Apprenticeships

iServe Africa, Kenya apprenticeships

Email: info@iserveafrica.org
Website: https://www.iserveafrica.org

iServe Africa: The Background

iServe Africa is an apprenticeship  program that seeks to  help young Christian men and women to develop a deeper mission, vision and commitment to gospel ministry through participation in one to two year placements in a local church, mission agency or other Christian organization. It is a networking initiative that aims to promote gospel ministry through linking churches with graduate volunteers in an Apprenticeship model. The programme is conceived to helpfully use the time in the hands of fresh graduates to supplement the ministry needs of local churches and christian organisations.

Started in 2007 iServe Africa offers apprenticeship opportunities in partnership with local churches and christian organisations in Kenya and beyond. Ideally, the placements are cross-cultural and the apprentices learn from experienced gospel workers in a win - win situation where both the apprentice and the local church mutually benefit. The apprentices are prepared before the placement, have adequate supervision and training throughout the apprenticeship and are sensitively debriefed after the year. The programme aims to give the apprentices new experiences, expose them to the needs and opportunities available in gospel ministry - all with a view to enabling them grow in their commitment to God and facilitate their future involvement in gospel ministry

Modelled after 9:38 apprenticeship programme in the UK and elsewhere, iServe Africa seeks to give fresh graduates opportunities of involvement in Christian ministry, helping them to explore the needs and opportunities available in gospel ministry. iServe Africa welcomes those that are keen to test the waters of christian ministry as well as those who are eager to exercise their calling to serve. 

After their year, some might go into longer term mission work, some might seek ordination into church ministry, some might go into theological studies and some might go into the market place to  bear witness to Christ there. Either way, the experience is life transforming, character building and disciple making.

iServe Africa has the following objectives;

• To raise a generation of gospel workers for the body of Christ through apprenticeships
• To serve the body of Christ through quality training on faithful Bible teaching & Leadership.
• To supplement the work of the local church, mission agency or Christian organisation by sending and supporting apprentices.
• To be a structure in which younger Christians can spend a year learning and contributing meaningfully in Gospel Ministry.

iServe Africa : The Concept

The vision of iServe Africa is that many gifted and godly men and women would be identified, recruited, trained and sent out to handle the gospel of Jesus Christ faithfully, confidently, clearly and relevantly in Africa and beyond.

 iServe Africa provides a different  emphasis besides the  ‘lay assistants' and ‘interns' that churches engage to support various ministries. Internship programmes focus on the immediate needs of the individual for pre employment skills rather than the long term needs of the church for qualified workers. The prime interest in iServe Africa is more in helping individuals understand and train for gospel ministry and less on cheap labor for the placement. The ideal combination is an apprentice who is keen to serve and a placement that deliberately seeks to train and develop workers.

iServe Africa: The Emphasis

iServe Africa will generally seek to address three principal themes of competence for gospel ministry these are Character, Knowledge and Skills.

Each individual is different and this needs to be taken into account when designing roles for each apprentice. Some have considerable experience and can be given more responsibility than others. Some are seeking to explore the possibility of a particular kind of ministry and therefore need specific training, e.g. for children's and youth work.

Character

The Bible is clear that along with the ability to teach sound doctrine and refute error, the foremost prerequisite for church leaders is godliness. This requires honesty in addressing the following areas:

1. Holiness - Including integrity, prayerfulness, personal devotions and family life.
2. Teamwork - Co-operating with and supporting others in their ministry, loyalty and submission to leaders and a common goal.
3. Faithfulness - Commitment to God, His word and His people, emotional and theological tenacity.
4. Humility -  Willingness to be changed by God's word, to accept and receive advice and criticism from others and to perform menial and unglamorous tasks.

The rigors of the work and the experience of team life usually show up the real person and any areas of weakness which need to be addressed. Each apprentice should be assigned a pastoral carer with whom they have occasional one-to-one sessions at which personal matters can be discussed.

Knowledge

Character and skills are best forged in an apprenticeship and this is done at the Nairobi Ministry Training Course held for one week every three months. One part of it covers key doctrines and church history while the other half deals with practical aspects of ministry such as understanding what the Bible means and teaching it to others.  Although the programme is not designed to pre-empt formal theological education, it does provide some theological input such as - Principles of Biblical interpretation, Basic Biblical and systematic theology, practice in the application of theology to issues of ministry, an awareness of the need to distinguish error from truth and some awareness of theological issues in preparation for theological /further study. Apprentices  take  turns to prepare and give expository talks from Bible passages and facilitators give them feedback.

Skills

The main skill areas the iServe Africa seeks to address are:

• Preaching & Teaching - Apprentices are to be given a range of teaching opportunities as appropriate. These include one-to-one discipleship,  youth/children's work, leading small group Bible studies etc. NMTC  emphasizes  faithful bible teaching.
• Discipleship: apprentices will meet with individuals in the church for one-to-one to Bible study. They should also do compassionate visits to encourage other Christians.
• Leadership - Opportunities will be given to nurture other Christians, prepare, lead and pray in public meetings, organize conferences and regular events and lead on a youth camp. Much of leadership is learnt by observation and hence apprentices should attend staff meetings.
• Evangelism  - This includes caring about  and praying for non Christian. It includes  understanding the gospel and explaining it, basic apologetics, knowing how to lead someone to Christ, giving an evangelistic talk including the appeal to repent and believe, dealing with common questions and planning an evangelistic Bible study/course
• Weekly fraternal - The ministry review discussions held between the apprentice and their supervisor helps  apprentices to grasp and assess the strategy of the placement  and be able to work for its progress, consider the ‘needs of the hour', and develop an awareness of the importance of people rather than just structures and buildings.
• People - The important skills of understanding, listening, encouraging, rebuking, dealing with conflict and success, and personal and corporate decision making should be emphasized.

iServe Africa : Leadership

iServe Africa is led by Harrison Mungai. Harrison trained as a Mathematics and Business Studies teacher from the University of Nairobi.  After a short stint in High School Teaching, Harrison resigned and volunteered in Norcot Mission Church in Reading, UK and during the following year did an apprenticeship  with the 9:38 movement at All Saints Crowborough in Sussex, UK.  Harrison works with a team of christian leaders in Kenya who give oversight and guidance to the programme.

iServe Africa - 2010 Recruitment

This year, we are seeking to recruit 24 apprentices and send them to 20 placements accross Kenya. The minimum requirements are;

• Committed  Christian of sound character and good reputation
• Single with no dependants
• Aged between 21 and 28 by the time of application.
• Membership to a local Evangelical church
• Active involvement in their church or Christian Union
• Willingness to give a year to cross cultural Christian service.
• Willingness to participate in partnership development (friendraising) for their support.
• Openess to learn and work under tight schedules
• Keen to work in a local church/ community with a wide age spectrum in varying tasks.
• Genuine interest and/or current involvement in youth and children's work .
• Fresh graduate who has cleared or will clear studies before Sept 2010.

If you are keen to explore ministry in African context, then an iServe Africa  apprenticeship is what you want. Please contact Antonia Instone (Crosslinks) on the details provided for advice on the next step. 

Antonia Instone

Smile Programme Coordinator
251 Lewisham Way
London
SE4 1XF

Tel: +44 208 691 6111

E Mail - smile@crosslinks.org

www.crosslinks.org/smile

  

For more info:

Programme Coordinator,
iServe Africa Apprenticeship Programme
P.O Box 75003 - 00200
NAIROBI - KENYA.

Tel 020 250 20 30
Mobile - +254 710 29 30 90.
E mail - info@iserveafrica.org
Website - www.iserveafrica.org