PHILIPPINES TRIP REVIEW - STUDENTS AND GRADUATES

PRAY WITH ME FOR AFRICA: Pray for the Christian Church in the Congo (DRC). The Church is the only viable national social structure to survive and retain some credibility. The Church is the hope for Congo's future. The Church needs revival, Biblical teaching, separation from syncretism, and decentralized leadership, while maintaining unity. Pray for the Church of the Congo and its leadership.

Last week I focused on Travel and Food but what is most important are the Pastors that came for training with Training Leaders International (TLI). A number of these Pastors travel a long distance to attend these classes. TLI's aim is to teach these Pastors to focus on the Bible text and find in that text the main idea that God was communicating to the original audience, and then from the text to develop a sermon outline that supports the main idea, and then to apply that main idea and the supporting points to their particular circumstances, with the understanding that Jesus is the subject of all Scripture and that each text is part of the whole Bible story. As teachers we encourage the Pastors to ask questions of the text and to see the text in its wider context of the Bible book and the whole Bible, which is not a common practice in their culture. I was encouraged to see progress in the exegesis of these Pastors from year to year and trust that the church will mature and grow under the leadership of authoritative biblical preaching of these Pastors.

My class of 13 students

After attending the nine courses taught over the last three years these Pastors celebrated a graduation which for them was a very special occasion. Each student worked very hard and was challenged to go beyonout of their comfort zone.

I am the puny little white guy sitting down :)

Graduation song

Thank you again for your support and prayers for these Pastors.

Good Articles this Week:
This week I would like to recommend two books by John Piper
1) Future Grace: The purifying power of living by future grace
2) Let the Nations Be Glad: The supremacy of God in missions
You will be richly rewarded in reading these books.

Flashfloods in Metro Manila a 'wake-up call,' eco group says | Inquirer

 (Garbage is very evident in Manila and is common sight and as mentioned in the article a problem when it rains)