Today you can help Peter Ibui prepare pastors and leaders to serve growing churches.

 

When SparkLit Director Michael Collie spoke at our graduation ceremony in November 2012 he challenged us to study the Bible and grow in godliness. Following his speech, pastors were quick to request application forms for our Bible training.

 

The World of Life ministry was founded in Kianjai in 2009 to train new believers to read and teach the Bible and to use the written word to reach out to the lost, including our Muslim neighbours.

 

There is hunger

 

Widespread spiritual hunger and ignorance of God’s Word can be attributed to a lack of access to basic Bible training and good books. In this impoverished and remote northern part of the Meru district, the Word of Life School of Theology is the only accessible and affordable Bible training available for equipping and empowering church leaders. We provide theological education to pastors who cannot afford to relocate or study full-time.

 

There is growth

 

Brother Collie’s visit was a great encouragement and helped build confidence in our ministry. Since then our ministry has grown and improved. In 2013 we introduced a two-year part-time diploma for pastors using the ten-volume Bible Training Centre for Pastors African Leadership manual.

 

Last year, in response to local demand for Bible teaching, we opened a second campus in Mutuati with fifteen students from diverse denominational backgrounds.

 

This year, across both campuses, we already have a total of thirty-seven enrolments. The financial needs of our ministry are many but the most pressing of all is the need for African Leadership study manuals so that these pastors can begin our Bible training.

 

Pray with us

 

Please pray with me that these pastors will grow in understanding and godliness and be equipped to instruct and guide those in their care. Please also pray for the successful completion this year of the school’s own facilities.

 

Peter Ibui is the Principal of the Word of Life School of Theology in Kianjai, Kenya.

 

$60 will enable a pastor to train for two years by providing a ten-volume African-Leadership manual.

Stephen Than Myint Oo’s courage and vision are God’s timely gifts to the people of Myanmar as they prepare for historic general elections.

 

I decided to tear a strip off my longyi and hang myself. Prison had broken me. Torture petrified me. Cruelty depressed me. Why do human beings oppress and torment each other? I was a Christian leader and Bible teacher. My heart trusted God but my mind was full of doubt. I had lost hope. It was time to die.

 

Through the darkness

 

I had always intended to be a priest. I was born in a Karen village on the vast Irrawaddy Delta. As a child I loved singing choruses and learning about Jesus and I admired our archdeacon’s flowing robes.

 

When I was four years old fighting broke out and I was sent to Yangon for protection and schooling. As my family was poor the Burmese Air Force was my only prospect of gaining a tertiary degree.

 

In 1982, when I was 24 and close to completing my training as an Air Force engineer, I was arrested. I was accused of being a spy and sentenced to death. I had no idea why this was happening.

 

Every morning, cells would be opened and prisoners were taken. They were never seen again. When a voice cried out we assumed someone was being hanged.

 

Into the light

 

It was midnight. From my cell I could hear church bells ringing. So, I was going to die on Christmas Eve. I had always been a Christian. Now, I was going to die like a Christian. I knelt down and started praying.

 

I opened my eyes and I saw a tiny cross coming towards me. I tried to catch it, but it flew away. Again I tried to catch it, and again it eluded me. It became bigger and faster. As soon as I caught it, I fainted and fell into a deep pit. When I hit the bottom I was enveloped in light. I heard a very soft voice say, “My son, I am with you always.”

 

I woke suddenly. The doubt in my mind had gone. I shouted, “My God is real! God is with us!” The guards threatened to kill me, but an officer said, “Don’t worry, he’s mad!”

 

A prisoner started singing a Christmas carol. Others joined in; Communists, Buddhists, everyone! A Korean started singing in his own language. Then a Baptist pastor began preaching. Others sang Karen songs. I was so happy. I was no longer afraid of dying.

 

Please pray that English and Burmese editions of a biography of Archbishop Stephen will reinforce his leadership and inspire his people as he guides them through this time of transition.

 

The Most Reverend Stephen Than Myint Oo is the Archbishop of the Church of the Province of Myanmar.

 

Adapted from Dancing with Angels by Alan Nichols.

 

$5,000 will finance the publication in Yangon of the Burmese edition of the biography Dancing with Angels.

Qaiser Julius invites us to help him equip and strengthen a church under pressure.

 

While Pakistani law promises minorities a degree of religious freedom, in practice non-Muslims and moderate Muslims must practise their faith cautiously and under threat from Islamists.

 

In this hostile climate, Christian teaching and publishing ministries must be exercised with confidence and wisdom.

 

For over forty years the Open Theological Seminary (OTS) has been working to equip God’s people for work in his service in Pakistan. Each year since 2008 enrolments have grown by an average of thirteen percent. Local classes are conducted throughout the country by over 500 volunteer tutors.

 

Wherever Urdu is spoken

 

The OTS is now serving Urdu-speaking Christians not only in Pakistan but also in the Middle East, the Gulf, Afghanistan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and Australia. We currently provide contextually appropriate Bible teaching and lay leadership training to more than 5,000 men and women from many different churches. Students graduate with a certificate, diploma or bachelor degree in theology.

 

Not just a printer

 

Tutors receive training and help write, field-test and refine course material. At least two drafts of any new courses are circulated before it is published and released. This process of review and correction will be greatly facilitated if our editorial team can print draft curricula in-house.

 

Editions of 5,000 copies of the manuals and workbooks for our most popular courses are produced by commercial printers. However there is an urgent need to be able to efficiently print smaller editions in our office. Short print runs are required for gatherings, seminars, tutor training and material for our courses published in minority languages such as Sindhi, Farsi, Pushtu and English.

 

A secure investment

 

Current conditions make life difficult for Christians. The ability to print-on-demand will mean that sensitive material need not be stored in our office or a commercial print workshop. Having our own printer will increase our productivity, effectiveness and security.

 

We are very grateful to our friends and partners around the world who have contributed to the development of this strategic ministry. Your provision of a digital printer and photocopier will enable OTS to continue to flourish in adversity.

 

Will you pray that Christian leaders will be equipped to serve a church under pressure? Ask that we will be given the gifts of grace and courage so that our Heavenly Father might be praised and glorified.

 

Qaiser Julius is the director of the Open Theological Seminary in Lahore. He is currently completing doctoral studies at the Melbourne School of Theology.

 

$13,000 will provide the Open Theological Seminary with a high-speed, heavy-duty digital printer.

Happiness Mbumi graduates from Bible college with her own copy of the Africa Bible Commentary. With your support, Revd Paul Mungata will equip more Bible teachers like Happiness.

 

Armed with a Diploma in Applied Theology and your prayers, I am expected to help raise the standard of Christian education in the Diocese of the Rift Valley. Currently there are 174 catechists in the diocese. Most of them have had no theological training.

 

I am also deeply concerned for the training and well-being of pastors.

 

Training the trainers

 

As the principal of St John’s Bible School at Kilimatinde I have been given the responsibility for transforming Bible teaching in my diocese.

 

Only 13 students are currently enrolled for our three-year Certificate in Theology in Kiswahili. This must change. To meet the urgent need for training, enrolments must at least triple with the next intake. Of course, this means training and appointing new teachers at the Bible School.

 

Deeper teaching

 

My own certificate-level studies did not qualify me for this task. So in 2010 I arrived at Msalato Theological College to prepare myself for this challenge. Because there are so few resources in Kiswahili, I had to study for my Diploma in Applied Theology in English.

 

My first three years at Msalato were tough. I lived away from home and had to travel back and forth to visit my family. However, in my final year my wife Neema and our youngest daughter joined me in Msalato. We were blessed to be able to live in one of the college houses. Neema loved taking part in the English program for pastor’s wives.

 

I completed my diploma in June 2014. I feel very blessed to have been able to attend Msalato Theological College. I gained there a higher level of theological education with deeper understanding.

 

Work for books

 

I received a copy of the Africa Bible Commentary from SparkLit three years ago when I took part in the college’s Work for Books program. When I graduated I was presented with a concordance. I am very grateful to SparkLit for supporting my work in this way.

 

Books have been very helpful to me during my time as a student. But I know they will be even more useful in the years to come as I work to teach and equip others. Completing my four-year diploma was hard. But I now face an even greater challenge.

 

Will you pray that our teachers and students will gain a deeper understanding of God’s word? Please pray that lay and ordained leaders will be equipped for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up. Pray that graduates like Happiness Mbumi will lead God’s people in a true way.

 

Revd Paul Mungata is the principal of St  John’s Bible School at Kilimatinde in the Diocese of the Rift Valley, Tanzania.

 

$30 will provide a theological graduate or pastor with a copy of the Africa Bible Commentary.