She entered the church silently, moved to where chairs had been set up for a leadership training seminar, and sat down with arms crossed. Enrolled in the Biblical Interpretation module, Neela (phonetic spelling) maintained a stern expression and did not interact freely with the other participants.

Neela is a church planter in Cambodia and was recently received as a conference ministerial candidate. But she was hiding a secret: She doesn’t know how to read. Her closed demeanor may have reflected a defense mechanism against the shame of being asked to read aloud. However, she is not fully illiterate! As the module continued, her demeanor softened, and she tried reading the Bible aloud – sounding out the words – in a small-group activity.

Neela is from a non-Christian background and came to know the Lord when Jesus healed her even though other “powers” could not. She resisted her family’s pressure to have a traditional wedding ceremony to appease the spirits and instead had a Christian wedding. She no longer needs to offer sacrifices to the spirits and is sharing the gospel with others.

Neela is one of the vibrant Christian leaders in Asia who is receiving pastoral training through Gethsemane Leadership Training (GLT), an FMWM-Asia initiative. GLT provides high-quality leadership development through modular instruction and intentional mentoring. It empowers gifted leaders for whom traditional pastoral education is unattainable.

Another example of someone who can benefit from GLT is Kris from Creative Access-NP. Kris is a conference ministerial candidate, but she has never been able to take an in-person GLT module due to her secular work schedule. She is well educated and speaks excellent English. With her leadership potential being recognized, Kris was invited to attend the Better Together Converge conference in November 2023. She was chosen to film teaching clips for the GLT training videos. These videos will help people like Kris because they can be viewed on personal cell phones or computers. Once the videos are complete, Kris can receive GLT training, which is inaccessible to her now.

We are currently halfway through filming the 13 core GLT modules, and post production is ongoing. Please join us in praying for the completion of this project and the fruitful equipping of 10,000 new leaders like Neela and Kris.

You can learn more about the video project and contribute to the GLT Extra Mile Project at https://linktr.ee/fmwm_glt.