Bonjour web friends! I have just returned from our second workshop in Kinshasa, Congo where we studied expository Bible study principles focused on the book of 2 Timothy. The primary trade language is French, so I was trying to learn as I went, since my Swahili helped me very little.

We had 16 participants for the training, and our African coordinator was ReachAfrica Director Nubako Selenga, a dear friend and highly capable leader. His influence stretches far and wide as God has used him on many occasions and in many significant roles to build the church in Congo and Africa. Selenga said of our training, “A primary challenge in Africa is in making disciples, and this training will help us to make disciples of the Word.” Unfortunately, our other coordinator, Abraham Mudidi, was sick in the hospital and was not able to attend. The participants came from several regions, mostly near Kinshasa, but some coming down from the north around Gemena. As always, it was a joy to be with our dear African brothers who are so hungry for Bible training, eager to learn and grow in their skills in handling and applying God’s Word well.  

One of the joys came in seeing how well the pastors did at studying texts we gave them, and then standing up and giving brief expository messages based on those texts. The preaching followed the text closely, and their preaching statements that emphasized the main point of the passage were, in general, very close to the mark. It was a wonderful joy to see the advancement of this group from the first workshop till now. Pastor Rafael said, “I realize my preaching has become very weak. I choose a verse here or there, and mainly preach my words. Now I see the need to change, to be disciplined to preach the whole text.”

All the trainers got along very well despite being from a variety of denominations and regions. The unifying factor was their shared love for Jesus and God’s Word, and desire to grow in studying and preaching it well. We still have a ways to go in each of our trainers reaching their potential in passing these trainings on to others, but we have a good start.

The power went out each day of our training, and in the heat and humidity in a small room with 18 people things got toasty. I had a puddle of sweat on the ground each day that showed where I’d been. Sorry if that is more info than you cared to know.

I brought a youth pastor from Iowa with me named Tim Olson, and he grew up in Congo, and spoke Lingala fluently, so having him along was a blast. He did a great job, was very teachable, and shows much promise for future trainings.

In all, it appears that the trainers are passing the training on to 289 other pastors and leaders. While this is very good, I am confident the group has the capability of doing far more than this. So I will continue to encourage them on, for the needs are great throughout Africa for this training.  The final lesson was a “demonstration sermon” that I preached from 2 Timothy 4:1-5, with the preaching statement, “Preach the Word well, all the time, while there’s still time!” Good words based on a great text! Pressing on, Eric