PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Well trained leaders are key to growth and a healthy church work. Because of her long time experience, most recently as general secretary of the free evangelical church convention in Germany (BEFG), Regina Claas supports the Baptist conventions in southern Africa in leadership development. One of the core concerns of her work is the promotion of the local church leaders. She is very active in different executive committees and also advises leaders individually. In decentralized trainings they are dealing with strengthening local resources, encouraging people to build churches, or start new projects will all their possibilities. In Malawi a new program was started by these training initiatives where women in groups get together in several different churches in order to learn how to read and write.
The training opportunities are being designed and performed collectively by church leaders and a team of local pastors. There is always the quest of what possibilities local churches have to take responsibility for projects and to fall back on own resources. That also means to reinforce the awareness in everyone that they are gifted and have a lot to give. This way the vicious circle of depending on help from outside is being broken. Projects are lasting from the beginning on even when funds are not accessible or fail to appear. This concern usually implies a change of attitude that has to happen in the leaders.
Usually these are people with a spiritual calling, leaders in key positions in churches that have a great influence in the countries of southern Africa. They are not just clergymen but also teachers, counselors, arbiters in needs and problems of society. They are people that are teaching the word of God and are wholly engaged in positive developments in society.
