Volume 18, No. 2

Details: Volume 18, No. 2

Healing the Natashas: Observations on Trafficking Aftercare in Moldova

Andrew Raatz

The Natashas

In 2004, Victor Malerek published The Natashas: Inside the New Global Sex Trade (Viking). It is not the first book written about human trafficking, but it is a well-written, emotionally powerful book. The author’s gritty accounts of the horrors East European women faced after being trafficked served as a wakeup call for action.

For centuries people have thought of prostitutes as a despised class of society. People believed that women chose that lifestyle due to desire or necessity. In the last ten years, as books and articles have begun to portray the real story, people have begun to realize that trafficking is more a case of slavery, abuse, and coercion. Trafficking has become an issue addressed at the highest levels of government, indeed, an international litmus test of human rights.

Moldova found itself in the middle of the trafficking mess, along with every other former Soviet Union republic. Such a wave of trafficked women came from the former Soviet Union that the street word for prostitutes came to be Natashas. Desperate economic conditions, together with a well-organized criminal system, spelled a seemingly endless sale of human flesh.

But what has happened in the six years since the publication of Malerek’s book? What is happening to address the problem and to end this horror? What is effectively being done to prevent women from leaving their homes and being enslaved in prostitution? What is being done to reach the Natashas?

Find below an account of the practical experience my wife Nancy and I have gained working with women who have been trafficked, the lessons we have learned as we have ministered to their needs, and the stories that have slowly emerged about their lives.

The Buzz

Trafficking in human beings is currently a hot topic. A Google search of anti-trafficking yields over two million hits. The theme of trafficking frequently appears in crime dramas, movies, and documentaries. Even in our local ministry, we receive emails weekly from people in the U.S. and Europe inquiring about trafficking, wondering what they can do to help combat the evil. At times, it appears that everyone is keen to be a part of the struggle against trafficking. Christian ministries claim they are engaged in trafficking prevention if they deal with orphans or sponsor micro-enterprise projects for women. The buzz about trafficking is caused by both heart-felt compassion and money. When people see movies about trafficking or read actual stories, their hearts are moved to compassion and indignation. They sincerely want to help. But, in addition, a lot of money is involved. Governments have designated millions of dollars and Euros to fight trafficking and money can drive a lot of work. Money can refashion the mission statement of many an NGO and many a ministry. Some organizations trumpet the anti-trafficking horn because of the current flush of funding. But does the buzz about trafficking produce results? What progress is actually being made to eradicate this massive assault on human dignity?

A hot topic runs the danger of trendiness, falling out of favor as soon as the next tragedy strikes. Equally harmful, the buzz can become counter-productive if it simply generates sensationalism, rather than fewer victimized women.

Trafficking in Moldova

The reality is that trafficking is still a major problem in Moldova, still an issue globally, and still a gross violation of human dignity and rights. Though some success against the evil may be noted, traffickers continue to manufacture new means of exploiting vulnerable women. While previously most girls from Moldova were trafficked to the Balkans or Western Europe, now more are trafficked to the Middle East or to Russia. A number are also trapped in brothels in Moldova, never leaving the country, but sold internally and controlled nonetheless.

Background

In 2001, my wife and I first became aware of human trafficking. We were en route to a new life and work in the nation of Moldova. We were heading to this country in order to do our part to see the kingdom of God expand, partnering and serving together with the church in Moldova.

In researching our new destination we frequently encountered articles on trafficking. This issue shows up in every contemporary report on Moldova’s problems. As one of the world’s poorest countries, Moldova has the classic mixture of poverty, desperation, and an available supply of young, beautiful girls. The desperation to find work and a better life feeds the gullibility of the girls, luring them to believe “It won’t happen to me.”

Details: Volume 18, No. 2

For the Love of God: Faith-Based Nonprofits in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Shawn Teresa Flanigan

Editor’s note: The first portion of this article was published in the previous issue of the East-West Church & Ministry Report 18 (Winter 2010): 5-8.

Religion as a Service Rendered

One interview participant from a Catholic faith-based organization (FBO) and two interview participants from Muslim FBOs also described religious services that their organizations provided. Participants from Muslim FBOs explained that their organizations offered courses in Islam and the Koran for practicing Muslims, as well as introductory classes in Islam for non-Muslims and non-practicing Muslims. These courses were available to those who chose to enroll and were not incorporated into other types of service provision. The interview participant from a Catholic FBO described masses held for FBO volunteers and also services provided by priests to the ill and prisoners.

Religious Identity and Social Service

Local FBOs from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s three primary faith communities provide services primarily to those of their own ethno-religious group, whereas international FBOs and secular NGOs are more inclusive in their assistance. Nine interview participants (one from a local Catholic FBO, all four from Orthodox FBOs, and all four from Muslim FBOs) indicated that the majority of the population they served belonged to their own religious group. These were all local FBOs, with the exception of one interview participant from an international Muslim FBO. All interview participants from non-Catholic Christian FBOs and, by definition, all interview participants from interfaith FBOs indicated that their organizations served ethnically and religiously mixed clientele.

In addition, 21 of 23 interview participants from secular NGOs (91.3 percent) indicated that they served ethnically and religiously mixed recipients. Two interview participants worked with secular NGOs whose specific target population was the Roma (Gypsy) community, since this group is extremely marginalized within Bosnian society.

Of the eight interview participants who indicated that their FBOs serve primarily members of the same religious group, five indicated that they were open to serving all people regardless of their ethno-religious identity. As one interview participant from a Muslim FBO explained:

Because this is a multi-religious country, we are trying to help everyone, but it is true, I cannot say the percentage is very high. It is true that most people we help are Muslims, but we never ask any name or religion. We don’t ask anything.

While most interview participants from Orthodox FBOs did not indicate an openness to helping members of other groups, one interview participant from an Orthodox FBO noted:

It is true that our organization mostly serves Serbs, because since it is part of the Orthodox Church, the Serbs feel like it belongs to them. But we will serve anyone who comes for help. I remember in the beginning Muslims from the neighborhood sometimes came and when we would ask their name they would be afraid, because their name is not a Serb name, so they would be afraid we would send them away. But we always helped them.

Catholic FBOs—Insiders and Outsiders

All three interview participants from international Catholic FBOs mentioned their initial challenges in working with the local Catholic community in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Whereas local Catholics thought that international Catholic FBOs should give priority to assisting the local Catholic community, these large and highly professionalized relief agencies had policies that ensured services to all regardless of religious affiliation. As one interview participant explained, often the neediest in the community were not Catholics, but members of other groups. While this participant thought that helping those most in need regardless of religion was the most genuine expression of Catholic faith, local Catholics often thought this practice violated the solidarity that international Catholics should share with their co-religionists.

The Role of International FBOs

International Protestant FBOs that previously were unknown in Bosnia and Herzegovina often had an easier time gaining the trust of locals than other religiously or ethnically identified organizations in the country. In contrast, international Catholic organizations in particular faced large hurdles in establishing themselves as inclusive service providers.

Tensions for Bosnian Staff

Tensions in providing services were especially difficult for Bosnian staff members, most of whom were personally affected by the war. Many practical problems seemed to surround communication, such as the existence of taboo topics which were consciously avoided, or drastically different interpretations of past events. These dynamics presented a difficult problem for organizations that were working with war victims and, therefore, needed to be able to openly discuss these topics. One interview participant explained how her colleagues avoid talking about the war:

As professionals, how can we talk with traumatized patients about the war when we can’t even talk about it ourselves? People have these small sentences. They talk about “my war” and “your war,” like “My war was worse,” as in my suffering was worse. As professionals, we are not able to discuss it, so how do we expect ordinary people to communicate, people who were raped or tortured or lost their children?

Another interview participant explained how different narratives of past events caused tensions during a staff training he was conducting:

I was doing my training and it was going really well. But then someone started talking about one concentration camp. This is a place where some huge massacres happened. I mean thousands of people died. And one man from that area said, “No, that wasn’t a concentration camp. That was just a place where people were kept so they would be safe during the war until they could go home.” He said no one died there. I mean, these massacres have been documented by many international groups. There is no doubt that they happened. Thousands of bodies were found. And some people in the training work with people whose family died in that camp. So what can they even say to something like that?

In a context like Bosnia and Herzegovina where people were so broadly affected by the war, ethno- religious identity could not help but come to bear on workers’ perceptions of their responsibilities and their interaction with clients and coworkers. As one interview participant from a Muslim FBO poignantly observed, “We are trying and I think we are successful in cooperation with others. I believe in general all Bosniaks are like this, open to others.” Then, after a pause, “Well, a mother from Srebrenica who saw her husband and sons killed, maybe she cannot feel that way yet.” It should be noted that in July 1995, Serb forces overtook the United Nations “safe area” of Srebrenica and in five days killed a documented 7,465 Muslim men and boys (H. Brunborg, T. H. Lyngstad, and H. Urdal, “Accounting for Genocide: How Many Were Killed in Srebrenica?,” European Journal of Population 19 [No. 3, 2004], 229-48). The massacre has been characterized as the worst in Europe since World War II. Some researchers place the estimate of deaths as high as 10,000 since almost 40 percent of Bosnians still missing and unaccounted for after the war are from the municipality of Srebrenica.

Inclusive Social Service

While there are anecdotal reports of evangelism by FBO workers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, my data did not produce any evidence of this. It seems that the risk of coercion in providing services is low as well. The presence of and mentoring by international NGOs, particularly international FBOs, seems to have had a beneficial influence both on public opinion in Bosnia and Herzegovina and local NGO inclusiveness in serving clients of all faiths. The Bosnian public has a favorable impression of international Christian FBOs, and hopefully this positive impression can spill over into good will toward the Christian population in general. Perhaps more importantly, in spite of its initial reluctance, the local Catholic FBO in Bosnia and Herzegovina has become the most inclusive of the local FBOs from the country’s three dominant faiths, thanks in no small part to pressure from its international Catholic FBO partners. While Orthodox and Muslim FBOs’ clients are upward of 90 percent from their own faith communities, the local Catholic FBOs’ clients are between 60-70 percent Catholic.

In spite of the picture painted above, this does not mean that the NGO sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina is not at risk of discrimination in serving clients. While inclusion has been protected by a highly secularized NGO sector and an active international NGO community, these are not necessarily permanent features of Bosnian society. In particular, international political, military, and humanitarian presence in Bosnian society is waning. Many international NGOs and FBOs have left Bosnia and Herzegovina or are planning to leave in the near future, both due to growing stability in the country and the needs presented by disasters in other parts of the world. Nevertheless, local FBOs from the three dominant faiths may prove resilient by virtue of their strong local roots and local institutional support. After all, these are the same FBOs who closed their doors for 50 years during Communism, only to reemerge as soon as political conditions permitted.

Protecting Inclusion

A number of steps can be taken in Bosnia and Herzegovina to prevent religious discrimination in social service assistance. These measures include continuing and increasing mentoring by international NGOs and increasing the sustainability of secular NGOs.

Continue and Increase Mentoring Before Leaving the Country

While the international NGO community has had its fair share of corruption and scandal in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it has also benefited the local NGO sector by providing models of professional service and by assisting with local NGO capacity building. International NGOs continue to be highly involved in these activities. Staff from these organizations are well aware that they are likely to leave soon and would like to depart the country in a responsible manner, leaving behind sustainable programs. It is important that international NGOs continue to send a message of inclusive assistance and help this value become institutionalized within local NGOs as they prepare to leave the country. The influence of international Catholic FBOs on the local Catholic FBO provides an excellent example of the potential benefits of such efforts. It is hoped the local Catholic FBO will become even more inclusive in its assistance to all in need and will continue to be so after the international Catholic FBOs leave Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Increase the Sustainability of Local Secular NGOs

Perhaps the most desirable, yet most challenging, way to protect the inclusiveness of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s NGOs is to increase the sustainability of local secular NGOs. Decreasing dependence on foreign funding is critical. To that end, many NGOs are beginning to promote small-scale, income-generating projects which will no doubt be of help in this regard. In addition, it is imperative that organizations focused on the needs of the war begin to diversify their activities. Not only are war-related needs decreasing, but donors are becoming less interested in funding such programs. Indeed, several interview participants mentioned other NGOs that had ceased to exist due to their inability to redefine themselves. One interesting pattern emerging is that NGOs previously focused on women victims of war are now beginning to focus on other forms of violence against women, such a domestic abuse and human trafficking.

Conclusion

The evidence from Bosnia and Herzegovina seems to indicate that the international NGO community has benefited local NGOs by providing models of professional, inclusive services and by assisting with local NGO capacity-building. In particular, the inclusive message sent by the international Catholic FBO community to local Catholic FBOs has helped to increase inclusive assistance in local FBOs. Continued and increased cooperation with international NGOs and particularly international FBOs may help to institutionalize a culture of inclusive service among local FBOs. Given that local church networks were one of the important faith-related benefits espoused by international FBO staff, local NGOs undoubtedly will benefit international NGOs as well with their grassroots connections and invaluable local knowledge. F

Edited excerpts published with permission from Shawn Teresa Flanigan, “For the Love of God: Ethno-Religious Identity and Faith-Based Nonprofit Service Provision in Contexts of Violence,” Ph.D. dissertation, State University of New York at Albany, 2007.

Shawn Teresa Flanigan is an assistant professor in the School of Public Affairs at San Diego State University, San Diego, California.

Details: Volume 18, No. 2

Characteristics of Growing Churches in Russia: A Pentecostal Case Study

Andrei E. Blinkov

In Central Russia neither evangelical churches nor the Russian Orthodox Church are enjoying fast growth. Most evangelical congregations are very young, having been planted since 1992. But many younger as well as older congregations have plateaued and are no longer experiencing substantial growth. At the same time, Christian leaders have hope. Some churches do show evidence of health and solid numerical growth.

By the work of God’s grace within a 15-year period after the fall of the Communist regime, several hundred churches of various Protestant denominations were planted in Moscow and the Moscow Region. Unfortunately, most of them are small and grow rather slowly. The average size of these Protestant churches is between 20 and 50 members, with a church of 200 or more being considered rather large.

Three Pentecostal Denominations

Three main Pentecostal denominations exist in Russia: one led by Bishop Pavel Okara, another led by Bishop Vladimir Ryakhovsky, and the third led by Bishop Ivan Fedotov. These three denominations have approximately 110 churches in Moscow and the Moscow Region. Only a few Pentecostal churches have 500 or more members. The sad truth is that some churches in these denominations are not growing at all.

The church I pastor, the Revival Christian Center, is part of the Russian Church of Evangelical Christians (RCEC), a strong Pentecostal denomination with over 2,000 congregations throughout Russia led by Bishop Pavel Okara. According to RCEC Bishop Gregoriy Tropetz, responsible for Central Russia, the denomination has 130 congregations with a combined membership of only 7,600 in this heavily populated area. At the same time, some positive dynamics may be observed in other parts of Russia. For example, the RCEC Perm New Testament Church, which launched active missionary efforts in 1992, now has some 400 churches and fellowships in the Perm Region, Bashkiria, and Tatarstan. Other strong RCEC concentrations include the Association of Churches of the Republic of Karelia (more than 50 churches and fellowships), the Krasnodar Vifaniya Church (more than 50 churches), and the Murmansk Regional Association of Churches (more than 30 churches and fellowships).

A Church Growth Conference

At the end of 2000, Russian Protestant church leaders gathered for a conference focusing on church growth in Central Russia, organized by the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists (UECB), one of the largest Protestant denominations in Russia. Ruvim Voloshin, head of the ECB mission department, reported that in Central Russia, with a population of some 38 million, the total membership of all Evangelical Christian-Baptist churches was 23,000. Although in general some growth is taking place, very few Baptist churches have been planted in recent years. The total number of UECB churches nationwide grew from 1,320 to a little over 1,400 over a ten-year period.

Russian Orthodox Statistics

The situation is better but very far from ideal in the largest religious institution in Russia—the Russian Orthodox Church. After the fall of the Communist regime, hundreds of thousands of adults received baptism in the Orthodox Church. For many, however, this public expression of religious observance was a sign of national affiliation rather than genuine faith. David Barrett, George Kurian, and Todd Johnson suggest that 76 million people identify themselves in some sense as Russian Orthodox, encompassing large numbers of nominal believers who, as mentioned, claim religious adherence simply as a means of cultural identification.1

In spite of the fact that a majority of Russians consider themselves Orthodox Christians, Moscow Patriarchate officials admit that only four to five percent of the population is practicing Orthodox. During the conference in 2000 Voloshin quoted Internal Affairs Ministry estimates of not more than 1.5 percent of the total population attending the largest Orthodox celebrations—Christmas and Easter.

A Pilot Study

A preliminary pilot study in 2001-2003 surveyed 150 church leaders from various evangelical denominations, including 30 pastors and 50 church planters and key church leaders from the Russian Church of Evangelical Christians (Pentecostal). Those surveyed included leaders in the church I pastor, leading bishops and pastors from the RCEC headquarters, some senior RCEC pastors from the Moscow area, and church planters from the RCEC missionary school. All but 13 of the 150 respondents became pastors after the fall of Communism.

The pilot survey of Russian church leaders identified 17 characteristics of a healthy, growing congregation. These data became the basis for a second, more detailed questionnaire on church health administered only to the 30 pastors and 50 church planters and leaders of the Russian Church of Evangelical Christians (Pentecostal). Questionnaires collected between 1 May 2006 and 30 November 2006 helped to identify what respondents considered to be the most critical factors influencing church growth.

Divine Intervention

The Book of Acts (2: 41-47) provides important evidence of the role of the Holy Spirit in church growth. Many authors, including Rick Harvey, C. Peter Wagner, Steven Macchia, and Jeff Patton, emphasize the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.2 I think Christ Himself and the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the church should be called the foundational factor. If the Lord is not building the church, all the labor will be in vain. The Bible is clear: “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain” (Psalm 127: 1).

Seven Characteristics of Church Health

My review of published literature on healthy churches included studies by Rick Warren, Christian Schwarz, Leith Anderson, Dale Galloway, Rick Harvey, and C. Peter Wagner.3 In addition, I received help in my research from pastors in a graduate student study group at Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, Kentucky. From these sources I was able to identify seven major church health characteristics present in almost all of the above studies: inspiring worship, active evangelism, a genuine fellowship of love, maturing believers, dynamic lay ministry, strong leadership, and effective, functional structures.

The first five of these factors are identical to Rick Warren’s five purposes of the church. The last two (strong leadership and effective structures) are necessary to provide a balance for the church to be purpose driven. Schwarz adds another characteristic to the list—holistic home groups, a method used world-wide to incorporate new converts into the church family and to help them grow in Christ. Warren strongly encourages every church member to join a small group. “Small groups are the most effective way to closing the back door of your church. We never worry about losing people who are connected to a small group. We know that those people have been effectively assimilated.”4 The small groups championed by Schwarz and Warren may be identified with two of the seven characteristics of healthy, growing churches: a fellowship of love and maturing believers. The Asbury pastors’ study group suggested another characteristic: transforming discipleship defined as “a process of growth toward Christ-likeness.”5 These attributes of transforming discipleship and growing personal spirituality can be seen as part of the broader category of maturing believers.

Healthy Churches According to Russian Leaders

Based on the 2001-2003 pilot survey of Russian church leaders, healthy churches:

1. are Christ-centered;

2. are purpose-driven;

3. have a delegating and spiritual pastor;

4. have sound biblical teaching;

5. are disciplined in prayer;

6. have inspiring worship services;

7. are active in evangelism;

8. have a team of devoted leaders;

9. have a flexible structure;

10. develop lay ministries based on members’ gifts;

11. develop a system of home groups;

12. engage in social ministries to non-Christian people;

13. are culture sensitive;

14. have an adequate building;

15. have financial and humanitarian support from abroad;

16. have strong teaching on tithes and offerings;

17. cultivate love among members.

Table 1 matches the seven qualities of healthy, growing churches as identified in the literature review with the 17 characteristics of church health based on the results of the pilot survey of Russian church leaders.

Personal Questionnaire

A second questionnaire given to Russian church leaders measured personal spiritual health. Survey participants were asked questions regarding their average time for personal devotions, average prayer time, average time for Bible study, devotion to spiritual disciplines of ministry, sharing faith with others, fasting, accountability to a spiritual mentor on a regular basis, personal evaluation of current spiritual life, and personal evaluation of current health of their churches. One question asked whether church attendance during the previous year had grown, plateaued, or declined. Data from this second survey were analyzed to correlate leaders’ perceptions of church health with personal spiritual health and church growth.

Respondent Demographics and Survey Findings

Eighty respondents completed two surveys each for a total of 160 surveys. Among pastors surveyed, 13 started their ministry more than 16 years ago, prior to the fall of the Communist regime (pre-fall), and 17 became ministers after the fall of Communism (post-fall). Most respondents had been members of underground churches all their lives. All pastors were male, which is the basic rule in the RCEC. Most of the surveyed leaders, including non-pastors (54 percent), were male. Overall personal spiritual health was perceived as growing fast (16 percent), growing to some degree (74 percent), or plateauing (10 percent).

The data in Table 3 suggest the following:

An absolute majority of survey participants (75 percent) were from growing churches.

Fewer participants were from • stagnating churches (21 percent) and only 4 percent were from declining churches.

Leaders paid the highest attention to Bible reading and also were very active in other disciplines.

Pre-fall pastors were not as strong in • devotions as post-fall ministers, with the exception of fasting. (Teaching on fasting was very strong in underground churches prior to the fall of the Communist regime.)

*Pastors who started their ministry before or after the fall of the Communist regime

The data on the spiritual disciplines of survey participants suggest the following:

Overall devotion to spiritual disciplines was very high.

Post-fall pastors had the highest devotion • to every spiritual discipline except Bible reading.

Both post-fall pastors and leaders paid equal attention to the importance of having a spiritual mentor. More than 50 percent of people from these groups were accountable to spiritual mentors.

Pre-fall pastors tended to be less • accountable. Probably they see themselves more as providing mentoring rather than needing mentoring.

Data comparing personal spiritual disciplines with the perceptions of survey participants from growing churches suggest the following:

• Those from fast-growing churches prayed on average 32 percent more than participants from churches that were growing to a lesser degree (15 minutes difference).

• Survey participants from fast-growing churches spent slightly more time reading the Bible, although the difference was not significant.

• Significantly, the number of respondents from fast-growing churches who had spiritual mentors was 33 percent higher than for respondents from churches that were growing to a lesser degree

Data on spiritual disciplines and perceptions of survey participants from fast-growing and stagnating churches suggest the following observation:

• The number of leaders from fast-growing churches who have spiritual mentors was more than twice as high as the number from stagnating churches. A significant correlation exists between church growth and the discipline of accountability and mentoring.

Summary of Findings

The study produced a number of significant findings: 1. The three most neglected church health characteristics from the point of view of Russian ministers were social ministries, cultural sensitivity, and flexible structures. 2. In the opinion of Russian ministers, spiritual disciplines that significantly relate to church health are ministry, fasting, and accountability to a spiritual mentor. 3. Compared to other spiritual diciplines, prayer had the strongest correlation with the perception of Russian pastors and leaders about their personal spiritual health.

Personal communion with the Lord in prayer seems to be the most important tool influencing the perception of personal spiritual well-being. 4. Russian ministers strongly correlated church growth and church health with personal spiritual health. Healthy people, they would contend, make healthy congregations. 5. In the opinion of Russian ministers, among all spiritual mentors as their colleagues from stagnating churches.

Personal Spiritual Disciplines

Reviewing the data, I was pleasantly surprised by participants’ ministry involvement and, in particular, primarily by their devotion to spiritual practices. Surveyed pastors spent on average an hour

and fifteen minutes daily in personal prayer and Bible study. The corresponding figure for church leaders was even higher − an hour and twenty-seven minutes. This positive finding means that either the sample of Russian ministers was not representative enough or they are very devoted to spiritual disciplines. Very likely ministers with deteriorating spiritual health simply were not willing to participate in the study. All Russian ministers surveyed agreed with church health authors on the first foundational factor, which was weighted as the most important − that churches must be Christ-centered and open to the power of the Holy Spirit.

Social Ministries

Today, the lack of attention to social ministries can seriously weaken the incorporation of new converts into Russian churches. This characteristic is especially important in the current situation in which the Russian population is so afraid of cults, which in practice are often defined as any group that is not Orthodox. One of the best ways to fight this fear is to minister to the needs of non-Christians. Through the ministry of love many Russians can be reached. The church I pastor has launched a rehabilitation ministry for drug addicts and alcoholics. In spite of the fact that this ministry is very new, it has already brought many converts into the church, both former addicts and members of their families. Many churches in Russia today are exploring the potential of social ministries to needy people. Nevertheless, this important area is still neglected by many church leaders.

Cultural Sensitivity

Evangelistic effectiveness can also be seriously hindered by a lack of sensitivity to the language, music, and culture of the people whom the church wants to reach. To some extent the underestimation of cultural sensitivity by surveyed Russian leaders can be explained by what may be called a super-spirituality complex. It occurs when ministers consider some areas of church life as “non-spiritual” and thus of no importance. Those areas usually include finances, church structures, planning, and cultural sensitivity.

A Church Growth-Spiritual Mentor Correlation

The most interesting finding of this study was the unexpectedly high correlation between church growth and the existence of a spiritual mentor. The average number of respondents from fast-growing churches who had spiritual mentors was 32 percent higher than the corresponding number of ministers from churches that were growing to some degree. The comparison of growing and stagnating churches is even more dramatic. The average number of respondents from fast-growing churches who had spiritual mentors was more than 100 percent higher than the corresponding number of respondents from stagnating churches. In order for church leaders to minister effectively, they must first be recipients of ministry. Pastors and church leaders who are under the supervision of a spiritual mentor are healthier and much more effective in their ministry than those who neglect this spiritual discipline.

In Conclusion

Church health can be improved. Apart from paying more attention to neglected church health characteristics, especially the value of social ministries, cultural sensitivity, and flexible structures, another simple but profound improvement in church health can be realized by focusing on spiritual disciplines. Consistent participation in spiritual practices leads to greater spiritual health in general and ministry success in particular. Perhaps the most significant finding of this study was the clear correlation between church growth and the existence of spiritual mentors. The potential for greater personal spiritual health and for church growth lies in the discipline of spiritual mentoring.

No one should think that human efforts or methods alone can grow a church. Just as a farmer cannot make his crop grow, so church leaders cannot make a church grow. At the same time, God is not building his church apart from the people, because it consists of people. Church growth is very much connected to church health, which in turn is related to the spiritual health of its ministers and members. Healthy people make healthy churches. Healthy churches consist of healthy members. Churches can become healthier. Pastors can and should take full responsibility for their personal spiritual health by being consistent in their spiritual disciplines. Special attention should be paid to the discipline of accountability before a spiritual mentor. Then pastors can and should help others in the same way. Developing spiritual disciplines can be a long and sometimes painful process, but doing so truly builds the church. F

Notes:

1 David Barrett, George Kurian, and Todd Johnson, World Christian Encyclopedia: A Comparative Survey of Churches and Religions in the Modern World, Vol. 2 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), 6.

2 Rick Harvey, “The Relationship between Church Health and Growth: A Study of Growing Churches in the Tennessee District Church of the Nazarene,” Ph.D. dissertation, Asbury Theological Seminary, 2002; C. Peter Wagner, Strategies for Church Growth: Tools for Effective Missions and Evangelism (Ventura, CA: Regal, 1987); Stephen A. Macchia, Becoming a Healthy Church (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1999); and Jeff Patton, If It Could Happen Here (Nashville: Abingdon, 2002).

3 Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1995); Christian A. Schwarz, Natural Church Development (Carol Stream, IL: ChurchSmart Resources, 1996); Leith Anderson, Leadership That Works (Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1992); Dale Galloway, “Ten Characteristics of a Healthy Church,” Net Results (April 1998), 20-22; Harvey, “Nazarene”; and C. Peter Wagner, Strategies.

4 Warren, Purpose Driven Church, 327.

5 Scott McKee, “The Relationship between Church Health and Church Growth in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church,” Ph.D. dissertation, Asbury Theological Seminary, 2003, p. 60.

Edited excerpts published with permission from Andrei E. Blinkov, “Church Health and Church Growth in Congregations of the Russian Church of Evangelical Christians,” Doctor of Ministry dissertation, Asbury Theological Seminary, 2007.Editor’s note: Andrei E. Blinkov’s dissertation is an elaboration of his M. Div. thesis, “Osnovy faktory, vliyayushchie na rost tserkvi v usloviyakh sovremennoi Rossii [Basic Factors Influencing the Growth of Churches in Conditions of Contemporary Russia],” Moscow Seminary of Evangelical Christians, 2002. The present article, in turn, is an elaboration of Andrei E. Blinkov, “Protestant Church Growth in Russia,” East-West Church and Ministry Report 13 (Winter 2005), 10-12.

Andrei E. Blinkov is director of the Russian Church of Evangelical Christians missionary school and is pastor of the Revival Christian Center, an RCEC church in the Moscow Region. In 2006 the author published Sozidanie tserkov [The Development of a Church] (Moscow: Narnia) which includes some of the findings of the present Doctor of Ministry dissertation.

Details: Volume 18, No. 2

The Current Crisis in Protestant Theological Education in the Former Soviet Union

Mark R. Elliott

Editor’s note: The first portion of this article was published in the previous issue of the East-West Church and Ministry Report 18 (Winter 2010): 16, 14-15.

Reevaluating a School’s Purpose

In coming to terms with the dire straits of most residential programs Sergei Sannikov, E-AAA Executive Director, recently noted, “There was no strategic plan when these schools were founded—they were spontaneous creations. People were enthusiastic, Western support was available, and so they began.”1 Lack of careful deliberation and forethought does appear to best characterize the launching of many schools. Thus, Moldovan professor Oleg Turlac’s advice for a first step forward is for seminaries to “reevaluate their mission and vision. Each school should meet with its association or union of churches to discuss the purpose for the existence of the school and the issue of ministry placement.”2

Academic Versus Pastoral Training

In a sentence, should theological training be academic, pastoral, or both? Many church leaders in the former Soviet Union would second the conclusion of evangelical Anglican theologian Alister McGrath that “The growing gap between academic theology and the church has led to much theology focusing on issues which appear to be an utter irrelevance to the life, worship, and mission of the church.”3 Estonian Baptist theologian Toivo Pilli quotes McGrath approvingly, but he also sees a vital role for “academic” theology in “the prophetic task” of producing “contextually relevant theological reflection” on pressing social and cultural issues.4

No doubt, some post-Soviet theological educators have become mesmerized with academic learning at the expense of pastoral training—as can happen in the West as well. Still, Pilli seems justified in rejecting the “growing tendency to see ‘faith’ and ‘knowledge’ as contradictory terms.”5 Whatever one concludes on the perennial question of the relationship of faith and knowledge, the point is: Each school and all its stakeholders must think through the question in order to champion a common vision and purpose for each institution.

Responses to Declining Enrollment

As the enrollment crisis has deepened, theological schools have responded in a variety of ways. The most common adjustment to the disappearance of full-time residential students has been to expand non-formal programs—which may prove to be the salvation of many institutions. The subject of non-formal theological education in the post-Soviet context is so vast that it deserves its own paper or monograph. After enumerating other responses, I will return to this topic.

Closures and Mergers

Lacking students, some programs, as noted, have closed, and more will follow. Even Sergei Sannikov concedes, “The number of theological schools will and must decrease.”6 It would make sense for some schools to merge. Full-blown theological education is arguably the most expensive enterprise the church undertakes. The development of facilities, faculty, libraries, and textbooks is enormously costly and time-consuming. Given the small number of Protestants in the former Soviet Union (perhaps one percent of the population), minimal indigenous funding, and the trailing off of Western interest, school mergers would seem a logical necessity.7 However, tenacious allegiance to denominational and doctrinal distinctives works against such unions.

For those in the former Soviet Union who hope for the miracle of cooperation, the dream of the Bulgarian Evangelical Theological Institute (BETI) deserves note. In 1999 in Sofia six denominational schools (Assemblies of God, Baptist, Church of God, Congregational, Methodist, and United Church of God) made common cause. While less successful than one would desire, it nevertheless is an attractive model.8

Finding a Niche

Another seminary survival stratagem will be to develop unique educational specializations.9 The College of Theology and Education in Chisinau, Moldova, with a focus on outreach to Muslims, has more Central Asian than Moldovan students.10 Some schools have expanded their English language programs to attract additional students. More ambitious has been widespread consideration for the introduction of liberal arts programs parallel to theological studies. Two Central Asian schools in Insur Shamgunov’s study were considering this option.11 Names of seminaries such as St. Petersburg Christian University (SPCU) and Donetsk Christian University (DCU) certainly indicate their intentions to offer non-theological courses of study. In recent years seminary administrators have frequently approached Moscow’s Russian-American Institute, modeled on liberal arts programs in U.S. Christian colleges, seeking advice on the formulation of a liberal arts curriculum.

Perhaps the institution with the most successful expansion beyond theological studies in the former Soviet Union has occurred at Zaoksky Adventist University. Housed in, arguably the most impressive, faith-based campus in Russia, Zaoksky offers degrees in theology, music, English, social work, economics, accounting, law, public health, and agriculture.12 Whatever one thinks of Adventist theology, this institution deserves close study for its commendable strides toward self-sufficiency and for its exceptional breadth of program.13

One niche a Protestant seminary might consider would be studies in Orthodoxy from an evangelical perspective. Perhaps such an undertaking could be developed in tandem with Orthodox institutions open to working with Protestants such as St. Andrew’s Biblical Theological Institute headed by Andrei Bodrov or the Orthodox Research Institute of Missiology, Ecumenism, and New Religious Movements headed by Father Vladimir Fedorov.14

Strengthening Church-School Ties

Of course, to survive, seminaries must strengthen ties with the churches in which they hope to place graduates.15 As far back as an E-AAA conference in 1998 theological educators were recommending correctives to the school-church divide. Alexander Karnaukh (Odessa Baptist Theological Seminary) urged seminary professors to find teaching opportunities in churches. For his part, Rudolfo Giroi (Euro-Asian Theological Seminary of the Church of God Cleveland), at the same meeting, suggested “that students return to their churches in the middle of the [seminary] program.”16 In his thought-provoking dissertation on Protestant theological education in Central Asia, Insur Shamgunov warned that without close, vital links between school and church, “not only will the quality of training continue to suffer, but the very existence of the institutions will be in question.”17

Overcoming Western Dependency

To deepen the bonds between seminaries and churches, schools will have to decrease their dependence upon Western funding. To that end, enthusiastically or not, seminary administrators will have to become increasingly entrepreneurial because budgets have to start balancing. This is beginning to mean, and increasingly will mean, some combination of administrative and faculty cuts; sharing faculty with other institutions; charging students “meaningful” tuition;18 selling some buildings; and leasing some space.19

More and more seminaries are designating space or retrofitting facilities to generate income from all manner of undertakings: an auto repair workshop (Donetsk),20 weddings (St. Petersburg Christian University),21 dorm rentals for tourists (SPCU), and hotel and conference centers (DCU, SPCU, and International Baptist Theological Seminary).22 Donetsk, as an example, has hosted revenue-generating conferences for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, the New Horizons English program, Eastern-Rite Catholics, and the East European Summit for Children at Risk.23

In the past, seminaries sometimes turned down Western offers to help establish profit-making enterprises to help underwrite expenses—but no more. Donetsk raises its own vegetables and at Zaoksky students not only grow the food served in their cafeteria, they can vegetables and fruits and help staff a printing operation on campus.24 In addition to creative uses of campus facilities, seminaries must teach stewardship and must teach churches to teach stewardship. Sadly, tithing runs counter to practice in the former Soviet Union.25

Many times one hears that Christians in post-Soviet lands are too poor to support their churches, much less seminaries. It is true that decades of Soviet persecution and discrimination meant minimal education and low-paying, menial labor for most believers. But Christians in Slavic lands are not the world’s poorest. Many believers in the global South who contend with economic plights as bad as or worse than those of the former Soviet Union support churches and sometimes even seminaries without the level of Western support that frequently obtains in the post-Soviet context.

Expansion of Non-Formal Training Programs

As noted, the most concerted response to falling full-time residential enrollment has been the expansion of non-formal programs. After the closure of their last Bible school in 1929, Protestants for many decades had no choice but to rely upon clergy mentoring of aspiring pastors, an unmistakable example of non-formal education. Then beginning in 1968 Soviet authorities grudgingly conceded a correspondence program to the only recognized nationwide Protestant denomination, Evangelical Christians-Baptists (ECB). Pastors enrolled in correspondence courses were permitted to travel to Moscow for brief periods of fellowship and instruction. Over the years the length and importance of the on-site intervals steadily increased, so that by the end of the Soviet era, the on-site modules of the correspondence program had taken on much of the coloration of a traditional residential seminary program.26

Another precedent was the consortium of visionary East European missions (Campus Crusade, Navigators, InterVarsity, and Slavic Gospel Association) that in 1979 launched Biblical Education by Extension (BEE), now known as Entrust, to provide pastoral training in Soviet-bloc countries.27 Thus, non-formal theological education is nothing new in the Slavic context. It is being expanded, not invented, in response to the residential enrollment crisis.

Elusive Statistics

In the Soviet and post-Soviet cases reliable enrollment figures can be elusive. Nevertheless, as incomplete and debatable as statistics may be, they do underscore two indisputable points: 1) non-traditional theological instruction has long been significant; and 2) non-traditional programs and students now account for the majority of pastors in training.

In 1992 the Orthodox Theological Seminary in Kyiv had 335 non-traditional students, compared to 214 full-time residential students. As early as 1993 Seventh-day Adventists claimed 500 extension course students at three sites.28 In 1995 the Greek Catholic Theological Institute in Ivano-Frankivs’k, Ukraine, enrolled 800 extramural students compared to 480 full-time residential students.29 By 2005 in the former Soviet Union the Russian Orthodox Church enrolled 5,700 correspondence students, compared to 5,155 full-time residential students.30

For all practical purposes the Moscow Evangelical Christian-Baptist Theological Seminary (MTS) no longer operates a full-time residential program, while eight extension sites and online instruction account for 600 students.31 The enrollment crisis became so acute at MTS that the school’s trustees recruited consultants from the Euro-Asian Accrediting Association (Sergei Sannikov, Peter Penner, and Charley Warner) to offer advice. The outcome was the appointment of ECB Russian Union Vice-President Peter Mitskevich as rector in 2007, followed by a radical shift in emphasis from residential to extension training.32 A major boost in non-traditional MTS enrollment came in late 2009 with its incorporation of Bible Mission International (Frankfurt, Germany, and Wichita, Kansas), with another 700 Russian-language correspondence students.33

Moscow Theological Institute (MTI), affiliated with the Assemblies of God, presently enrolls 700 extension and correspondence students. MTI also anticipates a significant increase in its non-traditional program following a request in 2009 from 22 unregistered Pentecostal bishops and senior pastors for four new extension sites to provide training for unregistered pastors.34

Beyond denominational and mission-sponsored non-formal programs already noted, many other evangelical leadership training efforts serve additional thousands of students. With 750 enrolled, Training Christians for Ministry International Institute (TCMI), based in Austria, probably has the largest number of East EuropeanProtestant correspondence students taking a master’s level seminary course of study.35 School Without Walls, organized by Peter Deyneka Russian Ministries (Association for Spiritual Renewal in the former Soviet Union), is providing pastoral extension courses in 62 sites in 49 regions reaching 1,813 students in 2008-09.36 Other non-formal evangelical programs include East-West Ministries, READ, Precept Ministries, Bibel Mission, Leadership Resources International, BEE World, Church Leadership Development International, American Baptist International Ministries, International Theological Education Ministries (ITEM), and Theologians without Borders.37 F

Notes:

1 Yoder, “Future” 2.

2 Turlac, “Crisis,” 19.

3 Alister E. McGrath, The Renewal of Anglicanism (London: SPCK, 1994), 152.

4 Toivo Pilli, “Finding a Balance between Church and Academia: Baptist Theological Education in Estonia,” Religion in Eastern Europe 26 (August 2006), 39-41.

5 Ibid., 39.

6 Yoder, “Future,” 1.

7 Ibid., 2; Brown, “Progress,” 10-11; Noelliste, “Theological Education,” 10-11.

8 Gary Griffith, “New Bible Institute Registered in Bulgaria,” East-West Church and Ministry Report 8 (Winter 2000), 14.

9 Yoder, “Future,” 2.

10 Jason Ferenczi, phone interview, 27 October 2009.

11 Shamgunov, “Listening,” 277.

12 Gary Land, Historical Dictionary of Seventh-day Adventists (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2005), 336-37; “Zaoksky Adventist University,” Adventist Online Yearbook, http://www.adventistyearbook.org.

13 Elliott, “Protestant,” 16.

14 www.standrews.ru: http///www.wcc-coe.org/wdd/what/interreligious/cd31-02.html.

15 Shamgunov, “Listening,” 286-87; Turlac, “Crisis,” 19.

16 Mitskevich, “Problems,” 6. See also Elliott, “Recent Research,” 35.

17 Shamgunov, “Listening,” 286.

18 Jason Ferenczi, phone interview, 27 October 2009.

19 Ted Rodgers, phone interview, 26 October 2009.

20 Ray Prigodich, meeting, 27 February 2008.

21 Jason Ferenczi, phone interview, 27 October 2009.

22 Walter Sawatsky, phone interview, 26 October 2009.

23 Donetsk Christian University, On Campus Newsletter, Fall 2009, 2.

24 Elliott, “Protestant,” 16; http://www.sau.ru.

25 Mark R. Elliott, “Post-Soviet Protestant Theological Education: Come of Age?,” The Asbury Theological Journal 54 (Fall 1999), 38.

26 Elliott, “Protestant,” 14; Pilli, “Finding a Balance,” 42.

27 Elliott, “Recent Research,” 29. See also http://entrust4.org/423.ihtml.

28 Elliott, “Protestant,” 22.

29 Jonathan Sutton, Traditions in New Freedom: Christianity and Higher Education in Russia and Ukraine Today (Nottingham: Bramcote Press, 1996), 92.

30 Vladimir Fedorov, “An Orthodox View on Theological Education as Mission,” Religion in Eastern Europe 25 (August 2005), 25.

31 Ted Rodgers, phone interview, 26 October 2009.

32 Ian Chapman, Theological Education Conference, 28 February 2008; Turlac, “Crisis,” 19.

33 Ted Rodgers, phone interview, 26 October 2009; http://www.BibleMission.org.

34 Anthony Rybarczk, phone interview, 3 November 2009.

35 Peter Penner, email to author, 9 November 2009.

36 www.russian-ministries.org.

37 Bill Arvan, Theological Education Conference, 28 February 20008; Joe Wall, Theological Education Conference, 28 February 2008; http://www.eastwest.org; http://readministries.org; http://www.precept.org; http://www.russianleadership.org;http//www.bibel-mission.de/; http://www.leadershipresources.org; http//www.beeworld.org; http://www.cldi.org; http://www.internationalministries.org; http://christforrussia.org; http://theologianswithoutborders.blogspot.com.

Editor’s note: The concluding portion of this article will be published in the next issue of the East-West Church and Ministry Report 18 (Summer 2010).

Mark R. Elliott is editor of the East-West Church and Ministry Report, Asbury University, Wilmore, Kentucky.

Details: Volume 18, No. 2

Protestant Theological Education in Central Asia:

Embattled but Resilient

Insur Shamgunov

Editor’s notes: The first two portions of this article were published in previous issues of the East-West Church and Ministry Report 17 (Fall 2009): 5-8; and 18 (Winter 2010): 10-13.

Problem-Based Learning

Changes should be made without sacrificing fundamental biblical and theological knowledge and exegetical skills, which are particularly important in a region that has little evangelical theological tradition. But instead of following the traditional, fragmented formula of a theological encyclopedia, schools could integrate the academic element of theological study with the development of students’ skills in exegeting biblical texts, research, and preaching. To do so, faculty could use the problem-based learning (PBL) approach, advocated for use in theological education by Toivo Pilli.1 For instance, students could start by describing a certain problem arising in their ministry, discussing possible reasons, and looking for solutions. They could proceed by researching biblical texts, reading the relevant literature, and discussing it with their teachers and other students. They could conclude the process by writing a paper, developing a sermon, and preaching it to their congregation, or by developing material for a small group study. In this process students could learn a number of important skills in an integrated way: understanding a biblical text, applying exegetical and hermeneutical principles, learning critical and reflective skills, learning to do research, communicating ideas in writing and preaching, and devising and implementing practical strategies in ministry.

Residential Versus Non-Traditional Training

One theological college did attempt to redesign its master’s of ministry degree curriculum in line with contemporary adult learning models. It provided short residential courses and required most of the subsequent learning to be done by the students off-campus, by corresponding with their mentors. However, graduates both praised and criticized this approach, and much is to be learned from their comments. The first point of criticism was that this method placed a significant level of responsibility on the learner, which is simply not to be taken for granted in the post-Soviet Central Asian educational environment. As a result, as the current dean of the program explained to me (22 September 2008), many students dropped out of the course because they did not have enough diligence and skills for doing independent study. I suggest that this problem might be solved by changing the training format: teachers should be in much more frequent physical contact with their students, both helping students to think through their issues and holding them accountable. For instance, they could adopt a format in which students spend a half week in class, and another half doing actual part-time ministry, as is the case with ministerial training at Regent’s Park, Oxford University.

Another graduate expressed a second criticism, pointing out that in an evangelical context it might be dangerous to encourage students with little prior theological and exegetical training to construct their own “little theologies,” which could be methodologically undisciplined and biblically incorrect. This is a valid warning. Therefore, such a program might begin with several introductory courses in systematic theology, exegetics, and hermeneutics.

Recommendation: Strengthen Practical Training

Although this research shows that graduates were mainly positive in their evaluation of the instruction they received, they considered practical ministry involvement to be one of the most important factors in their learning. Unfortunately, instead of strengthening this key aspect of their training, most colleges are currently moving in the opposite direction – relaxing practical requirements in the hope of attracting more applicants. In response, I would recommend that the colleges dramatically increase the amount and quality of practical training. It should become an indispensable part of the curriculum, and this should be reflected by a significant increase in the proportion of time allotted for practice, mentoring, and supervision by staff. As M. Eraut and W. Hirsh maintain, the rule of thumb for effective professional training is that every hour of formal training requires two hours of intensive coaching for the effective transfer of knowledge in the workplace, and seven hours to implement that learning in actual performance.2 Although such a proportion of formal training, coaching, and practice is very far from the current practice of ministerial training, significant changes in that direction should be undertaken. Closer links with local churches could provide institutions with better opportunities for developing such models of training.

Recommendation: Stress Mentoring

Teachers played a pivotal role in the graduates’ learning, serving as models to imitate, providing practical wisdom, and, as mentors, helping graduates deal with current issues they faced in their personal lives and ministry. However, this influence was unintended, happening, so to speak, at the margins of the educational process. Therefore, I suggest that institutions develop appropriate learning opportunities involving modeling and mentoring as an integral element in the curriculum. For instance, some of the teaching staff could work with designated small groups of three to five students throughout the duration of the training program. Mentors could help their students to reflect on their learning, help them to make connections with actual practice, and participate in ministry together with students. Mentoring should move from the outskirts to the center of a missional model of training.

For example in the Eurasian College, Kazan, Russia, where I worked from 1999-2004, the one-year residential program consisted of four cycles of six weeks “in-the-class” followed by three weeks “in-the-field.” During the three-week modules, mentors spent a significant amount of time with their designated teams of students on the mission field, both participating in ministry and helping students reflect on their experience. During classroom periods mentors continued close interaction their students, working with them in local ministry projects and providing personal spiritual mentoring.

Recommendation: Hire Faculty with Practical Experience

In this paradigm shift, the selection of the right teachers is of paramount importance. As much as the institutions in question would like to transfer teaching responsibilities to nationals as soon as possible, the emphasis should be on spiritual maturity, the depth of pastoral and teaching experience of the teachers, and their ability to relate to students, regardless of nationality. Although it would be ideal to have teachers who are both nationals and highly experienced (in my study the graduates did identify a few gifted national teachers), it will take considerable time before sufficient numbers of such individuals are in place. Students want role models who are wiser, older, experienced ministers, not their own peers who finished seminary only a few years before and who, despite having degrees, cannot offer much practical wisdom. Besides, as Peter Penner points out, expatriate teachers help students broaden their perspectives in an increasingly globalized world,3 a notion that was also expressed by several students in my study, who desired a healthy mix of national and international faculty. This mix seems to be the best solution at present.

One also has to take into account the harsh reality of shrinking religious freedom in Central Asia that makes the expulsion of foreign missionaries a real possibility, just as has already happened in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Therefore, individual selection and customized training of national teachers and mentors with high potential remains an important priority.

Recommendation: Increase Admission Standards

It seems that when the colleges lowered their standards in order to attract more students, they created a vicious cycle: Pastors did not like the new graduates who were not motivated to engage in ministry and were not trained in ministry skills, further reducing their desire to send people for training. Therefore, despite the temptation, colleges should, perhaps counter-intuitively, increase admission standards, something that in the long term will attract more quality people.

Recommendation: Enroll Students Called to Ministry

A particularly important quality for applicants is a sense of calling to ministry, especially for the long-term sustainability of their ministry. Many graduates interviewed emphasized that their conviction that they were called by God, even before they started training, later proved to be of immense importance when they were faced with the temptation to quit the ministry. Therefore, it makes sense to give preference to applicants who have a distinct sense of calling. At the same time, many graduates were skeptical of the ability of their colleges to motivate students who did not already have distinct signs of calling. Often, these students failed to graduate or failed in ministry.

Recommendation: Develop Close Ties with Local Churches and Other Stakeholders

Finally, it should be emphasized that some of the problems described in this study, such as the decline in church growth, pastoral salaries, and increasing government restrictions, clearly cannot be addressed by the training institutions alone. Discussions of how to deal with these problems need to also include denominational leaders and mission agencies. Therefore, institutions must make a significant and sustained effort to increase the level of communication with local churches and other agencies involved in church development in Central Asia. Without such an effort not only will the quality of training continue to suffer, but the very existence of the institutions will be in question.

Admittedly, strengthening school-church relationships is easier said than done – three out of four principals of the institutions interviewed pointed to difficulties they faced in this regard. Some church leaders do not value theological training or are suspicious of it. Some are afraid of competition from young graduates. Others simply do not have a long-term vision for leadership development, and therefore send to the colleges not their best people, but “idlers” who have nothing else to do. These problems seem to persist across denominational lines.

Another important activity from which the institutions might benefit is organizing a forum for regular communication with local churches and other Christian agencies. Such a body would not need to offer formal accreditation, although this could help gain better credibility for institutions in the face of a worsening political climate. Rather, the forum would serve primarily to develop relationships, share experiences, and discuss issues such as enrollment decline and improvement of local church participation in training. F

Notes

1 Toivo E. Pilli, “Toward a Holistic View of Theological Education” in Peter Penner, ed., Theological Education as Mission (Hagen: Neufeld Verlag Schwarzenfeld, 2005).

2 M. Eraut and W. Hirsh, “The Significance of Workplace Learning for Individuals, Groups and Organisations,” SKOPE, ESRC, www.skope.ox.ac.uk/WorkingPapers/Eraut-Hirschmonograph.pdf; accessed 31 January 2009; p. 80.

3 Peter Penner, “Introduction,” in Peter Penner, ed., Theological Education as Mission (Hagen: Neufeld Verlag Schwarzenfeld, 2005).

Insur Shamgunov currently works as a management consultant for a human relations firm in London, England.

Edited excerpts published with permission from Insur Shamgunov, “Listening to the Voice of the Graduate: An Analysis of Professional Practice and Training for Ministry in Central Asia” (Ph.D. dissertation, Oxford University, 2009).

Moscow’s Russian-American Institute: Instilling “Character, Competence, and Christian Worldview”

PO Box 76741
Washington, DC 20013
USA

Contact

Volume 18, No. 2

Healing the Natashas: Observations on Trafficking Aftercare in Moldova

For the Love of God: Faith-Based Nonprofits in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Characteristics of Growing Churches in Russia: A Pentecostal Case Study

The Current Crisis in Protestant Theological Education in the Former Soviet Union

Protestant Theological Education in Central Asia: Embattled but Resilient

Home | Site Map | Site Feedback | CONTACT