Dear praying friends, this is part 2 of a trip recap from the three week training expedition to southern and eastern Africa I took recently. This segment carries my training partners Steve and Mark and myself from Maputo, Mozambique through Johannesburg up to Nairobi and then by car for nine hours to Bungoma, western Kenya.

Most of the travel went smoothly with the exception of one leg from Johannesburg to Nairobi on Kenya Airways. At the airport we were heading to our next flight and the Kenya Airways agent informed us they would not allow us to travel. Long and stressful story short, due to some immigration changes and a very tight agent, we were forced to buy new and expensive last minute tickets to get to Nairobi. Thankfully we made the flight just in time, but it was a bit nerve-wracking for a period there. Note to self: Buy tickets directly from the airlines rather than through discount services.

My good friend Silas, a Kenyan ministry leader, met us in Nairobi, we spent the night with him and his family, and then he drove us the nine hours to Bungoma, western Kenya. We launched a new Pathways network with Silas and a local pastor named Abel coordinating the effort on the ground. We had about 15 in attendance, all reputable leaders with strong potential for multiplying the training to other pastors, and their English was strong enough that we were able to do the whole training without any translation. The group was very expressive and enthusiastic about all they learned, engaging well in the interactive methods we utilize in Pathways.

Here are some of the highlights and take-aways from select participants:

• Dismas – When preaching, we must read the text, preach passage by passage from the same book, and go verse by verse in our message.
• Elijah – This workshop was so exciting. Most of us preachers in Africa pick a verse of Scripture from various parts in the Bible. Now we know that we must preach from one book and we must go verse by verse.
• Joshua – This workshop opened my eyes and understanding, so I will adjust my reading and Bible study to follow the Pathways process. I saw God using an angry prophet like Jonah to share His compassion. Jonah uses a short message of judgment from God and nothing else to save the Ninevites.
• David – We preachers here in Kenya have not been preaching well. We are motivating speakers, but do not understand and preach Scripture. As a pastor, I have been concentrating on the prosperity gospel that God will bless you here and now. I now see that the main focus of the gospel is Jesus Christ.
• Zablon – We’ve been going to many books when we preach. Now I will stick with one Book.
• Amos – My eyes were opened through this workshop. I learned about God‘s message. I have not been following the Pathway process. I have been going directly from a Bible verse to us today instead of going through the original readers to get to us. From today on, I will follow the Pathway.
• Carophene – I am a preacher who has been moving directly from God’s message to us today. Now I am different. Studying the context helped me understand the meaning of the passage and this was one of my take-aways.

While in Bungoma, I connected Abel and Silas with the pastors who will be returning in July to offer workshop #2. I am thankful for all God did during that training, and am eager to see how He continues to use these “master trainers” to spread healthy Bible study practices throughout the region.