We have a mentorship plan.
In our 2025-2028 Strategic Plan Priority 3 states in part that:
“We aim to build a vibrant, Christ-centred mentorship program that nurtures spiritual growth and leadership development, and sustainable engagement across generations.”
This aim is intended give us “a leadership pipeline that fosters long-term commitment to holistic, faith-integrated healthcare missions.”
We will not be reinventing the wheel. A Christ-centred program is demonstrated in the Gospels.
As far back as 1871 Christian leaders have written about Jesus’ leadership development methods; how workers were nurtured in a succession plan that entrusted God’s worldwide redemptive plan to a handful of men and women.
From its inception Jesus’ plan included close association with the trainees, they were allowed to interrupt His prayer times; they saw Him weeping and knew what broke His heart. They were present when He debated with religious intellectuals of the day. They were close observers of His compassion for all people including a senior member of their colonial oppressors.
And they heard Him teach and preach His gospel.
To Mentor and mentees life was a classroom in which they shared work experiences and family events.
Over three years, responsibility was delegated with opportunities to rely on providence. It seems from the gospel stories that these early years the apprentices’ missionary endeavors were limited to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel” avoiding and excluding “Gentiles and Samaritans.”
The strategy was to start nearer home in preparation for world evangelization that would follow a commissioning with delegation of greater responsibility when the trainees matured. In-depth study of how Jesus trained leaders shows that He had a plan, but it was not in the form of our modern-day curricula using learner’s manuals, exam dates, and pass grades.
The journey to the Great Commission was inexorable, the timetable fixed, but the route was adapted to and sensitive to the needs and character development of the trainees.
This method worked, otherwise EMAS Canada would not exist.
The investment in training the twelve was the plan Jesus had to ensure the gospel would reach the whole world, there is no evidence of a plan B.
Hudson Taylor 1832-1905, said, “As we aim at being fruitful, we find our need of intelligent understanding of the Divine methods, in order that we may apply them in our own work.”
Christians in China and all over Asia and beyond still trace their spiritual ancestry to Hudson Taylor.
You can support the present day mentoring endeavours by supporting EMAS Canada today or by getting involved. Contact me for more information.
Peter Agwa is the Executive Director of EMAS Canada. A physician and surgeon in his native Kenya, Peter has a passion for Christ-centred healthcare and has a wealth of experience both hosting and sending short-term mission teams. Subscribe to Executive Director's Blog
Feature Image: Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
1. A B Bruce’s groundbreaking study on “The Training of the Twelve” was first published in 1871.