Education Working Group
Education Working Group
A Connecting Place for Christ-Centered Educators
The Education Working Group is a ministry of Wilberforce International Institute and Trinity Education. It is a gathering place for educators who share a passion for Christ-centered education among the nations. We focus on creating community by learning together through group calls with experts in the field and working together on collaborative projects that further Christ-centered education globally.
Overview of Projects
African Teacher Training Manual Initiative
This project is a joint effort among the Master’s Institute for Education (Uganda), Hope Academy (Liberia), and Trinity Education (global), with Dr. Sylvanus Ayeni serving as an advisor. We seek to combine our expertise, curriculum, and experiences as we create a digital teacher training manual to equip African teachers with a Christ-centered worldview and pedagogical practices. If you have experience working in education in Africa and a heart for training teachers with a biblical metanarrative, we’d love to have you join us for our regular meetings!
Papua Education Project
Papua is one of the most underdeveloped regions in Indonesia, and even in the world. This education project focuses in on the Pegunungan Bintang Regency area. The Bupati (the Head of the Regency) has asked Alirena Foundation (where Eng Go is the founder) to help lead their education, health, and economic development programs. Alirena has developed a culturally based education model. A Biblical based worldview is the foundation of its programs. Alirena is committed in equipping believers with the Biblical truth, otherwise all the successes have no value in God’s Kingdom agenda. Obviously to undertake and to achieve those goals will require participation and dedication of many experts in many fields, such as education, language, science, engineering, English, renewable clean energy, farming, plantation, fishery, mining, forestry, mathematical modeling, logistic-infrastructure, data science, internet digital communication, etc. Working with Wilberforce education mentees, Alirena is creating redemptive change that is leading to human flourishing in the region.
Leadership
Eng Go
Eng earned his BA in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington, and a MBA from The University of Texas at Dallas. Eng Go worked for more than 20 years as a semiconductor engineer before transitioning to Global marketing and a business development in the semiconductor industry. He has been in the front lines of human rights activism focusing on the global religious freedom struggle, especially in his native Indonesia. He also founded a Christian campus movement in the USA in 1989 – FICA (Fellowship of Indonesian Christians in America). In addition to his work with the Wilberforce Education Working Group, Eng works for the Alirena Foundation, which he founded in 2014. Alirena works with local Papuans to create and develop opportunities for their advancement with culturally based education as the spearhead.
Dr. Sylvanus Ayeni
Sylvanus is a retired Neurosurgeon and faculty Associate with Wilberforce International. Born and raised in Nigeria. He graduated from the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Nigeria. He followed this with two years of general surgery training at Brookdale Hospital Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York and then his residency training in neurosurgery at the University of Wisconsin Hospitals, Madison, Wisconsin. He spent his career involved in both the education and healthcare sectors in the USA and in Sub-Saharan Africa working in both Academic and non-Academic settings. He is the author of the book: RESCUE THYSELF: Change In Sub-Saharan Africa Must Come From Within (2017).
Dr. Amanda Forbes
Amanda holds graduate degrees in education from Vanderbilt University and the University of Minnesota (her doctoral thesis focused on family engagement in education in Uttar Pradesh, India). She is the co-founder and executive director of Trinity Education, a global education nonprofit focused on post-secondary education for the least-served. She has taught as an adjunct faculty member at the graduate and undergraduate levels and serves on the boards of two Christian universities.