Annual Report (2009-2010) For the Educational Ministries Resource Centre Prepared by EMRC Director Perry Shaw November 2010 teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you (Matthew 28:20)
A - Introduction The training of leadership for the Church of Jesus Christ is one of the most significant of all Christian educational activities. Unfortunately however few instructors at theological seminaries in the Middle East and beyond have had the opportunity to be trained in education, and there is a consequent tendency for instructors to revert to often ineffectual traditional modes of instruction. To help remedy this situation, the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary (ABTS) established an Educational Ministries Resource Centre in October 2007 with the specific remit of providing human and material resources for facilitating excellence in strategic educational ministry in the Middle East and beyond. B - Ministries of EMRC during 2009-2010 During its second year the Resource Centre has continued to serve within its four-pronged mandate: (1) the empowerment of the Church in Arab world, and in particular Syria and Lebanon; (2) strengthening the quality of education at the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary; (3) participation in faculty training conferences in the Middle East and beyond; (4) development of a resource library of materials in English and Arabic. The core EMRC team is Perry Shaw, Arthur Brown, and Rodolphe Hayek, with Mireille Haddad, Sarah Chetti, and Joyce Saddi providing advice and help as appropriate. Short biographical sketches of team members can be found on the EMRC page of the ABTS website: www.abtslebanon.org/emrc. The team has worked in a variety of ways: Objective 1: Empowerment of the Church in Syria and Lebanon Networking There are currently a large variety of ministries taking place in Syria and Lebanon. However, networking between these ministries is often poor. The following networking activities took place during the year: Arthur Brown is one of the key players in the Lebanon Youth and Children at Risk Network. Arthur was involved in the regular monthly Network Breakfast meetings, and in training and the organizing of events. Arthur participated in the annual Near East Initiative gathering that gathers practitioners from throughout Lebanon to strategize for effective mission. Perry and Arthur participated in the Global Children s Forum, this year held in Lebanon from 23-26 March. Arthur facilitated a visit to Lebanon of the Global Fund for Children. In the near future ABTS will be hosting an Arabic medium website where the bulk of the EMRC resources will be placed. Perry has had meetings with Najla Kassab and Rosangela Jarjour to discuss co-ordination and cross-linking between the EMRC website, the Presbyterian Synod website, and the FMEEC website, and to avoid duplication of effort. Page 2 of 9
Both Perry and Arthur have met with Youeel Tarabay to look for ways in which EMRC and Le Grain do Blé can cooperate. Perry has met periodically with Shaké Goecherian (Director of the Christian Education Resource Center at Near East School of Theology) to ensure solid cooperation between the ABTS and NEST Resource Centres. Training: Perry continues to work with local churches and denomination in the curricular development of training conferences. Both Perry and Arthur are regular involved in facilitating sessions at local training events. Specifically during the past year, as part of the ministry of EMRC, Perry and Arthur have played a major role in the following: Perry has worked with the Fellowship of Middle Eastern Evangelical Churches in the curricular development of series of training conferences for the Presbyterian synods of Iraq and Iran. In December Perry spoke at a training event held by Le Grain de Blé training event for Syrian workers. In February Perry led a training event on Developmental Psychology with workers from the Christian Alliance churches. Arthur helped facilitate the @ Risk Network Training event for Residential Care Home House Parents Tell Me Why. Both Perry and Arthur led training events with Youth for Christ s 20-Plus group. Both Perry and Hikmat Kashouh (ABTS Academic Dean) spoke at the second training conference of Christian Educators in the Presbyterian Church of Iraq. In May a writers workshop was held under the auspices, led by Tim Stafford and Riad Kassis, with participation from Ghassan Khalaf and Samuel Shahid. There were nine participants from Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, and Iran. Karen Shaw (ABTS) spoke at a training conference for leaders from the Iranian Evangelical Church. A follow-up event for the Presbyterian Synod Sunday School Teachers took place in September, in which Perry assisted Najla Kassab, and at which participants were given CDs of EMRC resources. Page 3 of 9
Publishing: The joint project through ABTS is nearly complete to translate and publish Starting Right, one of the most significant texts in youth ministry produced in the past 30 years. The Arabic version should be available by early 2011. Arthur Brown has been editor of the youth resource book produced jointly through EMRC, the Youth Ministry Network, and World Vision, entitled Developing Ministry Among Youth. The text provides every chapter in both Arabic and English. The text is complete and will be on the market before the conclusion of 2010. There is a dearth of original Arabic-language Christian children s songs. Joyce Saddi (an accomplished musician on the EMRC Team) with Lucien Salloum has overseen the production of a CD of new songs. The CD is complete and will be on the market before the end of 2010. During 2009-2010 Arthur coordinated with Youth for Christ to collect materials suitable for use as a part of a camp curriculum. These resources will be going on the new Arabic-medium ABTS website Web-Based Resources Emerging generations are becoming less-interested in published materials, and increasingly looking for readilyavailable resources on the web. In response the EMRC has been devoting the bulk of its finances to developing quality web-based educational resources in Arabic. Initially the materials have been made available through the ABTS (English-medium) website and on distributed CDs. Before the conclusion of 2010 ABTS will have an Arabic-medium website which will be easier access for users in the region. Over the past twelve months the following resources have been developed: Three original locally-produced children s seasonal dramas (Christmas and Easter) have been produced including script, director s guide, musical notes, songs with and without words in MP3, and short video-clips showing actions for the songs. The response has been excellent and the dramas have been used in churches throughout Lebanon, Syria, and Egypt. Subject to the availability of Page 4 of 9
finances further dramas are planned for the coming year. One of the most significant English-medium web resources currently accessed for youth ministry is Rob Bell s Nooma short video-clips. Following significant planning and conceptualization two comparable video-clips were prepared in Arabic as a pilot during 2009-2010 in Arabic. These will be going on the new Arabic-medium ABTS website. Dialogue has also begun with SAT-7 to investigate their use on satellite television. We have developed a number of games and crafts in Arabic. A listing of Arabic-language websites has been prepared to provide links to other sites. These resources will be placed on the new Arabic-medium ABTS website. Objective 2: Strengthening the quality of education at Arab Baptist Theological Seminary As a ministry belonging to the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary, the Centre sees as a priority the strengthening of the quality of education of this institution. Through the EMRC, Perry Shaw and Arthur Brown have been working with the ABTS Leadership Team in: The development of the creative new ABTS curriculum that seeks to train students in formative holistic reflective practice. The new curriculum has successfully completed its first academic year and has just begun its second year. Information on the new curriculum can be found at www.abtslebanon.org/newcurriculum A faculty workshop led by Perry was held in February to shape the Second Year of the New Curriculum, and sketch the three Tracks (Pastoral Ministry, Contextualized Church Planting, and Ministry with Children, Youth, and Families). The third year curriculum will be conceptualized in a workshop to be held in February 2011. Following the workshop Arthur and Perry worked during March to May on tightening the Year A module syllabi and the shape of the Tracks Objective 3: International Services Faculty Training The need for seeking excellence in theological education is worldwide. In March, as part of the ministries of the ABTS EMRC, Perry and Rodolphe led a four-day joint faculty training conference on intentionality in theological education for theological colleges in Bangladesh. The EMRC covered the cost of airfares to the nearest major airport, and the colleges covered costs of local transportation and accommodation. Information on Faculty Training Seminars can be found at: www.abtslebanon.org/emrc/facultytraining Page 5 of 9
A similar 5-day conference was led by Perry at South Asia Institute for Advanced Christian Studies (Bangalore, India) in April. Perry was invited to give two keynote sessions on curriculum development at the Overseas Council Institute for Excellence in Christian Leadership Development, for leaders of the Chinese-speaking seminaries outside of China, held in Taiwan in April. TEACH/LEARN is a major joint project between SAT-7 and MEATE seeking to provide quality theological programming and multi-media on-line theological education in Arabic. Perry has been leading the curriculum team in the development of a curricular shape for the project. Development of Future Educational Leaders In April Perry was invited to participate in a joint consultation between Peacemakers International and the Asian Graduate School of Theology to conceptualize a PhD program in Biblical Peacemaking. The EMRC has been working in close cooperation with MEATE and the Asian Graduate School of Theology Alliance in the facilitation of MTh/PhD studies in Christian Education. Perry has accepted to serve as MEATE representative on the Board of the AGST Alliance, and will also be teaching a module for AGST in April 2011. Perry is serving on the guiding committee for the Second Symposium for Asian Professors of Christian Education to be held in Kuala Lumpur in April 2011. Articles by EMRC Team The following articles written by members of the EMRC Team have been published during 2009-2010: Arthur wrote two articles for YouthWorkInternational.com on the Convention on the Rights of the Child. These will be translated into Arabic for their website and will also be available for the new ABTS Arabic-medium website. Perry s New Treasures with the Old : Addressing Culture and Gender Imperialism in Higher Level Theological Education was published as a chapter in the Asian Theological Association publication Tending the Seedbeds. Perry s article A Welcome Guest: Ministerial Training as an Act of Hospitality was accepted for publication in Christian Education Journal and will appear in their Spring 2011 issue. Perry continues to serve as a peer reviewer for Christian Education Journal. Objective 4: Resource Library Recognizing the need in the Middle East for relevant ministry-related resources, the EMRC has continued to purchase for the ABTS library key educational texts in English and Arabic. These resources are held in the ABTS library, but referenced as being part of the EMRC collection. There is currently little if any communication between those who publish theological materials in Arabic. As a part of the EMRC ministry Rodolphe has overseen the progress of the database project, with the help of two ABTS students. At the beginning of the year approximately 450 books had been partially entered. By 30 September this had risen to 11662 entries (4588 entries fully Page 6 of 9
complete; 7074 entries with partial information). It is anticipated that the database project will be complete and available for use in regional libraries by the end of 2011. C - Proposed Activities and Projects for 2010-2011 While we are grateful for all that has been accomplished during the first two years of operation of the EMRC, there is much more that can and needs to be done to promote educational excellence among the churches of the Middle East. Following are some key proposed activities and projects per each of EMRC s four main objectives: 1. Strengthening the Church in Syria, Lebanon, and Throughout the Middle East and North Africa: Networking: Continue developing an e-network of practitioners, providing them with resources and information on-line as available. Involvement in the Youth at Risk and Near East Initiative networks. Coordination with regional denominational education leaders. Training: Continue working with local church ministries in development of training curricula and conferences. Offer Certificate level training as a part of the Ministry Tracks offered in the new ABTS curriculum. Publishing: Complete the translation and publication of Starting Right. Distribute the Youth Ministry Resource Book and the CD of original Arabic-language children s songs. Website: Place on the new ABTS Arabic-interface website resources for regional users. Specifically we plan to complete three seasonal dramas, three ministry video-clips, substantial parts of the youth camp curriculum, and place on line other resources that will serve the Arab churches. 2. Strengthening the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary: Continue work on developing the new ABTS curriculum. Training of ABTS Faculty in educational methodology. Prepare for Accreditation Visit, to be held in November 2011. 3. International Services: Faculty Training: Trips are currently planned to Nepal in early January 2011, and to East Malaysia in November 2011. Perry will also be giving three keynote addresses and leading a workshop at the Church Based Training symposium to be held in Vienna in May 2011, as well as leading the training component of the TEEquippers ( Training the Trainers) final event to be held in Bangkok in June 2011. Development of Future Educational Leaders: Perry will be leading modules for doctoral students at Asian Graduate School of Theology Alliance in April 2011, and for Columbia International University Korntal (Germany) campus in June 2011. Networking: Arthur will be attending International Association for the Study of Youth Ministry Biannual International Conference being held in Pretoria (South Africa) in January. Funds permitting, Perry, Arthur, and Rodolphe will all be attending the second Asian Forum for Christian Educators, to be held in Kuala Lumpur in April 2011. Page 7 of 9
4. Resource Library: Continue researching and ordering materials in Arabic and English for the EMRC collection at the ABTS library. Work towards completion of the database project by conclusion of 2011. D Budget vs. Actual EMRC's Actual 2009-2010 vs. Projected 2010-2011 Budget Budget Actual Projected EMRC Objectives October 1st, 2009 - September 30, 2010 U.S. Dollars Budget (2010-2011) Balance Brought Forward (October 1, 2009) 21,884.80 7,104.01 Income 10,000.00 5,241.51 50,000.00 Partnership 10,000.00 4,041.51 50,000.00 Honoraria 1,200.00 Expenditure Objective 1: Empowerment of the Church in Syria and Lebanon 13,700.00 6,806.18 9,000.00 Networking 200.00 340.00 500.00 Training 1,000.00 490.00 500.00 Publishing 12,500.00 5,976.18 8,000.00 Objective 2: The Arab Baptist Theological Seminary 1,000.00 1,000.00 Objective 3: International Services 4,000.00 1,999.60 5,500.00 Faculty Training 2,000.00 1,999.60 1,000.00 Development of Future Educational Leaders 2,000.00 1,000.00 International Networking 3,500.00 Objective 4: Resource Library 8,900.00 8,451.00 33,550.00 Books 3,500.00 1,076.00 1,500.00 Website materials 5,400.00 Website Development 4,300.00 Seasonal dramas 3,375.00 5,750.00 Ministry video-clips 4,000.00 16,000.00 Games, crafts, etc. 1,000.00 Youth Curriculum 5,000.00 Total Projects 27,600.00 17,256.78 49,050.00 Unforeseen Expenses 30.00 2,500.00 Administration 4,000.00 2,735.52 7,732.50 Total EMRC Budget 31,600.00 20,022.30 56,407.50 Balance at end of year 284.80 7,104.01 696.51 Page 8 of 9
E - Contact Information For more information about the ministry of the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary s Educational Ministries Resource Centre (www.abtslebanon.org/emrc), please contact: Dr. Perry Shaw, Professor of Christian Education Director of EMRC Arab Baptist Theological Seminary Email: Pshaw@abtslebanon.org Alia Abboud Director of Development & Partner Relations Arab Baptist Theological Seminary, Email: AAbboud@Lsesd.org Page 9 of 9