TEFL-- A Mission Field Comes to Us

Ten Years’ Cultivation: An Alternative Practice of Missions Ministry

　　Our seminary has experienced a wonderful reversal of roles because a mission field has come to live among us. Over one hundred and fifty thousand Filipinos, mostly women domestic workers, live and work in Hong Kong. Some of these overseas workers have become Christians in Hong Kong. Others were Baptists in the Philippines. In Hong Kong Filipino Baptist Churches members are being raised up and called by God to be leaders in their churches. They need leadership training. Our seminary has joined with the Philippine Baptist Theological Seminary in a program of theological education that has enrolled 385 Filipino students in TEFL (Theological Education for Filipino Leaders) over the past ten years. Classes are held in the Mong Kok classrooms of the HKBTS’s Applied Theological Education Center (ATEC). Our goal is to provide leadership training for both lay and vocational Baptist leaders. TEFL students serve as leaders in Filipino Baptist churches in Hong Kong during the years they stay here. Then when they return to the Philippines they will continue to serve God in Baptist Churches there. TEFL serves as a missionary school in training leaders for Filipino Baptist churches both in Hong Kong and the Philippines.

Students Study under Difficult Circumstances for Six or Seven Years

　　Our students study under difficult circumstances. They work six days a week and often have a fifteen hour work day as domestic workers. On their one day off, they spend half that day in church activities like worship, Bible study, discipleship training, committee work, and outreach. That leaves only four hours each Sunday afternoon and evening available for TEFL class time. In spite of these and other limitations these Filipino Christians are highly motivated and dedicated students who finish reading and writing assignments each week. Sometimes reading by flashlight in their bunk bed, they fall asleep well after midnight only to have to get up at six o’clock the next day. If they want to be a full time TEFL student they must study every week throughout the year without a summer holiday.

　　The TEFL program began as a training program for lay leaders who would receive a one year Certificate or a two year Diploma in Christian lay leadership. Soon we realized that many of the students felt the call of God to serve as vocational leaders in churches both in Hong Kong and the Philippines. We then opened the Bachelor of Theology and the Bachelor of Ministry degrees for our students, and we expect to have our first Bachelor graduates next April, 2014. As the students are often limited by their employers’ control, they are not able to study full time. That means that for some of them it will take many years to complete the requirements for each degree. If a student could take two courses each week for forty-eight weeks each year, it would take four and one half years for them to finish the requirements for the Bachelor degrees. Since there are often periods when students cannot take courses, almost all students will take six to seven years to complete the Bachelor degree.

A Team of Teachers Toiling for Their Students

　　Teachers of the TEFL program are usually local Filipino pastors, or their wives who have received theological training in the Philippines. Two hour classes are held on Sunday afternoon and evening from 4 to 6 pm and 6 to 8 pm. This means pastors who are only able to see their members on Sunday and must do all church activities in this short period before rushing to Mong Kok to teach a TEFL class for two hours.

　　An exception to our use of Filipino pastors has been the Church Music Program that we began in 2012. All but one of the teachers in this music program are local Baptist Chinese trained musicians. Without the assistance of these dedicated Chinese Baptist musicians the music program would not be possible. Since few students have access to a piano that are essential to music training, each student is provided with a fold-up electronic keyboard piano for learning the basics in music. These pianos are small and light and can be easily carried to and from the TEFL classes in ATEC. These portable pianos were made possible by the generous donation of a Hong Kong Chinese Baptist supporter of TEFL. Eighteen students will complete the Certificate in Church Music program at the end of this year and will participate in our graduation ceremony in April, 2014.

The Church Choir Festival: Celebrating Unity While Enjoying Fellowship Together

　　Since until this year, Filipino Baptists have not had an Association of Filipino Baptist Churches, TEFL has served as the only Baptist organization connecting Filipinos in Hong Kong. The Association was formed this year. Because TEFL has tried to unite Filipino Baptists in Hong Kong, we have sponsored a Church Choir Festival composed of Filipino church choirs in Hong Kong. The Festival has been held every two years, rotating years with TEFL graduation ceremonies. These music meetings have been times of worship through music, celebration of the unity of Filipino Baptists, and the enjoyment of fellowship among the churches. For many smaller churches the Festival has been an inspiration as it allows their members to participate in the Festival held at the Tsim Sha Tsui Baptist Church where the auditorium is full of singing Baptists.

　　TEFL has tried to become a “paperless school.” In order to do this, we have decided that all students should use computer notebooks. By the generous donation of individual Chinese Baptists in Hong Kong we were able to purchase enough notebooks so that each student could have an assigned computer for use throughout each course. All TEFL course textbooks are uploaded onto the seminary’s web page and then downloaded by the students. Students are able to complete the interactive sections of each text lesson, and they then report these responses to the teacher by means of email attachments. Teachers can review the work of students each week and respond with each student by email. Teachers may add notes and do textbook editing and add hyperlinks for students to do research on the internet. Since we cannot provide a lending library for our students’ use, the use of the internet for research becomes an important learning tool and a useful tool for ministry. The sharing of reports with fellow students enables ongoing communication between active learners in each class. About one half of our students enter TEFL without any prior computer experience. Computer usage is one of the ways TEFL widens the horizons of Filipinos in Hong Kong.

The Door God Has Opened Is Immeasurably More Than We Ask or Imagine

　　There have been four TEFL graduation ceremonies beginning in 2005 and occurring every two years. Through the year 2011, there have been 82 students who have completed the requirements for the different programs. We anticipate that, on April 5, 2014 at our fifth graduation, there will be twenty-eight graduates with four students receiving the first Bachelor degrees. In addition, there are eighteen students who will be our first students to receive the Certificate in Church Music. That will bring our anticipated graduation number in 2014 to forty-six, our largest graduating group so far. At each graduation ceremony the President of HKBTS and the Philippine Baptist Seminary have jointly awarded the diplomas and degrees. Such cooperation symbolizes the joint effort of both seminaries in the ministry of TEFL.

　　Although TEFL is largely a program of theological education for and taught by Filipinos, it is an integral part of the Hong Kong Baptist Theological Seminary. The Director and Registrar/Secretary have offices in the Sai O Campus. The budget is integrated with the seminary funding. While student tuition, sometimes paid by the student’s church, is able to cover the cost of teacher honorarium, other expenses are met through the Seminary budget and the generous love offerings of friends of TEFL. We are grateful to those Chinese Baptists who are faithful supporters of the Theological Education for Filipino Leaders.

　　When the mission field comes to you how can you help TEFL train leaders for Filipino Baptist Churches? First, pray for TEFL and the thousands of Filipinos in Hong Kong. Second, help your own domestic helper to be a student in TEFL. Encourage her and give her time to study and lead in their Baptist church. Third, make a donation to TEFL as a supporter. God has opened doors for missions that you may have never dreamed of. No one is certain how long the overseas worker program will last in Hong Kong. But being a missionary always involves being alert to opportunities God gives to us to reach people “while it is still day.” God has brought the mission field to us. Will you join us in God’s mission to Filipinos in Hong Kong?