You can help John Jumbe Kayange train and encourage Bible teachers in rural Tanzania.

 

I was born in Mbeya, Tanzania, but went to school in Malawi. When I finished secondary school in 1996, I returned home to Tanzania. I crossed Lake Malawi by ferry. On the ferry a pastor preached the gospel: “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” After preaching he said, “If you want to receive Jesus Christ now, while we are still sailing, I will pray with you.” Five school friends and I said, “Yes!” and the pastor prayed with us. On that ship I met Jesus.

 

I received this message with great eagerness

 

I found work in Dar es Salaam. I had a great desire in my heart to know more about God. By night I worked as a guard. By day I read the Bible.

 

An Australian missionary, Jill Morshead, saw me reading the Bible. She asked me, “Are you a Christian?”

 

I said to her, “Yes, I am a Christian.”

 

“Which part of the Bible are you reading?”

 

I was reading 2 Timothy chapter 2: “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.” I told her that I wanted to study theology and become a Bible teacher but I had no money to pay the fees.

 

Jill’s husband, John, asked me “If we are able to help you, would you like to go to theological college?”

 

“Yes!” I said, “Even now!”

 

For three years I studied at St Mark’s Theological College in Dar es Salaam. Money was not my only challenge. My mother was killed in a road accident. I suffered from chronic lymphoid leukaemia and expected to die. But God had other plans for me.

 

I wanted to teach the Bible. If you want to be a good teacher you must read many books. By reading books you can get more knowledge from people from different times and places. I like to learn about the history of the church, Roman Catholicism, Martin Luther and the Reformation.

 

After graduating with a diploma of theology, I went to Mlimba and started to teach in a local church. After teaching for three years I decided to start a Bible college. We called it Morshead Bible College because John and Jill Morshead made it possible for me to study in the first place.

 

This new Bible college is the answer to the prayers of many people. Mlimba is a remote place. The nearest Bible college is 300 kilometres away.

 

So far, our college has one classroom, an office, toilets, a hostel for women and a hostel for men. We keep chickens and ducks, and have land to cultivate maize and rice. We are small in number and still need furniture, computers, Bibles and books.

 

Please pray that we will faithfully equip evangelists, preachers and pastors to build up the body of Christ.

 

You can help prepare leaders like Joseph Abosi to reach young people with the good news.

 

When I was a teenager, responding to altar calls became routine. Time and time again, after giving my life to Christ I found myself falling back into sin. This was the constant state of affairs until October 2016.

 

In June 2016, I started studying business administration and accounting at the University of Ghana. I joined a Christian youth organisation called Teens Aloud. During one of their fellowship meetings, I had a lightbulb moment. I realised that once I had surrendered my life to God, there was no need to repeatedly respond to altar calls, because God was not counting my sins against me. Instead, God wants me to draw closer to him. This is the only way I can live out his righteousness. This was good to hear. Later, in October 2016, in my heart I proposed to pursue intimacy with God, no matter what the setbacks. I have not looked back. During the next five years, I served with the Teens Aloud Foundation. Our vision is to challenge a young generation to passionately pursue Jesus Christ and believe in their gifted purpose to take his life-giving message to the ends of the earth. I have been on missions to South Africa, Nigeria, Liberia, and Eswatini.

 

My desire is to serve as a full-time missionary to students. Leading people is no small task. Like any occupation, leading the church requires adequate preparation. I accepted an opportunity to study theology at George Whitefield College in Cape Town.

 

Simply knowing the word of God is not enough. I also need to understand the word’s context, origin and structure. I enjoy studying the Pentateuch. I always avoided the Old Testament because I found it difficult to understand, but now I am beginning to love it.

 

For all three years of our bachelor of theology course, students use Encountering Theology of Mission in our missiology classes. Thanks to SparkLit we each have our own copy and don’t have to share the copies in the library. Having this core resource is a huge help and is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

You can give secondary students like Jamaly Ignas Kazimoto a lasting gift.

 

My name is Jamaly Ignas Kazimoto. I am a student at Muyenzi Secondary School. My parents always advised me to be God-fearing, but I did not listen to them. When a person disturbed me at school I preferred to fight them. I did not obey my parents or anyone else. I did not fear God. Satan was making me one of his people.

 

I decided to study Bible Knowledge because I thought it would help me live well in society. It also helped me meet God. Studying the Bible has changed my behaviour. I have seen many good changes. I now obey my parents, and when someone disturbs me I do not think of fighting. Jesus makes me undisturbed.

 

Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom

 

I like learning and have been performing well. Jesus helped me to pass my exams. Bible Knowledge helps me to know how to be one of God’s people: to know Jesus, to fear God and live well in society without doing bad activities.

It is also a pleasure for me to study Bible Knowledge. I enjoy reading Bible stories. When God made Pharaoh’s heart to be hard, he showed that he was God and not to be played with.

 

Most of all, I like reading about Joseph. Joseph’s brothers did not love him and decided to sell him into Egypt. In Egypt he was put in prison. But God loved Joseph and was with him. In prison, the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners. Because Joseph feared God, God made him second to Pharaoh. Joseph prayed to God in everything, and God used him.

 

If you love me, obey my commandments

 

Jesus’ teaching on the mountain tells us how to enter and live in the kingdom of heaven. If we are children of God we must love our enemies and forgive them. Like Joseph and Jesus we must trust God and do the right thing even when other people do bad things to us.

When I become a leader I will pray for help, follow God’s commandments and seek to do only things which are in God’s will. I know that when I have a problem, I can trust God with it.

 

Sheung Un is nurturing a culture of lifelong learning among seminary graduates in China.

 

This year we will provide graduates with a copy of Love as We First Met by Dr Benjamin Wat and Dr Rachel Wat-Lai.

“In our ministry journey, we meet brothers and sisters with numerous needs related to their marriage. Difficult situations and disputes often arise. Sometimes the relationship becomes so severely torn that it ends in divorce.”

 

“Pastors want to help couples resolve their conflicts and rebuild their marriage on a firm foundation. Yet they also face challenges and limitations.” Pastors might be younger and less experienced than the people they are trying to help. They also struggle to prioritise and maintain their own marriages. How can they preach what they do not practise? What use is teaching if they cannot set a good example?

 

Dr Wat and his wife have also experienced days of conflict and tension in their marriage. “Thanks to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we overcame our challenges. To share the lessons we learned, we wrote Love as We First Met.”

 

Prevention is better than cure

 

Helping couples to develop their relationship and prevent it from deteriorating is the most effective way to build up marriages. Dr Wat urges pastors to set up small groups for couples. “This provides companionship and enables group members to watch out for each other, pursue healthy relationships and grow and mature together. Group members must accept, respect, understand and support each other. Before joining, couples need to consent to these objectives and agree to maintain confidentiality.”

 

Whenever the groups meet, worship, Bible study and prayer are indispensable. “As well as nurturing our intimacy as couples, we need to nurture our intimacy with God so that he might become the centre of our life, marriage and family. We all need to be constantly reminded to focus solely on Jesus and find out what he wants for us.“

 

“If pastors are married, I encourage them to study and discuss the material with their spouse prior to leading the group. We are partners in evangelism. God wants us to fulfil his wonderful will together.”

 

Bridging the gap

 

Because the book distribution team has been prevented from visiting colleges and graduates, we asked authors to record videos to serve as study guides. Some college lecturers conduct online meetings for graduates so that they can continue to study and discuss books together. Even though they are not able to meet face to face, through his books and videos, and the enthusiasm of seminary staff, Dr Wat can still support and encourage young church leaders.

 

Please pray that the Holy Spirit will use this book to build up the marriages of evangelists and pastors and that they, in turn, will bless other Christian couples.

 

SparkLit grants make possible the provision of book packages to students graduating from seminaries, Bible colleges and training centres throughout China. This year’s package includes Love as We First Met.

 

Sheung Un and her colleagues provide theological and pastoral resources to students graduating from seminaries, Bible colleges and training centres across China.

 

$34k will make possible the distribution of book packages to graduates from 50 seminaries and training centres across China.

I was born in 1999 in Ormoc City, Leyte. I am the youngest of two children. We were raised by God-fearing parents. We were Roman Catholic and each night we prayed the rosary and recited the Angelus.

From my father, I learned to trust God in every situation—just like he did when he was dying from a brain tumour. From an early age my mother taught me the Scriptures and instilled in me a desire to do great things for God. My brother showed me how powerful God is. When we were young, he also had a brain tumour. After months of fighting, the doctor declared him dead. However, my parents were not convinced and took the body to the chapel of Santo Niño de Cebú. When I saw my brother rise from the dead I wanted to know more about God.

 

God is powerful

 

On 8 November 2013, Typhoon Yolanda hit our home. I thought it was the end of the world. I hid under the table. Alone, I watched the wind break everything in our house. My father found me and rescued me. We hid in the bathroom, together with my brother, mother and some of our neighbours. Everyone was trembling. Everyone was praying. I held the rosary, crying and asking God to help us. I promised that if we survived, I would offer my life to serve him. The wind got stronger and stronger and devastated our home. Even the concrete walls of our toilet shook. Then, suddenly, the wind stopped. By God’s grace we all survived.

I started serving God by joining the youth ministry at our local church. One day a group of priests and nuns came to our school. When Sister Beth told us about the love of God, the Lord touched my heart. I felt there was nothing else I could do except prepare to serve him full-time as a nun. But I was not sure God wanted me to become a nun. I prayed and asked God to reveal my true calling. I met people from the Episcopal Church in the Philippines (ECP) and for the first time I saw a woman priest. My prayer was answered. I knew that this was what I was called to do.

 

God is good

 

In 2016, my family was received into the ECP. I trained to become a Sunday school teacher, served at the altar, joined the e-care staff and assisted visiting missionaries.
God sent two women, Ma’am Farida Cawatig and Ma’am Zena Caytap, to support me. They encouraged me to enter St Andrew’s Theological Seminary. Through the four years of training, God has allowed me to experience him more deeply. It is a miracle that I graduated in this vocation. It is a mystery that God is using me, yet I am ­confident I am called to be God’s servant. I do not know what lies ahead but I do know that he will lead me.

Please pray that I will listen and obey. Pray that I will continue to learn to feel for God’s people and lead them as a fellow servant of our Lord and Saviour.

 

Queenie Mae Tagalog graduated from St Andrew’s Theological Seminary this year with a bachelor of theology.

 

$70 will provide a Bible dictionary and commentary to a graduate from St Andrew’s Seminary in Manila.