EMPHASIS: TRAINING

Reasons we believe an emphasis on training across the Nation is key :

1. Religions in India have a very strong philosophical and traditional background. As a result, those aspiring to go on the mission field need to have a grasp of these world views, develop skills to analyze any given situation and develop appropriate methods to approach a given context.

2. Most enthusiastic and committed grass root workers are young and inexperienced in their biblical knowledge. They need in-depth knowledge of Scripture, proper interpretation of the same and ability to introduce the message to varied groups of people. Almost all workers need to improve and develop communication skills.

3. The multiplicity of cultural groups in India calls for a recognition of the need that each be approached appropriately and with proper understanding of their culture and cultural differences.

4. Target audiences have varying levels of education, and Christian workers likewise need to have access to continuously improve their own study/credentials and communication skills.

5. A prospective mission worker (L1 to L5) should have the ability to understand people and their needs. They need to develop a meaningful strategy for interaction with them in any given situation.

LYDIA WOMEN'S TRAINING PROGRAM

Lydia Women's Training Program is a year-long institute for women. Lay leaders and future missionaries are taught a curriculum similar to that of the New India Bible Institute.

Women are invited from various churches in North India and Nepal to attend the residential program for 9 months. After that period they participate in evangelism internship for 2 months. When their training program is completed, the women may apply as interns to NIEA ministries or return to their home churches as lay leaders.

THEOLOGICAL SCHOOLS

Our principal Christian Theological School is New India Bible Seminary, Paippad, Kerala. It offers five programs up to the post-graduate level. With a student strength of 200 and with 35 faculty and staff, it is one of the better-accredited Christian theological institutions in South India. Students are drawn from over fifteen states in India and three neighboring countries.

Founded in 1975, today over 4,000 NIBS alumni are making a difference all over the nation and in South Asia.

Our Christian students are encouraged to strive for excellence in understanding, living and sharing the Word of God. The training agenda is shared by New India Bible Institute, Wayanad, Kerala; New India Bible Institute, Marthandam, Tamil Nadu; New India Bible Centre, Trivandrum; New India Bible Institute, Chhattisgarh and Nav Bharat Bible Institute, Bihar.

Through eight formal Christian theological schools, over 500 men and women annually receive regular biblical instruction with special emphasis on Mission and Evangelism.

LAST COMMAND INITIATIVE: Transforming Lives & Communities

Since and during the past two to three decades Scripture translation ministry has been serving the needs of dozens of language communities across India. However in the last 7 years, through the Last Command Initiative (LCI), a broad partnership of organizations involved in church planting, Scripture promotion, language development and Bible translation, additional partners have come together to initiate Bible Translation projects in various parts of the nation.

Currently work is being carried out in about 95 languages. NIEA is a one among the eight founding agencies of the LCI collaborative partnership with about twenty plus Bible translation projects in the Hindi Belt and Central Zone of India.

Recognizing the need for a holistic focus for seeing impact from the Scriptures, the LCI has divided their major activities into the following areas: Proclamation (Scripture focused activities: Bible translation, Bible story projects, Scripture recordings) and Demonstration (Scripture Use and Engagement activities: Literacy, Community and Leadership training, Discipleship and Social Development).

SUMMER INSTITUTES OF MISSION & EVANGELISM

NIEA Training Centers equip one thousand lay people in evangelism and church planting each summer. Men and women with a call of God on their lives and a passion to reach their respective areas with this Gospel - are provided with life giving instruction over a two week period.

These Summer Institutes of Mission Evangelism serve to also identify and further mentor younger disciples in an exciting ministry of Christian service.

The ministry is full of men and women today who have been touched by the power of the Gospel and whose lives have now been dedicated to expanding God's Kingdom through powerful ministry expressions. You can be part of this growing vision. Thank you for your ongoing prayers and participation.

The institutes are held every summer in different centers for lay leaders, training them to be effective Christian witnesses in their own localities. Faculty is drawn from New India Bible Seminary and other Bible training institutions.

Since its inception, over four thousand men and women have received Christian evangelism training through this ministry facet conducted in several states of India

NAV BHARAT BIBLE INSTITUTE - a Herald of the Gospel

God’s love is exhibited and proved through numerous ways in Bihar.

NIEA’s Nav Bharat Bible Institute and Community Health Workers’ Training are expressions of God’s love for this state. At NBBI, young men and women study the Word of God, get trained and go back to their villages to tell their family and the community that God loves all of them.

Community Health Workers’ Training Program trains natives to serve the community with general health and primary medical assistance, etc. Thus God’s love is proclaimed in the villages through the Bible school graduates. His love is radiated through the different community health services.

The graduates pray and care for the needy and the sick and God touches lives. Miracles happen, and many turn to the only living God.

Each graduate holds great potential and promise for the furtherance of the Gospel.