Public speakers are routinely roasted for speaking in cliches--old worn out phrases so overused that they cease to have meaning. Well, we have a cliche of our own and it has something to do with "building up Haitian church leaders." Well, perhaps we do use this phrase a little too much. But we do so because building leaders is the most strategically important job anyone who is committed to seeing systematic change in a society can do. Leadership is about helping people to develop and own a vision for their existence. With the guidance of the Holy Spirit, there is literally no limit to what a motivated, prayerful and humble leader can do both inside the church and outside. Leaders don't mobilize material resources (budgets, equipment, etc.), they mobilize the people who mobilize those resources. So, one competent and compelling leader can bring massive resources to bear on a problem. Maybe this is what Jesus meant when he said that if the seed of the Gospel lands on fertile soil it can produce a crop "one-hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown (Matt. 13:8)." The Timothy Leadership Training Institute (TLTI) is just such a program that seeks to grow leaders. We provided certificates to the first four leaders to graduate from the TLTI program (see above). Why only four? We insist that leaders demonstrate the ability to prayerfully discern a vision for change with their colleagues, implement it with the Spirit's help, and report their progress to the people of God. Of the hundreds who have participated in this program over the last two years, only these four have demonstrated mastery of such skills. Four is not a lot. But four motivated leaders who are passionate for the Kingdom of God can mobilize more resources than we can imagine. So, cliche or not, we will go on talking about "building up Haitian church leaders." Through them, the Holy Spirit will change this country!
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