TLI Training Leaders International

What TLI Training Leaders International does

TLI Training Leaders International is a Minneapolis-headquartered, ECFA-accredited nonprofit ministry founded in 2009 that delivers theological training to underserved pastors and church leaders worldwide. The organization operates through three interconnected service lines: (1) modular training via short-term recurring trips using a proprietary 3-year curriculum in non-formal settings and formal academic institutions; (2) long-term sending of global partners serving as administrators, professors, teachers, and pastors at international churches and schools; and (3) school planting, which has produced five degree-granting seminaries globally. TLI also runs a US-focused Diaspora Training Program for immigrant and refugee pastors in cities including Houston, Brooklyn Park, Bozeman, and Madison.

The organization's core proprietary asset is a sequential, genre-based, expository 3-year modular curriculum designed for pastors with limited or no formal theological training, currently translated into 15 languages and delivered across 37 training sites in 24 countries. Supporting products include the Journal of Global Christianity (peer-reviewed academic publication), The Monday After weekly newsletter, short topical articles, and the 85% Campaign — a fundraising initiative structured around tiered individual giving levels ($0.85/day, $85/month, $8,500 one-time). TLI is governed by an ECFA-accredited board and requires all staff and global partners to subscribe to The Gospel Coalition's Confessional Statement; high-profile evangelical theologians John Piper (Desiring God) and D.A. Carson (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) serve on the Advisory Board.

TLI's revenue model is entirely donation-based, with no fees charged to beneficiary pastors or partner churches. Funding sources include individual donors (monthly, annual, one-time), church sponsorship of training sites and staff, and special project gifts (e.g., curriculum translation), processed through the GiveVirtuous online donation platform. With 50+ staff and global partners and a lifetime footprint of 300+ short-term trips and 1,000+ leaders trained, TLI addresses an addressable market of approximately 5 million pastors globally without access to formal theological training — a market it describes as a "theological famine" affecting 85% of the world's 2.2 million evangelical churches.

Name

TLI Training Leaders International

Legal name

Training Leaders International

Website

https://trainingleadersinternational.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Short description

TLI Training Leaders International is a Minneapolis-based nonprofit founded in 2009 that delivers face-to-face theological training to pastors without formal education across 37 sites in 24 countries, supported entirely by individual and church donations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Theological Education Services

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (611310), Educational Services (61)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Seminaries (Graduate Theology & Ministry) (EDAHAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Bible Colleges (Undergraduate Ministry & Biblical Studies) (EDAHAKAB), Christian Colleges with Theological Programs (EDAHAKAG), Faith-Based Education & Formation (Seminaries, Religious Schools, Catechesis) (BPAGAJAD), Faith-Based & Mission Service Programs (EDAIAGAI)

Keywords

• Theological training programs
• Pastoral leadership education
• Church leader development
• Modular seminary curriculum
• Diaspora ministry training

Headquarters

HQ city

Minneapolis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: TLI relies on individual donor support through various giving campaigns including the 85% Campaign, general ministry fund, and specific project donations. Donors can give monthly, annually, or one-time through the website.
2. Church Sponsorship: Churches can sponsor training sites by paying for costs to train pastors or providing trainers for a 3-year period. Churches can also sponsor individual staff members or global partners.
3. Short-Term Team Participation: Volunteers participate in short-term ministry trips, though the primary revenue appears to be the donation/sponsorship model rather than trip fees.
4. 85% Campaign: A specific giving campaign targeting the 85% of pastors worldwide without formal theological training. Offers tiered giving options at $0.85/day, $85/month, and $8,500 one-time.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Training Leaders International delivers theological training for pastors and church leaders worldwide through three interconnected service lines: short-term modular training trips, long-term sending of global partners to serve in international churches and schools, and school planting to establish degree-granting seminaries. Training is built on TLI's proprietary 3-year modular curriculum, taught sequentially in two-day workshop modules in both non-formal and formal academic settings, and supported by a diaspora training program for immigrant pastors in the United States.

Product overview

Training Leaders International is a theological training organization offering a comprehensive portfolio of products and services centered on establishing and strengthening local churches and their leaders around the world. The core offerings include three interconnected service lines: (1) Modular Training via short-term recurring trips using the proprietary 3-year TLI curriculum in non-formal settings or formal academic institutions; (2) Long-Term Sending of global partners as administrators, professors, teachers, and pastors to international churches and schools; and (3) School Planting in partnership with local church leaders to establish degree-granting seminaries. Supporting offerings include the Diaspora Training Program for immigrant pastors in the U.S., the Journal of Global Christianity for international scholarship, The Monday After weekly newsletter, Short Articles on theological topics, the 85% Campaign fundraising initiative, and Church Partnership Programs for sending, sponsoring sites, and supporting projects.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Modular Training Program Short-term recurring trips in which TLI teachers train church leaders around the world in non-formal settings using the 3-year TLI curriculum, or in formal school settings at Christian universities and colleges. Designed for international church leaders and pastors with limited or no formal theological training.
• Long-Term Sending Sending of global partners to serve as administrators, professors, teachers, and pastors in international churches and schools around the world. Provides multi-year field placement of trained theological educators.
• School Planting Planting of new seminaries in conjunction with local church leaders and missionaries, committed to academic excellence, hands-on mentoring, and degree-granting programs. TLI has planted 5 schools globally, including 3 degree-granting programs.
• TLI 3-Year Modular Curriculum A flexible, efficient, and reproducible 3-year curriculum designed for pastors and church leaders who have limited or no theological training, taught sequentially in two-day workshop modules over two to three years. Available in 15 languages and used across TLI's training sites worldwide.
• Diaspora Training Program Equips diaspora pastors and leaders in the United States through local church partnerships, using preaching workshops and the TLI 3-year curriculum to develop leaders empowered to faithfully teach the Bible. Targets immigrant and refugee pastors in US cities such as Houston, Brooklyn Park, Bozeman, and Madison.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 1,000 leaders trained annually, potentially impacting 100,000 people through their ministry
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered founding, core, key advisor and secondary.

• Bethlehem Baptist ChurchfoundingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2009Bethlehem Baptist Church founded TLI in 2009 as a ministry with the intent of mentoring and sending seminary students overseas to provide theological education in places where it is lacking. This is the founding and most significant partnership.
• The Gospel CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTLI has adopted The Gospel Coalition's Confessional Statement. All board members, teachers, mentors, and sent global partners must joyfully subscribe to this statement. Advisory member Justin Taylor represents Crossway at The Gospel Coalition.
• Desiring Godkey advisorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJohn Piper of Desiring God provides endorsement and serves on TLI's Advisory Board. Piper has expressed strong support for TLI's mission of theological famine relief.
• Trinity Evangelical Divinity Schoolkey advisorStrategic or Co-development PartnerD.A. Carson of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School serves on TLI's Advisory Board and provides endorsement for the organization's model of transferring serious theological nourishment.
• Église Baptiste Bethléem (Bethlehem College & Seminary)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for church-planting and establishment of an accredited MDiv Program in Cameroon. Also involves Treasuring Christ Together.
• Treasuring Christ TogethercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership involved in Cameroon's complex 290+ language groups context for church-planting and MDiv Program establishment.
• First Baptist Church of Atibaia (PIBA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerChurch partnership in Atibaia, Brazil where TLI provided consulting, support, and instructors to help start a church-based seminary from 2013-2023.
• University Park Baptist Church (Houston)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDiaspora training partner hosting preaching workshops for displaced and dispersed believers in Houston, one of the leading refugee resettlement cities in the world.
• North Center Church (Brooklyn Park, MN)secondaryChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDiaspora training partner providing training for preachers and aspiring preachers in expository preaching principles and skills.
• Redeemer Church (EFC) BozemansecondaryChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartnership with EFCA West All Peoples Ministries to provide continual training for Latino volunteers who train other pastors.
• EFCA (Evangelical Free Church of America)secondaryChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorHispanic Ministries of EFCA partners with TLI to provide training for volunteers who train other pastors in expository preaching.
• Southern Baptist ConventionsecondaryChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNorth Center Church is a member of the Southern Baptist denomination with multicultural leadership representing several African nations.
• St. Croix Valley Lead Team (SCVLT)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFive churches from Western Wisconsin partnering to train leaders for Northern Uganda, Congo, and South Sudan.
• Tutapona Trauma CounselingsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational partner in Uganda/Gulu where many students have gone through Tutapona's trauma rehab program and are leading churches.
• Justice & Mercy Amazon (JMA)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership in remote areas of Amazonas, Brazil where the Lord is building His church in remote towns and villages along the Amazon River.
• Cornerstone University / Asia Biblical Theological SeminarycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerABTS makes available graduate level theological education to eligible Christian leaders serving in Asia, offering master's degrees while remaining in Asia.
• École Supérieure Baptiste de Théologie (ESBTAO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAfrican-led seminary in Lomé, Togo that is the denominational school for Baptist churches throughout Francophone Western Africa, conferring License Degrees.
• Hanoi Bible CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerServes the Evangelical Church of Vietnam (North), including the Red River Delta region and northern highland provinces, with mostly Hmong students.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Others

• The Gospel Coalition: TGC is a broader theological network whose Confessional Statement TLI adopts and whose leader Justin Taylor advises TLI — an enabling/network relationship rather than a direct training competitor.

Broad incumbents

• Trinity Evangelical Divinity School: TEDS is an accredited formal seminary from which TLI's founder holds two master's degrees and whose faculty (D.A. Carson) advises TLI — a broader incumbent offering complementary formal theological education.
• Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA): EFCA is a denominational partner that operates its own missionary sending agency (ReachGlobal) and Hispanic Ministries — closely connected to TLI's sending and diaspora training programs through shared leadership.
• Bethlehem College & Seminary: Bethlehem College & Seminary is TLI's founding church's academic arm — a formal accredited seminary that complements TLI's non-formal training and shares its theological commitments and leadership pipeline.

Direct peers

• Serge (formerly CPM): Serge trains and sends gospel-centered leaders to underserved places, combining theological training with long-term sending — directly mirroring TLI's training and global-partner placement model.
• BCM International: BCM International focuses on discipleship and leader training globally through structured Bible-teaching programs, sharing TLI's emphasis on indigenous leader development and a sequential curriculum approach.
• Haggai International: Haggai International equips Christian leaders across continents with a non-residential intensive model focused on evangelism and multiplication — mirroring TLI's leadership training mission through short-cycle, high-intensity programs.
• Asia Biblical Theological Seminary (ABTS): ABTS delivers in-Asia graduate theological training to leaders serving throughout Asia and is both a direct peer (degree-granting seminary for pastors lacking access to Western programs) and an active TLI partner.
• Charles Simeon Trust: Charles Simeon Trust equips pastors worldwide in expository preaching — overlapping closely with TLI's focus on expository teaching, diaspora workshop cohorts (10–15 pastors), and the same Reformed evangelical constituency.
• Langham Partnership: Langham Partnership is one of the most direct comparables — it trains church leaders globally through seminaries, Bible schools, and literature programs in the Majority World, sharing TLI's mission of theological education for pastors who lack formal training.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/TLInternational
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCoD0C3XJvf1RQnM9a_sJhpw/videos
• Facebookfacebook.com/pages/Training-Leaders-International/376267277040
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/tli-training-leaders-international

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about TLI Training Leaders International