This week the Namikango Staff have been hosting the Teacher Refresher Course here at the mission. This week-long course serves to bring all the teachers from our Bible school together to connect, grow together, and review the content for the courses that will be taught this year in the villages.
This year there are nearly one hundred teachers in attendance. These teachers live and work in the villages of Malawi, and teach Bible courses to the churches in their region. This allows students, pastors, elders, and other lay-leaders of the church to receive a theological education without having to travel and live on campus at a school.
Therefore, every year the teachers gather to fellowship together as well as discuss the upcoming courses for that year. Sessions are divided up by subject and taught by the Bible School staff here at Namikango.
Tuesday I taught on the subject of the Old Testament prophets. Of course, this was a massive subject, and hard to fit into an hour and a half. Other subjects that have been taught were church history, hermeneutics, the book of Revelation, the Christian family, and financial management. In the afternoons the teachers break into small groups to do Bible studies together, as well as activities.
It has been a full week of teaching, fellowshipping and getting to know the men who teach in the villages. I have really enjoyed meeting many of the teachers as we prepare for this next year of preparing church leaders who can lead their church communities towards maturity in Christ.