Equipping leaders through MOCLAM
Jim and Tanja French are serving the Lord in Spain, where they teach MOCLAM courses to leaders from evangelical churches and the GBU. Jim tells some of the story here.
MOCLAM’s training partnerships
MOCLAM offers courses to Christians in Latin America and Spain. The three certificates focus on reading the Bible as one whole plan of salvation from Genesis to Revelation, where all God’s promises are fulfilled in Jesus.
MOCLAM España (Spain) currently has 35 students. We have two large groups studying in Gran Canaria through two evangelical churches. The pastors and teaching elders from these churches teach the course. The MOCLAM España team provides materials, support, and intensives. It is our hope and prayer to see the model these two churches use multiplied throughout Spain.
MOCLAM España also has a strong partnership with a Christian University fellowship, Grupo Bíblicos Unidos (GBU), which seeks to evangelise, train and disciple university students. We currently have five GBU advisors studying with us. One of our students, Juan Pablo Serrano, has taken on an important role in training and overseeing the GBU workers in Spain.
Students equipping others
This year in MOCLAM España, we started a small Intermediate Certificate group of students who have completed the Preliminary Certificate. The group has some exceptional students, who reflect the goal of CMS to train godly leaders that serve God and equip others.
One student, Susi, edits and manages ‘Vertical Vision’–a Christian website that seeks to reach out to people across the world with gospel resources. Another student, Juan, (mentioned above), is training another GBU advisor who is also undertaking a MOCLAM course. Samuel is an elder at an evangelical church in the Canary Islands, where he preaches, leads and runs the youth group.
Ronaldo Santana, another student, is the coordinator of Grupo Bíblicos Estudiantiles (GBE), the Christian high school student fellowship in the Canary Islands. Ronaldo was introduced to MOCLAM material by John Lovell, former CMS missionary and now the CMS NSW & ACT Executive Director, and then invited his sister and his church to participate in the course. He says, “my desire is to continue studying with MOCLAM, to learn more about the Lord, grow in his Word and in my relationship with him, and thus be able to serve better and be a help and blessing to the GBE students and to my church.”
Raising up servant-hearted leaders
The Bible is clear about the importance of training godly leaders. God desires to raise up leaders who share his servant heart. This is why CMS aims to humbly train and equip godly leaders, placing missionaries in locations where they will show love by learning the culture and language, and training locals to evangelise, disciple, and equip their own people. We do this so that God may answer the Lord’s Prayer through us: that his kingdom may come on earth as
it is in heaven.
Tanja and I serve as MOCLAM International team members alongside several other CMS missionaries: Adrian and Anita Lovell in Bolivia, Chris and Stef Overhall in Chile, and Lauren Raiter, also in Spain. Please pray for our team, and that God would raise up more workers to continue and expand the MOCLAM work both in Latin America and in Spain.
PRAY
Give thanks to God for the MOCLAM students, the GBU, and the two churches in Gran Canaria using MOCLAM material. Pray that God would continue to raise up many servant-hearted leaders in Spain and Latin America, who will in turn equip people in their local contexts.
