For most of the graduating class of pastors in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, I have been working closely together, offering training and walking in life shoulder to shoulder for over six years. Words cannot express how much we love, respect and value each other, and conducting the final Pathways workshop was encouraging as I witnessed their growth as preachers of the Word, and also painful knowing that it may be a long time, if ever, before we are all together again. Here are some of their comments:

Michael – We have changed in our preaching and ministry from our years together. Having you in our lives, brother Eric, has taken us to another level. Every time I see you, I’m inspired to put into practice all you have taught us.

Mussa –  The way I used to preach was old, not from the Bible. Now, through the training you have given, I see the need for new preaching, better and from God’s Word.

Enock – You have invested your life in me personally, teaching but also through your whole life and ministry. Now I am learning to do the same with others. Life on life. That is what you have shown me. I will never be the same. I am forever changed from your many years invested in me, and I am now doing the same with others. (This touches on one of our theme verses of 2 Tim.2:2.)

Ikongo – Thank you, my father Eric! This training and your time in Africa has come from God, not your plan. None of us knew it, but God knew what we needed. Thank you for your patience and endurance over the years, and even though we’ve faced challenges, you have not given up on us. I have learned how to handle the text well, and many others are blessed as I pass on this training. This feels like Jesus leaving his disciples, and so you leave us, but we keep you in our hearts. Not just what you’ve taught but who you are has been left with us.

Greyson – Thank you for your love. You have done God’s work. It was not by accident we met. We prayed God would send a trainer, and God sent you. I am a new man. I can stand against the waves of false teachings so present in our culture because of your training in the Word. Many train in Africa, but few do it as you do, in truth.

With words of encouragement like these, it is no wonder why I consider myself blessed to work with the men I do. In each case, these pastors and the others in the group are passing the training they’ve received to dozens or hundreds of others. By God’s grace, may His Word be taught more truthfully and powerfully throughout Tanzania and Africa and globally.

Pressing on, Eric