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!

 

 

Obedience Based Discipleship Training (T4T)

Last week (6-10 July) Gregg and Donna Fort trained 19 men in Obedience Based Discipleship. 

  This is a process whereby from evangelism to discipleship to church formation to leadership training one moves seamlessly through with a plan of action for disciples every time they are willing to say yes to the next step.   It is a process commonly known as Training for Trainers (T4T) that is revolutionizing and multiplying the efforts of those involved in church planting both in the U.S. and around the world.  We are thankful to have received the training and now have the ability to train others.  

Please pray that these men who have been trained and are excited about what they have learned will put it into practice where they live and that they will find obedient, God-prepared people who will help multiply the work of the Kingdom of God on earth.  

Pray also that from these men we will be able to develop a training team that can train other faithful men and women throughout Zimbabwe in this proven process. 

A New Vision for the Baptist Leaders in Zimbabwe

Missionary Gregg Fort invited 15 key pastors and leaders of the Baptist Convention of Zimbabwe to a retreat where they were introduced to the church planting training that we attended earlier this year. Fort shared a basic overview of the training and then spent time casting vision for reaching the 10 million lost people in Zimbabwe. He stressed that EVERY person in Zimbabwe needs to be able to hear the gospel in their own language, in a way they will understand completely, and be given an opportunity to respond. Highlighted was the importance of implementing strategy which liberates the gospel through empowering EVERY new believer to become not only a disciple of Jesus Christ, but an evangelist and disciple of others as well. None of this can be done effectively unless fervent and strategic praying is made a vital part of the overall church planting strategy. After that, Fort shared with the group how large the gap was between the number of saved and the number of lost in Zimbabwe and that if we continued to do things the same way in the future, that very few new believers or churches would be added to the kingdom of God. An examination of the scriptures is vital to identify the difference between church culture and tradition and God’s Way of doing things. When we do things our way we fail, but if we do things God’s way we will be amazed at the way God works through us to achieve His Kingdom plans and purposes.

Such questions as “What is church?”, “Who can lead a church?”, and “How do churches naturally multiply?” were asked of the participants and they sought answers from the scriptures. They discovered that: • “pastoral leadership is a spiritual gift and that this is what qualifies a man to lead a church”. Then this spiritual gift may be “trained and refined” through various ways which do not necessarily require a seminary education. • “Baptism should be done as soon after salvation as possible.” • “That the one who baptizes does not have to be an ordained minister.” • “We must be willing to train and release all believers to be evangelists and disciple makers.” The pastors expressed their desire to “repent”, to change their minds and their ways of doing things for the kingdom of God. They desired to begin to do things God’s way. They were keenly desirous of building God’s kingdom instead of their own. They expressed their grief that they had been doing “business as usual” for way too long. It was like a spiritual revival as the men vocalized changes they saw that needed to be made. One thought which was expressed over and over as well was the need to learn to love others the way God wants them to. Fort also shared with the group that a healthy church is one in which insiders perform all the functions of the church. (e.g. Baptism, Lord’s Supper, preaching, giving, evangelism, discipleship, etc.) Those present were all too keenly aware that this is not how they had been operating. They were convicted that our convention has way too many “fellowship groups” which are overseen by a mother church and its pastor. (Some pastors oversee multiple fellowships.) They decided then and there that their first order of business would be to make targeted plans to help the fellowships become healthy churches, no longer dependent on the mother church. Pray for the leaders of our convention that they will not lose the conviction they felt as they met together and that they will work together to make helpful changes in the way evangelism, discipleship, and church planting are done in Zimbabwe. Pray that we will be able to calendar a time in 2016 where we can gather many more pastors and lay-leaders to participate in a week long church planting training meeting. Pray that this training would radically change the way we think and work in Zimbabwe so that everyone in the country will have an opportunity to hear the gospel in their own language, in a way they will understand and that they will be given a chance to respond and then be discipled so they in turn may bring others into the Kingdom of God.

The Church Beyond the River

Pastor Tim Hight of Gracelife Baptist Church in Christiansburg, VA recently came to Zimbabwe with Randy Aldridge, staff member with the Virginia Baptist Convention as an evangelism and church planting strategist. Gracelife Baptist Church has adopted and engaged the Ndau people of Zimbabwe and have been coming several times a year. On this trip, the men came to teach evangelism, discipleship and church planting to the church leaders of the Chipinge - Chimanimani Baptist Association.

About 50 church leaders came to participate in the training which was carried out at the local primary school near Birchenough. This is a rural area of eastern Zimbabwe best known for the Birchenough Bridge which was the longest single suspension bridge built in Africa.

(The bridge spans the Save (sah vee) River Bed which remains dry except during the rainy seaon. The Bridge is seen in this picture overshadowing the Birchenough Hotel. Ralph Freeman, the bridge's designer, was also the structural designer on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and consequently the two bridges bear a close resemblance, although Birchenough is only two-thirds as long as the Australian bridge. It was built by Dorman Long and completed in 1935.[ At a length of 1,080 feet (329 m) it was the third longest single-arch suspension bridge in the world at the time.)

During the first evangelism training session Randy used the new Three Circles Witnessing Presentation which is being put forward by the North American Mission Board. (See www.namb.net and search Three Circles.) This presentation was easy for the participants to learn. After the training session, participants divided into teams of three and went out to witness in the community. Pastor Tim teamed with a church leader and businessman who also happens to be blind. The man learned the presentation by memory and shared it with his neighbors (man in white shirt and brown pants in back of picture), while a friend drew the circles in the sand.

Another team found a group of soccer players whose game came to an end when their ball deflated. After the witnessing presentation to the team, about 20 soccer players prayed to receive Christ in addition to their coach!

One church leader had brought a soccer ball to the meeting and he loaned it to the team after that so they could finish their game! The coach told Pastor Tim that when he comes again he wants volunteers to come to the school where he teaches to preach the gospel to all the students!the The coach brought several friends with him to the services.(Seen here on the left is a friend, in the middle is the coach and on the right is Randy.)

One night he brought his aunt who was a traditional religious practitioner. That night she prayed to receive Christ. Later she brought all the items she used to practice divining and interacting with the spirit world to the local pastor and he helped her burn them all. At the time of the meeting, the local pastor had been leading a small church on one side of the river. He had been feeling the need to plant a new church on the other side of the river and organized for the meeting to be in the new area. Local people were invited to participate in evening worship services with the leaders. The local community was very responsive to the invitation. Pastors Tim and Randy stayed at the nearby Birchenough “Hotel” and even the manager, cook, and assistant manager of the hotel came to the evening services. (Pastor Tim with hotel staff.)

On the final night of the meeting over 150 people came to worship. There were so many that they could not fit into the classroom and had to meet outside. The following morning, Sunday, another large worship service was held and a new church was initiated at Birchenough.

Altogether 43 people came to know the Lord in 3 short days due to the evangelistic efforts of the church leaders. Pastor Randy, who was in Zimbabwe for the first time, said, “I’ve never before seen such evangelistic fervor. It is very exciting to be a part of this.” Most of the local community had an opportunity to hear the gospel. When the associational meeting was over, Pastors Tim and Randy went with the local pastor to another village where the pastor feels a church needs to be planted.

They were able to witness to several people and have a worship service there. Several men came to know the Lord and there is an indication that there is great potential for another church plant here.