Since 2018, we have had two writing cycles, and developed a policy for this project.

The first cycle of writers commenced the journey on 28^th July 2018, whereby 7 attendees, including 5 writers, one Kenya Board member and one editor discussed the purpose, structure and nature of the books. The team agreed that: the courses will be written and structured to be suitable for the Diploma student; a general facilitators’ guide will be written to guide the trainers on how to step down the materials for the grassroots pastors, each unit (course) will have 4-6 modules, and each module will have the main content, a key verse, key statements discussion questions, application questions, assignments and activities. Each contributor was also tasked to write a syllabus for the course covered, which includes the course purpose, expected learning objectives, content areas, teaching methodology, instructional materials, assessment and required (and other) readings etc.

The team also discussed contextualization matters and agreed that; 1.  The materials will be written to reflect the TLAfrica ministry philosophy of spiritual, worldview, intellectual and community transformation; 2. The material will be unique in its African-ness and holistic approach, which will be achieved by use of drawings and illustrations, African stories and narratives, proverbs, dialogues, audio visuals and video stories as part of instructional materials, maximizing referencing from African authors, examples and stories from everyday African realities, and practical assignments and activities.

The manuals to be written by the first team of writers included: Old Testament Survey, Evangelism and healthy church development, Discipleship and spiritual growth, Introduction to leadership, Counseling skills, Biblical interpretation, and Self-reliance for churches and ministries in Africa.

Out of the 7 manuals, six initial drafts were submitted for review, since one writer dropped out of the team before commencing the work. Out of the 6, only the ‘Self-reliance for churches and ministries in Africa’ manual reached the final stage of publishing. Five manuals are at the review stage.

The ‘Self-reliance for churches and ministries in Africa’ manual was completed in 2020. It was later translated into Kiswahili, French and Kinyarwanda, and copies of each translation printed for use in pastoral trainings. In 2021, we were able to conduct trainings and preaching on the ‘Self-reliance for Churches and Ministries in Africa’ manual. The engagements took place in Bungoma (Kenya), Musanze and Kigali (Rwanda) and in Goma (Democratic Republic of Congo). Overall, trainings on this manual have reached over 5000 people, including about 300 church leaders.

The second cycle of writers was recruited, and began writing in May 2020. The team held a number of meetings to be envisioned on the TLAfrica pastoral training agenda, and the purpose and structure of the materials to be produced.

The second cycle had four writers. These writers were to produce manuals on the themes of: New Testament Survey, Church administration, Counseling skills, and Preaching Biblical messages.

Although the cycle was slowed down because of Covid, all the manuals had been submitted, reviewed and edited by March 2023.

Unfortunately, TLAfrica differed with one of the writers concerning copyright issues and the manual on ‘Church administration’ was opted out of the cycle.

By December 2023, the remaining three manuals had been laid out, and one of them, ‘Preaching Biblical Sermons in Africa’ was printed (100 copies) and utilized in two trainings in Kenya (Vihiga and Kajiado), which reached a total of 81 church leaders.

The TLAfrica Training Materials policies and manual was developed at the Kenya Office in 2023, to guide the process of manual production and usage. The policies are under discussion by the Kenya Board, awaiting approval.