Degree transforms pastor, church and nation
Barnabas Mtokambali and AGTS President Byron Klaus in
the lobby of AGTS, where Mtokambali earned his doctorate.
By Cheryl A. Taylor
In 1997, Tanzanian pastor Barnabas Mtokambali attended a symposium in Pretoria, South Africa, that heightened his awareness of unreached people groups. His own nation of Tanzania had scores of such groups. Moved with conviction, he challenged his congregation with this opportunity, and the church committed itself to planting 100 churches among these unreached groups by 2012.
To assist him in fulfilling this vision, Mtokambali began an educational journey that led him to complete a Doctor of Ministry degree at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary (AGTS) in Springfield, Missouri.
When asked why he attended AGTS and how doing so helped him prepare for church planting, Mtokambali replied, “I wanted a quality Pentecostal education where I could concentrate on how to develop a successful church planting strategy for my church and reach our nation for Christ; at AGTS I was successful in accomplishing my goals.” As Mtokambali pursued his D.Min., the church began its efforts.
After graduating in 2004, Mtokambali brought to his work an expanded strategy to reach the church planting goal they had set in 1997, and an already aggressive effort began to increase. In 2008 his church surpassed their goal, and had planted 107 churches. During this time, the mother church grew from 600 to 1,800 members. Since they reached their goal four years early, the church committed to planting 150 more churches before 2012. Completion of this additional goal will mean that 257 churches will have been planted in 15 years by one church!
While there are numerous factors embedded in this story, Mtokambali is quite clear that his doctoral experience was central to his church’s ability to carry out the Great Commission on such a scale.
Remarking on the difference a quality graduate theological education can make, Dr. Byron Klaus, president of AGTS, notes, “It’s not merely about greater capabilities to understand or even create concepts; rather it is about investing in the future of a leader.”
Getting a degree was about much more than just facts and figures to Mtokambali. “In his case,” notes Klaus, “this experience exponentially accelerated him into the possibility of leading not only a church that planted more churches, but a movement that could impact an entire nation. Barnabas’ story is a clear case study in the commitment AGTS has to ‘Knowledge on Fire.’ ”
Klaus believes that leaders like Mtokambali who pursue doctoral studies find their lives and ministries enriched by the dynamics of the cohort model where ministers journey together through the transformational experience. In addition, the variety of tracks in which participants can focus their studies allows them to mold their degree to fit their specific callings, gifts and ministry contexts to help them become leaders worth following.
Dr. Barnabas Mtokambali has become a “leader worth following.” In addition to his church planting successes, he was recently elected general superintendent of the Tanzanian Assemblies of God.
For more information on degree programs at AGTS, go to www.agts.edu or call 417-268-1000.