Local Leaders International

30/06/2026

We’re celebrating a milestone! Today we wrap up five years of our largest project ever – Local Online: A Global Strategy, better known as LOGS.

It was hard enough for theological institutions in Western countries to rapidly adapt to online education during the first pandemic lockdowns in 2020, but for colleges in the Majority World, it was unimaginably difficult. We began helping seminaries immediately with purchasing computer equipment and installing IT infrastructure. But we knew more was needed. Out of this crucible, the spark for our Local Online Strategy was born—to help Bible colleges not only get online, but to increase their capacity to teach with excellence online.

After a generous grant from a major donor, we were able to put legs on our desire to help. Dr David Turnbull was engaged as project director from 1 July 2021, and thus, the LOGS project was underway. David quickly worked with program manager, Linda Peterson, to get systems in place for such a large global initiative, and in October 2021 the LOGS project was officially launched with an online video premiere event. You might remember watching from home during lockdowns at the time!

We praise God for everyone involved in managing and executing the project around the world. In Australia, with David at the helm, three successive superstars filled the role of project manager: first Linda Peterson, then Elise Heerde and finally Yianna Georgiou. Of course, Local Leaders was not alone in meeting the great need the lockdowns created. Though we led the project we couldn't have done it without several of our international affiliate organisations working alongside us. At one point we had about 20 consultants around the world all contributing to LOGS training and giving support to our partner colleges.

The project was initially funded for three years, but our key donor saw the value of the impact and increased their investment, allowing us to extend the project to five years in total.

It means that the LOGS project is officially coming to an end today, 30 June 2026. We’re happy to say that our support for online theological education will continue, but on a smaller scale as we assist colleges with further training, particularly as they adjust to the proliferation of AI.

We are so very grateful for the ways in which the LOGS project has helped Bible colleges around the world. It has had an impact beyond what we dreamed, opening up new avenues for collaboration and allowing numerous institutions to expand their training exponentially.

Over the coming weeks we will reflect on some of the key successes of the project and how gracious God has been in this journey. But for now, enjoy looking back at these photos from the early days of LOGS. What a ride from then to now!

15/06/2026

We are looking forward to praying with our supporters tomorrow for our annual Day of Prayer & Fasting. You can join us for any of our half hour prayer meetings on Tuesday at (AEST) 7am, 12:30pm and 7pm. For all the details including the Zoom link, head to our website:

The team at Local Leaders International recognises that our work is only made possible through God’s abundant grace, which has blessed us with the privilege of supporting Bible colleges around the world in their mission. We love to bring everything we do before our heavenly Father, and our team re...

10/06/2026

The Winter Prayer Alert is out now!

Local Leaders International is working with African scholars to counteract the prolific false teaching of the prosperity gospel across the continent.

A true and comprehensive biblical teaching on generosity is needed, and so we have helped the scholars to develop resources, training courses and a strategy for taking the teaching to tens of thousands of churches in the coming years.

This edition of Prayer Alert will give you an understanding of some of the concepts we have been working with under the overarching framework of the Africa Mile Deep Strategy.

You can follow this link to the 'Prayer Alerts' page of our website and enjoy reading the Winter edition, or any of our past publications: https://localleaders.org.au/media-resources/prayer-alerts/

02/04/2026

We are pleased to share that ICETE Online, the theological education platform, will now transition to Scholar Leaders, taking on the name BiblioTech Studio. ICETE Online was developed as a key pillar of our Local Online: A Global Strategy (LOGS) project, in collaboration with International Council for Evangelical Theological Education - ICETE.

At the start of the LOGS project in 2021, our goal was to develop 1,000 videos over five years for the platform. We are delighted that this goal has been achieved, making the platform a robust resource for theological educators around the world. Leading the LOGS project, Dr David Turnbull and Yianna Georgiou have worked with dozens of Bible colleges to build their capacity and fund the production of educational videos that have been uploaded to ICETE Online. It's a joy to have so many Majority World voices represented in the videos, ensuring that theological educators can access high quality content presented by teachers from diverse backgrounds, not just from Western institutions.

The catalogue of videos on BiblioTech Studio will continue to grow as Scholar Leaders and Local Leaders International collaborate into the future. We give thanks to God for the wonderful work that was achieved with our partners at ICETE and for the exciting future with BiblioTech Studio.

For more information about the transition, click on the link provided by ICETE below.

ICETE Online is entering a new chapter.
After five years of fruitful collaboration with Local Leaders International, the platform will transition to Scholar Leaders, expanding its reach through BiblioTech Studio to serve theological educators worldwide. Learn more: https://icete.info/icete-news/icete-online-transitions-to-scholar-leaders/

18/03/2026

The Autumn Prayer Alert is out now!

We are very pleased to provide updates on some of the projects we have funded in the past couple of years. This is not all we’ve been doing, by a long way, but it gives a flavour of our work. The stories captured in this edition speak of the close relationships we have with our partner Bible colleges and the way we work in deep dialogue with them. From the installation of a solar system to the delivery of pastoral training in a war-torn community, all of these projects have been designed around key needs raised by our partners.

Please join us in praying for each theological institution as you read through this edition.

You can follow this link to the 'Prayer Alerts' page of our website and enjoy reading the Autumn edition, or any of our past publications: https://localleaders.org.au/media-resources/prayer-alerts/

27/02/2026

We are delighted to welcome Trish Driscoll to the Local Leaders team as our Sydney Director! Her role is to develop the work of Local Leaders in Sydney, connecting with our current supporters and introducing new people to our ministry.

Trish has hit the ground running, attending our three-day staff conference earlier this month, which gave her a good introduction to the breadth of our work. Now she is in Kenya visiting several of Local Leaders' partner Bible colleges with our Africa Director, Dr Nancy Njagi. Next week they will meet up with Stuart to attend the annual Africa Mile Deep Strategy Conference, this year hosted by St Paul's University in Nairobi.

Trish and her husband are active members of their church in the Blue Mountains and have supported Local Leaders for more than a decade. She is passionate about strengthening theological education in the Majority World, believing it is vital for developing quality leaders who will serve the growing church and carry the gospel (and its power to transform communities) into the future.

Please pray for Trish as she settles into her role.

24/02/2026

Earlier this month our Australian based team members came together for our annual three-day Staff Conference. It's wonderful to take this time every February to reflect on the year that has passed and prepare for the year ahead. As we usually work remotely, it's a blessing to study God's word, report on ministry areas, plan for the future and pray together in person.

Special shout out to our international team members who made extra efforts to join us online from different parts of the world (and at unusual hours their end)! And many thanks to three of our board members who led key sessions to stretch our thinking.

A highlight of our time together was the presentation of a beautiful hand painted banner commemorating the relationship between Local Leaders International and Union Bible Theological College in Mongolia (UBTC Informing 102391). The banner was gifted to Local Leaders during Karen Roe and Dr George Mombi's recent visit to the college where they lead pedagogy training workshops.

We are so grateful for your support! Please continue to pray for Local Leaders' team and our Bible college partners throughout the Majority World as we work together to nurture the training of Christian Leaders for effective ministry in their own culture.

18/12/2025

The Summer Prayer Alert is out now!

This edition tells stories of transformation at many levels: of people studying for ministry; of lecturers who have changed their teaching, and; of pastors who have changed their church. Changed churches impact the societies that they are in. That is part of the goodness of Christ – He brings about transformation which He describes as ‘life to the full’. We hope that as you read you will be encouraged, and be prayerful to the God who changes us, and others, and the world.

You can follow this link to the 'Prayer Alerts' page of our website and enjoy reading the Summer edition, or any of our past publications: https://localleaders.org.au/media-resources/prayer-alerts/

12/12/2025

You can help strengthen leaders for the Majority World church.

As we head towards the end of the year, we are thanking God for the wonderful work of our partner Bible colleges who are training and mentoring effective leaders for the church across the Majority World.

We invite you to read our end of year message and prayerfully consider supporting the projects that we are highlighting this Christmas: https://mailchi.mp/c96740283077/help-strengthen-leaders-for-the-majority-world-church-10340377