Maybe on my way to Liberia…
Dear friends,
I am finishing the first week of a three week trip to Africa. Duane Tweeten (a TLI colleague) and I spent three worthwhile days in Tanzania meeting with leaders and the Bishop of the Tanzanian Inland Church to ascertain the viability of starting a cohort of students at Nassa Theological College. We were well-received and the students were very appreciative of the two days of training we did with them.
Please pray that our continued conversations with them will bear fruit and that TLI can have a significant ministry in Tanzania.
Maybe going to Liberia? The Liberian government has been vacillating for days about letting residents of California enter their country with a mandatory 14 day quarantine to check for the CoronaVirus. They consider California a hot spot for the virus. At this point our in-country partner, who is part of the Liberian government’s discussions on this issue, is confident that I will be allowed to enter the country. So, as of Saturday morning, Tanzania time, the decision has been made that I will take the 20 hour trip to Liberia from Tanzania. It is a very circuitous route; there is no easy way to fly across the African continent! I fly from Mwanza to Dar es Salaam, then to Nairobi, then to Ghana and finally to Monrovia, Liberia. Pray for safety and an uneventful trip.
Please pray they let me in to teach! The last thing I want to happen is that instead of two weeks of teaching eager students, I spend 2 weeks in a Liberian quarantine. The hotel we are staying at for these few hours has the best internet connection on the trip so far. I will try to post an update when I enter Liberia.
Thanks.
Bob
Tanzania/Liberia March 2-21, 2020
February 28, 2020
Dear friends,
I am busily preparing for a three-week trip to Tanzania and Liberia.
Please pray for my time in Tanzania. I am traveling with an experienced TLI missionary and we will be finalizing our agreement to train and set up a school for Tanzanian pastors/leaders/elders. The site has great potential for the kingdom. These leaders have little or no training and the group we are working with oversees the ministry of 1000 churches! Our first class will be for English speakers, and if all things go well we will begin training with translators in Swahili in 2021!
After a week in Tanzania I will return to Liberia for two weeks. The first week I will teach principles of interpreting epistles from 2 Timothy. On Saturday of that week we will graduate our first cohort of approximately 75 students. The following Monday we will begin the second cohort and teach course one of our nine course curriculum.
Here is the description from the teacher’s manual:
Course 1 introduces God, Scripture, and the role God has defined for leaders within his church, laying a foundation for Christ’s global church to mature for God’s glory. That foundation is the relational, devotional, expositional study, preaching, and teaching of Scripture. Course 1 has this aim: Know God intimately, speak God’s Word rightly,
and train others to do likewise.
Please pray for the students. Most of what we teach is new to them. They need to read the Bible differently than they are accustomed to – reading to understand the author’s intent – what the Holy Spirit and the writers wanted us to know about God and the gospel.
Pray also for me. This will be a long trip – 11 separate flights, 50 hours in the air, approximately 21,000 miles, plus layovers. I remember the last three-week trip I took and I was very happy to be home at the end. Pray for good intestinal fortitude – bad food resulting in traveler’s diarrhea makes for long days! Pray for Tanzania and the school – I am slated to be the site coordinator and this means constant contact with our national partner, recruiting trainers, setting up logistics, translations, and everything else necessary to make for a successful training site.
And, one last second addition… I’m planning on a 3 week trip; however, with all the new developments surrounding the Coronavirus I’m preparing as best I can for a longer stay. Pray that Africa will remain largely unaffected.
Thanks again for reading and praying and giving,
Bob
Asia Update and 2020 plans
December 19, 2019
Dear friends and family,
Some of you have asked how I feel about the ministry of TLI now that I’ve been doing this for a year and a half. The answer is… I love it! I can’t think of a better way to use my training and experience in the world today. More than ever I feel His pleasure and cannot remember a time in my life when I have felt happier (grandkids help with this too).
Remember 85% of pastors in the world have no training at all. They are preaching, teaching, and leading churches that are many times wandering doctrinally and missionally. I have had an abundance of good training at BIOLA, Talbot Seminary, and Westminster Seminary. I think God has been preparing me for 36 years in the American church to help those who have nothing. I love being in the center of what I feel God’s will is for us.
If you would like to include us in your year-end giving we would greatly appreciate it. Our ministry fund is in good shape; however, our monthly income is still in need. Please consider regularly supporting our ministry at Training Leaders International.
https://trainingleadersinternational.org/give
Use the pull down menu and select “Staff Member”
Enter my name “Robert Burris”
The rest should be self-explanatory.
I’ve been home a few days, but I am gearing up for a very busy 2020. Please be praying for the trips and the men I will be teaching.
I will post pictures and information on my web site – BobinTheBush.com and on Facebook – Bob Burris with Training Leaders International.
Here is our latest update:
December 3-14, 2019 – Asia – I was in Minneapolis a few days before leaving for Asia. I have been in this country in the past but never in the city we taught in. The country we visited is becoming more and more closed so I am reframing from mentioning it just to be extra cautious. There have been some recent difficulties with Americans coming into the country on these kinds of trips. We taught principles of teaching and preaching the gospels from the Gospel of Mark. There were 16 students, about 65 total in the four classes, and the discussions were animated and the men eager to learn. I think is was one of the best trips I’ve taken.
January 6-18, 2020 – Ambo, Ethiopia – Teaching Genesis and Exodus and the skills necessary to teach narrative and law.
March 2-21, 2020 – Monrovia, Liberia – Two full weeks of teaching. The first week is focused on 2 Timothy. The second week, I will be teaching a new cohort of students beginning our nine-course curriculum. Our first course is “Knowing God, Scriptures and Ourselves (the ‘ourselves’ part is about the ministry of the pastor).
May 11-23, 2020 – Ambo, Ethiopia and possibly a short side trip to Tanzania. I will be leading this trip teaching principles of interpreting the gospels from Mark.
August and December, 2020 – Tanzania. Teaching courses 1 and 2 and leading the trips.
I will be the site director for this new training site in Tanzania. This is NOT an on-site responsibility; however, it entails me taking at least two or three trips there every year for three years.
September or October, 2020 – TBD
We are also exploring the possibility of opening a new training site in southern Poland. They need good biblical and pastoral instruction. We will praying about an exploratory trip in 2021.
Thank you for your prayers and giving,
Bob and Vickie
Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo – Why Jesus did miracles
Great article. Read it and then pick up your Bible!
Training Pastors Worldwide 