Emerging Leaders: the Issachar Initiative
The future of the church lies in the hands of the next generation of leaders. But what is being done to prepare them for leadership?
DAI’s Issachar Initiative is designed to develop influential and inspiring young Christian leaders in Africa and Asia as they prepare to serve their churches, organisations and communities.
One of the major problems many leaders face is that the only role model for leadership they have is an authoritarian one based on the use of power and control to achieve objectives. Through formal and non-formal workshops and the strategic use of mentoring relationships, we aim to teach new and existing leaders the spiritual and management skills they will need to lead their organisations and churches in ways that honour God and build His church.
Responding to many conversations and requests, in January 2005 DAI intentionally began to explore how we could better serve the next generation of leaders. Drawing on this research and on over 12 years of Christian Leadership training experience worldwide, we have begun to implement the Issachar Initiative following a tried and tested pattern for all our courses. We are bringing together both established and emerging young leaders in consultative Forums of 2-3 days which consist of workshops and discussions on issues such as developing life practices of integrity, servant leadership and bridging the generational leadership gap, all of which are highly relevant to young and emerging leaders. These Forums are also a place where their specific leadership training needs will be identified so that any courses designed will include training in these areas. They also provide intentional opportunities for the next generation of leaders to connect with one another and to initiate peer mentoring relationships as well as developing relationships with established leaders for ongoing mentoring and coaching.