{"id":54728,"date":"2024-03-20T07:40:45","date_gmt":"2024-03-20T12:40:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/?p=54728"},"modified":"2024-03-20T07:40:48","modified_gmt":"2024-03-20T12:40:48","slug":"leader-formation-at-kgolagano-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/leader-formation-at-kgolagano-college\/","title":{"rendered":"Leader Formation at Kgolagano College"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Written by:\u00a0Paul Chimhungwe<\/a>, who serves with\u00a0Kgolagano College, Botswana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The beautiful Botswana sunrise reminds me daily that our God is at work in this part of the continent. As a mission co-worker, I am just participating in what the Almighty is accomplishing in Botswana and other parts of the beautiful continent of Africa. His wonderful deeds are displayed daily\u2014what a wonderful miracle-working God we serve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sub-Saharan Africa is now the epicentre of Christianity, with close to 650 million Christians. The Lord is calling many to his fold, but there needs to be more qualified leaders. Only five percent of church leaders are estimated to have a seminary\/college education. This includes even Pentecostal and Charismatic churches. There is a chronic shortage of qualified teachers; this calls for a symbiotic relationship between churches in the Global South and Global North to tackle this challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, it is a privilege to teach at Kgolagano College, the oldest ecumenical seminary in Botswana, founded in 1975. The who-is-who across the churches in Botswana rubbed their shoulders at Kgolagano College, and that legacy continues. I am grateful to our brothers and sisters in the West\u2014especially the United States and Canada\u2014who are partnering with us in eradicating poverty, enhancing justice issues, fighting gender-based violence, improving the quality of life, and training men and women who want to teach and minister to their kith and kin in Africa. Kgolagano College in Gaborone, the capital city of Botswana, is deeply involved in the later training of men and women who aim to teach the Cross of Christ from an ecumenical point of view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gorata Balemoge: A Reformed Former Inmate<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kgolagano College trains Christian leadership principles to selected inmates in some of Botswana\u2019s main prisons. In 2022, our students included Gorata Balemoge, who has been in and out of prison on several occasions. But in 2022, she accepted the lordship of Jesus the Christ of Nazareth and vowed not to break the law. She was released on January 17, 2023, and we have been monitoring her integration programme. So far, she has kept the other side of her vows, and I am constantly in touch with her. At the end of November, she recorded a six-track album, Jeso Ke Kgosi<\/em> Jesus is the King. It will be launched sometime this year. She is currently raising funds to start a tailoring\/dressmaking project. Industrial sewing and industrial overlocking machines are her two main requirements, and I pray that one day, someone will touch and assist her.  Gorata is a talented tailor who made four shirts for me while serving her term. Currently, she is operating a small home bakery, baking confectionary for primary students, but it\u2019s not sustainable financially, hence the need for dressmaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teaching Load<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The college has about thirty students in the three delivery modes: full-time, block release and open distance learning. Most students are in their late twenties and mid-thirties, but a few are above forty. My teaching load includes:<\/p>\n\n\n

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