No trips, Now what?
The virus has changed things! Many of us are at home. A blessing and yet challenging – an introvert’s paradise, an extrovert’s prison. Wow, do I miss our church family, and my buddies at the gym, and time on the road (cycling)!
You can see the screen shot below of our Wednesday morning Zoom prayer with TLI trainers and staff. We meet to pray for each other and our families and our partners oversees. It is small to keep identities confidential.
Here’s how the suspension of oversees trips has affected my work.
My new duties:
- I will begin developing relationships with diaspora (immigrant) pastors and influencers in Southern California. TLI has a whole division devoted to helping leaders/pastors who are here from other countries but have little or no training. Additionally, this region of the U.S. (Southern California) is without a representative. For the short term I will attempt to fill in the blank for Orange County. I will work diligently on making contacts and referring them to our Diaspora Director, Eduardo. If you know of someone who might be interested in being trained, or facilitating a training site, or might just want to know more about the diaspora. Let me know! Thanks.
Pictured below are three students in Tanzania. An aspiring to be an elder – young man, a women’s ministries director, and a pastor.
- TLI has excelerated the timeline for our training. We are meeting to better understand the the course material and the intricacies of the teaching process. This morning I read for several hours in preparation for a group discussion with other TLI trainers via Zoom next week. It is excellent material!
- Personal/professional development: I am immersed in studying Job and the Psalms. I will present a short paper to TLI to aid in our prayer preparation when we travel and train. Book suggestion: buy anything Christopher Ash writes, especially on Psalms and Job – excellent resources!
- I am working on a project addressing the evangelism crisis in the US. It’s been on the back burner for a couple of years and it needs to be finished up.
Pictured below is the TLI team – March 2020 – Liberia. They are a wonderful godly group!
These are changing times! Whatever God has planned, it will be better than before the virus, of this we can be assured, Romans 8:28, 32. Looking forward in hope and expectation.
Bob
Attached below is a link to a TLI document outlining our plans for the coming months.
Tanzania and Liberia Chronicle
March 16, 2020
Dear friends and family,
I have returned one week early from a planned three-week trip to Tanzania and Liberia. Training Leaders International [TLI] decided to bring us home, which was a very wise move. It was necessary to fly through Brussels and so I am in a self-imposed two-week quarantine even though I have no Covid-19 symptoms. I will be fine, except for not seeing the grandkids.
I traveled with an experienced TLI missionary, our Vice-President of Theological Education, Duane Tweeten, and we had profitable discussions with our potential partners in Tanzania. Please continue praying as we hone an agreement that satisfies all involved.
We then flew to Liberia, joining three other TLI trainers, and taught our final course, 2 Timothy, to our soon-to-graduate students. We had to leave early on Friday evening and so missed the graduation ceremonies on Saturday. We were excited about meeting the student’s families and friends and we were all very disappointed. Pictured below are some of the students with graduation certificates.
In Liberia, all my students based their end-of-the-week sermons on the text of Scripture assigned to them! That is huge progress for the church in Liberia. Please continue to pray that the scourge of the prosperity gospel will be driven from Liberia and Africa.
Now for two highlights!
- Approximately a year and a half ago, in December of 2018, I gave the morning sermon in Liberia on Ephesians 5, and exhorted the men to serve and love their wives, and initiate family worship. Three of my students shared with me that they gave family devotions/worship the old-college try. They reported that their children, who were drifting from their Christian values, had returned to a strong commitment to Christ and home. Additionally, their neighbors were joining them in worship at home, and that many were now leaving their prosperity oriented churches and coming to their church! Sometimes we need stories like these to give us energy for the future. I let them know it made the trip to Liberia more than worthwhile.
- One of my students who showed little promise or understanding when I first began teaching in Liberia, has shown remarkable progress in his understanding of the Bible and in his preaching. A year and a half ago, he hardly referenced the Bible in his preaching and his classroom participation was almost zero. This past week his hand was up on almost every question, his answers were excellent, and he scored a perfect 100% when he preached at the end of the week. I am more than overjoyed at his progress.
Additionally, please pray about the future of training in Tanzania. We continue to discuss our arrangements and hope to begin our classes in December.
Thanks again for reading and praying and giving. Together, we are impacting the church for Christ!
Bob
I’ve included some pictures below to give you a feel for Liberia and Tanzania. You can also access more pics on my Facebook page.
Compare these songs, and a student testimony
Tanzanians trying to sing an old American song and one from their country
Graduation!
After three years these men and a few women preached their graduation sermon. Two of my students gave truly outstanding sermons. All my student’s sermons were based on 2 Timothy and they preached well. I’m a happy teacher!!
