Equipping tomorrow’s leaders today

Empowering strong and effective indigenous leaders is a key goal of the new BMS World Mission strategy

Without good leadership, things fall apart. You can have all the best intentions and good ideas – but without strong, effective and servant-hearted leadership, there’s nothing to carry the vision forward.

That’s why part of the new BMS strategy is to empower strong and effective indigenous leaders by equipping people with leadership skills and biblical understanding. BMS leadership ministries aren’t about sending leaders, they are about building up and equipping local people to become excellent leaders in their contexts and spheres of influence.
 
“If people learn to lead well and to think strategically then it is much easier for people to follow, and the Church and the missionary world can work much more effectively,” says BMS World Mission worker Dorothy McMillan, who is based at the International Baptist Study Centre (IBTSC) in Amsterdam.

Is leadership important? from BMS World Mission on Vimeo.

 
Over the next five years we aim to reach the faith-stretching target of developing missional thinking among 20,000 people in the UK and 10,000 people overseas through ten partners. These people will be future leaders of the Church all over the world.
 
Jesus invested in people in his ministry – training and equipping them to love their neighbours, stand against injustice, and share the good news. We believe building up strong leaders is a biblical principle and we can’t do it without you.

Behind the numbers

In Amsterdam, BMS workers David and Dorothy McMillan are working at IBTSC. The centre provides theological education for PhD and Masters students from across Europe and the Middle East. They even have students studying with them from the USA and Africa. The centre strives to be a multicultural learning community at the forefront of research and reflection on Baptist issues.



“I think training in leadership is incredibly important,” says David. “Leadership is something that can be taken for granted. People say: ‘so and so’s a born leader. There’s nothing more to be done there.’ But leadership is about learning – it’s about learning who you are, what God has called you to be, what your strengths are and what your limitations are. And I think the opportunity to reflect on that in a context of training is hugely important for the strength of the individual and the strength of the Church.”



There are many challenges ahead as we pursue our goal of developing missional thinking among 30,000 leaders in the next five years, but we believe strong leadership is integral to the growth of the Church and we are excited to see what God will do. Please pray for us.

You can support BMS as we pursue new faith-stretching targets by becoming a 24:7 Partner.

 

This article first appeared on the website of BMS World Mission and is used with permission.