The Macarthur mission area is embarking on a new venture designed to help fund ministry training efforts in Malaysia.

The scheme, which will be a partnership between churches in the mission area, Moore College, and Equip Gospel Ministries – the agent for Moore’s External Studies Department in West Malaysia – will raise money through parishes in order to help fund lay people and clergy being trained in the Preliminary Theological Certificate and the Licentiate in Theology.

“Basically, the idea is we provide the cash as a Mission Area, and that trains lay people in the PTC and also helps to identify and train clergy in the future,” says the Rev Paul Davey, rector of The Oaks Anglican Church and the person who is heading up scheme.

“We really wanted to have a look at partnering with another diocese in the Communion and this is what we’ve all come up with.”

The new scheme grew out of a quarterly mission area meeting that was also attended by the principal of Moore College, the Rev Canon Dr Mark Thompson. When asked about ways that the mission area could partner with the college and other dioceses, a potential partnership identified was one with the Diocese of West Malaysia.

“We found we had links with people in the Diocese of West Malaysia, in particular Andrew Cheah, who is the Dean of the Cathedral in Kuala Lumpur and who graduated from Moore College,” Mr Davey says.

“Paul Downward at the External Studies Unit had just got off the phone with him when we rang around investigating. It was a bit of what I call a ‘God-incidence’.” Adds Dr Thompson: “The college is right behind this and absolutely excited by the opportunity. I think this is a way in which parishes and the college in particular can partner to help gospel work around the world.”

The ministry director at Equip Gospel Ministries in Kuala Lumpur, the Rev Tim Nicholls, says the partnership will allow Equip to offer PTC through Moore and the ThL through the Australian College of Theology to more students, and provide a more affordable, evangelically minded option to those wanting to do further theological study.

“If people want to go overseas to study at a particular college they often can’t, simply because it’s well and truly out of the reach of many Malaysians,” Mr Nicholls says. “If someone wanted to study at Moore for four years, pay for accommodation, buy food, it would probably be equivalent to about 20 years’ worth of wages for someone here. So what we’re trying to do is to just raise biblical literacy generally, give access to resources and also help raise up the next generation of Christian leaders in this area.”

The partnership is looking to raise $12,000 for Equip’s work over the course of 2015, with a view to expansion as more churches in the mission area are able to contribute. The hope is that within 10 years the number of

Equip students will increase from 100 to 500, including an increase in students taking the ThL. A Malay translation of course material is being finalised and it is hoped it will be ready to teach within the next two years.

Dr Thompson says there is the potential for similar schemes to work in other dioceses around the world. “We have regular requests from dioceses around the world for help, particularly to help resource their lay people and church leaders,” he says. “We have more requests than we are able to cope with. These kinds of opportunities through mission areas and those structures help us to expand what is possible in terms of that service.”