1 Equipping Scholars and Leaders By Wayne Bornholdt As our name indicates we are interested in “networks” and “networking.” We frequently collaborate with other groups doing work that supports both their mission and ours. One such partner is Scholar Leaders International (SLI), based in Illinois. SLI is a group encouraging and enabling theologically- trained leaders from the Majority World. SLI provides scholarships for these men and women to come to the West to study and train to become significant leaders back in their homeland. Upon returning to their home institutions, these scholars usually encounter a shortage of books in their field of study. The rich resources to which they had access in the West are no longer available to them once they have returned. This is an impediment to their teaching and scholarship. The Theological Book Network and SLI have embarked upon a project that addresses the need for appropriate resources for these November 15, 2012 Volume 4, Issue 2 scholars. The project began in 2011 and is scheduled to be completed by the end of this calendar year. The outlines of the project are fairly straight- forward. The Network’s trained staff will provide 125-150 books that fit the subject area of the scholar’s field of study. These books are for their personal use in teaching, research and writing. We then provide an additional 1000-1200 titles to the scholar’s institutional library, thus strengthening the school’s resources for use by students, faculty and local churches. The scholars engaged in this project are from ten countries: Cote D’ivoire, Ethiopia, the Congo, the Philippines, Ghana, Cameroon, South Sudan, Argentina, Algeria and Puerto Rico. The schools with which the scholar-leader is affiliated are all established institutions that provide quality theological training in their respective regions. Generally, this instruction is Some of the institutions we have shipped to in July-October 2012 Instituto Biblico Ebenezer, San Cristobal, Venezuela Africa International University, Nairobi, Kenya Wuhan University, Wuhan, China Fundacion University Seminario Biblico, Medellin, Columbia Evangelical Theological Seminary, Cairo, Egypt Evangelical Theological Seminary of Puerto Rico, San Juan Theological Book Theological Book Theological Book Theological Book Network Network Network Network 3529 Patterson Ave SE Grand Rapids MI 49512 616-532-3890 Phone: 616-532-3890 www.theologicalbooknetwork.org [email protected]Converting excess in our world to access in the rest of the world. The Newsletter of the Theological Book Network, Inc. Books Shipped July-October 2012 50,603 The Network News “Upon returning to their home institutions, these scholars usually encounter a shortage of books in their field of study.”
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1
Equipping Scholars and Leaders By Wayne Bornholdt
As our name indicates we are interested in
“networks” and “networking.” We frequently
collaborate with other groups doing work
that supports both their mission and ours.
One such partner is Scholar Leaders
International (SLI), based in Illinois. SLI is a
group encouraging and enabling theologically-
trained leaders from the Majority World.
SLI provides scholarships for these men and
women to come to the West to study and
train to become significant leaders back in
their homeland.
Upon returning to their home institutions,
these scholars usually encounter a shortage of
books in their field of study. The rich
resources to which they had access in the
West are no longer available to them once
they have returned. This is an impediment to
their teaching and scholarship.
The Theological Book Network and SLI have
embarked upon a project that addresses the
need for appropriate resources for these
November 15, 2012 Volume 4, Issue 2
scholars. The project began in 2011 and is
scheduled to be completed by the end of this
calendar year.
The outlines of the project are fairly straight-
forward. The Network’s trained staff will
provide 125-150 books that fit the subject area
of the scholar’s field of study. These books are
for their personal use in teaching, research and
writing. We then provide an additional
1000-1200 titles to the scholar’s institutional
library, thus strengthening the school’s resources
for use by students, faculty and local churches.
The scholars engaged in this project are from ten
countries: Cote D’ivoire, Ethiopia, the Congo,
the Philippines, Ghana, Cameroon, South Sudan,
Argentina, Algeria and Puerto Rico.
The schools with which the scholar-leader is
affiliated are all established institutions that
provide quality theological training in their
respective regions. Generally, this instruction is
Some of the institutions we
have shipped to in
July-October 2012
Instituto Biblico
Ebenezer, San Cristobal,
Venezuela
Africa International
University,
Nairobi, Kenya
Wuhan University,
Wuhan, China
Fundacion University
Seminario Biblico,
Medellin, Columbia
Evangelical Theological
Seminary,
Cairo, Egypt
Evangelical Theological
Seminary of Puerto
Rico, San Juan
Theological BookTheological BookTheological BookTheological Book
Even though my seminary has one of the better equipped libraries in Africa, my observation is that it has less than one fourth of the books in the fourth floor of Calvin’s Hekman Library alone! Many of the theological books we need in Africa are only available from abroad. African theological schools are able to buy some books; however, since many of the books needed are foreign books and are not cheap to purchase, only a few books can be purchased each year. The books we need in Africa are mostly books on: New Testament studies and theology, Old Testament studies and theology, Apologetics, Systematic Theology, Doctrinal studies, History, Philosophy, Missiology, Biblical Languages, Lexicons, Dictionaries (on various fields), Ethics, Western and Eastern Traditional Religion, Biographies of ancient theologians, materials of ancient theologians, etc. I pray that the Lord enables the believers in the United States to see the need and the importance to support the theological schools in Africa with the much needed books. And I am so grateful for the work of Theological Book Network and all who support their work. Thank you all for the opportunity to share this need with you. Remain blessed in the Lord.”
Emmanuel Saba Bileya (Rev.)
Keynote Address by Emmanuel Bileya:
The Value of Theological Books in Africa “Calvary greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I am Emmanuel Saba Bileya, an ordained pastor with the Christian Reformed Church of Nigeria (CRCN). I have a Bachelor of Divinity from the Theological College of Northern Nigeria (TCNN) in Plateau State, Nigeria. In addi-tion to being a church planter and a pastor, I served as the Coordinator of the Theological Education by Extension (TEE) for the Christian Reformed Church of Nigeria. I was also a member of the governing Board of Veenstra Theological Seminary (VTS) for 4 years. Prior to coming to Calvin Theological Seminary, I served as a teacher and the Dean of Studies at the Christian Leadership Training College in Nigeria. From my experience with these schools – which are like so many theological schools in Africa – I can boldly testify that theological books are seriously needed in the theological schools of Africa.
I can still remember, at the Theological College of Northern Nigeria during my undergraduate studies, how we could not find some books for our assignments or thesis projects. Our assignments were on courses like: Church History, New Testament, Global Trends, etc. My project was on B ib l ica l Pattern for Missions. The assigned
books were few or not available at all in the library. Some students used to rush to check out the few books left for some courses, leaving others with none. The most painful experience was when we could not find the required books in either the library or popular bookshops. Sometimes when we could find the books we needed in the bookshops they were expensive beyond what we could afford – they were foreign books. The shocking thing is that even though my seminary is one of the largest and most popular seminaries in Africa, there were many times when the needed books were not available.