These men and women had returned for the level 2 Preaching Programme with wonderful testimonies of God’s enabling during the past year as they had sought to teach faithfully, relevantly and clearly from His Word. Many of them had not only been a part of preachers clubs formed regionally from last year, but had invited others to join with them, passing on the training they had been given.

The participants greatly appreciated the input of Ma’afu Palu and Paul Barker for their gracious and wise teaching and leading — grasping the Bible’s big picture, with a focus on Preaching from the Old Testament.

You can view the 4 min presentation of last year’s level 1 programme “Eager to preach”. We are at present editing some of the wonderful testimonies recorded at this year’s level 2 seminar in Vanuatu. Please contact the LPA office if you would like copies of either of these DVDs to share with others (Eager to preach DVD or Vanuatu 2009 testimonies DVD) [sent to addresses in Australia].

Paul and Barby Windsor

Paul Windsor, for over 10 years the Principal of Carey Baptist College in New Zealand, has joined the global team of Langham Partnership International.

At a service in Auckland on Sunday April 19, Paul Windsor was commissioned for his new work as Associate Director of Langham Preaching. Sharing responsibility for the development of the global programme, Paul will take a special interest in the development of training initiatives in Asia and the Pacific. Langham Preaching, one of three international programmes of LPI founded by John Stott, works with national leaders in over 50 countries to nurture indigenous preaching movements for pastors and lay preachers all around the world.

Paul and his wife Barby were brought up in India, children of missionary families with a long history of service in the sub-continent.  Paul pursued an MDiv at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in the USA, and is presently completing his DMin with the Australian College of Theology.  First serving as a pastor in Invercargill, New Zealand, Paul subsequently joined the teaching staff at the Bible College of New Zealand, where he taught Preaching to degree level as well as modules at Masters level. In 1998 he was appointed Principal of Carey Baptist College, during which time he has also taught at the University of Auckland, the Baptist Theological College of Western Australia (where he taught an MA module on Contemporary Biblical Preaching), and at the Bible College of Victoria, teaching the theory and practice of Expository Preaching as an MA/DMin module.

Paul Windsor at Marsden Cross, New Zealand

He is widely respected as a preacher and teacher, not only through his regular work with local churches but also at pastors conferences in Africa, Bible Conventions at Katoomba and Belgrave Heights in Australia, Preachers conferences and mission events. His wide mission interests are reflected in his involvement with many agencies, including Interserve, the Evangelical Fellowship of New Zealand (Vision Network New Zealand), the Asia Theological Association, and the Tertiary Students Christian Fellowship (IFES). But his real love is helping others in the work of preaching – something he has done both in the academic environment and amongst pastors and lay preachers in local churches.  Barby and their five children share Paul’s warm enthusiasm for this new opportunity of service around the world.

In a message of greeting read at the commissioning service, John Stott (founder), and Chris Wright (International Director) stated: ‘We are delighted that Paul will bring his exceptional gifts, experience and humble wisdom into the senior programme team.  It has been a particular encouragement to see the way in which Langham Preaching has grown, impacting so many countries in each of the continents of the world. It is a joy to hear reports of the warm response from so many pastors and lay preachers, often in places where the work of ministry is very tough and sometimes dangerous, and where resources and training facilities are almost non-existent.  Since the programme has been growing so fast under God’s clear blessing, it is a strategic moment for Paul to come alongside Jonathan Lamb to share the responsibilities of leadership. We are so grateful to God for Paul’s commitments to Biblical preaching, to the training of a new generation, and to the call to serve the churches in the Majority World. This mixture of vision, gifts and calling, already proven in New Zealand, will strengthen the work of Langham Preaching in the wider international arena.’

They came from 20 different denominations, and travelled from 13 different regions.  In February, over 150 pastors took part in the ongoing training work of Langham Preaching – called LP-MVIMUTA (a network of expository preachers clubs in Tanzania).  It’s been growing for the past five years, and now there are many hundreds of pastors involved, many preachers’ clubs, and an expanding vision to reach the towns and villages across this vast country.

‘I wish I had known this many years before’

The two training events were held in Mwanza and Mbeya, deliberately targeting groups of pastors in regions which have previously been unreached by the LP-MVIMUTA programme.  Rev Samuel Makocebe spoke for many when he said: ‘I have worked with the Church for more than 18 years, but I have never seen such direct Bible-centred preaching methods and content. I wish I had known this many years before. I am now well equipped to handle the Bible properly.’

Explaining the impact of the programme as it reaches across the churches, country coordinator Frank Luvanda has sent this encouraging report:

‘By God’s grace we managed to have pastors from 20 denominations. It is continuing to help us by building a new generation of preachers and teachers who are not pre-occupied by their denominational backgrounds. This year, the training team included Julius Twongyeirwe, LP country coordinator in Uganda. As well as giving basic training in preaching, he addressed many difficult issues that face the Church in East Africa, such as misunderstanding between church leaders and between Christians of different denominations. Through his training, many church ministers understood their mistakes in ministry and told Frank that “Mchungaji Julius ametusaidia na kutufungua pale tulipokuwa tunakosea katika kuhubiri” (Pastor Julius has helped and opened our mind to know where we were making mistakes in preaching). Here in Tanzania we value so much this cross-pollination in our Preaching Movement.’

A further encouragement was the use of the Tanzanian team as main facilitators. Frank served the seminar programme in Mwanza in the north, the second time he has helped as a local facilitator in the national preaching movement, and Elkana Gonda helped in Mbeya, each working alongside fellow trainers Rodney Wood and Tony Swanson.

Growing preachers clubs

Tanzania has also re-structured the preaching clubs, retaining the five zones established in 2006 and establishing two new zones for local preaching movements, making the ministry of LP-MVIMUTA more effective. ‘We appointed new local representatives for five zones and we will keep on looking to identify other potential local leaders. We also appointed a convenor for each preachers club. God has helped us much in Tanzania because preachers clubs are flourishing and continue to multiply. We continue to encourage preachers clubs all over Tanzania. At the moment we have 42 clubs scattered across the country, but this is not enough. We are not aiming at increasing the number only, but we also aim at having active and effective preachers clubs. We look forward to having more local preaching movements all over Tanzania mainland at our own cost. When we have completed level one, we will then conduct a local level 2 preaching movement. This will help in reducing the costs of running national seminars for level 2.’

Spreading the news

‘To expand the work we plan to invite all bishops and other church leaders in their respective areas to introduce them the ministry of LP-MVIMUTA and its importance for the well being of the Church. We plan to meet church leaders in Morogoro, Mwanza, Mbeya, Kigoma, Arusha and Kagera.  We also look forward to introducing the ministry of LP-MVIMUTA in various theological colleges and Bible schools so that the training methods and values should be incorporated amongst in the curriculum, much as it is conducted at Morogoro Bible College. Knowing the importance of emerging leaders in secondary school and University colleges, we look forward to inviting young Christian leaders to attend LP-MVIMUTA preaching movements, so that they may be able to preach faithfully according to the Bible. This would be a special LP-MVIMUTA local preaching movement for leaders and preachers of students’ Christian associations.’

‘I am working hard in building a strong committed local team. I thank God that we have now managed to build a strong team of 14 local leaders, and we have already spotted a few other promising local leaders. Our aim is to do what Jethro advised Moses in Exodus 18:13-26.

Nurturing local support

‘It is true that most church ministers in rural Tanzania live below 1 dollar a day. The current global economic crisis has contributed much to economic instability for many church ministers in the country. Despite all these challenges we have determined to raise the local contribution. If we start early in the year we can then find ourselves with something to bring to LP-MVIMUTA national at the end of the year. Most Tanzanian church ministers serve the Lord as Paul did, with a ‘tent-making theology’, since the majority are under-paid in their normal work. But most Tanzanian church ministers have no additional skills, so we look forward to run life skills to help church ministers create small projects of their own.

‘In order to make the ministry become sustainable, we are developing ‘Friends of MVIMUTA’, who will be able to provide what they have for the ministry in the country. ‘Friends of MVIMUTA’ will help various churches to set a day for MVIMUTA, when there would be an extra collection for the work.’

Please pray for Frank and his team, for the growing network of preachers, and for effective preaching and teaching to shape the churches and communities of Tanzania.

They came from 20 different denominations, and travelled from 13 different regions.  In February, over 150 pastors took part in the ongoing training work of Langham Preaching – called LP-MVIMUTA (a network of expository preachers clubs in Tanzania).  It’s been growing for the past five years, and now there are many hundreds of pastors involved, many preachers’ clubs, and an expanding vision to reach the towns and villages across this vast country.

‘I wish I had known this many years before’
The two training events were held in Mwanza and Mbeya, deliberately targeting groups of pastors in regions which have previously been unreached by the LP-MVIMUTA programme.  Rev Samuel Makocebe spoke for many when he said: ‘I have worked with the Church for more than 18 years, but I have never seen such direct Bible-centred preaching methods and content. I wish I had known this many years before. I am now well equipped to handle the Bible properly.’

Explaining the impact of the programme as it reaches across the churches, country coordinator Frank Luvanda has sent this encouraging report:

‘By God’s grace we managed to have pastors from 20 denominations. It is continuing to help us by building a new generation of preachers and teachers who are not pre-occupied by their denominational backgrounds. This year, the training team included Julius Twongyeirwe, LP country coordinator in Uganda. As well as giving basic training in preaching, he addressed many difficult issues that face the Church in East Africa, such as misunderstanding between church leaders and between Christians of different denominations. Through his training, many church ministers understood their mistakes in ministry and told Frank that “Mchungaji Julius ametusaidia na kutufungua pale tulipokuwa tunakosea katika kuhubiri” (Pastor Julius has helped and opened our mind to know where we were making mistakes in preaching). Here in Tanzania we value so much this cross-pollination in our Preaching Movement.’

A further encouragement was the use of the Tanzanian team as main facilitators. Frank served the seminar programme in Mwanza in the north, the second time he has helped as a local facilitator in the national preaching movement, and Elkana Gonda helped in Mbeya, each working alongside fellow trainers Rodney Wood and Tony Swanson.

Growing preachers clubs
Tanzania has also re-structured the preaching clubs, retaining the five zones established in 2006 and establishing two new zones for local preaching movements, making the ministry of LP-MVIMUTA more effective. ‘We appointed new local representatives for five zones and we will keep on looking to identify other potential local leaders. We also appointed a convenor for each preachers club. God has helped us much in Tanzania because preachers clubs are flourishing and continue to multiply. We continue to encourage preachers clubs all over Tanzania. At the moment we have 42 clubs scattered across the country, but this is not enough. We are not aiming at increasing the number only, but we also aim at having active and effective preachers clubs. We look forward to having more local preaching movements all over Tanzania mainland at our own cost. When we have completed level one, we will then conduct a local level 2 preaching movement. This will help in reducing the costs of running national seminars for level 2.’

Spreading the news
‘To expand the work we plan to invite all bishops and other church leaders in their respective areas to introduce them the ministry of LP-MVIMUTA and its importance for the well being of the Church. We plan to meet church leaders in Morogoro, Mwanza, Mbeya, Kigoma, Arusha and Kagera.  We also look forward to introducing the ministry of LP-MVIMUTA in various theological colleges and Bible schools so that the training methods and values should be incorporated amongst in the curriculum, much as it is conducted at Morogoro Bible College. Knowing the importance of emerging leaders in secondary school and University colleges, we look forward to inviting young Christian leaders to attend LP-MVIMUTA preaching movements, so that they may be able to preach faithfully according to the Bible. This would be a special LP-MVIMUTA local preaching movement for leaders and preachers of students’ Christian associations.’

‘I am working hard in building a strong committed local team. I thank God that we have now managed to build a strong team of 14 local leaders, and we have already spotted a few other promising local leaders. Our aim is to do what Jethro advised Moses in Exodus 18:13-26.

Nurturing local support
‘It is true that most church ministers in rural Tanzania live below 1 dollar a day. The current global economic crisis has contributed much to economic instability for many church ministers in the country. Despite all these challenges we have determined to raise the local contribution. If we start early in the year we can then find ourselves with something to bring to LP-MVIMUTA national at the end of the year. Most Tanzanian church ministers serve the Lord as Paul did, with a ‘tent-making theology’, since the majority are under-paid in their normal work. But most Tanzanian church ministers have no additional skills, so we look forward to run life skills to help church ministers create small projects of their own.

‘In order to make the ministry become sustainable, we are developing ‘Friends of MVIMUTA’, who will be able to provide what they have for the ministry in the country. ‘Friends of MVIMUTA’ will help various churches to set a day for MVIMUTA, when there would be an extra collection for the work.’

Please pray for Frank and his team, for the growing network of preachers, and for effective preaching and teaching to shape the churches and communities of Tanzania.

Langham Preaching "escuelita" participants prepare an outline in class in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

What educational support would you want if you had to preach your first sermon?
For most of us, formal preaching training prior to a first sermon is expected. But for some
young leaders in Majority World countries, that training is unavailable or too expensive.
So when young church leader Miroslava Riffarrachi of Cochabamba, Bolivia, prepared to
preach to a congregation for the first time on Dec. 6, 2008, the training supported by JSM
was invaluable. In preparation, Miroslava had been studying a book on Bible exposition
she received during JSM-Langham preaching training (known as an “escuelita”) for young
leaders six months ago. And now the time had approached for her to put her training into
practice.

Miroslava came to the preaching seminar in La Paz along with her mentor and several
other members of her preacher’s school to better prepare herself for this opportunity. “I have
two passages I am working on,” said Miroslava. “An Old Testament prophetic passage and
one from the New Testament. This is why I was attracted to the workshop this week.” This
seminar focused on preaching from Jeremiah, enabling Miroslava to create several sermon
outlines that were reviewed by her small group and then by the workshop attendees.

“I am very grateful for people who support JSM and make it possible for people like us
who want to share the Word well, as it comes from God. This workshop helps us to study
it and to work on it, and encourages us to think that it is not impossible,” Miroslava says.

Miroslava Riffarachi at one of her first public preaching events following her training with Langham Preaching.

On December 6, 2008 Miroslava preached her first sermon. She preached on the text from Mark 8:31-38. To all of those praying for her she says, “Thank you for your prayers, I have felt so blessed the day of the preaching and they asked me return, preaching my biblical text again on December 28.”

Here is the full interview with Miroslava as she attending the Langham Preaching Seminiar in La Paz, Bolivia.

Interview with Miroslava Riffarachi
Nov 13, 2008
La Paz, Bolivia

DH: First can you tell me your name and where you are from?

MR: My name is Mirslava Riffarachi and I am from Cochabamba Bolivia. I am in La Paz to study from Chris Wright at the Langham Preaching seminar.

DH: What do you do in Cochabamba?

MR: I study business administration and I am working for Food for the Hungry at the moment in the area of child sponsorship.

Langham Preaching students with Chris Wright in Cochabamba, Bolivia

DH: What made you want to come to this seminar?

MR: I am part of the preaching school in Cochabamba, and they encouraged us to come to the seminar to learn about studying prophetic books. I have been in the preaching school for six months, and at the beginning of December, I will be giving my first sermon. I’ve chosen a prophetic passage, and I see now that it’s a bit difficult, but it helps me for the following ones.

DH: Tell me a bit about the escuelitas. How many people are involved and how often do you meet?

MR: OK, the school started with 15-17 people and all young people cause it’s a young peoples group. There are 10 that are going on with it. We are from different churches and institutions. We are learning together, and the majority are university students, with some of us graduating already. Each one is working with either with the young people in their church or in young peoples’ ministry.

DH: When you preach, will it be to the young people in your church, or the whole church, or is there another group that you preach to?

MR: Most of them are young peoples’ leaders, and they preach in the young peoples’ groups. Some of them are invited by other youth ministries. One of them has already preached in a Sunday service. And the rest are being considered by our pastors to preach to the entire congregation at some point. After my first one in December.

DH: When will you be preaching your first sermon?

MR: Dec 6. The preaching club meets every Saturday early at 7:00 a.m.

DH: Do you then talk about what you will be preaching on and help each other?

MR: Until last Saturday, we have been going through the book, The Seven Steps to a Good Bible Exposition. From now until the 6th of December, we are preparing a sermon based on what we have learned from the book and from this seminar.

DH: Will you be preparing your Bible passage on the prophetic verse you will be preaching on?

MR: But I have two passages. An old prophetic passage and a New Testament one. This is why I was attracted to the workshop this week. I am not going leave the prophetic passage and will continue to work on it, but I will be using New Testament passage for my exposition. Then I will finish the other one.

DH: When you leave here, will you share what you have learned with your escuelitas?

MR: Clara [of course]. I am taking recordings for those who are working and could not be here. Then we will have a mutual experience.

DH: What would you like to say to the Langham supporters?

MR: I am very grateful for people like you who make it possible for people like us who want to share the Word well, as it comes from God. It helps us to study it, to work on it and encourages us to think that it is not impossible. Thank you very much!

DH: How can we pray for you?

MR: I would like for you to pray for me that God is in my life so that I when I come to the Word, I am able to share with people what God puts in my heart. It’s easy to share what’s happening to someone, what God’s done in your life. But it’s more difficult when you are doing an exposition from the Bible and what it actually says.

DH: How can we pray for the youth of Cochabamba?

MR: Pray that the heart of the young people really seek God and that they look at the Word. Because, our youth are like the youth in all the world, in that they only look at superficial things and they should seek the Word, and not just what it seems to be or what they feel. That is so common in our postmodern age. Pray that they do not push that aside because that is what young people are doing. Pray that the Word should be their foundation.

For more information on how to support Langham Preaching, visit LPI’s Get Involved section.

Displaced family in Goma, DRC (Copyright (c) Congo Vision. Reprinted with permission.)

This is a brief account of the Langham Preaching training programme in Goma, the centre of unrest in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as told by Muhindo Isesomo (Langham Preaching country coordinator), and two Langham facilitators, Gordon Woolard and Mike McGowan.

Once a year, the Langham Preaching programme in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) gathers together a small group of pastors, continuing the training in Biblical preaching. This year they chose a week in October and a city in the east of the country. It happened that the city was Goma, and the week was October 27-31, the week the troubled conflict in eastern DRC exploded.

The courageous team of pastors at the Langham Preaching training, Goma, DRC

‘We are very thankful to God for his protection during the seminar, and also for the brothers and sisters around the world who have been praying for us’, said Muhindo Isesomo. He described how 22 delegates had arrived from different parts of the DRC, except those from Kasai and Rutshuru, who were blocked by rebels. The training began on Monday, and so did the gunfire. ‘It continued right through the night, some of it very close and frightening’, said Mike McGowan. ‘The prison was on fire on Monday evening, and police killed a number of people. Civilians were shot. On Wednesday things erupted again when the Congolese army fled Goma, taking their tanks at top speed through the streets. A curfew was imposed, and there were rumours that the rebels would enter the city.’ The firing went on through the night.

The humanitarian crisis in Goma, DRC is especially difficult for children. (Copyright (c) Congo Vision. Reprinted with permission.)

The brothers from around DRC would not be distracted, and the training programme continued through the week until Thursday. They were determined to complete their Level 3 preaching training, and were keen that the group of local trainers were equipped, ready to launch new Level 1 training programmes in their home regions. Across the DRC there are now 27 local preachers’ clubs, with nearly 300 participants. They in turn are impacting countless believers in many hundreds of congregations. The ripple effects of the preaching training are substantial as, in many corners of this vast and troubled country, pastors and lay preachers proclaim the Word with renewed faithfulness, clarity and relevance.

Archbishop's wife completes Level 3 training, with Gordon Woolard, Mike McGowan and Muhindo Isesomo. Bullets were flying round outside during the ceremony.

‘I don’t know about Gordon’, Mike wrote. ‘But I spent the night in prayer. I think Gordon did too.’ They kept the lights off at night and stayed below window level, praying for the city ‘and especially for the traumatised children’, said Gordon.

‘Even after only four days we found that any loud noise would make you flinch. I’m trying to picture how a child would be affected living with this every day. I felt one night in bed that the situation presented me with a choice. Either the gospel is true, and it would make sense to be here in Goma for the sake of training people to preach the Bible; or the gospel is false, and it’s plain silly to train

people to preach a myth that ends in oblivion. The gunfire cleared the brain to think objectively. I decided that Jesus is true and that it made sense to be where I was. I won’t kid you, though. It was good to walk back across the border into Rwanda.’

Gordon and Mike completed the training on Thursday and, against the odds, were able to leave Goma and join the staff of many NGOs leaving the country to the east, crossing the border into Rwanda. ‘We even had a certificate celebration on Wednesday night, with bullets flying round outside. We had to keep our heads down …’, said Mike. ‘The whole experience tested our faith in a living God to the limits, but he is there and he is faithful.’

Muhindo Isesimo, Langham Preaching country coordinator for DRC.

Isesomo is a remarkable leader with a calm and cheerful presence. He stayed with the pastors, because there was more training to be done – and no flights to leave Goma. They worked together on the plans for equipping pastors in different parts of the country.

Isesomo has written to me: ‘We would like to develop training of pastors for people in Bandundu, Katanga, Bas-Congo, Equateur and Congo-Brazzaville. We hope the 10 people trained this week will start Level 1 events in their different regions. Then we would like to train these trainers still further. We need more Bibles, bikes and motorbikes – this is a priority for the preachers’ clubs.’

He won’t stop. He knows what really matters for the church and for a nation in sustained crisis. It is God’s Word, in the power of God’s Spirit, that brings the gospel of Christ to needy men and women and has the potential to transform broken lives and shattered societies.

We need to pray for them. Gordon concluded, ‘I come home. They stay. I now follow the news from afar. They live the news each day.’

Read more about the Muhindo Isesomo and his passion to equip pastors in DRC.

View a photo slideshow of the humanitarian crisis in DRC.

For more information on how to support the work of Langham Preaching in DRC, please visit http://www.langhampartnership.org/preaching/.

Amidst growing news of the persecution of thousands of Christians across northern India, a small group of Christian leaders met in Delhi last week to explore ways of coordinating their efforts in the training of pastors and lay preachers. Across northern India there are remarkable signs of church growth.  Compared to the south of the country, the region has been a tough environment for Christian witness, with far fewer resources and Christian initiatives than in the south. But the tide has been turning: leaders are planting thousands of churches in the huge northern states, and more energy is being given to their support through training initiatives of all kinds.

Recognising the overwhelming need to strengthen the churches through the training of preachers, the team of 12 leaders met for a short consultation convened by members of the Langham Partnership Regional Council for South Asia. Paul Swarup, Finny Philip and Paulson Pulikottil, themselves former Langham Scholars, sustain an active interest not only in the academic arena and in Christian publishing, but in the grass-roots needs of local churches. Specifically, they share the concern of Langham Preaching to find ways to strengthen biblical preaching in the many new emerging churches across northern India.

Drawing together agencies from various areas of northern India, the Langham Preaching consultation had the following outcomes:

•    All participants recognised the benefit of exchanging training ideas. Many of them were not aware of each other’s training work, and the opportunity to receive news, learn from the example of others, and pray for each other’s ministry, was a very significant outcome of the consultation. It is hoped that the friendships established will allow for ongoing communication between the different agencies.

•    The consultation determined to redouble efforts in the training of trainers, seen to be a priority need for all of the agencies involved in northern India. Given the vast scale of the work to be done, the most important need is to equip a new army of trainers who will carry forward the training of pastors and lay preachers within their own villages and towns.

•    The consultation decided to establish a database which will list all available resources – appropriate training materials, books and other resources which will serve each agency in the training of preachers.

•    It was decided to encourage Langham Preaching, in fellowship with several of the agencies at the consultation, to support a new training initiative in Nagaland. Here the churches have been growing rapidly, but there is a strong need for training amongst pastors. Langham Preaching will lead the initiative during 2009, carried out with help from facilitators from northern India.

•    The consultation agreed to meet annually and to extend the network of those who are invited to participate.

There was a strong feeling that this was the time for energetic commitment to the cause of preaching training, and for every effort to be made to coordinate our work for the benefit of the growing church of northern India.

Kenyan Preachers’ Club with Mercy Ireri

We all agree that a church is more than its services, a family more than its meal times. And since it began six years ago, Langham Preaching has sought to encourage ‘fellowships’ rather than just run events. In several countries there is gradually emerging a fellowship of preachers – a ‘movement’ for biblical preaching. Supported by seminars, books and training resources, such a movement is most clearly seen through the emergence of preachers’ clubs in towns and villages. Meeting regularly in their home regions, small groups of pastors and lay preachers gather to study a Bible passage, work on sermon preparation, and plan their preaching series. And of course they pray for one another and support each other’s desire to preach better. Linked to regional or national seminar programmes which provide training materials and good models for Biblical preaching, preachers’ clubs are the heartbeat of national preaching movements.

Preachers’ clubs are growing across Kenya, encouraged to meet regularly by country coordinator Mercy Ireri, who uses her cell phone to good effect as she chases up local leaders for news of their club meetings, or encourages them forward with new ideas. Pastors often contact Langham Preaching via our Web site, and we can quickly connect them with Mercy who then plugs them into the network of preachers’ clubs gradually extending across the country. Mercy says, ‘A few months ago you forwarded to me an email from pastor Jonathan in Nakuru. I put him in touch with the leader of the preachers’ club, Asman, there in the Rift Valley. Asman told me that they had a good meeting and are planning to work together. At the time I put them in touch it was during the violence – it did not even cross my mind that Jonathan is a Kalenjin and Asman is Kikuyu. Asman told me that it was a miracle for both of them to sit together and even have a cup of tea!’

For the past three years a small core of 40 pastors have been attending the Langham training programme in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and developing preachers’ clubs in their home regions. And now? ‘We have actually 28 clubs in the country with 298 members’, says country coordinator Muhindo Isesomo, who travels widely to encourage them. ‘And I believe this will increase after the next Langham training of trainers event in October’. Through the generosity of friends at St Andrew’s church Oxford we have recently been able to support their work through the provision of bikes and Bibles, enabling the pastors to travel to their many scattered congregations and to meet to study scripture together.

The story is similar elsewhere in the world. Ghana reports the cascade effect of the training through local meetings in different denominations; two good groups are meeting in Jamaica; in Tanzania, preachers’ clubs have been established across the country, forming the base for 13 regional programmes which are now starting small training events for local pastors. And in Bolivia and Columbia, and other Latin countries, preachers’ clubs are vital training arenas – so much so they are called ‘escuelitas’, little schools for preachers. For any movement to catch fire, local people must own it, and passionate and committed people in the country must drive it forward. We don’t know if this will happen in each country, but this is what we pray for – national preaching movements which seek to unite, encourage, equip, train and inspire all those who are faithfully teaching and preaching God’s Word.

Kenyan Preachers’ Club with Mercy Ireri

We all agree that a church is more than its services, a family more than its meal times. And since it began six years ago, Langham Preaching has sought to encourage ‘fellowships’ rather than just run events. In several countries there is gradually emerging a fellowship of preachers – a ‘movement’ for biblical preaching. Supported by seminars, books and training resources, such a movement is most clearly seen through the emergence of preachers’ clubs in towns and villages. Meeting regularly in their home regions, small groups of pastors and lay preachers gather to study a Bible passage, work on sermon preparation, and plan their preaching series. And of course they pray for one another and support each other’s desire to preach better. Linked to regional or national seminar programmes which provide training materials and good models for Biblical preaching, preachers’ clubs are the heartbeat of national preaching movements.

Preachers’ clubs are growing across Kenya, encouraged to meet regularly by country coordinator Mercy Ireri, who uses her cell phone to good effect as she chases up local leaders for news of their club meetings, or encourages them forward with new ideas. Pastors often contact Langham Preaching via our Web site, and we can quickly connect them with Mercy who then plugs them into the network of preachers’ clubs gradually extending across the country. Mercy says, ‘A few months ago you forwarded to me an email from pastor Jonathan in Nakuru. I put him in touch with the leader of the preachers’ club, Asman, there in the Rift Valley. Asman told me that they had a good meeting and are planning to work together. At the time I put them in touch it was during the violence – it did not even cross my mind that Jonathan is a Kalenjin and Asman is Kikuyu. Asman told me that it was a miracle for both of them to sit together and even have a cup of tea!’

For the past three years a small core of 40 pastors have been attending the Langham training programme in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and developing preachers’ clubs in their home regions. And now? ‘We have actually 28 clubs in the country with 298 members’, says country coordinator Muhindo Isesomo, who travels widely to encourage them. ‘And I believe this will increase after the next Langham training of trainers event in October’. Through the generosity of friends at St Andrew’s church Oxford we have recently been able to support their work through the provision of bikes and Bibles, enabling the pastors to travel to their many scattered congregations and to meet to study scripture together.

The story is similar elsewhere in the world. Ghana reports the cascade effect of the training through local meetings in different denominations; two good groups are meeting in Jamaica; in Tanzania, preachers’ clubs have been established across the country, forming the base for 13 regional programmes which are now starting small training events for local pastors. And in Bolivia and Columbia, and other Latin countries, preachers’ clubs are vital training arenas – so much so they are called ‘escuelitas’, little schools for preachers. For any movement to catch fire, local people must own it, and passionate and committed people in the country must drive it forward. We don’t know if this will happen in each country, but this is what we pray for – national preaching movements which seek to unite, encourage, equip, train and inspire all those who are faithfully teaching and preaching God’s Word.

By Jonathan Lamb
International Programme Director of Langham Preaching

Blood River is a best-selling title by Tim Butcher that tells the story of his remarkable journey across the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – on the back of a motorbike. He followed the footsteps of Stanley, who first charted its mighty river in the 1870s. And if you would like an insight into the shattered infrastructure, advancing poverty, and sustained devastation from civil war, this is worth a read. ‘His extraordinary account describes a country with more past than present, where giant steamboats lie rotting in the advancing forest and children hear stories from grandparents of days when cars once drove by.’

Yomping through the Congo on a motorbike is near suicidal. But there are others on their bikes travelling across the broken landscape of this huge country. They are pastors and evangelists. For the church in DRC is growing and, against all odds, it is being supported by faithful men and women who teach and preach God’s Word.

Muhindo Isesomo is a short and stocky man, strong in body and in faith, with a mischievous smile and a determined spirit. He once told me that, when visiting some of the far-flung groups for which he cares in DRC, his plane crash-landed, but he survived. I think I would have abandoned the trip, returning home to count my blessings. But walking from the wreckage, Isesomo thought to himself, ‘I’ve survived the crash, so God must want me to visit these believers’. He’s like that. (Do you remember Paul’s testimony to the Ephesians? ‘I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace’ Acts 20:24.)

Isesomo has many jobs, but one is to serve as country coordinator for Langham Preaching. For the past few years he has worked with Gordon Woolard, an American member of the Langham team who is a fluent French speaker and an experienced pastor-teacher, training a small group of 40 pastors and preachers. They have had an annual one-week seminar, bringing together small clusters of 4 or 5 people from each of the main regions of the country. Working steadily on the basics of biblical preaching, the three-level programme has sought to encourage faithfulness to the Bible and Christ-centred application to the challenges of congregations in the DRC. Participants mostly have to fly to the seminars, now that the road and rail networks are so devastated. And now? ‘We have actually 28 preachers’ clubs in the country with 298 members’, says Isesomo, who travels tirelessly to encourage them. ‘And I believe this will increase after the next Langham training of trainers event in October’. Preachers’ clubs are a feature of the work in many countries, providing continuity and local support for hard-pressed pastors, and encouraging local pastors to work on Bible passages together, share their sermon outlines, plan their preaching programmes, train lay preachers, and pray for one another.

Through the generosity of St Andrew’s church Oxford we have recently been able to support their work through the provision of bikes and Bibles, enabling the pastors to travel to their many scattered congregations and to meet to study scripture together. ‘We have bought 200 Bibles, and each member in the club will have one Bible and we can keep some for those who join us later’, says Isesomo. ‘ And we have bought 61 bikes which are now available to the different preachers’ clubs.’

And that’s not all. ‘Another idea came to us for the ten people who will be trained next October as trainers from our different dioceses. We saw that they will also need means of transport to do the work in their areas, and it is not possible to do that by using the bike because of long distances. So through your gift we have bought 10 little motorbikes.’

So with bikes and Bibles, some regular preaching training, and the support of a remarkable pastoral leader, the word of God is making progress across the demanding terrain of the DRC. Please pray for these many preachers as they evangelise new towns and villages, and as they serve their growing congregations – on wheels!

Igor Amestegui conducts Level 4 training with Quechuan pastors

International Programme Director, Langham Preaching

Many of us would have learnt about the Incas when we were at school – an ancient and highly civilized empire in South America. But maybe we are not so familiar with the Quechuas, a group of indigenous South American tribes who are direct descendants of the Inca Empire. Quechua (pronounced, ‘ke-che-wah’) is spoken by several million people in Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Chile, but there has only been one translation of the entire Quechua Bible since 1993.

Charito and Igor Amestegui

Igor Amestegui, Regional Facilitator for Langham Preaching in Latin America, has been working in fellowship with several mission agencies to support the training of preachers who serve the Quechua community. Running a series of four seminars for 22 participants, Igor began with the basics of studying the Bible passage, and later introduced the first steps of preparing talks from Bible passages. A simple manual – ‘How to prepare to preach’ – written in Quechua, was a useful tool for the training sessions and will be a standard manual for the team to use in future training events.

Igor found that most participants came from rural contexts with limited educational background, so the group studied pastoral themes from Psalm 23, and Igor crafted the course to ensure there was plenty of practice built into the seminars. ‘In a highly oral culture, where the pattern of thought is more concrete than abstract, it is vital to use simple language and accessible concepts to help preachers extract the key principles from the Bible text’, said Igor.

‘A great achievement is that there is tremendous motivation amongst the brothers and sisters who participated. They are also putting into practice what they have learned. For many this has been a new way to read the Bible, even though they have been pastoring churches for years’, said Pio Victor, the Director of Mosoj Chaski, a radio ministry reaching Quechua in Bolivia and one of the partners in the project.

Igor knows that these are just the first steps of training. ‘It is my prayer that the Word sown and the tools given during these seminars may bear abundant fruit, so that the Word of God is preached in the Quechuan world and that this will bring growth to God’s glory’.

Visit the Langham Partnership International photo gallery for more images of the Quechuan Preaching project

We’ve been busy! Take a look at how the world is changing this year through some of Langham Preaching’s recent training sessions.

Langham Preaching makes waves in the Pacific

Following the launch of Langham Preaching in Vanuatu – the first step in the development of the work in the Pacific – plans are now underway for the launch of similar initiatives in the Solomon Islands and in Papua New Guinea next year.  The Vanuatu programme is having an ongoing impact, as Andrew Williamson reports: ‘Did you know that the two French-speaking pastors present went home and immediately met with twenty of the leaders they are discipling for five nights a week, for two weeks, reviewing the material of the Langham Preaching seminar? And hear at Talua Ministry Training Centre, we are reviewing our whole approach to teaching (and doing) preaching to bring it into line with the Langham teaching. It will take another month or so before we make all the decisions, but I think it will be a sizable overhaul of our approach.  Keep up your good work!’

West Africa prepares to extend the reach of training

In August Langham Preaching facilitator, Gordon Woolard, visited Benin, where a small team has been
established to prepare for the launch of a preaching movement.  Neighbouring Togo would like to send delegates too, and so plans are underway for the start of training next year.  Langham Preaching will also begin in Liberia later this year, and local country coordinator Dyonah Thomas reports that delegates are being selected from all 15 regions of the country, ready for the December launch.  Neighbouring Sierra Leone and Gambia hope to send delegates to Liberia too, as the programme prepares to extend to new territories in the future.

Chiang Mai welcomes the first seminar for biblical preaching

From June 30 to July 4, the first Chiang Mai seminar for biblical preaching takes place, jointly hosted by OMF and Langham Preaching.  Gathering some 25 delegates from Thailand and several neighbouring countries, this will be the first of a series of four seminars to equip pastors for their preaching ministries, and to work towards a stronger base in each country for the nurturing of country training programmes.

Preachers’ clubs keep busy in Kenya

Mercy Ireri is the very energetic coordinator of the preaching clubs in Kenya.  Armed with her mobile phone, she keeps track of the pastors and lay preachers, encouraging them to meet regularly, as well as visiting the clubs in different regions near Nairobi.  She recently reported:

I attended the Kirinyaga Preachers Club this past Saturday.  The group has been meeting consistently each month since September 07.  It is made up of two men and three women, from the Anglican church, the Methodist church and Gospel Outreach church (Pentecostal).  Since the August preaching seminar, one member joined a college in Nyeri, about 35km away from Keroguya which is the meeting venue.  She makes the needed effort (time and bus fare) to attend the club meeting.  The other lady moved to Nakuru, but still comes to the club meeting.

The cohesiveness in the group was pretty obvious.  On that day, they had chosen to present outlines from Daniel 10. At first I was, like, of all books, Daniel! They decided on the book so that with what they were taught at the seminar, they can try to handle those ‘difficult’ books in the Bible.  It was quite amazing to note that they did not dwell on the ‘absurd details’ in the text, but they used the ‘Studying a passage’ sheet to study the passage. After each presentation, they would assess “Faithfulness, Relevance, Clarity”, and give their feedback.  Each outline identified the audience, had a theme statement, had a verse structure and an accompanying sentence.   I was able to wrap up the session with a few points on handling apocalyptic literature.  We sure had a real good day!  I left so, so encouraged.  With calmness returning in the country, many groups are now planning on beginning their meetings. My other highlight each month has been calling the club leaders. I get to laugh as they share their stories, and I get so encouraged when they explain what they are doing, and when I place the phone down, I thank God for what is happening.  Thank you for your enormous support in this work in Kenya.

OMF International and Langham Preaching have together launched the Chiang Mai Seminar on Biblical Preaching (CSBP), with the first event held in the first week of July this year. Gathering 30 pastors from Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand, this is the first of a series of four events seeking to establish indigenous preaching movements in these countries.

The Thai church is slowly growing, but is still very small. In central and south Thailand there has only been sustained Christian activity for the past 50 years. Yet despite its youthfulness, the church is planting new congregations in different regions and there is a strong desire for discipleship and leadership training. Several of the Thai participants in the CSBP are working in village communities and amongst tribal groups, and the Chiang Mai project is designed to resource Christian workers in these demanding locations.

The Kingdom of Cambodia (formerly Kampuchea) emerged from the intense suffering of the 1970s with a shattered economy and a vulnerable church. But for the past 20 years there has been growing receptivity to the gospel, and in the last 10 years there has been remarkable church growth – there are now over 250,000 believers. But in a population of 14 million, many of whom have never heard of Christ, there is much to be done both in mission and in training. Sophea was one of several pastors who travelled from Cambodia to the CSBP. He now aims to launch a preachers’ club for the eight leaders in the church in Phnom Penh. In due course, we hope to work in fellowship with these and other churches to develop a Cambodian Preaching programme.

A small team from Myanmar also reported on the ongoing development of preachers’ clubs, following the work of the School of Bible Teaching run by Crosslinks over the past two or three years and in which Langham Preaching has been involved. One pastor reported on the development of a preachers’ fellowship which attracted some 25 participants month by month, with the opportunity to work on their sermons linked to the allocated Bible passages in the lectionary. Many church buildings have been damaged by the cyclone, and much effort is being given to caring for the many thousands of people impacted by the disaster. But despite the many challenges in the country, these are small but positive signs of the steady indigenisation of the preaching movements.

The next CSBP event will be at the end of October 2008, with a week-long programme encouraging participants to preach from the Old Testament, supported through Thai and English books, and continuing the emphasis on the nurturing of small preachers’ fellowships in each country. Please pray for the development of the 2009 programme, and our hopes for the subsequent extension of training in neighbouring countries.

Visit the LPI photo gallery to see more pictures from the CSBP.

Preaching that is good to taste, easier to create and spreads even further

In June 2008 at a Langham Preaching event in Ghana known as NEPS (National Expository Preaching Seminar), Ian Buchanan was able to spend time with three leaders who had applied what they had learnt at previous events to their local situations. Two young ministers were inspired to share training with their local network of pastors, while a third pastor worked to influence his national diocese.

Nana-Atto Hope and Emmanuel Anseh are two twenty-something Methodist leaders who have equipped their local “Bread of Life Society” of Methodist ministers with the skills they learnt at the NEPS conference in 2007. Methodist churches in Ghana require local ministers to meet up in local societies, which are only one part of a larger regional circuit that is, in turn, a part of a cluster of trans-national dioceses.

Last year the Bread of Life Society decided that meeting once every four months for prayer was not enough. But what would be the purpose of more regular meetings? Nana-Atto and Emmanuel suggested that the NEPS course materials and experience could be used as material for more meetings, as a means of helping other ministers with a crucial weekly task – preaching.

The idea was immediately seized upon since the Bread of Life Society is renowned within their Circuit for its innovative new approach to ministry, and maintaining that reputation was becoming ever more difficult.

For the first three meetings Nana-Atto and Emmanuel repeated all they had learned at NEPS 2007 with their group of 15 ministers. For the six meetings prior to this year’s NEPS conference, the group chose, on a rota basis, three or four ministers from the group for monthly Saturday morning expository preaching events. For each sermon given the participants gave their considered assessment based on clarity, relevance and faithfulness to the text.

The success of these local meetings, helped by that historic reputation for innovative thinking, has meant that their circuit is now taking interest in what they have been doing. They now hope to move it upwards into this wider circuit arena after the June 2008 NEPS conference.

It also became clear that both Nana-Atto and Emmanuel had benefited enormously from what they had passed on to others. “We find that expository preaching allows us to give more to the people”, Nana-Atto chimed in with the big grin of a leader who feels he’s finally scratching where people itch. “I see it as a way for me to get more from the Bible than I did before”, added Emmanuel.

But it’s about more than just “feeding” Christians; it’s also about reducing those dreaded preparation tensions. “Now I find that preparing my sermon is so much easier than before”, said Emmanuel. “It used to be very tough for me … but now it flows so much more easily as I can think more systematically about the text”. Nana-Atto immediately agreed with Emmanuel by giving him a Ghanaian style hand shake that clearly reflected their joint relief at finding an excellent de-stressing tool for preachers.

So, more food to give and easier to prepare as well. Now that sounds like a recipe worth imitating by any Methodist circuit.

While two young ministers spent the year revitalizing their local network, one Council Chairman worked to influence the national Methodist Diocese. Revd S.V. Mpereh is a circuit minister for the Medina Circuit and leader of the Ebenezer Methodist Society. He also holds the chair of the local Council of Churches. When ministers met in his quarterly circuit, “S.V.”, as he is known, decided to introduce them to the NEPS 2006 training material.

In one sense S.V is working from the top-down as well as from the middle-up. Last year he asked the circuit ministers to filter down the training into their local societies. That way what is learnt at circuit level can be repeated again once a quarter at society level.

“This way I keep them always learning”, S.V. noted with glee. The challenge of leading a circuit clearly weighs heavily on S.V. as he asks God for wisdom in leading an ever expanding group of ministers. If that was not enough he also ensures that they all get opportunities for practical training and assessment from other local ministers. “I act as the coordinator and that way they all can have a turn” he adds as if this coordinating role was the easiest part of all that he does.

So how many people make up this “Circuit Preacher’s Club”? Sixty was S.V’s emphatic response, “But I want to expand it upwards to a diocesan level this year” and that will multiply the numbers by 26.

S.V is a classic example of a man with ambition and the coordinating skills to match, both of which are so needed when it comes to spreading a grass-roots indigenous preaching movement.

104 participants from Vanuatu, the Solomons and Papua New Guinea met at the Scripture Union campsite at Pango Point on the Vanuatu island of Efate for the first Pacific Preaching Seminar from 24-28 March 2008. The Ni-Vanuatu participants came from seven of the main islands of Vanuatu.

We are grateful to local organisers Andy Williamson, Philip Joses and
Sophia Silas from Talua Bible College.

participants at the preaching conference in Vanuatu

The two main preaching facilitators were Chris Wright (LPI) and David Cook (Principal of Sydney Missionary and Bible College). LPA Board member John Buckle and LPA Scholar Ma’afu Palu also assisted in the teaching and group sessions, while LPA executive officer Wendy Toulmin assisted in the daily running of the seminar.

Every day was “full on”, as the Australians put it. We ran from 7.45am start with devotions, through until 9.00pm. The generator went off about 9.45pm, so nothing was possible after that except to try to sleep, until the singing from the men’s dormitory began around 5.00am!

From the start, we emphasized to participants that this was a long-term programme. The group workshops were organised geographically, so when we had the session on ‘Developing a Movement for Biblical Preaching in Vanuatu’, it was natural for them to meet in the same groups. There was general enthusiasm for setting up local Preachers’ Clubs. They appointed convenors and we have heard they are already beginning to meet. Please pray they will continue and serve a great purpose under God.

We returned from Vanuatu with a strong conviction that Langham Preaching Pacific region has been well and truly launched and has exciting potential in the years ahead.

The Tanzanian preaching movement continues to extend its reach, with nearly 320 delegates attending the training seminars in February and March this year, as well as the launch of a new initiative in the training of local facilitators.

Coordinated by Frank Luvanda and Tony Swanson, the programme not only included large seminars in the north and south of the country. A small group of Tanzanian trainers have also been equipped to develop new level 1 training events in different regions of the country, taking the training to local groups and thereby strengthening the indigenous commitment of the preaching movement. This year over 170 pastors and lay preachers attended the Northern event in Mwanza, and nearly 150 attended the event in Morogoro.

Langham Preaching facilitator Rodney Wood worked with Frank and Tony, and they were joined by Mercy Ireri, the Langham country coordinator for the preaching movement in Kenya. Her training skills and her experience of nurturing preacher’s clubs in Kenya supported the Tanzanian training and is a good example of the emerging African preaching network – cross-border fellowship and support which is part of the Langham Preaching vision.

Safia Nana Zakana could not understand what had happened to Pastor James. She attended his church in Abuja, Nigeria, where he preached regularly. But during 2007 something changed. “I found he was different,” she told Chris Wright, who was leading the second Nigerian Langham Preaching seminar. “He used to preach all over the place, but now he never uses illustrations or stories that are not relevant to the text he is preaching from. And he always ties his conclusion to what the text is saying.”

Safia was attending the seminar at Level 1, and Pastor James had attended it last year, and clearly it had changed him. “So when I see him,” Safia laughed, “I’m going to tell him, ‘Now I know your secret!’ Already we are asking him to train us and others in the church in what he has learned.”

Safia Nana Zakana

Safia herself was a TV presenter before, so she never had any problem about standing up and speaking before audiences. Her problem was knowing how to handle the Bible well and how to teach it properly to others. She works for RURCON – ‘Rural Church Councillors of Nigeria’ – a teaching and training network that encourages rural church pastors to have a holistic ministry of the Gospel in words and works. So she has lots of opportunities to teach and train others. “I wanted to know how to present the Word of God properly in context – its own context, and our context – so that people can understand it and be changed,” she said. “This seminar is helping me to do exactly that.” And with a final bright smile, “My husband, who works for Christian aid and can’t be here, is so jealous!”

The Nigerian Movement Grows Fast

The Langham Preaching movement in Nigeria started in February 2007 with 150 people at Level 1. This year, 90 of them returned for Level 2 training, while another 160 joined at a fresh Level 1. After taking the original group to Level 3 in 2009, it is likely the movement will have to split into several regional streams. This is not surprising, since everything in Nigerian Christianity is big. The movement is supported by several heads of denominations that number millions of members, some of whom attended throughout, at the invitation of Gideon Para-Malam, the main organizer.

Langham Literature provided books for the participants, and some more were provided as gifts and for sale through Africa Christian Textbooks, run by Sid Garland. Many bought copies of the “Africa Bible Commentary.”

And Langham scholars are involved as well. The chair of the Nigerian Langham Preaching committee is Pandang Yamsat, who is the President of the Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN). And another Langham scholar, Bishop Cyril Okorocha sent ten pastors from his Diocese of Owerri, and gave a guest lecture one evening.

Making a Difference
Chris Wright, who was the main facilitator at last year’s seminar and returned for this one, was keen to hear from members of the first group if what they learned last year had made any difference to their preaching habits and their churches’ lives. He got some encouraging responses.

Pastor Bitrus Abba pastors a church in the Hausa speaking Kagoro region. “I used to feel so guilty before,” he said, “because I never prepared properly. I would just do a bit on Saturday night or even Sunday morning before preaching. So last year’s seminar made me sit up. Now, I start every Monday morning to study and prepare. Then I do a little bit each evening and put it all together on Friday night. There has been a much better response from my people. Their level of interest is greater because they can see clearly the main message and purpose of each passage. Many more are coming to the mid-week prayer meeting and Bible study.

“During the past year, I have preached through James (in 2 months), 1 Timothy, 1 Corinthians, and parts of Micah and Habakkuk. I have just bought the ‘Africa Bible Commentary,’ which will be really helpful. I find I learn so much as I prepare.

“During the past year we also started a preachers club for our town, and that has met twice, and we will go on meeting and learning together.”

Exploding but Dissatisfied
Pastor Caleb Mutfwang leads a large church in Kaduna, in the northern part of Nigeria. He told Chris Wright that although there is an explosion of church attendance in Nigeria, people are often dissatisfied with church. They look for somewhere where the Word is being taught because they are severely hungry. And they appreciate it when they hear thorough exegesis of the Bible itself. They are not gullible. What had he particularly learned from last year’s seminar?

• “I was conscious that I had often preached out of context. Even though the message might have been true, the supporting text was not appropriate.
• “Secondly I learned the need to stay within the text while preaching it.
• “Then thirdly, I learned the discipline of preparing sermon notes seriously, and not just extempore ‘as the Spirit leads’.
• “Fourthly, our church began to look at more theological themes, like ‘Who really is God?’, and if you do that, you have to be more diligent in your study. We have a fairly educated membership. In my younger days I used to despise theology, but suddenly I have realized through my reading of John Stott and others, that it is not dry. And you can give people good content without being boring.”

As the Nigerian Langham Preaching movement grows and spreads, pray that it may become an open secret, and change a whole culture of preaching back to its biblical roots.

Read more about Nigerian Langham Scholar Matthew Michaels

View the Langham Preaching-Nigeria Photo Gallery

by Jonathan Lamb, Langham Preaching International Director

‘For the first time, it looks as though the vision of a Preaching movement is being realised’, said Jonathan Lamb, following the Africa Preaching Consultation hosted in Nairobi, Kenya, in mid-December last year.   Country coordinators of the Langham Preaching programmes from 13 countries met for 3 days of fellowship, discussion and prayer.  They came from Zambia and Zimbabwe in the South to Ethiopia in the East, from Francophone countries in Central Africa to some of the largest as well as the poorest of countries in the continent.

To host the event, Langham Preaching joined forces with the Philip Project, a UK ministry that provides Bible training for Africans who are pursuing post-graduate study in the UK, so that they can return home better equipped to serve their churches.  The Consultation gathered leaders of considerable stature and experience, and provided the opportunity to hear of new initiatives in training, growing evidence of indigenous local movements for pastors and lay preachers, and the ripple effect of the training as it impacts churches and communities.   Muhindo Isesomo, the country coordinator in the Democratic Republic of Congo, explained how the 3-level Langham programme has been running for some 40 or 50 participants from across the DRC, but as a result of the establishment of small preachers clubs, 157 pastors and evangelists are already involved in the training ministry, with plans for extending the work during 2008.

The Africa Preaching movement is encouraging the exchange of trainers who cross borders to support each others programmes, the development of regional networks, and the planning for publishing in local languages.

In Tanzania some 280 pastors and lay preachers will gather in Mwanza and Morogoro for the next stage of training in February.  And in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, a new programme launches designed to equip local facilitators, who will in turn train pastors and lay preachers in their own towns and regions.  New initiatives are being planned for other African countries, including Rwanda, Liberia, Benin, Togo and Zambia.

Step by step, the African preaching movement is making progress.  By God’s grace there is now the potential for a continent-wide network to encourage Biblical preaching.

It’s the third-largest country in Africa with an area the size of Western Europe and a population of 62 million people. Since 1964, it has changed its name three times, has experienced six or more wars and coups, and struggles with safety and stability. And with 80 percent of its citizens living in extreme poverty, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) certainly presents a challenging set of responsibilities for the local pastors.

In September 2007, DR Congo was one of four locations in the Francophone Africa region where Langham Preaching ran further seminars offering practical training to help pastors preach with faithfulness and relevance in a war-torn, poverty-stricken nation.

More than 150 participants attended preaching seminars (for training Levels 1 – 3) in Burundi, DR Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, and Burkina Faso, led by Langham Preaching facilitator Gordon Woolard. “In Congo we have eight Anglican dioceses participating,” said Gordon. “At least four of the dioceses have follow-up day workshops to discuss what they have learned in our seminars. And we are encouraging each diocese to form preachers clubs.”

DR Congo

The seminar program has been greeted with great appreciation, as it supports local pastors in dire need of proper biblical education and resources. In particular, the DR Congo preaching seminars have initiated future plans for locally based movements.

Muhindo Isesomo, country coordinator for the DR Congo, has realized firsthand the unique needs for the pastors in this area. The political unrest and lack of transportation have made it difficult to organize any training other than that conducted locally, by local pastors. And a woeful lack of resources means that sharing literature – to the point of sometimes tearing apart French Bibles so that several pastors can use them at the same time for sermons – is commonplace. Muhindo and others are set on organizing a “training of trainers” event – equipping graduates of Langham Preaching’s Level 3 training to conduct future training for pastors in their local towns and region. This particular plan for Langham-sponsored training has been successful in other countries, equipping pastors who might not otherwise receive any formal training.

“Basically, we are trying to identify a handful of people who, having completed the three levels, and who having understood the importance of preaching from Bible passages, could be trained to then develop Level 1 programs in their own region of town. We feel this would be really valuable, rather than having an expensive central program for a new Level 1. It pushes the training to a local level, which we think is a good idea,” Muhindo said.

Langham Preaching facilitators in Burundi

Burundi

In Burundi, Langham Preaching launched a new program with Level 1 training for 23 participants from six churches. The conference was translated for some participants from French into Kirundi, the native language for Burundi. 50 participants have since been divided into eight small clubs. Each group has a leader and they meet once a month. They review the Langham Preaching material and contribute to each other’s sermon content. Afterwards they will discuss how the sermon went.

All agreed that limiting the training to small groups was indeed the most effective method for maximum impact. But it did pose another issue: how to keep up with the growing demand for God’s Word in this area, especially with several different native languages present. “We are pleased to help our sisters and brothers to improve their preaching and the Langham Preaching system is appreciated by everyone who is following it,” said facilitator Florence Kamegeri.

Côte d’Ivoire

The last Langham Preaching training in Côte d’Ivoire encountered low attendance due to a national crisis, so this past September’s attendance of 33 was met with thanksgiving. This was also the third year for the training at Abidjan where previous Level 1 and 2 events were conducted. “I’m thankful that we had evangelicals from across the spectrum in attendance as well as several general secretaries from the Francophone International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) movement. Langham is getting to be well-known in other countries as the general secretaries return to their campuses across Africa,” said Gordon.

Burkina Faso

Preaching training was also successful in Burkina Faso, said National Committee Chairman Roland Tamini. “We have the idea to plan two review meetings this year, in January and in May,” he said. “We will also plan a weekend meeting for the pastors who came from outside of Ouagadougou. We also have the plan to create a network of groups of participants to do review of the material they’ve received.”

It’s clear that the training in the preaching movements is having a positive impact on the life of the church. “There were some British missionaries who had worked in Congo and had returned to England,” said Gordon. “They visited the Congo again and went to a church where the preacher had attended a Langham seminar. They asked afterwards where he had learned to preach this way, since they had never heard someone remain so close to the text of Scripture. I think this speaks well of the Langham Preaching material, and does credit to John Stott’s lifetime commitment to expository preaching.”

The countries in Francophone Africa are consistently listed by the United Nations as the “least livable” places to live in the world. * By God’s grace, through the pastors and their local congregations, Langham Preaching hopes to change those statistics by sustaining the preaching movements in all four countries in 2008, as well as developing a new program in another French-speaking country, Rwanda.

*UN Human Development Index, http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0778562.html

Visit the Francophone Africa photo gallery of events
Read Gordon Woolard’s report on Francophone Africa
Read the report on the Africa Preaching Consultation

Recently a Kenyan friend of ours made a journey up the Rift Valley.  His normal work is in serving churches in the Nairobi area, specially nurturing the Christian community in Kibera, one of the largest slums in Africa. During these opening days of 2008, the slums have been badly hit by violence and destruction, the centre of a bloody feud.  But today he is on the road, delivering food and blankets to the thousands of displaced people in the west of Kenya, and sharing the gospel of reconciliation with the youths manning the barricades along the roads. 

Speaking of the people at the road blocks, Edward wrote yesterday: ‘With our God, our vulnerability, our prayer and conversations we shall prayerfully urge them to stop this lawlessness. Yes it sounds senselessly risky, unthinkable and shocking to both police and government officials here, and maybe to you too. Blockades have the potential to turn into extortion traps, militia controlled territories as in the case of Burundi where I fell victim, and it may scar Kenya for the rest of our lives. It may mean the end of safe travel on the Great North Road and spell death to our initiatives of training pastors and advancing peace work in West and Northern Kenya.’

Just before Christmas, we were with Edward in Nairobi, along with 20 other African leaders from 13 different countries, for the first Africa Preaching Consultation, which Langham hosted along with the Philip Project.  It was an enormous encouragement to hear of the growth of the preaching movements across the continent, and to see such an impressive group of leaders committed to training pastors and preachers, for the sake of strengthening the churches and transforming societies. 

And here is the link. Training and supporting young leaders in the task of explaining the Bible is not an academic exercise. The 20 country coordinators meeting in Nairobi last month all know what is at stake.  They and their churches are often on the front line, confronting the issues which Edward is meeting now along the Great North Road in Kenya: the horrors of tribal conflict, its devastating impact on refugees, the daily struggles of the poor and destitute, a blindness to the gospel …  Our friends came to the Consultation from countries where these and other stories can be repeated over and over again: what can we say about Isesomo from Congo, where poverty and war remain a wearying reality, but where preachers travel hundreds of kilometres on foot to care for the needy; or about John Bell who came from Zimbabwe, where the believers are struggling to keep their ministries alive in a devastating decline in the economic and social infrastructure, but where they lead the way in caring for those without family or food, seeking to restore hope for a generation of young people growing up with no expectation of a viable future.

It is for all such desperate human situations that God sent his Son, gave his Word, established his church, and called his servants to live and to preach the gospel of reconciliation.  It is this which motivates us to work harder for our brothers and sisters in the Langham family: that through resourcing, supporting and encouraging younger leaders in their Christian service, the ripple effects will, by God’s grace, impact churches, communities, and societies. 

Langham Preaching is soon to enter its sixth year of operations, and is thankful for invitations to develop preaching programmes in over 70 countries around the world. It is presently actively involved in 30 countries, with plans to begin work in an additional 20 countries. In 2008, the first steps will be taken for the development of preaching training in some parts of the Russian Federation, including an initiative in Tatarstan for 30 local pastors and preachers. In addition, pioneer activity will begin through the Mekong Project, designed to equip small teams of trainers from countries such as Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. We also hope to see the launch of a small pilot project for Chinese pastors, which will be hosted in Hong Kong.

In response to invitations from a number of Pacific Islands, Langham Preaching is launching the first Pacific training programme in fellowship with leaders in Vanuatu. Plans are underway to invite over 50 pastors and lay preachers for a level 1 seminar, to be held March 25-28, 2008. Small delegations from Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Tonga will join the event. Our hope is that these delegations will with assistance from LPA be able to launch training initiatives on their own islands in due course. Langham Preaching is committed to work with national leaders in the development of indigenous preaching movements. The conducting of various preaching programmes are steps in the wider strategy of providing support, encouragement and training for pastors and lay preachers country by country. In addition to the three-level seminar programmes, in many countries small preachers clubs, regional networks, day workshops and provision of literature all support and encourage the commitment of pastors and lay preachers to Biblical preaching.

Facilitators for the 2008 event include David Cook, Principal of the Sydney Missionary and Bible College, who is regularly involved in the training of preachers, and Dr Chris Wright, International Director of Langham Partnership International. The event will be supported by Langham Australia, whose staff and Board members will also be closely linked to the developments in the Pacific in the years ahead. For the future, it is our objective to secure programme leaders from Australia and New Zealand to roll out the preaching programme. Langham Australia and Langham New Zealand will work in partnership to develop initiatives in other Pacific Island nations. Langham Literature will support the programme, not only through the provision of literature that is appropriate for each of the seminar levels, but also through the support of indigenous writers and publishers.

–Jonathan Lamb, International Programme Director, Langham Preaching

Listen now (approx. 28 minutes)

(this broadcast is reproduced with the permission of Trans-World Radio)

Order From Why to Worship: Habakkuk

Over the past 3 years the Kenyan preaching movement has been growing steadily, not least through the sustained training of the annual seminar programme hosted by St Paul’s College in Limuru, through the help of Dr. Esther Mombo. This August 119 participants came from all over Kenya, with 33 attending for the first time, 53 returning for a second level of training, and another 33 returning for the third level of training.

Alongside the seminar programme, the preaching movement encourages local initiatives, through small preachers’ clubs and day workshops.

For this, the fourth seminar at St Paul’s, Biblical exposition was modelled as the book of Ruth was taught each morning. Participants at each level were helped to see the importance of studying the Scripture in its context, understanding its meaning for the first hearers, and then building the bridge from the Biblical world to their contemporary world.

There were very encouraging comments from some of the preachers : ‘I am learning so much and I want to go back now and practise what I have learned.’ One pastor said, ‘I used to preach whatever I wanted, but now I know how to find out what the Bible is saying and how to preach that.’

As a large African country with a strong Christian community, Kenya benefits from several training initiatives for pastors and preachers, not simply the programme organised by Langham Preaching, and there is growing integration between these various projects.

Plans are underway to develop a training of trainers consultation in 2008, which will equip a small team to develop more Langham Preaching Level 1 regional training programmes supported by the local churches, and thus to extend the impact of the preaching movement around the country.

Recent reports from Igor Amestigui, the Langham Preaching Regional Facilitator for Latin America (Langham Predicación America Latina), bring encouraging news of the growth of preaching schools in Bolivia.

During August, three schools of expository preaching started, in addition to the one which was launched the previous month. Intriguingly, one of these preaching schools is taking place in Cochabamba prison. Pastor Cesar Alba suggested starting the preachers’ club during one of his regular visits to prisoners. ‘They accepted joyfully’, writes Igor, ‘and also have the permission from the prison authorities.’

On August 25th, at the monthly meeting of the Cochabamba preachers’ school, 14 participants received their certificates following the completion of the first level of training. And the first national meeting of the Schools of Preaching has just drawn to a close, led by Igor and with lectures from Jorge Atiencia from Colombia, which attracted wide interest, not only from throughout Bolivia, but also with delegates from Peru, Ecuador and Chile.

Igor, appointed this past June, is also continuing to work in close fellowship with country coordinators in various Latin American countries where preaching movements are already underway, as well as linking with interested leaders where work is yet to be established.

In these and many other ways, we trust that the truth of the gospel will truly set people free – whether they are in prison or not!

By Jonathan Lamb
Langham Partnership International Program Director, Preaching

“Rescue today’s pulpit” – this is the dramatic call from Christian leaders in Central America. El Salvador – ‘the Saviour’ in Spanish – is a country with a rapidly expanding evangelical community, and with an urgent need for the strengthening of teaching in the local churches.

To this end, the second consultation for Bible expositors was held in the city of San Salvador, August 13-15 2007, tackling the theme of ‘Bible Exposition: The Bridge Between the Word and Life’. More than 120 pastors and lay preachers worked on themes associated with the proper handling of the Biblical text and the challenge of speaking pastorally to today’s generation. Four agencies worked in partnership to make the conference possible. Trainers included Daniel Salinas and Milton Acosta, two Latin American Langham Preaching facilitators and members of the Langham Partnership Regional Council. They were joined by colleagues from the Theological Fraternity of Latin America and World Vision, who also supported the event.

Milton Acosta described how there are all sorts of theologies in Central America – fundamentalist, prosperity, leftist and others – many of which were represented at the conference. ‘But I could see how all of them were willing to listen and were interested in learning’, he said. ‘More than ever, I am convinced that Bible exposition is one of the key elements for the hope of a better future for the evangelical church in Latin America’. Daniel Salinas explained that the San Salvador project was a potential model for other countries in Central America. ‘There were observers from Honduras, who plan to have something similar next year.’

The Latin American preaching movements are growing steadily, and we are very thankful for the help of Igor Amestegui, the newly appointed Regional Facilitator for Langham Preaching in Latin America, who will be able to strengthen the networking between the various Preaching movements across the continent, as well as with the wider Langham Preaching programme around the world.

The local coordinating team stated ‘We are confident that this event has been a blessing for the evangelical church in El Salvador. We thank God for the support of those who reaffirm the need to rescue today’s pulpits’.

The first Langham Preaching seminar in the Philippines was held in Antipolo City, Manila, from 16th to 19th July 2007. During the week, about 50 participants came to the MMLDC Foundation Inc which is a leafy convention centre located at the outskirts of Manila for the event. Chris Wright, our International Director, was the key-note speaker for the morning training sessions and Bible expositions. Besides the involvement of Langham Partnership International, the other organizers were the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches, Asian Theological Seminary, Bread from Heaven Community Church, Greenhills Christian Fellowship, and Institute for Studies in Asian Church & Culture. So the programme has been launched with an encouraging degree of recognition and support

The seminar followed the standard Level One basic programme, with a combination of lectures, individual study, group workshops and plenary feedback sessions. The evenings were taken up with model Bible expositions using the same passage which the group has worked on during the day. Participants were invited to comment and review the speakers as to the sermon’s clarity, biblical faithfulness and relevance to the audience.

Besides concentrating on working through the Bible text, some key local Christian leaders tackled other important issues such as: the integrity of the preacher (Nomer Bernardino); communicating the Bible in the Philippine context (Melba Maggay); developing a preaching plan for your church for the years ahead (Luiz Pantoja); and how Biblical preaching can transform churches and the nation (Bishop Efraim Tendero. At the end of the seminar, the participants were encouraged to form preachers’ club for networking, mutual support and sharing of resources.

Victor Sun and Abigail Lim from Langham Foundation East Asia were there as observers and had a first-hand experience of how a preaching seminar should be run. Both of them were tremendously blessed by the event. They hope to bring this vital programme to Hong Kong next year for Chinese pastors.

To facilitate the development of preaching movements, Langham Preaching is pleased to announce the appointment of Igor Amestegui as the Regional Facilitator for Latin America. The role of the Regional Facilitator is to encourage the development of national preaching movements in the countries of Latin America, serving existing ministries and supporting the development of new initiatives.

Igor and his wife, Charito, have three children, and live in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Igor trained as a psychologist and served as the General Secretary of Communidad Cristiana Universitaria (the IFES related student ministry in Bolivia) for 15 years. More recently, Igor has worked as a professor at the university and as a psychologist in private practice. Significantly, he has been very involved in the emergence of the preaching movement in Bolivia, encouraging ‘escuelitas de formacion de expositores Biblicos’ (small schools for the training of Bible expositors), both in his own church and more widely in the training of pastors and leaders in the city of Cochabamba. Igor works in fellowship with CCM in the preaching training programme, and has close contact with other Latin American countries which have begun training initiatives, including the ministry initiated by Jorge Atiencia in Colombia.

Igor and Charito are in the process of becoming affiliated to the Latin Link team in Bolivia, but Igor will be working full time to support and develop the indigenous preaching movements, in fellowship with national leaders country by country, and in liaison with Langham America Latina. He will be part of the team of Langham Partnership International, working alongside colleagues around the world who share his vision for the growth of a new generation of Bible expositors worldwide.

Visit the Langham Preaching section of the Langham Partners International Web site for more information.

“Plans are underway for the development of a 3-level programme for small teams of delegates from the Pacific region. The hope is that these small delegations will become the owners of a Langham preaching programme set up in their own country in the future.”

The first event will be held in Sydney in March 2008, followed by a second in Auckland, and a third in Sydney.

This is a great opportunity for the church in Australia and New Zealand to support the development of a preaching movement in Pacific countries such as Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu.

Sign up for the LPI Australia newsletter on the LPI-Australia Web site more details as they are finalised.

Working in fellowship with national leaders, a new Langham Preaching initiative has been launched in Croatia, seeking to serve local pastors and lay preachers in part of the Balkans. In addition to some 50 Croatian participants, small groups travelled from Novisad (Serbia) and from Sarajevo (Bosnia-Herzegovina).

Developed through the initiative of Toma and Ksenija Magda, the Level 1 training programme was hosted at the large Baptist centre in Cakovic, and attracted over 60 participants. Ksenija is presently a Langham Scholar, completing her Ph.D. through the London School of Theology, and Toma is a pastor giving leadership to the work across the Baptist communities of Croatia.

Several of the pastors wrote about the impact of the launch of the programme on their ministries:

‘I will preach in a more Bible-based way, and study the Word more systematically’; ‘I will re-set my priorities in ministry to include more studying and reflection’; ‘I will give more attention to living out in my life the things I preach’; ‘I will use the materials to help others in their preaching ministry’.

Even whilst the group was in the midst of the training programme, the Sarajevo delegates met to plan their first preachers’ club, which they started once they were home.

The plan for the future is to develop the 3 or 4-level seminar programme over a two-year period, with the encouragement to develop small preachers’ groups in between the meetings.

Some members of the small group of delegates from Serbia will hopefully become the planning team for the development of a Serbian preaching movement, which Langham Preaching hopes to develop in fellowship with local churches, the Serbian Project Timothy, the Belgrade Bible School and other partners.

“Nigeria has long been a country that has had significant influence on the African continent, and whatever happens here has an impact on the rest of Africa,” said Gideon Para-Mallam, Regional Secretary for the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) and the convener of the Nigerian Conference. Rev. Dr. Pandang Yamsat, President of the Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN), president of the organizing committee, and graduated JSM-Langham Scholar, added, “The challenge of raising the standard of Biblical preaching in our country is critical in the view of the enormous growth that we have witnessed within the Church. This is critical so that the numerical growth can be matched by growth in maturity.” These two came together to form The Nigerian Initiative for the Promotion of Expository Preaching, which promoted and sponsored this first event. (Click here to view Dr. Yamsat’s comments)

Hosted by the Nigerian Bible Translation Trust, over 150 pastors came together from nine denominations and one parachurch organization. Gideon commented, “…sometimes it is easier for Christians to fight then unite, and we have been overwhelmed that nine denominations, including Orthodox, Evangelical and Pentecostal have come together with one parachurch Organization (NIFES) as the core participants.”(Click here to see Gideon’s comments)

These participants were exposed to three days of teaching, study and discussion which produced several results including: learning to take a Bible passage and creating a sermon outline from it, establishing regional preachers’ clubs, and developing a plan to bring this program to more pastors in Nigeria through the translation of these materials.

Biblical Preaching

Training these pastors to preach from the Bible started with the teaching of Chris Wright, Langham’s International Director, and Femi Adaleye, IFES regional secretary from Zimbabwe. These two facilitators took the pastors through intensive training that included looking up to God in prayer and praise for understanding of His Word, looking down to study the Bible as it was written by human authors, looking backward and forward to see the text in its place within the whole story line of the Bible, and looking at the present to apply the text and make it relevant today.

Each day pastors were given the opportunity to question these two facilitators on the Bible exposition presented the previous evening; they asked questions about the clarity, faithfulness to the text and relevance of their sermons. They then progressively received more instruction into the development of an expository sermon and had small group time to work on an outline for a specific Bible passage. These small groups then came together to discuss and critique each other’s outlines. (See what pastor David John Kanda from Kaduna in the Kaduna state and Godwin Kadiri from Lokoja in the Kogi state had to say about these training sessions.)

Preachers’ Clubs

Rev. Dr. Pandang Yamset

The third day of the seminar introduced preachers’ clubs and again the pastors were divided into regional group to determine who the leaders of these clubs would be, how often they would meet, when the first meeting would be held, and who from their regions should be invited. These meeting led to the establishment of more than 15 clubs that were from many areas around Nigeria. (Click Here to hear more from Gideon about the impact of these preachers’ clubs)

A Grassroots Movement

Gideon Para-Mallam

As the seminar came to an end, the participants left enthused and wanted to help this new preaching movement spread throughout Nigeria. Translating these materials into the three main languages of Houssa, Yourba and Igbo was one project that these pastors wanted to undertake. By doing this, they felt that this grassroots movement that would impact significantly all of Nigeria. (Click here to hear Gideon speak of the impact that translation will have)

As the one pastor said, “The Devil has lost a battle in Nigeria…and this will change the landscape of preaching in Nigeria.” (Listen to Chris Wright’s comments on the seminar in this three-minute video)

Participants came from Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Peru and Paraguay. They were all involved in Langham Preaching programmes, or in other preaching initiatives associated with non-formal training of pastors and lay preachers, or in seminary extension training programmes.

The outcomes of the consultation include:

• The establishment of a Latin American Langham Preaching network, which will enable the exchange of news and training ideas
• A forum for assessing how to develop new preaching networks and training programmes in other Latin American contexts
• The opportunity for participants to visit one another’s training programmes across the continent, to provide mutual support and the exchange of training models and resources
• A further consultation of trainers to be held in 2008.

A Medellin pastor, Alvaro Fernandez, who is involved in the development of preaching schools in Colombia, commented about the consultation:

“It is encouraging to see other brothers and sisters, faithful to the Word, busy serving the Lord with expositions faithful to the Bible. We would like to express our gratitude for what you are doing in order that the Word of God should spread. You can sense that this is our passion, but we always need people like you who can get the idea moving, so that God’s power can get to work. I can see that God is raising up people in many parts of the world who do not forget the Word, the only way to salvation and to know our beloved Lord Jesus.”

The next stage of training picks up again in Albania in early February, with a strong local coordinating team and the help of two Langham faciliators, Rodney Wood and Mark Meynell.

At the same time, the Langham Preaching programme in Nigeria will be launched, with 15 key pastors and preachers selected from each of the main denominations – a hoped-for conference of some 100 to 150 participants meeting in Jos for a week of teaching and training. Chris Wright will be the main facilitator, working in fellowship with national leaders, including representatives of the Langham Regional Council for West Africa.

Then later in February a new programme will be launched in Zagreb, Croatia, hosted by Langham Scholar Ksenija Magda and her husband Toma. Jonathan Lamb will join with local pastors and preachers for the first training event, which hopefully will also serve some participants from neighbouring countries too.

After the 300% growth in the Tanzanian programme in 2006, plans for 2007 include two separate events in Tanzania in February and March, one seminar for the north of the country, and one for the south. Langham facilitators Rodney Wood and Simon Vibert will be joined by James Poole, who is working with AICMAR in Kenya, and they will join forces with the local team, ably led by Frnak Luvanda, a Tanzanian pastor and teacher, and Tony Swanson, AIM missionary.

And then ….

Programmes will take place in Belize (April), Pakistan (April and May), Poland (May), Jamaica (May), Ghana (June), Hungary (European pastors network in June), Lebanon (July) and the Philippines (July).

We would welcome prayer for the local coordinating teams, Langham Preaching facilitators, safety for the hundreds of participants, good communications and organisation, effective training, and the strengthening of pastors and preachers in their ministry.
For the complete preaching calendar, Click Here >>

Nevertheless, a small programme was carried through over a three day period, attracting a number of pastors and lay preachers. Local church leaders gave strong leadership, along with Langham facilitator Femi Adeleye, the IFES Regional Secretary. We hope to continue working in fellowship with the national leaders to review the most appropriate way of supporting the churches in this area of their ministry, specially at a time when the country is under such considerable pressure.

This is exactly the pattern of growth for which we are working in each country. Thank you for praying for local leaders who, facing so many challenges, give their time and energy to encouraging fellow preachers, men and women, in their work for the Lord.

The most recent event took place in Neuquen, sponsored by ABUA, the Council of pastors in Neuquen, and Langham Preaching. Over 80 people took part, including pastors, many lay preachers, youth workers and small group leaders.

The vast majority of preaching in the city is being carried out by pastors or lay preachers who have had no formal training. Many of the church planting initiatives in the area are being undertaken by energetic lay leaders. The local coordinator, pastor Eduardo Martinez, explained the importance of this event in Neuquen.

‘The preaching movement here is essential for the spiritual growth of the leaders, and their commitment to faithfully expound the Word of God. It is also essential for us to raise up teachers who will be able to teach others how to set about expounding Scripture, that in turn may influence our society. The preaching seminar was specially important in reinforcing the unity of leaders and churches in Neuquen’.

Pastor Eduardo’s son, Sebastian, a 22 year old medical student, is also involved in church-based ministry in Neuquen. He insisted, ‘The preaching conference is very, very, hyper, ultra important for our town!’ A car mechanic who is developing church planting initiatives underlined the challenge by describing the majority of preaching in the area as ‘preaching–lite’. He explained that a great deal of preaching was very superficial, with limited Biblical content, and welcomed the training programmes that were now being developed through the ABUA/Langham initiatives.

The President of the Pastors’ Council in Neuquen explained that, although there had been considerable growth in the churches during the 1970s and 80s, the impact of the churches had not been so strong because of a limited commitment to discipleship and Biblical depth. ‘Where we made our biggest mistake was to abandon the Word of God.’ He indicated that there had been limited efforts in Bible study, and therefore expressed the full support of the Council for the development of the preaching programme.

Plans are underway for a further preaching seminar in northern Argentina in 2007, with plans for a larger event in Buenos Aires in 2008, bringing together key participants from each of the 5 locations where the preaching movement is underway.

The DRC has been much in the news because of recent elections and the potential fragility of the new government. In reporting on the second programme of Langham Preaching in the DRC, held this past September, Gordon Woolard, Langham Preaching facilitator, suggested that Christian leaders ‘face a huge uphill battle’ as they confront political and economic challenges, a huge AIDS epidemic, and considerable poverty.

Nevertheless, the churches continue to grow, and Langham Preaching is pleased to work in fellowship with national leaders in the development of a nationwide preaching movement. Pastors and lay preachers came from all across the DRC for the second programme of Langham Preaching, organised in mid-September. Forty five delegates came from 8 of the 10 national dioceses, and only a few were unable to make it because of flight cancellations. This was a substantial step forward on the launch of the Langham Preaching programme in September 2005, with not only greater numbers, but the emergence of preachers clubs in different parts of the DRC, as well as the possibility of diocesan training events in the future.

The national leader who coordinates the Langham Preaching programme, Muhindo Isesomo, wrote: ‘Last month there was a meeting of the house of bishops in our province and I was invited there to give a report about the last LPS in Goma. All the 10 bishops were very happy with the work of LPI in our country and also for the future plans for next year. I am also receiving some messages from the delegates telling me that they have started to form their clubs of preachers in their dioceses and I praise God for that. Thank you once again and God bless you.’

Plans are already underway for the development of a three-level Preaching event in September 2007. Meanwhile, it is hoped that, wherever possible within the constraints of the economic and social context, pastors and lay preachers will form small preachers clubs and share the training within their own regions of the country.

Cote d’Ivoire: steady consolidation

Some thirty or more pastors and lay preachers met in Abidjan for the second seminar of Langham Preaching in Cote d’Ivoire, held in September. Twenty were new participants and ten entered a second level of training. Several potential participants were reluctant to enrol because of health concerns in the particular area of Abidjan where the meeting took place, and Christian leaders continue to live with uncertainty concerning the wider economic, political and religious context. The country has been in crisis for several years, and that influences much of what happens in society as well as within the Christian community. But the response to the ongoing preaching training has been extremely positive.

Gordon Woolard, the Langham Preaching facilitator, reported that ‘one brother in Abidjan said that his whole outlook on preaching had been transformed by textual preaching, with a view to honouring God’s grace in both the Old and New Testaments’. It was particularly encouraging to hear on the opening day of the seminar that several of the level 2 participants had specifically remembered key elements of the training in 2005, and had consciously prepared and taught on the basis of the principles of Biblical preaching.

Several delegates came from neighbouring countries, with a view to launching preaching movements within their own context. We are specially grateful to Daniel Bourdanne, the national leader who arranged the programme in Abidjan, and also welcomed participants from neighbouring countries, including leaders from the IFES movements. Plans are underway for a level 3 programme, which will hopefully include the opportunity for delegates to preach in local churches, with trainers present for follow-up discussion.

Burkina Faso: a new programme launched

The Langham Preaching programme was launched in Burkina Faso this September 25. A small group of delegates from Burkina Faso attended the Cote d’Ivoire Langham Preaching programme in 2005, and were keen to develop something similar in their own context. Some 25 pastors attended the seminar, along with some 30 from the GBU (the student movement). Over an 8-day period participants met in Ouagadougou, and for many this was the first opportunity to work hard at the basics of Biblical preaching.

The country is very stable, but extremely poor, with few natural resources and generally a lack of water. The partnership between the local churches (the majority of which are Assemblies of God in this part of Burkina Faso) and the GBU has resulted in a positive platform for the development of training initiatives of this kind, and it is hoped to build on the experience in 2007.

The Langham Preaching movement in Argentina has been established in several cities over the past three years. Developed in fellowship with ABUA (the Argentinean university ministry), events have been held in fellowship with Kairos Ministries, and in cities such as Cordoba, Chaco, and now Neuquen in Patagonia. A strong Argentinean leadership team has been responsible for developing the preaching movement, and it has travelled to each city to run training workshops as well as to nurture regular preachers clubs. In Chaco, in the north east of Argentina, pastors and lay preachers now meet once every two months for a practical workshop, following the 2005 preaching seminar.

The most recent event took place in Neuquen, sponsored by ABUA, the Council of pastors in Neuquen, and Langham Preaching. Over 80 people took part, including pastors, many lay preachers, youth workers and small group leaders.

The vast majority of preaching in the city is being carried out by pastors or lay preachers who have had no formal training. Energetic lay leaders have conducted many of the church planting initiatives in the area. The local coordinator, pastor Eduardo Martinez, explained the importance of this event in Neuquen:

“The preaching movement here is essential for the spiritual growth of the leaders, and their commitment to faithfully expound the Word of God. It is also essential for us to raise up teachers who will be able to teach others how to set about expounding Scripture, that in turn may influence our society. The preaching seminar was specially important in reinforcing the unity of leaders and churches in Neuquen.”

Eduardo Martinez (on the right), his son Sebastian, and the pastoral assistant of the church, Andrea Malca.

Pastor Eduardo’s son, Sebastian, a 22-year-old medical student, is also involved in church-based ministry in Neuquen. He insisted, “The preaching conference is very, very, hyper, ultra important for our town!” A car mechanic who is developing church-planting initiatives underlined the challenge by describing the majority of preaching in the area as “preaching-lite.” He explained that a great deal of preaching was very superficial, with limited Biblical content, and welcomed the training programmes that were now being developed through the ABUA/Langham initiatives.

The President of the Pastors’ Council in Neuquen explained that, although there had been considerable growth in the churches during the 1970s and 1980s, the impact of the churches had not been so strong because of a limited commitment to discipleship and biblical depth. “Where we made our biggest mistake was to abandon the Word of God,” he said. He indicated that there had been limited efforts in Bible study, and therefore expressed the full support of the Council for the development of the preaching programme.

Growing a new generation of preachers!

Plans are underway for a further preaching seminar in northern Argentina in 2007, with plans for a larger event in Buenos Aires in 2008, bringing together key participants from each of the five locations where the preaching movement is underway.

Background

Albania continues to be one of the more demanding countries in the Balkans as far as Christian witness and church growth are concerned. It is, of course, a very young church that only came into existence in 1990. Despite intensive evangelistic efforts during the 1990s (continuing today through blanket coverage of the Jesus movie) the percentage of evangelicals and the number of mature congregations remains small.

There are now some 170 evangelical churches in Albania, and an increasing number have Albanian pastors. Many lay leaders are involved in pastoral leadership and preaching. Most missionaries are untrained theologically. Of the 1000 missionaries who were in Albania at one time, the majority have left, with around 180 foreign missionaries remaining.

There number of Bible schools (often denominational) is growing, but few which do more than certificate level training. There are nevertheless some faithful missionaries continuing to work at lay training programs of various kinds. But we were told several times that few good models of biblical preaching exist within the churches. There is relatively little appetite for good literature, given that there is not a strong reading culture within the country. Publishing work will continue to be an uphill struggle in the light of this reality, coupled with the relatively small evangelical market.

Meeting for Pastors and Lay Preachers

On Saturday evening some 60 pastors and lay preachers from around the country met at Emanuel Church for John Stott’s lecture, “The Privilege of Preaching.” We were able to precede this with an Albanian version of the LPI presentation, allowing us to introduce everyone to the three Langham Programs, and also to refer to the development of the Langham Preaching program within Albania. Uncle John spoke well, with his usual clarity, and it was helpful to have a good outline of the address translated into Albanian.

Meeting for the Churches

On Sunday evening a public meeting was held, at which John Stott spoke on “The Marks of a Living Church,” from Acts 2. Some 500 people attended, which was an encouragement to the small planning team. Logos, a Christian company producing DVDs, recorded the event, and they hope to be able to make the DVD available to city TV stations in Albania. We hope to have access to the material for use by LPI members, though the exposition will be with Albanian translation.

There is no doubt that Uncle John’s visit has been a great encouragement to this small Christian community, and we thank God for the warm reception and for the way in which Uncle John and Tyler Stevenson (John’s study assistant) were sustained during their travels and ministry there.

Cote d%5c%27Ivoire Group 10.2005Some 50 participants met in Abidjan, despite the many challenges they are presently confronting. Daniel writes:

“Presently the country is facing civil war, caused by ethnic and political tensions. The country is split in two parts. That situation has created a lot of uncertainties at the education, economic and social levels. The church is affected, as most Christians are predominantly from the south. The north occupied by the guerrilla has few churches.”

“Participants were very excited by the seminar. They started a yahoo group and they are interacting, asking advice from others if they are going to preach on some specific passages. At the end of the seminar, they unanimously requested a second level for next year.”

Gordon Woolard, the Langham Facilitator who served the local team, says:

Cote d%5c%27Ivoire Bunkina Faso Participants”It was a privilege for me to work with the Abidjan local committee. I loved the fellowship with them and with the delegates. It was a real spiritual experience not just an academic exercise. There was a sense of doing Kingdom work together.”

Three participants from Burkina Faso also attended the seminar, and they are keen to develop a preaching programme there later in 2006.

Plans are underway for the next level in Cote d%5c%27Ivoire in 2006. Further information on Cote d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso is available from Jonathan Lamb preaching@langhampartnership.org.

]]> http://www.langhampartnership.org/2005/12/16/cote-divoire-launches-the-preaching-program/feed/ 0 http://www.langhampartnership.org/2005/12/16/tanzania-off-to-a-great-start/ http://www.langhampartnership.org/2005/12/16/tanzania-off-to-a-great-start/#comments Fri, 16 Dec 2005 12:43:58 +0000 admin http://lpi.dreamhosters.com/2005/12/16/tanzania-off-to-a-great-start/ Morogoro Bible College was the host for the first Langham Preaching event in Tanzania, held in early September 05. Nearly 60 delegates gathered for a week long seminar, and were joined by faculty of the Bible College as well as two Langham Preaching Facilitators, Rodney Wood and Simon Vibert. Delegates came from the Anglican Church – from the Dioceses of Morogoro, Tabora, Mara, and Dar-es-Salaam; from the Moravian Church; and from the Pentecostal Church of Tanzania in Dar-es-Salaam and Morogoro.

Rodney Wood writes:

It seems that, like many African churches, the Tanzanian church has a great vibrancy in its worship and a great zeal for proclaiming the Gospel, if indeed Morogoro Bible College gave a good representation of the nature of the Church. However, there is a great need for sound theological training (such as that which MBC is seeking to provide) and for training in the communication of the Scriptures.’

Paul Hunter and Frank Luvanda were the key players in the local team, and provided a great deal of support for the event. Frank writes: “The Langham Preaching Seminar has brought valuable teaching on principles of exegesis, Bible exposition, sermon development, and spirituality – at the right time and to the right ministers who for have needed such important teaching for a long time. Here I have a brief testimony from Rev. Paulo Mchalo who also attended this seminar (his testimony is captioned along with his picture below.’

Rev. Paulo Mchalo

Many people who attended the seminar were grateful for the teaching and asked for another Langham Preaching seminar. To be honest the program has gone further beyond our expectations. The seminar answered many of the questions which were troubling pastors in the area of preaching. Many were very happy to see a movement for preparing preachers is now underway place in our country.

Rev. Paulo Mchalo from the Anglican Church Diocese of Morogoro gives thanks that the Langham Preaching seminar took place in Tanzania. He says “This Langham preaching seminar has come to us in a right time when we need it most; may the Lord God help this seminar to continue’

Rodney Wood adds: “On Thursday of our conference, one of the faculty members of the Bible college gave a great sermon on The Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). He later stood before all the delegates and told them that he had developed his sermon by applying the things he had been learning all week. How moving it was to see a faculty member standing before his students and sharing his joy in the development of his own skills! What a great encouragement this was for all those students and fellow faculty members!

Plans are underway for a second program, March 13-17, 2006. Frank Luvanda: “I believe that this is a good start which will grow and spread all over the country in the future.’

For further information on the Tanzanian preaching movement, or about the wider work of Langham Preaching, please email Jonathan Lamb at: preaching@langhampartnership.org

]]> http://www.langhampartnership.org/2005/12/16/tanzania-off-to-a-great-start/feed/ 0 http://www.langhampartnership.org/2005/12/15/interview-with-pastor-jules-blibo/ http://www.langhampartnership.org/2005/12/15/interview-with-pastor-jules-blibo/#comments Thu, 15 Dec 2005 13:23:40 +0000 admin http://lpi.dreamhosters.com/2005/12/15/interview-with-pastor-jules-blibo/ Part One

Gordon Woolard: This is Gordon Woolard again. I’ve left Congo and am now in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire for the second JSM-LPI preaching conference. I’m with pastor Jules Blibo. He’s the pastor of Daniel Bourdanne’s church. Pastor Blibo has graciously agreed to answer some questions. Could you introduce yourself, your family, and church?

Jules Blibo: Thank you very much. I am, as you said, Pastor Blibo, Jules. I’m married and the father of 5 children. I’ve been married for 18 years. I have 3 sons and 2 daughters. I’m also a Bible translator. Translator of the New Testament. We’ve already done a translation into Krumen, my language in the southwest of Cote d’Ivoire. I’ve been working at the pastoral ministry at the church in Abidjan for two years.

GW: Where did you do your theological studies?

JB: I did my studies at the Bible Institute of the denomination, The Union of Evangelical Churches for Service and Work. The institute is in the interior of the country. There I did three years of training.

GW: How did you find out about the JSM-LPI conference?

JB: I first heard about it on the Christian radio station. Then from Daniel who is a member of our community. The subject of the preacher and his message has always interested me and I thought this would be a good way to rejuvenate some things I learned some time ago.

GW: Are you familiar with the name, John Stott? Do you know of his books or his ministry?

JB: Yes. I read a book of John Stott when I was at the Bible institute. We worked from a book about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I’ve referred to it since then, too, when I’ve done a study on the Holy Spirit. This book has helped me a lot.

GW: You preach pretty often, right? Several times a month?

JB: In our church we have several preachers. I let others preach, as well. I preach once a month.

GW: What do you find is the most difficult part of your preparation for preaching?

JB: The preparation time is really important for me. I read the text a lot. I use some commentaries if they are available. But the Sunday itself, when I preach it’s a challenge because I want to bring something to the church that will heal or will comfort. I ask myself, will I be able to do it? Will I reach the heart of this group of people?

GW: To finish this first part of the interview, what are your hopes and expectations for this seminar?

JB: You know, Gordon, I finished my training ten years ago. I haven’t had an opportunity for updating my training. I see that this week the Lord has opened up a way for me to update my preaching training. I’m starting to remember things from ten years ago and that’s doing me good. I love preaching.

GW: Thanks pastor. We’ll have time at the end of the conference to get your reactions.

Part Two

GW: This is Gordon with Pastor Jules. We’ve just had a lovely meal together and I want to do the second part of our interview. What do you think overall of the seminar, Pastor?

JB: Thank you, Gordon, for giving me this opportunity to share my reactions and feelings after the seminar. It’s turned out to be a time for me to replenish my resources. I will say I was blessed because I see now regarding the interpretation of Scripture that I have areas of improvement to work on in order to the feed the flock.

GW: Would you say that you are nevertheless encouraged even though you realize you don’t preach just the way you would have wanted to?

JB: I’m not discouraged. Rather, I’m encouraged to receive a tool for my work. It’s too bad, I wish that other pastors that I work with could have come. I wish that all preachers could have a time to refresh themselves by such a conference.

GW: We’re creating a list of all the participants. Do you plan to stay in contact with the others?

JB: Yes, this list is becoming a reality. That will be a help especially if I’m working on a text and start to have difficulty. I can ask for help from the others. It creates a sort of family. You know this course is important because with a family and working in a church it’s hard to get away for a long time of training. This kind of further education for a week or two is really important for us. I was enriched and blessed.

GW: Thank you very much. Lastly, may we use your interview and photo on the website?

JB: Yes, I’m totally in agreement and I would encourage that as a help to our great community of preachers.

]]> http://www.langhampartnership.org/2005/12/15/interview-with-pastor-jules-blibo/feed/ 0 http://www.langhampartnership.org/2005/12/15/interview-with-the-rev-japhet-ruhiingwa-baroti/ http://www.langhampartnership.org/2005/12/15/interview-with-the-rev-japhet-ruhiingwa-baroti/#comments Thu, 15 Dec 2005 13:21:49 +0000 admin http://lpi.dreamhosters.com/2005/12/15/interview-with-the-rev-japhet-ruhiingwa-baroti/ Part One: The end of the first day of the conference.

Gordon Woolard: Hello, this is Gordon Woolard. I’m in Butembo in the eastern part of the DR Congo. I’m here as the facilitator for the Langham Preaching International conference hosted by the Anglican Church of the Congo. This is the first time that LPI has attempted a preaching seminar in French. I’m with one of the pastors attending the conference. Please tell us your name and where you come from and a little about your church.

Japhet Ruhiingwa-Baroti: My name is Japhet Ruhiingwa-Baroti. I’m the coordinator of evangelism in the Boga region. My city, I lived in the city of Bunia. When I finished my theological studies the diocese asked me to be the evangelism coordinator. Right now I’m living in Uganda. When the war in eastern Congo started I and my family had to flee.

GW: So, you are married. You have some children?

J R-B: Yes, I’m married and my wife’s name is Lucy. We have four children. One girl, the oldest, and three sons.

GW: That’s just the opposite of my family! We have a son and three daughters. Ours are all grown. I suppose your children are still at home.

J R-B: When we fled two years ago we were able to send the two oldest to school in Boga. If the Lord permits we hope they will be able to go to Bunia to continue their studies. Mama and the two children are in Uganda at home.

GW: You’ve spoken about a war in Bunia. Could you fill us in on the nature of this war? We’re not too aware of this war in the West.

J R-B: It’s primarily a war between tribes. But the politicians have exploited this war and pushed these tribes to keep fighting. There have been a lot of murders. They’ve been killing each other. Many have fled the area. What we’ve noticed as workers of the Lord is that this isn’t God’s plan. There’s something satanic behind these killings. We, we really have to fight against this. We’ve got to work for reconciliation among the members of the body of Christ. The members of Christ’s body can’t remain separated. Because of this hatred we have separation in the body. We’ve got to overcome this hatred and create a solid body at the heart of these tribes.

GW: You were in a church in Bunia before fleeing the country. Does this church still exist? Or did the members also have to leave the city?

J R-B: Yes I worked in a parish outside Bunia. But it doesn’t exist anymore. We went into Bunia for six months but the war caught up with us. We fled Bunia into Uganda. The parish in Bunia still exists and another pastor is working there. I’m ready to leave Uganda and return to Bunia. I have a five-year plan in mind. It’s a plan for reconciliation for the tribes in conflict.

GW: That sounds very encouraging. I know it will take a lot of courage and work. Japhet, why do you think this JSM-LPI seminar will be important for you?

J R-B: This seminar is very important for me. It’s opening up my mind to many possibilities. Especially in preaching the good news. We just can’t remain dormant. We need to go to the people with dry hearts and bring them good news so that the word can bring them life in Jesus Christ. It’s our task now, given by this seminar, to go and not remained seated, to go to the people so they can be ransomed by the redemptive love of Jesus Christ.

Part Two: the last evening of the conference

GW: We are going to pick up our interview at the end of a very busy day towards the end of our seminar. Japhet, how do you think the LPI seminar will influence your future ministry?

J R-B: This seminar has influenced me. I’ve been trained to preach the good news already. What I learned here was the close relationship between the Old Testament and the New Testament. That was new and interesting for me. Secondly, the emphasis on preaching the good news from one generation to another generation was a real encouragement to me. Thirdly, I came to this realization that we are sinners who preach, that is, that we don’t have a right to preach but are given the privilege of preaching. It is a grace from God. [emphasis from Ephesians 3:8, gw] It’s not something we merited. It’s a grace we have received.

We are sinners and we have to realize we have sinned but we have the Word of God. It is a great privilege to go to people with the Word.

GW: Japhet, do you see this seminar having an impact in your church beyond the personal impact in your own life?

J R-B: We must share this message from the seminar with our brothers and sister in the church. We can’t keep this for ourselves. When I get back I feel I must gather some pastors together to share with them what I received here at the seminar.

GW: After part one of our interview you told me more about your story. I think our readers would be interested in hearing more about that. You said you had to flee with the family a couple of years ago.

Japhet R-B: I work in Fort Portal, Uganda, but not full-time in a church. I’m asked to go here and there for various ministries. I’ve even been asked up to Sudan to preach the Word. I’m asked to minister in different churches especially through prayer. The Lord has given me the ministry of chasing away evil spirits through prayer. I’ve had that ministry for about seven years. That ministry has also helped us live since sometimes the churches are able to give me something after I have visited.

GW: You have the intention of returning soon to Congo?

J R-B: Yes, very soon. I have a thirst to see my brother and sister again. I also have this call to preach the gospel among these tribes which are fighting. I know that might cost my life. I’ve been feeling for about a year the need to return. Right now I’m totally committed to going back.

GW: Lastly, may we use your story and your picture on the website?

J R-B: Certainly, no problem!

GW: You’re heading back to Uganda?

J R-B: First I’m going to visit Bunia for a while and see what the situation is like. Then I’ll go inform the family. I really want to get back to Congo. This is really satanic. These are Christian tribes fighting each other. Not outsiders. Satan is really working to get Christians to hate one another. His influence is leading people to hate and kill and politicians are using that situation. I want to get back to preach the good news of Christ.

[from an email message from Japhet the tenth of October: Dear brother, when I preached in Bunia the 2nd of October the Lord's grace poured out and several people were converted. Seventy people committed themselves to this ministry (of reconciliation). Pray for us because the area we want to work in has a lot of land mines. Please ask people to pray for us.]

]]> http://www.langhampartnership.org/2005/12/15/interview-with-the-rev-japhet-ruhiingwa-baroti/feed/ 0 http://www.langhampartnership.org/2005/12/15/jsm-langham-preaching-in-zimbabwe/ http://www.langhampartnership.org/2005/12/15/jsm-langham-preaching-in-zimbabwe/#comments Thu, 15 Dec 2005 13:15:58 +0000 admin http://lpi.dreamhosters.com/2006/08/25/jsm-langham-preaching-in-zimbabwe/ Zimbabwe is often in the news because of the distressing stories of economic and social disruption, and so it is good to report the encouraging news of the further development of the Preaching program in Harare, once again held in conjunction with ‘Keswick Zimbabwe’.

During the first week of October in 2005 nearly 100 participants came to Central Baptist Church in Harare for a three day seminar, and we were delighted to welcome pastors, lay preachers and students from across the city and beyond. It was specially encouraging to see a good mix of denominations and churches represented, as well as large numbers from several theological seminaries.

Femi Adeleye and Jonathan Lamb were leading the seminar, combining this with evening Bible expositions from Isaiah’s Servant Songs as part of the Keswick programme. The local coordinating team did a fantastic job keeping everything on track, and we hope that there will be possibilities of further development of the preaching program in 2006.

Femi Adeleye is IFES the Regional Secretary for English and Portuguese speaking Africa, and lives in Harare with his family. He is also serving as a Langham Preaching facilitator, and has not only helped with the Zimbabwe program but was able to launch the Ghana program with Rodney Wood earlier in 2005.

The churches in Zimbabwe continue to grow and, despite the severe pressures of living in an unstable situation with hyper-inflation, the believers demonstrate a great deal of courage in their commitment to Christian service in their communities. We would like to encourage you to pray for the country and for the Christians. In particular, please pray for:

• The political and economic crisis to be resolved;
• The Christians in poor communities and rural areas to be sustained in their day-to-day lives;
• The churches to have wisdom in their Christian witness in a society under pressure;
• The local team to know what is best as they plan for the preaching program and the Keswick events in 2006.

For further information on the Langham Preaching program, please contact Jonathan Lamb (email: jonathan@langhampartnership.org).

]]> http://www.langhampartnership.org/2005/12/15/jsm-langham-preaching-in-zimbabwe/feed/ 0 http://www.langhampartnership.org/2005/12/15/jsm-langham-kenya-preaching-programme-report/ http://www.langhampartnership.org/2005/12/15/jsm-langham-kenya-preaching-programme-report/#comments Thu, 15 Dec 2005 13:08:20 +0000 admin http://lpi.dreamhosters.com/2005/12/15/jsm-langham-kenya-preaching-programme-report/ For 5 days in early September, some 80 delegates attended the preaching seminar at St Paul’s, Limuru in Kenya. Esther Mombo and the faculty members at St Paul’s gave a great deal of energy to arranging the seminar, having previously hosted a similar Langham preaching event two years ago. It was encouraging to see a further level 1 program attract pastors and lay preachers keen to develop in the area of Biblical preaching.

Here are some of the comments from participants:

A pastor from the northern part of Kenya: “You have really helped me. Now I feel I can go back and feed my church. After all these years I now see what I am supposed to be doing.”

Diane has preached for many years in her church and elsewhere: “I came here thinking that I won’t preach any more. For years I was preaching so much. They always asked me to preach – MU, women’s fellowships, church, young peoples groups, everywhere! But I got so tired, for the last year I have hardly preached at all. I came really burnt-out. Now after this week, I am thinking that I might preach again after all. I have been so refreshed. Now I feel equipped to preach again.”

We are very grateful for the strong team at St Paul’s who served the event so well. In the light of the warm response, a day workshop was held in November, and plans are underway for a week-long event in May. This will be a level 1 and 2 event, with participants from the last conference returning for further training, and a fresh group joining the level 1 track.

The dates proposed are May 22-27, 2006, and the hope is that some 150 participants will attend. For further information please contact Jonathan Lamb (email: preaching@langhampartnership.org).

]]> http://www.langhampartnership.org/2005/12/15/jsm-langham-kenya-preaching-programme-report/feed/ 0 http://www.langhampartnership.org/2005/09/16/jsm-langham-preaching-steady-progress-in-poland-and-ukraine/ http://www.langhampartnership.org/2005/09/16/jsm-langham-preaching-steady-progress-in-poland-and-ukraine/#comments Fri, 16 Sep 2005 13:24:53 +0000 admin http://lpi.dreamhosters.com/2005/09/16/jsm-langham-preaching-steady-progress-in-poland-and-ukraine/ A couple of months ago, our Langham Preaching team presented seminars in both Poland and Ukraine. As we have found in most parts of the world, reports on preaching in the churches from the Polish and Ukrainian nationals were very disheartening. Almost everyone agreed with the suggestion from one leader from Kazakhstan that ‘our pastors prepare their sermons, and then look for a Bible text to illustrate it’.

This seems to be the case in these two countries where thematic or topical preaching is very dominant, and hardly any of the participants knew of churches which did attempt systematically to teach the Bible.

In the Central Asian Republics represented at the Eurasian conference in Kiev, this criticism was true even of international churches, pastured by leaders from outside the region. The impact of poor preaching was seen by some to be a critical factor in the lack of growth of churches. For example, Vlad Devakov, newly appointed Director of Training for IFES in Eurasia, and himself a theologically educated Ukrainian, indicated that he did not know of one Ukrainian church which was presently growing, and he put this down to the lack of good preaching. Even amongst the program participants from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, these motivated pastors were less familiar with some principles of Bible exposition, and had hardly any models in their own contexts.

It was heartening to see the warm response to the two preaching tracks which we ran with nearly 50 pastors in Kiev and 100 in Poland. Each of these two groups were able to see and hear biblical sermons presented in their local context – and by the time they left the seminar, they were able to preach their own biblically sound sermons. These sessions not only helped the pastors in attendance, but led to discussions with regard to possible biblical preaching movements to be developed in the Russian Federation and Ukraine, Kazakhstan or Kyrgyzstan, and for further expansion in Poland.

We are very thankful for such a positive start, and for many answers to prayer in organising these events. We were very pleased by the warm response, the sense of strategic importance, and the unity and seriousness of the participants. We thank the Lord for these answers to prayer!

Pictures (top-bottom): Pastors gather for group session in Poland; Small group at the Kiev conference prepares its presentation

]]> http://www.langhampartnership.org/2005/09/16/jsm-langham-preaching-steady-progress-in-poland-and-ukraine/feed/ 0 http://www.langhampartnership.org/2005/05/27/lord-why-did-you-not-prepare-me-before-you-called-me/ http://www.langhampartnership.org/2005/05/27/lord-why-did-you-not-prepare-me-before-you-called-me/#comments Fri, 27 May 2005 13:39:17 +0000 admin http://lpi.dreamhosters.com/2005/05/27/lord-why-did-you-not-prepare-me-before-you-called-me/ This was the heart cry of one of the pastors who came to the second JSM-Langham Preaching Seminar in Albania in January 2005. He was testifying to what a difference the first seminar a year ago had made to his life and ministry.

‘I have been in Christ for nine years and a pastor for four,’ he told us. ‘For all those years I knew that I should be teaching my people from the Bible, but I didn’t know how. I read books but found no help.’ Hence his questioning prayer. ‘But last year you gave me a method and practical help and now I have been able to do what I always wanted.’ This kind of testimony makes the work of JSM-Langham Preaching so worthwhile.

Once again the Albanian Evangelical Alliance (VUSH), through its energetic leader, Genci Shehu, was the main sponsor of the Preaching Seminar in Albania, supported by Andy Oliver of European Christian Mission, and the Rruga e Pages Church. Participants came from a wide range of different denominational backgrounds. They attended workshops on two levels: Chris Wright taught basic Bible skills to those who had come for the first time, while Brian Morgan, a
pastor from California, led the second year group on a very creative journey of preaching from Gospel narratives, using Mark’s Gospel as a key text.
The Albanian evangelical publishing house, Beselidhja, with its director Romeo Mano, provided a book table, assisted by Colin McPherson of EELAC (East European Literature Advisory Committee) which has close associations with JSM-Langham Literature. They had Albanian copies of Chris Wright’s commentary on Ezekiel, published just in time!

The program in Albania is set to continue in the years ahead as an annual event, owned and sponsored by VUSH, in co-operation with JSM-Langham Preaching. Pray that it will significantly deepen the biblical foundations of this national church which is only 14 years old and yet in another sense goes right back to the New Testament. Albania is the ancient Roman province of Illyricum and Dalmatia, which Paul refers to in Romans 15:19 (it was just across the mountains
from Thessalonica and Philippi), and which Titus certainly visited (2 Tim. 4:10). Were we following in his footsteps? Durres, the coastal town where the seminar was held, was ancient Duracum, and an early historian tells us that there were 70 Christian families there in AD 55. ‘You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine,’ Paul told Titus, ‘and in your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech’ (Tit. 2:1,7). Our prayer and the goal of JSM-Langham Preaching is that a new generation of Tituses will be encouraged in Albania to do just that.

Picture note:
US Pastor, Brian Morgan (left front) and several of the attendees of the Albanian seminar gather by the Adriatic Sea outside of Durres.

]]> http://www.langhampartnership.org/2005/05/27/lord-why-did-you-not-prepare-me-before-you-called-me/feed/ 0 http://www.langhampartnership.org/2005/03/15/the-first-preaching-training-event-in-albania/ http://www.langhampartnership.org/2005/03/15/the-first-preaching-training-event-in-albania/#comments Tue, 15 Mar 2005 13:51:08 +0000 admin http://lpi.dreamhosters.com/2005/03/15/the-first-preaching-training-event-in-albania/

In January 2004, Andrew Page and Jonathan Lamb travelled to Durres and Tirana in Albania for two preaching seminars hosted by the Albanian Evangelical Alliance and Rruga e Paqes (the churches planted by the European Christian Mission (ECM)). Andy Oliver of ECM gathered a team of local leaders to oversee the first stage of the Langham Preaching project in Albania.

The Albanian church has been growing steadily over the past fourteen years and is the youngest Christian community in Europe, having been founded following the political changes of 1990. The Evangelical Alliance acknowledges that one of the greatest needs is the development of leadership for the churches, including the strengthening of preaching and teaching ministries. Their General Secretary wrote:

In order for the church to be a transforming, life-changing force in today’s Albanian society, it is advisable that its most audible voice—the preachers—have . . . intellectual resources to respond to society’s many questions, doubts and dilemmas. The challenge is to enable preachers to speak Biblical truth in a language and discourse which is culturally relevant.

The Langham Preaching seminar in Durres attracted some 85 participants from across the country; a second event for lay leaders was held in Tirana. The young church of Albania has developed in evangelism, with some 180 churches established nationally. But there is clearly a need to strengthen teaching ministries, so Langham Preaching was welcomed wholeheartedly because of its strategic potential in encouraging a new generation of biblically committed preachers and teachers. We were glad that a small delegation came from Kosovo as well.

The event was also supported by Beselidhja Publishing, which has published Albanian translations of many Bible Speaks Today commentaries as well as some titles especially for the Langham Preaching seminar, including John Stott’s Evangelical Essentials.

This was the first ever preaching training event in the history of the church in Albania, and plans are already underway for a second seminar in February 2005. As one pastor commented as we left Durres, “Through you the Lord has set free a passion in my heart for preaching the Word of God.”

]]> http://www.langhampartnership.org/2005/03/15/the-first-preaching-training-event-in-albania/feed/ 0 http://www.langhampartnership.org/2005/03/14/from-karachi-to-the-khyber/ http://www.langhampartnership.org/2005/03/14/from-karachi-to-the-khyber/#comments Mon, 14 Mar 2005 13:55:18 +0000 admin http://lpi.dreamhosters.com/2005/03/14/from-karachi-to-the-khyber/

They came from the far south to the far north of Pakistan to the preaching seminar held in Multan (right in the middle of the country) in early October 2004. Several dioceses of the Church of Pakistan sent a number of their pastors, and other churches and agencies were represented also. Altogether 50 men and women registered and came. The main national co-ordinator was Rev Dr Pervaiz Sultan, Principal of St. Thomas’s Theological College, Karachi. He shared with Chris Wright in the main teaching sessions, along with a team of local facilitators, working in Urdu. All participants also received three books sent out by Langham Literature. Enthusiastic plans were made for local cell groups to meet, and for further seminars in the years ahead.

]]> http://www.langhampartnership.org/2005/03/14/from-karachi-to-the-khyber/feed/ 0 http://www.langhampartnership.org/2005/03/14/zimbabwe-partnerships/ http://www.langhampartnership.org/2005/03/14/zimbabwe-partnerships/#comments Mon, 14 Mar 2005 13:53:39 +0000 admin http://lpi.dreamhosters.com/2005/03/14/zimbabwe-partnerships/

The beautiful country of Zimbabwe is in many ways reminiscent of the communist countries of Central Europe and the USSR during the 1980s. The political and social context is different, but the struggles of a nation governed by a regime that seems out of touch with reality, and the extraordinary faith and commitment of God’s people, are strikingly similar.

So it was a humbling experience to be welcomed to Harare for the launch of Keswick Zimbabwe and the first Langham Preaching event in the country. The initial invitation came from a group of church leaders who wanted to resurrect the mid-twentieth century Keswick Convention for the benefit of Zimbabwean churches.

Alongside a range of public meetings focused on Paul’s realism about the Christian life from 2 Corinthians, over a hundred local pastors and lay preachers attended a weekend preaching seminar. A member of the local organising team spoke afterward to one participant:

He is over the moon about the Preaching Seminar. He bought a full set of tapes and is about to run the course . . . in his church with his 8 or so lay-preachers. I have also heard that quite a few churches are really enjoying the new style of preaching as a result of the training. We really do want to make sure that we run a Keswick Zimbabwe in 2005.

Partnership is the name of the game in mission, and in Zimbabwe—as in many countries—Langham Partnership is linking with Keswick Ministries because of a shared commitment to strengthen the preaching and teaching within the church as a means of encouraging committed discipleship, mission and evangelical unity.

We are deeply grateful for the hard work of the team in Harare and the warm welcome we have received from God’s people. Plans are now being made for a 2005 programme in the hope that, irrespective of the social and political situation, the Word of the Lord in Zimbabwe will continue to speed on and triumph.

]]> http://www.langhampartnership.org/2005/03/14/zimbabwe-partnerships/feed/ 0 http://www.langhampartnership.org/2005/03/14/ugandan-pioneer-programme-completes-three-year-cycle/ http://www.langhampartnership.org/2005/03/14/ugandan-pioneer-programme-completes-three-year-cycle/#comments Mon, 14 Mar 2005 13:42:12 +0000 admin http://lpi.dreamhosters.com/2005/03/14/ugandan-pioneer-programme-completes-three-year-cycle/

The Congolese delegation in Uganda with Jonathan Lamb

Close to the source of the river Nile at Jinja,160 pastors and lay leaders gathered in March 2004 for the third Langham Preaching seminar in Uganda. Over half of the participants were new to the conference, but everyone else had attended one or two earlier events. Uganda is the first country to test our three-level training, and it was wonderful to hear testimonies of the impact of the training in different parts of the country.

 With the support of Mark Meynell and the Kampala Evangelical School of Theology (KEST), we have worked with well over 200 pastors and lay leaders over three years. Jonathan Lamb, Chris Wright and Jenny Brown took part, along with local and international facilitators. The training will continue as a rolling initiative, recruiting new participants at level one each year. The next stage in the development of the Ugandan movement will be a three-level event in Jinja in early April 2005, when 200 participants are expected to gather for four days of training, prayer and encouragement.

The Ripple Effect
On the last night one delegate spoke about his plans to use the material from the Langham seminars to provide twelve weeks of Bible training over a 3 year period for as-yet-untrained Baptist pastors in the far west of Uganda.

Aggrey, a staff worker for the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, told us:

At last year’s seminar I was really given confidence in exposition because of the skills we gained and the modeling we saw. In my student ministry one of the things I now do deliberately is to preach using Bible exposition methods, through the discipline of letting the text speak. Increasingly, it is also what I get asked to do. I also share my notes with other preachers, especially at my local church.

We’re glad that Langham Preaching has been an encouragement to women preachers. Here is an email from Jennifer:

When I got back from the conference, I found that the mamas of the church [the older women] had put me on the schedule to teach [a] group of ladies called the King’s Daughters. . . . God has used you to prepare me for this work He has given me to do. When I left the conference, I asked God to give me an outlet for what He had taught me. I can see He is answering!’

A church leader from Uganda brought four of his leaders to the seminar and has noticed a marked difference in their preaching.

Now they clearly take time to prepare beforehand. They stick to the passage, instead of paper-chasing all over the Bible. Their messages are simple, well outlined, and applied. One of them said that for him, ‘What I have learnt here has meant an end to the Saturday night panic!’

The Lighthouse Effect
We have been delighted to welcome delegates from Congo, Tanzania and Sudan. We now plan to facilitate training in these countries too, gradually expanding the preaching movement in East Africa.

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