Leadership Training in the Hands of the Church

Joseph Nehemiah

Description

The church is a contextualized reality, and if it is to flourish, its leaders must be raised up to serve their own communities. Yet our very techniques for teaching and learning are culturally defined. If the church is to be effective in developing the leaders it needs, our approach to training must be informed by its local context.
In this immensely practical text, Joseph Nehemiah combines sound pedagogical research with rich cultural insight to provide a framework for training leaders in an Arab context. Examining principles of adult education in light of Arab cultural dynamics, Nehemiah offers a paradigm for experiential learning that is biblically rooted and contextually appropriate. Informed by the experience of professors in the Arab Gulf, along with extensive interviews from local church leaders, Leadership Training in the Hands of the Church seeks to place the development, teaching, and training of leaders into the hands of the local church.

Sujets

• Christian Living
• Mentoring
• Philosophie et théologie
• Religion
• Leadership

Informations

• Publié par: Langham Creative Projects
• Date de parution: 31 décembre 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781839731020
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

This remarkable book touches my heart. It is a great response to my cry over the years – “invest in local leaders.” As a local leader myself, I cannot tell how much I was shaped and transformed by those who invested in me. “Build the designer" approach is what we need in the Arab World.
The Most Rev. Dr. Mouneer Hanna Anis
Archbishop,
Anglican Province of Alexandria, Egypt
Throughout the Arab world, the Lord is receiving praise from the lips of an increasing number of Christian brothers and sisters. Some of these Christians come from a long heritage of Christian faith and practice, while others are new believers coming to faith from various backgrounds. In light of this growing Arab Christian population, the need for raising up Arab leaders in MENA’s churches is both immediately pressing and missiologically fruitful. In response to this exciting reality, Joseph Nehemiah’s book, Leadership Training in the Hands of the Church , provides a welcome contribution to the global understanding of the task of encouraging the development of Arab Christian leaders. Writing at the intersection of educational research, pedagogical best-practices, and intimate personal knowledge of the dynamics of the MENA region, Nehemiah’s work offers a posture and approach to delivering transformative leadership training that will contribute to the strengthening of the Arab church across the region.
Matthew Bennett, PhD
Assistant Professor of Missions and Theology,
Cedarville University, Cedarville, Ohio, USA
This book reveals a bright pathway to effective and reproducible leadership training for the great variety of churches in the Middle East and North Africa. Joseph Nehemiah has done a superb job of bringing together the best insights of adult learning, cultural contextualization, and practical long-term planning into something unique – a handbook for current church leaders and those who have come alongside them to become trainers of trainers. Leadership Training in the Hands of the Church is grounded throughout by real-life experience – by the author’s own many years of experience teaching in the region, and even more importantly, by his diligent gleaning of first-hand insights of current leaders there. The elements of learning that have been most impactful in their own development are captured well in the book’s appendix and effectively distilled in the practical suggestions provided to current and future trainers. A book like this has been urgently needed for some time, so it is thrilling to know that it will be available in Arabic as well as English from the start. May God use it mightily in training effective leaders for the churches he is building throughout the region!
Gary R. Corwin
Missiologist
Former Editor, Evangelical Missions Quarterly
Leadership Training in the Hands of the Church is an excellent resource for those who are training leaders in the MENA region. It has a strong biblical foundation, well-researched insights from adult learning theory, and is guided by the voices of many MENA regional leaders. This is a unique treasure that will serve the church well for years to come.
Lloyd Kim, PhD
Coordinator, Mission to the World
The author’s long history in the Middle East and North Africa provides an invaluable resource in the best tradition of missiological study – an engaged practitioner motivated by love for the people he serves. Nehemiah’s world is that of Athanasius, Augustine and Tertullian. Yet today it is an Islamic context, with inherent risks for those who teach the values, concepts and skills of Christian ministry. As one who has taught extensively in this context, I was often underlining points in agreement as Nehemiah analyzed the educational culture of the Arab world.
Sustainability is a critical concern in this part of world where institutional approaches are impractical and unattainable. Nehemiah suggests “ shura- based education,” derived from the consultative process often led by tribal sheikhs in decision-making and leadership. It is a culturally adaptive means of balancing the student’s need of assurance that the trainer or teacher is knowledgeable (a high power-distance index), while inviting the student into the participative process of learning (valuing collectivism). The process is delightfully labeled “sheikhocratic.” If we are to draw from Jesus’s approach to discipleship and Paul’s traveling ministry team, we may find that Nehemiah is returning us to a more biblical model – an indigenous, interactive and experiential educational process. Perhaps it is time for the West to learn from this and similar contextualized approaches to Christian leadership development. As all education is cross-cultural at some point, this book is valuable for all educators. For those who seek to assist servant-leaders in cultures other than their own, Leadership Training in the Hands of the Church is a vital resource.
Michael F. Kuhn, PhD
International Theological Education Network
Adjunct Professor, Arab Baptist Theological Seminary, Beirut, Lebanon
This book is the fruit of more than twenty years of the author’s love and perseverance as a reflective practitioner. Joseph Nehemiah’s Leadership Training in the Hands of the Church brilliantly unveils a framework that trains thoughtful and effective Arab shepherd-leaders, particularly those from the region’s majority faith. This study provides a scaffolding for generations of Arab leaders to multiply themselves through designing leadership training that adapts individualistic and student-centric Western adult education principles to collective, hierarchical, teacher-centric and “honour/shame” contexts such as Arab society. Nehemiah equips leaders in biblical application, problem-solving and real-life ministry skills amid potential security challenges and limited training options and materials appropriate to their context. Anyone who desires to see godly leaders developed anywhere in the world can benefit from the biblical, educational and contextual wisdom found in these pages. I highly commend both the author and this valuable contribution to missiology, intercultural adult education, leadership and discipleship development, and ministry in Arab and other non-Western contexts.
L. B. Mak, PhD
Lecturer in Islamic Studies,
All Nations Christian College, Ware, UK
All learning and teaching happens in a particular context and this is so important for gospel relevance and impact. In this publication, Joseph Nehemiah brings this vividly to our imagination as he delves into how this happens in the MENA regional context with general application to other contexts. This is for both students and teachers who take context seriously.
Victor Nakah
International Director for Sub-Saharan Africa,
Mission to the World
Joseph Nehemiah is not a novice theoretician but rather a seasoned Christian educator writing on a subject of his expertise. Nehemiah has spent years serving in Arab nations observing teaching and learning principles. In this well-written book Nehemiah highlights several cultural norms that influence Arab teaching styles: the professor is an authoritarian figure; tolerance for ambiguity is low; rote memorization is emphasized; verbal interaction in classes is minimal.
Global Perspective Series
Nehemiah suggest an alternative style he describes as the professor being a “servant-leader.” In this paradigm the teacher seeks to become maximally relational with the students. Classroom interaction is encouraged, being careful to avoid student embarrassment: the professor becomes a facilitator to draw out opinions and creative thinking.
Nehemiah expands these themes into a well-researched tome that has the potential of making a major impact on the Arab world of education.
Phil Parshall
SIM, Retired
Why is it that a good number of church leaders who have gone through leadership training are ineffectual? Dr. Nehemiah has produced a most valuable gift to those concerned with better leadership development for the church in the Arab world. The combination of solid insights from the Bible, sound educational theories of adult education, and well-researched Arab cultural values makes the book important and unique. In addition, captivating interviews with Arab leaders reinforce theological, educational and cultural insights.
James E. Plueddemann
Former Professor of Intercultural Studies,
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois, USA

Leadership Training in the Hands of the Church
Experiential Learning and Contextual Practices in North Africa and the Middle East
Joseph Nehemiah

© 2021 Joseph Nehemiah
Published 2021 by Langham Global Library
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ISBNs:
978-1-83973-063-4 Print
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978-1-83973-103-7 Mobi
978-1-83973-104-4 PDF
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ISBN: 978-1-83973-063-4
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