KECS Director’s
Report
May 2002
Mark Blair
This has been a
historic year for KECS as we moved into our new facilities and led our ministry
into new and better directions. This report will highlight some of those
changes and suggest areas of further growth and development in three areas;
facilities, staffing, and finances.
Facilities
Old Campus
I thank the Lord for
more than five years of His blessing as we used the facilities on Rosa Luxemborg Street Brethren church
New Campus
I believe our ministry
should concentrate its efforts at effectively using our excellent facilities in
Primoy Put. We are truly blessed to have such a fine center for ministry. There
are small improvements being made right now, curbs and paving the walkways,
window sills inside, planting a food
garden for our consumption, library development, and computer center for
students and church leaders. I anticipate that we have a donor for a much
needed standby generator.
1. Married
Student/Family Housing
Often the best church
leaders are married men with families. Presently we have no permission from the
KZ gov’t to house children in our seminary building. My suggestion is that we
build a married student living complex behind our seminary building. Fortunately
we have two adjoining properties, each with a poor quality house. I suggest
these houses be replaced with a larger facility. The design I envision would
have small living quarters for families (2 rooms), with a common kitchen and
bath facilities shared by four or five families. Perhaps we could build two or
three “clusters” for up to 15 families. I leave the details to the experts, I
simply share the need and vision. I wonder if the OMS building teams could take
this on as a project? Perhaps the funds obtained from the sale of the old
campus could be at least partially devoted to this need.
2. Restoration and
Expansion of Car Garage Workshop Area
The old buildings in
the southeast corner of our property will need to be restored and improved. Again,
I have no specific plan, but I think it is a medium level priority.
3. Painting the
Building
Another lower priority
item is to paint the building. I have wanted to propose this as a project for a
visiting work team, but the height and potential dangers have concerned me.
4. Property
Acquisition
I think we would be
wise to continue to buy properties both adjacent to and across the street from
our campus as they become available for staff housing and our future growth.
Staff Issues
We have a very
committed and faithful staff of seminary workers. This year we made some
improvements in our structure and organization which has improved our
operation. One reality we face is the rising salary levels for professionals in
Almaty. The surge of oil money and “new industry” related to aid to Afghanistan
Our weakest department
is “Student Life.” These workers are
like student deans who care for them as they study and live here. One reason for
the department weakness is the newness of the church here. Few believers have
the maturity and pastoral sensitivity needed for this work. Those who do are
engaged in church planting work. As a result, we do not have a very solid team
of pastoral leaders for this department. The need is magnified by the fact the
students are in residence. Without strong and sensitive on site leadership, the
potential for problems is great. We will be working on some restructuring of
this department. Pray for us.
One general problem in
administration here is the issue of authority. The operative cultural model is
authoritarianism, usually centralized in one individual. Those “under” this
person dare not act without specific orders. Those “below” also typically
struggle for secondary positions of power. Everyone wants someone to shout at.
If the authority figure is absent, those under authority can even flaunt their
freedom. My cultural model is democracy; I have tried to operate with this
model with little success. Workers have been confused and paralyzed being asked
to make their own decisions. My present operational model is a benevolent
dictatorship with limited participation. I always try and discuss the decision
making process with key leaders, often implementing their suggestions. As a
foreign worker I want to prepare local leaders to take over. I raise this
discussion for continued prayer and advice. My prayer is that we would gain a
growing sense that Christ is our head and that under Him we all follow His
lead. Along these lines of localizing our leadership I have two specific
suggestions.
1) We need a Local
Advisory Board for KECS. I suggest this board be comprised of national
Christian leaders, from the KECC association and beyond, clergy and laity.
Also, there should be minority membership of foreign mission workers on this
board. Initially this board can be advisory only, but as they prove their
worth, they should be given increasing authority.
2) We need to take more intentional steps at
developing local leadership for KECS. Right now the best candidate I see on our
horizon is Pastor Alexander Melenkov. I suggest he be sent to Moscow Seminary,
hopefully even this fall. (Fortunately, his church is well supplied with
associate leaders who can take over.) He
has proven an excellent leader for our Pastor’s Assoc. As a Russian he displays
sensitivity and understanding for Kazakh people. I pray that he can be a future
leader of KECS. Another fine leader is Kairot. I am not sure what steps should
be taken to develop his leadership and service. But we should explore this
question with him.
Finance
KECS could not exist
without foreign financial support. Our challenge is the develop ways for KECS
to continue with decreasing amounts of outside funding. We have taken some
small steps to promote the responsibility of the local churches to fund their
students. Two years ago we discontinued offering transportation costs for
students coming and returning to their home cities. Many said that they would
not be able to come, but God has blessed them to meet this need. This fall will
be the first year we do not offer monthly stipends for our students. Our
practice has been to give each student the local equivalent of $10 a month for
their incidental expenses. Again we are hearing the cries that this is
impossible! But we believe this small amount is a reasonable expectation for a
sending church to give toward the free education of their student. Granted,
these are just token amounts of the full cost of operating KECS. Yet it is a
beginning. We need wisdom to know how and when to ask the local churches to
finance more of the cost of their student’s training. But even in the “wealthy
West” tuition costs are just a portion of a school’s operational budget. What
other areas can we explore?
This fall we formed a
KECS Alumni Association. The primary purpose of this organization is to
encourage our graduates in their walk and witness. They have been collecting
addresses and thinking of future conferences. Hopefully this group will be more
active. In the West such associations become a source of financial support to
their alma mater. Unfortunately most of
our graduates, like most believers, are presently unemployed. But we need to
build for the future in this area.
One means of economizing
is expansion of our vegetable gardens. We have been blessed with helpful advice
and cooperation from a team of foreign Christian agricultural workers. After
visiting our site they were confident that with careful planning and techniques
we could easily feed our own students and staff with fruits and vegetables.
This spring/summer our concentration is on one-time improvements in our
territory. So this year we will only plant potatoes. But we want to be ready
for next spring.
Another way to
subsidize our costs is to utilize our building for conferences when we are not
in session. There are a growing number of groups looking for facilities. We
already have at least one group coming in June, and we are advertising for
more.
We should do a careful
review of the various properties owned by KECS. Are they in use? Are we gaining
maximum potential from them?
Schools in the States
are assisted by endowment programs, life insurance policies, and other
financial schemes. I have no knowledge of how these work. Could we find a
person in the States to take on this type of ministry assistance? Perhaps a
retired finance worker looking for a way to advance the cause of mission?
Maybe we need to
“think bigger.” One businessman in Hawaii
* * * * *
