Training Needs

I trust that you were able to read the report from the six graduates from the weekend training. They are all doing well in church ministry and have a passion to help their churches. The more time I spend here the more and more I understand just how great the ongoing training needs are. These men are doing so well with what they have been taught, but so much ongoing training is necessary. It is vital that the Bible School staff are involved in regular village visits to see the training happen.

To this end we have developed a list of the various areas that graduates are from and have begun to prioritise where visits are needed. The problem is how many of these seminars can you run in a year? If you only do four then it will take about 5 years to get around. If you do ten or more how do you pay for all the transport costs not to mention the toll on the teachers!! There are no easy answers; however more Bibles and finances to make these visits happen is vital.

As I reflect on the last two weekends of training, there really needs to be follow up visits another year down the track. The momentum is there, the desire for truth is there, the need for change is clearly evident - would you pray about these vital leadership training opportunities. Pray that God would use then to bring real change to rural churches, leaders who are committed to truth, that graduates would have the wisdom needed to work in difficult places. I was saddened to hear that some of these men were not sending their own kids to school because they were not making enough money due to the time that they were trying to put into ministry. Now that is wrong, but the calling that many of these graduates have in their lives is unmistakeable!

The need for the second year to be added to the Bible School programme is undeniable. These men & women need further sharpening for the work that they do. This will mean the need for at least another staff member and the administrative burden only continues to grow! Please PRAY!

We are now in Livingstone worn out by two days of driving. The Atkinson family arrive tomorrow, we have 1 ½ days of R&R with them and then three full days of leadership training in three areas down here. Please pray for strength and discernment as we encourage the church members from this region. They have been actively church planting down here, so it will be interesting to see how the work is progressing.