I’m sure you can guess how thrilled I am that the covid restrictions are loosening! For many reasons, but mainly because I am able to travel for TLI again.
My first trip this year will be to Hawassa, Ethiopia to teach TLI’s 5th course: Understanding and Communicating Poetry (Psalms and Proverbs).
The pastors and leaders here are hungry for sound biblical training, so I know it will be a joy to teach these humble students. They range in biblical knowledge from beginners all the way to seasoned pastors seeking a refresher.
Please continue to pray for me, my family, and the students receiving our teaching as we all prepare for this trip in different ways. We are all empty vessels without the Holy Spirit. He is the one who does the real work!
Three hundred fifty kilometers south of Ambo sits Hawassa, the capital of Ethiopia’s Sidama region. For many years, Pastor Tesfaye has toiled to bring leadership training to pastors within the Ethiopian church.
Many “leaders in Ethiopia have never been equipped or adequately trained for their positions,” one pastor commented, “Two factors behind this were persecutions under the communist regime and the fast growth of the churches everywhere.”
Church growth is a good thing when a trained pastor follows Jesus’ commission to teach His followers “to observe all that I have commanded you.” But when a local church is led by an unbiblical pastor it becomes like a garden full of weeds. Weeds grow fast, but strong and lasting fruit takes great cultivation, patience, and time. TLI is committed to long-term, sustainable, reproducible growth.
“It’s easy to get converts and plant churches. But it’s very hard to get well-trained leaders.”
— Fikadu, Ethiopian Pastor
Since 2015, Pastor Tesfaye has been faithfully gardening in Ethiopia and helped launched TLI’s three strategic training sites along the Rift Valley. Now, graduates of previous cohorts are teaching alongside our trainers. As cultural insiders who have gone through our program, these native mentors are uniquely equipped for this essential role.
The fruit is being reproduced!
In Christ,
(Some content adapted from Training to Pass the Baton on TLI’s website.)
Prayer Points
- Ethiopia Trip: While the July trip is officially on the calendar, due to covid it is not completely certain. TLI has already pushed the trip dates back so we are not teaching over the time of their elections with potential unrest. Covid could still be a factor, so there is no guarantee until we are on the ground teaching. Pray that nothing interferes with our plans and that the trip would continue. Also, for the safety of the students and teachers.
- Ethiopian Pastors: Pray that the pastors would be ready and eager to learn. The poetry course is one of the most difficult in our curriculum for non-Western thinkers and we also teach through an interpreter, so pray that the pastors would understand us and comprehend the teaching clearly. Pray that the knowledge and skills we pass on would move beyond their minds into their hearts and overflow into Christ-centered, biblical preaching and shepherding. Pray for more gospel partnerships among the churches and organizations—that the gospel would spread like wildfire in Ethiopia.
- The Teachers: Pray that we would be able to convey difficult concepts, sound biblical knowledge, and these important skills in a culturally appropriate and understandable way. Pray that I would prepare my heart and mind well to be equipped and ready to teach.
- Training Leaders Int’l: That the year off (because of covid restrictions) would not be a setback, but that the organization (and other mission orgs) would flourish and regain much lost ground. Pray that all our current training sites would open back up and new ones would begin. Pray that more Christ-loving pastors would join us on trips to help teach.
- Praise Report! Thailie and Nia were baptized. We are excited to affirm the profession of faith by our two oldest daughters. Pray for their continued sanctification as they grow in maturity as young women in Christ.
