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Like
apples of gold
in settings of silver,
so is
a word skillfully
spoken.
Proverbs
25:11
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MentorLink World Update |
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MentorLink Philippine Case Study
The Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEC) is the major organization of evangelical churches, denominations, and ministries in the Philippines. It is presided over by Bishop Efraim Tendero. He represents evangelicals to the government much like the Filipino Cardinal does on behalf of the Catholic Church. In 2001, Herman Moldez, a board member of the PCEC, was the Filipino Director of Intervarsity Christian Fellowship. Herman had been praying about developing a mentoring ministry under the auspices of the PCEC for years.
MentorLink Philippines Ministry Timeline:
In October 2001, Trainers Of Pastors International Coalition (TOPIC) held a leadership development forum in Manila. Steve Breedlove of MentorLink International (MLI), spoke on “The Impact of Mentoring on Developing New Pastors”, an issue consistently identified as a need in the Filipino church. Steve and Herman Moldez met, talked, and prayed about establishing a ministry relationship.
In January 2002, Herman was invited to Bogotá, Colombia in order to see MLI’s training ministry in action and to determine his long-term relationship with MLI. Further discussions in the U.S. between Steve and Herman solidified Herman’s desire to introduce MLI to the Philippines.
In March 2002, the MLI training team met for five days with Herman and other selected Filipino leaders in Manila to discuss MLI’s overall ministry and to develop a potential strategy for Christ-centered leadership and intentional mentoring in the Philippines. A summary meeting with Bishop Efraim Tendero resulted in a formal adoption of MLI as a department of the PCEC, working with TOPIC to train pastors and spiritual leaders in the growing Filipino church. Herman Moldez was selected as the director of MentorLink Philippines (ML-Phil). The credibility, network, and organizational infrastructure to expand the MLI ministry throughout the Philippines was in place.
In June 2002, Herman and his wife Mercy attended the MLI staff conference in the United States strengthening their relationship and understanding of the MLI ministry. In July 2002 further meetings in Toronto, Canada were held to discuss and develop MLI’s training materials for use in the Philippines and potentially other countries in the region.
In October 2002, six MentorLink personnel and thirty-three Filipino pastors and leaders met in Manila for a five-day Mentoring Training Seminar. At the conclusion of the training, a Filipino leadership team was recognized with Herman as the Director of ML-Phil. Strategic discussions and budget development was discussed during the course of the conference.
Between November 2002 and June 2003, the Filipino team, with strategic support and financial backing of MLI dramatically and creatively expanded the ML-Phil ministry. New materials and methods were developed. ML-Phil contributed significantly to the refinement and growth of MLI’s training ministry.
In June 2003, Herman attended another MLI staff conference in the USA which focused on strategic development.
Between June 2003 and June 2004 multiple training events and activities continued to expand the Filipino ministry geographically and to deepen its impact spiritually. Strategic support and development continued with minimal financial backing from the United States.
July 2004, Herman Moldez and Virgilio Bernardino, a Filipino Pastor and ML-Phil trainer attended the MLI National Leader’s Conference in the United States.
Throughout 2004, ML-Phil spread out of Luzon region and into regions of Visayas and Mindanao. It appeared that the only limit to the spread of the movement was finances.
In 2006, ML-Phil moved into the country of Vietnam. Twenty-three church leaders from the North, Central, and South of Vietnam gathered in Saigon for a four-day training. Additionally, women leaders and youth leaders also received mentoring training.
Since 2006, MLI-Phil has expanded ministry in the Philippines, into additional provinces, among emerging leaders, and among government, military, education, and marketplace leaders ML-Phil also moved into the countries of Indonesia and Mongolia.
MentorLink Philippines Ministry Dynamics:
The ministry in the Philippines developed among a high-caliber of strategic and spiritual leaders who were prepared to take ownership. The PCEC encompasses 90% of all evangelical activity in the nation. Through Bishop Efraim Tendenaro and Herman Moldez the leadership development department was highly interested in mentoring well before MLI appeared. MLI’s ministry was planted in a highly fertile, well-organized atmosphere that was already functioning vibrantly.
Early in the process, ML-Phil began to creatively expand the ministry to touch new segments beyond pastors. Additional segments include: (1) the Philippine Children’s Ministry Network and their 20+ ministries. (2) Spiritual Formation Retreats for overworked pastors and leaders, (3) Women’s Mentoring – the most advanced component of ML-Phil, (4) The Bible League Philippines for their Church Planting Institute training, and (5) numerous other church denominations and para-church organizations.
Additionally, ML-Phil developed new training concepts and materials beyond MLI’s contribution. ML-Phil has developed a 5-level training and expansion strategy complete with strategic concepts, processes, and training materials: (1) Mentor-Training (MT) – both for mentors and mentor-trainers; (2) Mentor-Trainer Spiritual Mentoring Seminars (SMS); (3) Spiritual Mentoring Groups (SMG) – intentional small groups for ongoing field development; (4) Life Mentoring & Transformational Friendships – informal but intentional learning and mentoring; and (5) Life Renewal in Solitude (LRS) – retreats focused on spiritual mentoring of the heart through silence, solitude, and spiritual direction.
ML-Phil had set the pace for much of the MLI movement through effective strategies, training programs, and training materials. In one sense, MLI felt their responsibility was simply to “get out of the way” on the one hand and “to learn as much as they could from the effectiveness of the Filipinos” on the other.
In this context, it would seem that web-based mentoring would be useful, but the web has been a minor player in the Filipino ministry. The advancement of the ministry in the Philippines is highly relational through extensive organizational networks and partnerships; it is not technologically driven. In addition, most, if not all, of those who would use the web in the Philippines are English speaking; therefore the MLI website is inadequate for the needs of the Filipino movement. As a result of these factors, ML-Phil feels future development of the ministry requires investment in key people, trainers, training events, and travel; not in technological advancement.
MentorLink Philippines Ministry Comments from Herman Moldez
“We have seen the impact of mentoring in the lives of individuals and in groups. Mentoring is happening beyond the mentoring retreat/seminar experience to the actual practice of mentoring. There are clear evidences of second-generation mentees, mentors and mentor-trainers... What a great joy to see the impact of mentoring, not only in the life of Pastor Allad but also in the lives of his mentees who he was training to train others in mentoring. He simply introduced me by saying, ‘Here is the person responsible for the transformation happening in your lives.’”
“At this stage, the MLI Phil has already gained ground to become a mentoring movement. We have started to spread beyond simply developing pastors but we started to explore to develop mentoring in different sectors and groups. This year we conducted mentoring in these different categories: Provincial-wide Pastoral associations, denominational leaders both in the Philippines and in Vietnam, small group leaders in a big church, women leaders, youth leaders, Praise and Worship ministers, lay leaders of a local church, urban poor Christian lay leaders and even among the Evangelical-Full Gospel Bishops in the Philippines. We are finding that our training approach and materials are applicable to different leaders of different backgrounds and educational level. Since the mentoring retreat is not content-driven and it uses facilitating adult learning through conversation and interaction, art and symbol, experience and participation, participants easily adjust and are encouraged to be involved and animated. They learn mentoring not by hearing information through lectures but by undergoing a mentoring experience in the SMR [Spiritual Mentoring Retreat] itself.”
“In developing a mentoring movement, we “pass on”, not the material but life and leadership experience through a mentoring process. By journeying with the group of leaders we are mentoring, we are able to give them the vision, equip them with the basic competencies to multiply mentoring in their own groups and networks, and allow them to use and develop their own approach in training others in mentoring. In this way we see high degree of ownership and greater confidence to do it.”
“The most advanced group is the Women Mentoring. Now, two champions have emerged, Tita Tolentino and Elsie Villanueva to advance mentoring among the women commission of Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches. They started to train their women leaders in mentoring with the end view of spreading mentoring in the Philippines. …The PCEC Women Commission have given mentoring as top priority in their activities, even revised the vision-mission of the Women Commission to align it to mentoring. Tita Tolentino has committed to lead the mentoring women in partnership with the MLI – Phil. Our role is simply to coach the women mentors whom we have trained.”
“Mentoring has been a transforming experience for me. It has stretched my faith. It has helped confront my own issues in life and learn the value of working with friends and be accountable with trusted partners. My executive team has been my own mentoring group. Working together has been a very rich mentoring experience for each one of us. In our pains, we have found a group to lean on and to encourage us to move on.”
“The re-statement of MLI mission: training leaders the way Jesus led is a tall order. There is no doubt in my mind that mentoring is a very important component of the leadership development process of Christ-like leaders. It must start in my own life.”
“The greater challenge is not imparting knowledge and developing leadership skills. Jesus’ leadership is life-leadership. It is a leadership of one’s being. It calls for a vulnerable leader who is willing to be broken in order to experience transformation. It is a humbling process of unlearning and self-confrontation.”
“My involvement with MLI has enriched my life. I’ve found new friends. I’ve learned from different leaders with very rich experiences in life and ministry. Coming to NLF [National Leaders Forum 2006] has been a mentoring experience as well. I’ve been traveling and training all year round. As a mentor, I need to sit and listen, receive and learn from others. I came home deeply encouraged and challenged with greater vision.”
“In order to be effective, mentoring requires investment. Life-investment is costly. It requires patience and perseverance. It involves suffering and sacrifice. May I continue to learn how to be a real mentor who care and share my own life to others. Truly, we can only mentor in grace.”
MentorLink Philippines Case Study Discussion Questions
1. Phil Arendt suggests a champion “is the visible, charismatic, and outspoken agent who is at the forefront of a movement. Champions are the first leaders to stand. They also retain the most prominent leadership role over the duration of any given movement. Whether by strength of personality, or through dominant gifting, or both, champions direct kingdom advances from the top down. They are also easily recognizable.”
Who are the champions in MentorLink Philippines movement? What qualities or principles do these champions display? Are these qualities or principles transferable or can they be passed on to others?
2. Phil also suggests a catalyst is the humanly less visible, quieter agent who provides the impetus that drives movements. God uses catalysts to pull the strings of kingdom advances from the grassroots up. And because they are less noticeable, one almost has to intentionally search below the surface to identify them and their impact in movements. Once recognized for who they are and what they do, their contribution is unmistakable.
Who are the catalysts in MentorLink Philippines movement? What qualities or principles do these catalysts display? Can these qualities or principles be passed on to others?
3. How is the MentorLink Philippines similar or different from other movements we have read about or experienced? What are the aspects of the MentorLink Philippines ministry that could be useful in our efforts to mentor champions and catalysts?
By Dr. Tim Brannagan
September 2009
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