Dear ministry partners, although there is much work to be done in equipping pastors and ministry leaders globally with skills in handling God’s Word well, there is also domestic work here in the U.S. that demands attention. So for the past two weeks, Holly and I have been in Arizona and California attending to these duties.

First in Arizona, we met the other two team members who work with me to revise our Pathways curriculum. We are excited about the progress, but it is slow going, and we pour long hours and much mental energy into the endeavor. We labor to select the best Bible passages to teach key ideas. We simplify and shorten the concepts and word count since our pastors are oral learners and do not process long explanations well. We strategize to develop illustrations, stories, actions, and exercises that will drive our points home. We are nearing completion of workshop six out of nine, but soon we will start all over with a version of our material dedicated exclusively to oral learners, which will be so very useful in Africa.

Meanwhile, Holly and Steve’s wife Diana worked to plan prayer activities for our upcoming Spring Training event in Iowa. At Spring Training those who train with us globally are invited to a “camp” and we walk through best practices for training pastors globally and we roll out the latest three workshops that we have been working all year to revise. It is an encouraging time for all. We were blessed to be able to use the lovely guesthouse of a friend of Mike’s.

After curriculum meetings, Holly and I headed north to Prescott to visit a supporting church. I shared about our work in both services, met with the missions team over lunch, then led a smaller and more in-depth presentation of our work in the evening. We stayed with a pastor friend who traveled and trained with me in Africa, and now hosts the “Selah Suite” which offers refreshment for Christian ministry workers.

At one point we had a few free hours so we were able to go for a hike and enjoy the Arizona topography.

From Arizona we flew to Fresno and zipped down to familiar territory of Kingsburg. We were hosted by our dear friends and former neighbors the Esaus while we met with ministry partners, shared about our work with one of the churches I pastored many years ago, Orchard Bible Fellowship, and worked on a property in the town.

Aside from a piece of a branch that shot into my eye while trimming a bush (no jokes about “log in the eye – still too fresh!), the visit was delightful and productive. Part of the reason for these church visits is to update partners with what God is doing globally, and another part is to seek out more partners to help us reduce the $3000/month shortfall we are presently experiencing due to inflation, skyrocketing airfare costs, and increased expenses for African pastors to attend trainings (food, transport, accommodations, photocopies). If you are interested in joining us in this work, please follow this QR code to our giving page at EFCA or click on the “Partnership/Giving Info” tab to the left.

We are now home, and I’m preparing to preach Sunday and then take off a few days later for trainings in Mali and Egypt. May God continue to spread His glory and good handling of His Word throughout Africa and beyond.