By Brooke Helder, GACX Content Creator
“Father, may your name be kept holy.
May your Kingdom come soon.
Give us each day the food we need,
and forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who sin against us.
And don’t let us yield to temptation.”
Luke 11:2-4 (NLT)
Jesus taught his disciples how to pray. Along with this, Jesus also taught his disciples to teach others about Him after He had left the earth. His disciples did not receive accredited academic training to be church leaders and missionaries. They knew how to fish and collect taxes. However, Jesus spent time teaching and equipping them to become the catalytic leaders of the church. Our church fathers had no formal theological training.
Today, over 85% of Christian leaders worldwide have not received formal theological training. Shepherd’s Global Classroom has developed a 20-course curriculum in basic theological instruction that pastors are using around the world. This curriculum enables denominations and parachurch organizations to gather pastors and start a structured, organized training program to help train their pastors and leaders in biblical theology.
These courses replicate Bible school or seminary courses but are simplified. They are culturally adaptable, changing some stories and illustrations to adapt to different areas of the world. The courses have been translated into 30 languages and are currently working on Arabic, Tagalog, Hindi, Mandarin, French, Portuguese, Nepalese, and Swahili translations.
“We’re the Uber of training. Uber has multiplied taxis by the millions by making use of personal vehicles. We think we could multiply training programs and indigenous classrooms in the world using the gifts and resources of the body of Christ.” explains Tim Keep, President of Shepherd’s Global.
Shepherd’s Global Classroom is one of the newest members of GACX, a global alliance for church multiplication. They joined GACX in January 2023. However, they are already actively collaborating with other GACX members.
Shepherd’s Global immediately started sharing its resources with Our Daily Bread University (ODBU), and ODBU reciprocated. Tim Keep states that he found Our Daily Bread “extremely warm and open to collaborating.” They are even starting conversations to develop a conjoined website where they can both share their curriculum with others. “Together, we just want to help meet the needs of underserved Christian leaders worldwide. They have the same heart that we do.” elaborates Keep.
Shepherd’s Global is also partnering with a branch of BEE World called ITE (Internet Theological Education). With ITE, they are focusing on making their curriculum more digitally available.
The curriculum that Shepherd’s Global offers is free for its partners. They currently have structured training programs in 37 countries, and their free app has been downloaded in over 100 countries.
“We would love to connect with organizations that need curriculum and don’t want to reinvent the wheel. We would love to save the time, energy, and expense of creating curriculum resources for others. We’re just trying to build relationships.” expresses Keep.