysteries and one needs special gift and revelations to understand the Word of God.
- There is a myth among many that Bible can be understood and interpreted only by seminary trained and ordained ministers or preachers.
- There is thinking among many that Christian ministry - evangelism, Bible teaching, preaching (except Sunday school and other services) – is the work/duty of a qualified professional minister.
- Many important lessons and teachings of the Word that are supposed to empower lay people are not preached or talked about from pulpit.
- Hence in India we have more followers for Church and preachers and other than Christ and the Word of God. (more fans than disciples)
- There are thousands of villages and scores of districts in India with too little practicing Christians. In such places each of the believers can be equipped to be good witnesses of Christ who will also be able to study the word of God and expound it to the seekers.
- There are un-biblical concepts among Christians in India about “full time ministry”. Hardly anyone talk about “fulltime Christians”.
“And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses,
commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also”.
2 Timothy 2:2 (NKJV)
