One million leaders in Latin America will be trained as part of a U.S. ministry’s newest initiative.
Entitled the "Million Leader Mandate," EQUIP’s campaign will be launched early next year in Latin America in 12 countries and at 20 sites, and will challenge Latin American leaders to change their nations.
According to the EQUIP ministry, over 24,000 Latin American leaders will be equipped upon the campaign’s launch. Each of those leaders will, in turn be expected to train 25 more for a total of 624,000 leaders. By the end of 2008, organizers expect a total of one million leaders trained.
The Latin American leg of the campaign follows after a similar initiative in Europe, which launched in February 2005 in an effort to turn around the declining influence of the church in Europe.
According to some church leaders, biblical leadership is at the heart of every church-related problem.
“We believe that in order to be effective in our churches and communities, Christian leaders need to develop others into relevant, innovative leaders—not just followers,” said EQUIP President John Hull, in a statement.
Reflecting on leaders in Poland, Associate Trainer Mark Harrell said, "They are hungry for godly quality in the leadership material and desire to see revival and spiritual awakening.”
EQUIP was founded by best-selling author and leadership expert Dr. John C. Maxwell to help Christians advance their leadership skills through conferences, leadership curriculum, church partnerships and technology. The ministry also empowers those trained to then pass on their training to others.
“Biblical leadership training and resources are our most urgent need at this crucial point in the history of our nation,” said one director of a large orphanage in Keiv.
“Million Leaders Mandate will help shape the future of Ukraine’s church and the culture of Ukraine as a whole,” he added.
The first Latin America event will be held on Jan. 27-28, 2006 in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. To prepare for the launch, Maxwell and an EQUIP team will visit six Latin American countries.
In two years, EQUIP has trained 850,000 leaders in 64 countries.
Rhoda Tse
Christian Today Correspondent