In Revelation 7vs5, the Apostle John is given a stunning view of God’s people at the end of time. He sees “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne, and before the Lamb.”
What a view! Can you picture the scene? Can you see yourself there? And as you look around, in that great multitude, you hear praise rising from the throng, some of it in Chichewa, Bemba and Swahili, others in Tamil, Urdu and Burmese. And, with a renewed mind given to understanding, these words ring clear:
“Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” (vs10)
This is the eternal perspective we hold on to as we commit to our work, that is, that the time and resources we invest, whether from our warehouse in Swindon or from our training in Africa and Asia, achieves its glorious objective before the throne of the Lamb.
Isn’t it wonderful to be involved in gathering men and women, boys and girls to that most supreme place of worship!
Malawi
On Friday, the 30th of August, I left for 4 weeks away in Africa. The first leg of my journey took me to Zomba, Malawi. There, I was met at the airport by our wonderful Malawi Hub co-ordinator, Dr. Joster Jumbe and one of the delegates who had travelled up the day before from Zimbabwe, Rev. Chaka Mahlanga.
The training that began the following Monday, proved to be the beginning of a week of tremendous blessing, where 87 men crammed expectantly into a small classroom each day to be schooled with basic tools for effective Bible study and sermon preparation. Many of these testified with joy of receiving their first ever training for ministry. What a wonderful 5 days it turned out to be!
The week, however, was not without its challenges: One of the delegates was a Muslim man who had enrolled under the guise of a church leader. His intention, however, was to sow discord. Praise the Lord, his mask quickly dislodged and those intentions brought to nought. Yet, he stayed through to the end of the week, hearing the message of the gospel on more than one occasion. Pray for him, that he may one day be found around the throne of our God.
By the conclusion of the week, the joy and enthusiasm among the pastors to take away what they had learned and apply it to their local ministry contexts, left a genuine sense that the Lord had indeed been at work.
Zambia
From Malawi, I travelled to Kasama in Zambia, arriving there on Sunday 8 September. Despite battling a miserable cold virus I had picked up midway through my week in Malawi, God’s promise that His grace is sufficient proved ever true, and despite going through many a pack of tissues, and quite a number of cough lozenges, was greatly helped to teach the 66 who joined for the week.
I had been looking forward to having Ernest Mulenga, a brother and pastor from the Copper Belt teach alongside me. But, in the Lord’s sovereign purpose and plan, He saw fit to call Ernest home to glory the week before. I had begun to develop a vision for his taking a lead in our work in Zambia, but God’s word
reminds us in Isaiah 55:8, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.” Let’s remember to pray faithfully and regularly for Ernest’s wife Annie and their three young children.
I was joined by Grant Schaefer, a missionary who has been serving in Mbala, Zambia for the past 26 years. Grant’s ability to connect with the pastors contextually, using anecdotes and language familiar to their culture made the training in Zambia particularly engaging and effective. How I thank God for Grant, and for using him as He did, both as an encouragement to me and an outstanding Bible teacher to those being trained.
What was telling from the training was the high level of Biblical illiteracy among many of the pastors, coupled with the significant impact of the prosperity gospel on the way so many prepare and preach their sermons. And yet, there was an incredible sense of the Lord at work! Our time of prayer at the close of the week stirred an outpouring of confession and repentance that brought tears to my eyes and deep gratitude in my heart.
It should be added for further encouragement that a group of 4 men from the DRC, led by Alan Ilunga (a close friend of Kabwe Kabwe) joined us for the training, with the purpose of exploring the initiation of training there in the new year. Conversations were immensely fruitful and, God-willing, we hope to hold our first training there towards the middle part of 2025.
Uganda
From Zambia, I flew into Entebbe, Uganda in the early hours of Monday morning, 15 September. There I joined our veteran Uganda trainer Gerald Tanner and Emmanuel Magambo to work with a much smaller group, Training the Trainers. This group of the fifteen men and one woman were striking by the depth of godliness among them, coupled with a serious commitment to Bible study and preparation.
As Uganda feels increasingly on the edge as a nation politically, praise God for those He is preparing to serve His people there. Ultimately, it is the message of the gospel that brings hope and joy at times of uncertainty, and this is at the heart of what we do.
In addition to training, we had a very encouraging and productive meeting with two brothers from Living Word Uganda, a sister organisation supporting indigenous Bible teaching ministry in the country.
Our time concluded with a commitment to support one another at respective training events in Uganda with material and trainers.
South Africa
It was unusually cold for this time of year when I arrived in Johannesburg on Saturday, 21 September. The week before I arrived, temperatures were reaching the late 20’s and early 30 degrees celsius. However, stepping off the plane, it felt like Yorkshire in November with highs of around 6 degrees. But the coolness of the weather was no hindrance to the blessing of the meetings that followed.
I preached twice on Sunday, followed by meetings with brothers who I firmly believe could prove vital to establishing a support base for EPW training and resources into southern and sub-saharan Africa. One of them currently mentors pastors at Mukhanyo Theological College, while the other pastors a local church in Johannesburg and leads a charity for the distribution of sound Christian books in southern Africa. Both of these were enthusiastically committed to exploring ways with us to support and serve pastors in that part of the world.
Conclusion
I praise God for the wonderful blessings He brought along my way as I set out on this, my first EPW training tour. Yes, there were challenges along the way, but every one of these only served to prove just how faithful the Lord is.
There is still much to learn, but I praise God for the privilege of being carried through this learning by the prayers of God’s people, the counsel and example of those who have gone before me, and the tireless efforts of regional teams committed in preparation for the success of each training workshop.
As I close, the words of the Apostle Paul to the church in Philippi express something of my heart as I look back to what has been, and anticipate what is ahead:
“Joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.”