SALT & MAF-LT Work to Multiply Latin America Leadership Training

As Gil Kinch struggles to reach rural and largely undeveloped areas of South America with Christian outreach, he often thinks there must be a more efficient and effective way.

Kinch, the Associate Director of SALT (Support and Leadership Training www.saltleadership.org), knows the challenge of reaching largely untrained pastors who struggle with the physical challenges, time and cost of travel. Also, he realizes the importance of keeping pastors as close as possible to their homeland, thereby decreasing the chance they will leave after gaining an education.

With these challenges in mind, he is seeking ways to increase by perhaps 10-fold the number of pastors currently reached by SALT (about 1,000) in Peru, Argentina, Paraguay and Chile.

“MAF Learning Technologies (LT) may well be the opportunity and instrument to put the feet to this transition,” he said in a recent interview.

MAF-LTs Poodle program interests Kinch as a tool to putting together an online Spanish library. Instead of pastors buying one book for a class, the library would allow them access to multiple books for training. The result would be a broader array of materials delivered in a more cost effective and efficient manner.

He is also researching other MAF-LT programs to see how they could be integrated into SALT outreach.

At this point, financial limitations dictate that instruction will be provided only through the SALT Web site. Until additional funding is obtained, SALT will need to develop its own ability to provide what it teaches, Kinch noted.

He is excited about the promise learning technology provides SALT in its educational mission. Many South American pastors are deeply influenced by such things as cults, the occult, and the prosperity Gospel. Evangelism is needed to counteract these efforts.

“The need for evangelism has exploded, but training has not kept pace,” he said. “Men and women have given their lives to serve the Lord in these countries and the least we can do is help them in their efforts.”

SALT currently works with Christian Missionary Alliance affiliated seminaries that serve as educational centers in Peru and Argentina. These seminaries provide three levels of certification—diploma, college and masters. In Paraguay and Chile, there are no formal agreements with seminaries, so SALT works with church associations.

With learning technology, SALT could likely expand outreach to Mexico, Spain and most countries of Central America—all of whom have encouraged the organization’s involvement.

“With on-line training our role is to work ourselves out of a job,” he said. “Our goal is to turn this over to future leaders.”

Kinch will present MAF-LT opportunities when he meets with the SALT Board of Directors in late October. Based on the Board’s response, a pilot program would be put together sometime next year. SALT’s heaviest involvement with MAF will likely be next spring when Kinch is scheduled to take a teaching trip to South America with SALT. This trip will present the opportunity to setup a prototype teaching program with new technology.