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Transformation through TEE
Interserve’s purpose statement is “to make Jesus Christ known through wholistic ministry, in partnership
with the global church, amongst the neediest peoples of Asia and the Arab world.”
Over 60% of the world’s population live in Asia and the Arab world, around 4.5 billion people. Asia is the heartland
of the world’s major non-Christian religions: Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism shape many, many hearts and lives.
How are all these people to come to know Jesus Christ? Especially when, in many of these countries, attempts by
outsiders to make Jesus known are viewed with suspicion and even hostility.
How can Interserve meet these huge challenges? Over the last year, the International Leadership Team has been
guiding a process of asking, “To fulfil our purpose, what priorities should we have over the next few years?”
Reflection on Scripture, our Interserve history and current experience has led to four International Priorities for
2015-2018:
• Deepening our relationship with the Church: The Church is God’s agent to grow and establish His Kingdom.
Helping national and local churches to fulfil God’s mandate for them in missions is a priority.
• Equipping for discipleship and ministry: Making disciples is the focus of the Great Commission and ‘being and
making disciples’ is at the heart of Interserve’s identity. Investing in growth as disciples and disciple-makers is a
priority.
• The importance of discernment and obedience in implementing strategic ministries: What specific ministry
areas is the Lord asking us to focus on? Examples mentioned are ministry among women, ministry among the
urban poor, and TEE.
• Strengthening our organisational capacity: The areas of leadership training, communication and fund-raising
are priorities.
One of the ministry areas mentioned under the third International Priority is TEE. But what is TEE? How does it
work? Why was it identified as a ‘priority ministry’ for Interserve? And how can Interserve better understand and
make use of TEE?
What is TEE?
TEE is a method of church-based training with a wide range of training materials. TEE traditionally stands for
‘Theological Education by Extension’. TEE was started in the 1960s, with the aim of training pastors and church
leaders in Central America, then it began to spread all around the world in the 1970s and ‘80s.
Interservers have been closely involved in the TEE movement. These include NZ Interserve Partners such as Ian
and Jenny McCleary (Ian was the first Director of the India TEE programme, TAFTEE, founded in 1971), Hugh and
Karen Kemp, who brought Mongolia TEE to birth in 1995, and Edward and Suzanne Sands, who supported the
growth of TEE in Central Asia.
TEE is not an international organisation, but an approach to discipleship and theological training which has given
rise to many distinct, independent, national and local programmes. As TEE spread across the world, it became
clear that TEE’s training method was a powerful and flexible tool that could be used for equipping all of God’s
people, not just church-based leaders.
How does it work?
TEE combines three connected training experiences:
• personal study using carefully prepared texts, leading to…
• group meetings with discussion led by a facilitator, as a springboard for…
• practical assignments.
Why is TEE a priority ministry?
There are now independent, indigenous TEE programmes working in partnership with local churches in their
countries all across the Interserve footprint. Over the years, Interservers have had the privilege of being involved
with some of these, in Bangladesh, Nepal, the Middle East, Pakistan, Cambodia, Central Asia, India and Mongolia.
Recently, Interservers have also been very active in the Increase Association, which aims to connect and strengthen
church-based training programmes, including TEE programmes, across Asia and beyond.
As a result of these independent, indigenous TEE programmes about 100,000 Asian and Arab Christians are being
equipped each year – ordinary men and women in all walks of life. As they come alive to the mission of God where
they are, they can be channels of transformation in their families, workplaces, local communities and beyond!
The first International Priority is deepening relationships with the Church, and the second is equipping for
discipleship and ministry. The passion of TEE encompasses these two priorities, with the vision to see local church
leaders using ‘Tools to Equip and Empower’ their members to participate more fully in God’s mission. For
Interserve to connect with, and develop partnerships with, these independent, indigenous TEE programmes is
hugely strategic!
“Becoming involved in TEE will help us become involved with the local church,” Dr Bijoy Koshi, Interserve’s
International Director, explains. “It will actually force us to get involved, and to grow the church rather than
pursue our own individual vision.”
How can Interserve better understand and make use of TEE?
At the end of April 2015, Interserve held a TEE Consultation in Kuala Lumpur, ‘Tools to Equip and Empower’, to
share answers and explore possibilities. Twenty-three Partners participated, including five International Leadership
Team members, country-level leaders and TEE practitioners with experience in ten countries.
Key areas for action arising from the Consultation included deepening relationships with national TEE
programmes; raising awareness about TEE as a ‘Tool to Equip and Empower’; equipping and training Partners to
use TEE materials; and recruiting Partners with specific skills as requested by national TEE programmes.
In this issue of GO magazine you will read about the ways that TEE programmes are serving local churches in the
Philippines, in earthquake-shaken Nepal, in Mongolia, in Cambodia, among the multitudes of China and India, in the
Middle East and in Central Asia. We also highlight the huge opportunities of diaspora ministry, and how TEE can help,
both within and beyond Asia and the Arab world. 
Graham Aylett is a UK Interserve Partner who has been involved with TEE in Mongolia since 1999, and now serves
with the Increase Association (www.increasenetwork.org) based in Malaysia.
Published in Interserve NZ’s GO magazine, July 2015. www.interserve.org.nz