Bahasa Malaysia (BM) church strategists are urgently looking at long-term solutions to resolve the leader-shortage problem, which is critical enough to impede the maturity and growth of the BM ministry.
According to NECF Malaysia BM Commission Executive Secretary Alfred Tais, the reason for the problem lies in the profile of the congregation – the majority are factory workers and students from East Malaysia, and foreign workers such as maids and construction workers. Their young ages – 19 to 24 years – compound the problem.
"Actually, we have many potential leaders from among these people but they lack training," says Tais.
The Commission is therefore intensifying its leadership-training programme to close the gap. In the months to come, trainers will span the length and breadth of the Peninsula to conduct training workshops aimed at grooming leaders who are able to take on the fresh challenges of the new millennium.
A leader must be strongly rooted in the Bible but a competent leader must also ‘know’ and understand the times he is living in; otherwise he will not be able to minister effectively, Tais says.
"That’s why our training programme is geared towards raising thinking leaders who are in touch with the times."
To better reach the prospective leaders, the Commission has decided to regionalise the training instead of holding it in the Klang Valley, as is the tradition.
Training workshops will be conducted in bigger towns, such as Ipoh and Johor Bahru, thus facilitating travel and scheduling plans for those in the surrounding smaller towns.
By localising the training, the Commission hopes also to strengthen ties among pastors and leaders from the various churches in each area.
"We hope that as they gather to learn and fellowship, they will be motivated to also work together," Tais says.
He adds that another change in the programme is the use of local trainers, who will enhance the training with contextualised course contents.
Previously, foreign speakers were invited to share their methods but the Commission has found that some of their ideas were not applicable here because of culture and other differences.
The BM church is poised to grow significantly in the near future. Training is a long-term ongoing plan to prepare for the imminent growth and to help the BM Church break free from reliance on the more stable English- and Chinese- language churches.
