Mentor's Manual

Preface

Greetings in Christ! On behalf of all of us here at the Institute, we welcome you to your role as Mentor of one of our classes! What a privilege it is to be able to partner with you as you join us in mentor- ing others at our satellite of The Urban Ministry Institute . We are confident that as you share with others your experience in ministry and knowledge of God’s Word, God will use you to enrich and equip them to bear fruit for the Kingdom. Christ himself has promised to bless you as you lead and share with your students your skill, prayer, and experience. We have designed this Mentor’s Manual to help you fulfill your ministry with us with excellence and creativity. Your role as a Mentor is critical to the overall success of your students’ educa- tional preparation. We trust the Lord that through your study of this manual you will come to better understand how you can best provide your church leaders with quality theological and ministry education. Our vision for facilitating servant leadership development is rooted in a burden to raise up a generation of men and women outfitted by their knowledge of Scripture, energized by the power of the Holy Spirit, and burdened to serve the broken and the poor in the city. Given the numbers immigrating to cities, the diverse populations yet to be evaluated among the urban unreached, we surmise that we may need in excess of 500,000 pastor-shepherds in the next decade. Your interest in equipping leaders with the Word of God is a direct answer to the prayers of his people who for years have sought his blessing upon the millions of unreached peoples in the cities of the world. Our prayer as a ministry is that God will multiply your efforts and equipping in such a way that laborers are raised up for the urban harvest. Your contribution is critical to this effort. Surprisingly, you will see from the argument within this manual that we do not view ourselves primarily as an educational institu- tion but rather as a network dedicated to equipping and training leaders who serve the under-served in the city. Whether you are a site coordinator, mentor, or volunteer this is essential to both understand and embrace. Of course, it is far easier to use the categories and paradigms of the academy as you establish an

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