Multiplying Leaders

 In Zimbabwe, few men can afford to go to seminary.   They can't afford the fees and they can't afford to not work for four years!  (We don't offer night classes and students are in class on weekdays from 7a.m. -2p.m.)   In order to train pastors and church leaders we have partnered with World Hope Bible Institute.  

We are praising God for five successful Bible Institutes which took place in September and October. September 19-23 we had an institute in Gweru at which approximately 19 were in attendance. Partners from South Africa came to facilitate the subjects for this institute.  Then On October 10-13 we had 4 simultaneous institutes in Kwekwe, Zvishivane, Mberengwe, and Mutare.   Four trained men from Kentucky came to help us in these four institutes.  (Pictured below are the men from Kentucky and in the center are Nick and Kyndra Moore, missionaries in Zimbabwe who work with our Baptist Seminary.)

 

Altogether, there were 95 in attendance for these. So a total of 114 people were trained in at least 3 different Bible Institute courses over the past two months! 

One of the neatest things about these institutes was the pairing of partner-teachers from the US with co-laborers from Zimbabwe. These co-laborers are men who completed the courses required and graduated from the Bible Institute back in November 2015. Without exception, the common response I received from the partner-teachers from the US was how well-equipped and masterful their recently trained co-laborers were in teaching/equipping the next generation of Bible Institute students. It is exciting to see what God might do through this multiplication scheme in the years ahead!

 

 

So Many Villages

Recently we had a group of volunteers from Virginia in our home.  Their excitement to share all that God had done during their time in southeastern Zimbabwe in a rural area near Birchenough Bridge was contagious!  

Team members Chris Webb (front right) and Chris Hale (center) are from Gracelife Baptist Church in Christiansburg Virginia.   This church partnered with Zimbabwe several years ago to help us reach the Ndau.  Jonathan White, (front left) is the pastor of New Testament Baptist Church and Curtis Bryant represents Woodland Heights Free Will Baptist Church.   Also pictured is Tino, their driver and guide.  

The team shared how they did village to village evangelism.  The villages here are not large.  Each village contains a family unit often including grandparents, parents and children.  In the evenings services were held and the people they visited were invited to come.  The first night about 50 people came, but by the last night over 250 were in attendance.  During the week 46 people prayed to receive Christ.

They also enjoyed spending time with local school children and were invited back by the headmaster (principal) to come and teach the children again next time they come!

Curtis, at age 83, was remarkable.  Three months ago he met Chris Hale at a spiritual retreat.  Curtis had been sensing that God had something for him to do, but until this point had no idea what it was.  Chris felt led by God to invite Curtis on this mission trip.  Curtis said, “I didn’t even hesitate!  I just said YES!” 

Curtis was able to keep up with the group and was very sensitive to the needs and pain of those he encountered.  One lady in particular he remembered that he prays for everyday was an older woman who was no longer able to walk and who is in a great deal of pain.  He asks that you join him in praying for this woman – for her physical as well as spiritual healing.

Jonathan recalled that on the first day of visits they met a woman and her husband.   The woman was a believer but being submissive to her unbelieving husband had stopped going to church.   Jonathan witnessed to the man and he was convicted and prayed to receive Christ.   He came to the services each night with his wife.  His wife was beaming.   He had stopped drinking and other bad habits.   It was a powerful testimony to the community.   Please pray that he continues to keep off the old sinful nature and allow his new spiritual self to live in obedience to God and mature spiritually.

 “We had an interesting encounter in one village,”  said Chris Hale.   There was a man in the village whose father had been won to the Lord by earlier missionaries.  But none of his children had ever become believers.   We witnessed to the son who was now the head of this village and he prayed to receive Christ.   He immediately began to share the gospel with knowledge and authority to others.  He obviously had been taught the Bible by his father and knew it even if he was not a believer.   It is possible that this man could potentially become the leader of this new church. 

“What I saw that blessed me the most was our team unity,”  shared Chris Webb.  “Before this trip we did not all know one another, but God united our hearts and minds.”  

 

Another highlight for Chris, who is here for the third time, was getting to spend time with a young man he met on a previous trip who is a new believer.  This young man is hungry for God’s Word, for fellowship with believers and for doing God’s will.   He is another potential church leader.  

 

Jonathan remembered walking up to the top of a small mountain in the area where they were camped.  “Looking out over the valley filled with so many small villages we never got to was something I’ll never forget.”  

Pray that God would raise up laborers for the harvest among the believers in Zimbabwe who are obedient to Christ’s command to GO and MAKE DISCIPLES. . .

A Heart Like His

In September Gregg and Donna Fort, and Kurt Holiday helped facilitate another church planting training in Southern Africa.  Janna Kay Holiday came for the training and also helped with the worship music.

Forty-three believers from 9 different countries came together for this training.

The purpose of the training is to help believers understand that the Father's heart is for His Kingdom to spread though out the whole earth and for all the lost to have an opportunity to hear and respond to the gospel.

 The training also challenges church traditions which are preventing rapid multiplication of disciples and churches.  It helps believers realize that it is the job of EVERY believer to share the gospel, disciple new believers, and help organize new believers into churches.

Also helping facilitate the meeting were Fred and Mary Naude and Jim Flora.

The training lasted two weeks and during that time many believers who had never known each other before were united in heart and mind.  We had great fellowship and learned much from one another.  

"Behold how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!  It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes.  It is like the dew of Hermon which falls on the mountains of Zion.  For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore."  (Psalm 133 ESV)

How thankful we are for the blessings God brought during the training and for the way God is helping the participants use what they learned at the training to help reach the lost and build the Kingdom of God.

Harare for Christ

We are still on an adrenaline high over how God worked through us and others who attended the Urban Conference in Harare 6-8 October at Central Baptist Church.

 Gregg Fort spoke first sharing that if we keep doing things the same old way, we will never be able to start enough churches or preach the gospel to all the lost in Harare.

YET, Father God sent us to win the lost and disciple the saved.  This is the job of EVERY believer, not just a few.  It is not God's desire that ANY should perish, so if we don't do our job, we will be accountable to Him one day.

Then Kurt Holiday, our Urban Specialist for Southern Africa, shared about the many different ways we can be at work to bring "shalom" to Harare.

 He also taught us the importance of getting out and discovering more about who lives and works where, identifying where churches are and then establishing where new churches need to be started to reach those who are not being reached.

Overall we had about 65 participants (on different days and in different sessions) from 10 different churches in the Harare area.

Bryan Bullington, pastor of New Song Baptist Church, (and Cluster Leader for the Ocean to Ocean Cluster in Southern Africa) shared how his church had put these principles into practice and the difference it had made to their church and the initiation of new groups in his town among very different people groups.

Donna Fort led the participants in a time of prayer for the people of Harare.

 Then after learning a witnessing presentation, the participants went out onto the city streets of downtown in groups of 2-3 and shared the gospel.   In less than 2 hours 17 people prayed to receive Christ and others expressed an interest to know more.  Information was taken down and followup assigned to local churches depending on where people lived.

A time of celebration was held after that as people shared story after story of how someone they witnessed to prayed to receive Christ.   It was a good reminder we need to always be looking out for people with whom the Holy Spirit is wooing.   People he has prepared spiritually, but need someone to help lead them into His Kingdom.

Pray that those who were trained at this conference will continue to put into practice what they have learned and that they will reach many for the kingdom of God.  Pray also that they will be willing to disciple the new believers and teach others how to be more engaged in the work of the kingdom.