The students walk from their home village to the Training Center, which may be 20 miles away.  Walking and the travel distance are typical in the rural environment.  The students bring a bag of corn or barley or a chicken to share amongst the students for their meals.  A few villages supplied their students with food. In the evening the students sleep on the pews of a church or the floor of the school.  Classes are from 7AM to 7PM, Monday through Friday and are taught by retired pastors, who have first-hand experience in what the rural pastor needs.  They retired either from a rural church, or possibly from a large city church and went back to their home-village where the rural pace is relaxed.  

Once a month for twelve months, the students meet for a full week.  Friday night they walk home to study next month’s lessons.  The students own a farm or a small business.  The farm is generally one acre in size, which in a good year will provide for that family.  In bad years farmers will eat their crop to keep from starving. Integrity is vital for that pastor’s success, and for that reason half the courses emphasize ethics.  

To the Westerner this training curriculum and environment seems harsh. With certainty the city dweller would not tolerate this environment.  But the rural students are accustomed to hardships.  The students are told not expect money from the Western church.  To support the rural Training Center with materials, $2,500 was budgeted for each Training Center for the 2022 year.  The teacher receives $45 for that week for his time and transportation costs.