These men and women had returned for the level 2 Preaching Programme with wonderful testimonies of God’s enabling during the past year as they had sought to teach faithfully, relevantly and clearly from His Word. Many of them had not only been a part of preachers clubs formed regionally from last year, but had invited others to join with them, passing on the training they had been given.

The participants greatly appreciated the input of Ma’afu Palu and Paul Barker for their gracious and wise teaching and leading — grasping the Bible’s big picture, with a focus on Preaching from the Old Testament.

You can view the 4 min presentation of last year’s level 1 programme “Eager to preach”.

Watch some of the wonderful testimonies recorded at this year’s level 2 seminar in Vanuatu: “Preaching the word clearly“.

Please contact the LPA office if you would like copies of either of these DVDs to share with others (Eager to preach DVD or Vanuatu 2009 testimonies DVD) [sent to addresses in Australia].

OMF International and Langham Preaching have together launched the Chiang Mai Seminar on Biblical Preaching (CSBP), with the first event held in the first week of July this year. Gathering 30 pastors from Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand, this is the first of a series of four events seeking to establish indigenous preaching movements in these countries.

The Thai church is slowly growing, but is still very small. In central and south Thailand there has only been sustained Christian activity for the past 50 years. Yet despite its youthfulness, the church is planting new congregations in different regions and there is a strong desire for discipleship and leadership training. Several of the Thai participants in the CSBP are working in village communities and amongst tribal groups, and the Chiang Mai project is designed to resource Christian workers in these demanding locations.

The Kingdom of Cambodia (formerly Kampuchea) emerged from the intense suffering of the 1970s with a shattered economy and a vulnerable church. But for the past 20 years there has been growing receptivity to the gospel, and in the last 10 years there has been remarkable church growth – there are now over 250,000 believers. But in a population of 14 million, many of whom have never heard of Christ, there is much to be done both in mission and in training. Sophea was one of several pastors who travelled from Cambodia to the CSBP. He now aims to launch a preachers’ club for the eight leaders in the church in Phnom Penh. In due course, we hope to work in fellowship with these and other churches to develop a Cambodian Preaching programme.

A small team from Myanmar also reported on the ongoing development of preachers’ clubs, following the work of the School of Bible Teaching run by Crosslinks over the past two or three years and in which Langham Preaching has been involved. One pastor reported on the development of a preachers’ fellowship which attracted some 25 participants month by month, with the opportunity to work on their sermons linked to the allocated Bible passages in the lectionary. Many church buildings have been damaged by the cyclone, and much effort is being given to caring for the many thousands of people impacted by the disaster. But despite the many challenges in the country, these are small but positive signs of the steady indigenisation of the preaching movements.

The next CSBP event will be at the end of October 2008, with a week-long programme encouraging participants to preach from the Old Testament, supported through Thai and English books, and continuing the emphasis on the nurturing of small preachers’ fellowships in each country. Please pray for the development of the 2009 programme, and our hopes for the subsequent extension of training in neighbouring countries.

Visit the LPI photo gallery to see more pictures from the CSBP.

Preaching that is good to taste, easier to create and spreads even further

In June 2008 at a Langham Preaching event in Ghana known as NEPS (National Expository Preaching Seminar), Ian Buchanan was able to spend time with three leaders who had applied what they had learnt at previous events to their local situations. Two young ministers were inspired to share training with their local network of pastors, while a third pastor worked to influence his national diocese.

Nana-Atto Hope and Emmanuel Anseh are two twenty-something Methodist leaders who have equipped their local “Bread of Life Society” of Methodist ministers with the skills they learnt at the NEPS conference in 2007. Methodist churches in Ghana require local ministers to meet up in local societies, which are only one part of a larger regional circuit that is, in turn, a part of a cluster of trans-national dioceses.

Last year the Bread of Life Society decided that meeting once every four months for prayer was not enough. But what would be the purpose of more regular meetings? Nana-Atto and Emmanuel suggested that the NEPS course materials and experience could be used as material for more meetings, as a means of helping other ministers with a crucial weekly task – preaching.

The idea was immediately seized upon since the Bread of Life Society is renowned within their Circuit for its innovative new approach to ministry, and maintaining that reputation was becoming ever more difficult.

For the first three meetings Nana-Atto and Emmanuel repeated all they had learned at NEPS 2007 with their group of 15 ministers. For the six meetings prior to this year’s NEPS conference, the group chose, on a rota basis, three or four ministers from the group for monthly Saturday morning expository preaching events. For each sermon given the participants gave their considered assessment based on clarity, relevance and faithfulness to the text.

The success of these local meetings, helped by that historic reputation for innovative thinking, has meant that their circuit is now taking interest in what they have been doing. They now hope to move it upwards into this wider circuit arena after the June 2008 NEPS conference.

It also became clear that both Nana-Atto and Emmanuel had benefited enormously from what they had passed on to others. “We find that expository preaching allows us to give more to the people”, Nana-Atto chimed in with the big grin of a leader who feels he’s finally scratching where people itch. “I see it as a way for me to get more from the Bible than I did before”, added Emmanuel.

But it’s about more than just “feeding” Christians; it’s also about reducing those dreaded preparation tensions. “Now I find that preparing my sermon is so much easier than before”, said Emmanuel. “It used to be very tough for me … but now it flows so much more easily as I can think more systematically about the text”. Nana-Atto immediately agreed with Emmanuel by giving him a Ghanaian style hand shake that clearly reflected their joint relief at finding an excellent de-stressing tool for preachers.

So, more food to give and easier to prepare as well. Now that sounds like a recipe worth imitating by any Methodist circuit.

While two young ministers spent the year revitalizing their local network, one Council Chairman worked to influence the national Methodist Diocese. Revd S.V. Mpereh is a circuit minister for the Medina Circuit and leader of the Ebenezer Methodist Society. He also holds the chair of the local Council of Churches. When ministers met in his quarterly circuit, “S.V.”, as he is known, decided to introduce them to the NEPS 2006 training material.

In one sense S.V is working from the top-down as well as from the middle-up. Last year he asked the circuit ministers to filter down the training into their local societies. That way what is learnt at circuit level can be repeated again once a quarter at society level.

“This way I keep them always learning”, S.V. noted with glee. The challenge of leading a circuit clearly weighs heavily on S.V. as he asks God for wisdom in leading an ever expanding group of ministers. If that was not enough he also ensures that they all get opportunities for practical training and assessment from other local ministers. “I act as the coordinator and that way they all can have a turn” he adds as if this coordinating role was the easiest part of all that he does.

So how many people make up this “Circuit Preacher’s Club”? Sixty was S.V’s emphatic response, “But I want to expand it upwards to a diocesan level this year” and that will multiply the numbers by 26.

S.V is a classic example of a man with ambition and the coordinating skills to match, both of which are so needed when it comes to spreading a grass-roots indigenous preaching movement.

Watch video

104 participants from Vanuatu, the Solomons and Papua New Guinea met at the Scripture Union campsite at Pango Point on the Vanuatu island of Efate for the first Pacific Preaching Seminar from 24-28 March 2008. The Ni-Vanuatu participants came from seven of the main islands of Vanuatu.

We are grateful to local organisers Andy Williamson, Philip Joses and
Sophia Silas from Talua Bible College.

The two main preaching facilitators were Chris Wright (LPI) and David Cook (Principal of Sydney Missionary and Bible College). LPA Board member John Buckle and LPA Scholar Ma’afu Palu also assisted in the teaching and group sessions, while LPA executive officer Wendy Toulmin assisted in the daily running of the seminar.

Every day was “full on”, as the Australians put it. We ran from 7.45am start with devotions, through until 9.00pm. The generator went off about 9.45pm, so nothing was possible after that except to try to sleep, until the singing from the men’s dormitory began around 5.00am!

From the start, we emphasized to participants that this was a long-term programme. The group workshops were organised geographically, so when we had the session on ‘Developing a Movement for Biblical Preaching in Vanuatu’, it was natural for them to meet in the same groups. There was general enthusiasm for setting up local Preachers’ Clubs. They appointed convenors and we have heard they are already beginning to meet. Please pray they will continue and serve a great purpose under God.

We returned from Vanuatu with a strong conviction that Langham Preaching Pacific region has been well and truly launched and has exciting potential in the years ahead.

The Tanzanian preaching movement continues to extend its reach, with nearly 320 delegates attending the training seminars in February and March this year, as well as the launch of a new initiative in the training of local facilitators.

Coordinated by Frank Luvanda and Tony Swanson, the programme not only included large seminars in the north and south of the country. A small group of Tanzanian trainers have also been equipped to develop new level 1 training events in different regions of the country, taking the training to local groups and thereby strengthening the indigenous commitment of the preaching movement. This year over 170 pastors and lay preachers attended the Northern event in Mwanza, and nearly 150 attended the event in Morogoro.

Langham Preaching facilitator Rodney Wood worked with Frank and Tony, and they were joined by Mercy Ireri, the Langham country coordinator for the preaching movement in Kenya. Her training skills and her experience of nurturing preacher’s clubs in Kenya supported the Tanzanian training and is a good example of the emerging African preaching network – cross-border fellowship and support which is part of the Langham Preaching vision.

Safia Nana Zakana could not understand what had happened to Pastor James. She attended his church in Abuja, Nigeria, where he preached regularly. But during 2007 something changed. “I found he was different,” she told Chris Wright, who was leading the second Nigerian Langham Preaching seminar. “He used to preach all over the place, but now he never uses illustrations or stories that are not relevant to the text he is preaching from. And he always ties his conclusion to what the text is saying.”

Safia was attending the seminar at Level 1, and Pastor James had attended it last year, and clearly it had changed him. “So when I see him,” Safia laughed, “I’m going to tell him, ‘Now I know your secret!’ Already we are asking him to train us and others in the church in what he has learned.”

Safia Nana Zakana

Safia herself was a TV presenter before, so she never had any problem about standing up and speaking before audiences. Her problem was knowing how to handle the Bible well and how to teach it properly to others. She works for RURCON – ‘Rural Church Councillors of Nigeria’ – a teaching and training network that encourages rural church pastors to have a holistic ministry of the Gospel in words and works. So she has lots of opportunities to teach and train others. “I wanted to know how to present the Word of God properly in context – its own context, and our context – so that people can understand it and be changed,” she said. “This seminar is helping me to do exactly that.” And with a final bright smile, “My husband, who works for Christian aid and can’t be here, is so jealous!”

The Nigerian Movement Grows Fast

The Langham Preaching movement in Nigeria started in February 2007 with 150 people at Level 1. This year, 90 of them returned for Level 2 training, while another 160 joined at a fresh Level 1. After taking the original group to Level 3 in 2009, it is likely the movement will have to split into several regional streams. This is not surprising, since everything in Nigerian Christianity is big. The movement is supported by several heads of denominations that number millions of members, some of whom attended throughout, at the invitation of Gideon Para-Malam, the main organizer.

Langham Literature provided books for the participants, and some more were provided as gifts and for sale through Africa Christian Textbooks, run by Sid Garland. Many bought copies of the “Africa Bible Commentary.”

And Langham scholars are involved as well. The chair of the Nigerian Langham Preaching committee is Pandang Yamsat, who is the President of the Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN). And another Langham scholar, Bishop Cyril Okorocha sent ten pastors from his Diocese of Owerri, and gave a guest lecture one evening.

Making a Difference
Chris Wright, who was the main facilitator at last year’s seminar and returned for this one, was keen to hear from members of the first group if what they learned last year had made any difference to their preaching habits and their churches’ lives. He got some encouraging responses.

Pastor Bitrus Abba pastors a church in the Hausa speaking Kagoro region. “I used to feel so guilty before,” he said, “because I never prepared properly. I would just do a bit on Saturday night or even Sunday morning before preaching. So last year’s seminar made me sit up. Now, I start every Monday morning to study and prepare. Then I do a little bit each evening and put it all together on Friday night. There has been a much better response from my people. Their level of interest is greater because they can see clearly the main message and purpose of each passage. Many more are coming to the mid-week prayer meeting and Bible study.

“During the past year, I have preached through James (in 2 months), 1 Timothy, 1 Corinthians, and parts of Micah and Habakkuk. I have just bought the ‘Africa Bible Commentary,’ which will be really helpful. I find I learn so much as I prepare.

“During the past year we also started a preachers club for our town, and that has met twice, and we will go on meeting and learning together.”

Exploding but Dissatisfied
Pastor Caleb Mutfwang leads a large church in Kaduna, in the northern part of Nigeria. He told Chris Wright that although there is an explosion of church attendance in Nigeria, people are often dissatisfied with church. They look for somewhere where the Word is being taught because they are severely hungry. And they appreciate it when they hear thorough exegesis of the Bible itself. They are not gullible. What had he particularly learned from last year’s seminar?

• “I was conscious that I had often preached out of context. Even though the message might have been true, the supporting text was not appropriate.
• “Secondly I learned the need to stay within the text while preaching it.
• “Then thirdly, I learned the discipline of preparing sermon notes seriously, and not just extempore ‘as the Spirit leads’.
• “Fourthly, our church began to look at more theological themes, like ‘Who really is God?’, and if you do that, you have to be more diligent in your study. We have a fairly educated membership. In my younger days I used to despise theology, but suddenly I have realized through my reading of John Stott and others, that it is not dry. And you can give people good content without being boring.”

As the Nigerian Langham Preaching movement grows and spreads, pray that it may become an open secret, and change a whole culture of preaching back to its biblical roots.

Read more about Nigerian Langham Scholar Matthew Michaels

View the Langham Preaching-Nigeria Photo Gallery

by Jonathan Lamb, Langham Preaching International Director

‘For the first time, it looks as though the vision of a Preaching movement is being realised’, said Jonathan Lamb, following the Africa Preaching Consultation hosted in Nairobi, Kenya, in mid-December last year.   Country coordinators of the Langham Preaching programmes from 13 countries met for 3 days of fellowship, discussion and prayer.  They came from Zambia and Zimbabwe in the South to Ethiopia in the East, from Francophone countries in Central Africa to some of the largest as well as the poorest of countries in the continent.

To host the event, Langham Preaching joined forces with the Philip Project, a UK ministry that provides Bible training for Africans who are pursuing post-graduate study in the UK, so that they can return home better equipped to serve their churches.  The Consultation gathered leaders of considerable stature and experience, and provided the opportunity to hear of new initiatives in training, growing evidence of indigenous local movements for pastors and lay preachers, and the ripple effect of the training as it impacts churches and communities.   Muhindo Isesomo, the country coordinator in the Democratic Republic of Congo, explained how the 3-level Langham programme has been running for some 40 or 50 participants from across the DRC, but as a result of the establishment of small preachers clubs, 157 pastors and evangelists are already involved in the training ministry, with plans for extending the work during 2008.

The Africa Preaching movement is encouraging the exchange of trainers who cross borders to support each others programmes, the development of regional networks, and the planning for publishing in local languages.

In Tanzania some 280 pastors and lay preachers will gather in Mwanza and Morogoro for the next stage of training in February.  And in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, a new programme launches designed to equip local facilitators, who will in turn train pastors and lay preachers in their own towns and regions.  New initiatives are being planned for other African countries, including Rwanda, Liberia, Benin, Togo and Zambia.

Step by step, the African preaching movement is making progress.  By God’s grace there is now the potential for a continent-wide network to encourage Biblical preaching.

It’s the third-largest country in Africa with an area the size of Western Europe and a population of 62 million people. Since 1964, it has changed its name three times, has experienced six or more wars and coups, and struggles with safety and stability. And with 80 percent of its citizens living in extreme poverty, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) certainly presents a challenging set of responsibilities for the local pastors.

In September 2007, DR Congo was one of four locations in the Francophone Africa region where Langham Preaching ran further seminars offering practical training to help pastors preach with faithfulness and relevance in a war-torn, poverty-stricken nation.

More than 150 participants attended preaching seminars (for training Levels 1 – 3) in Burundi, DR Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, and Burkina Faso, led by Langham Preaching facilitator Gordon Woolard. “In Congo we have eight Anglican dioceses participating,” said Gordon. “At least four of the dioceses have follow-up day workshops to discuss what they have learned in our seminars. And we are encouraging each diocese to form preachers clubs.”

DR Congo

The seminar program has been greeted with great appreciation, as it supports local pastors in dire need of proper biblical education and resources. In particular, the DR Congo preaching seminars have initiated future plans for locally based movements.

Muhindo Isesomo, country coordinator for the DR Congo, has realized firsthand the unique needs for the pastors in this area. The political unrest and lack of transportation have made it difficult to organize any training other than that conducted locally, by local pastors. And a woeful lack of resources means that sharing literature – to the point of sometimes tearing apart French Bibles so that several pastors can use them at the same time for sermons – is commonplace. Muhindo and others are set on organizing a “training of trainers” event – equipping graduates of Langham Preaching’s Level 3 training to conduct future training for pastors in their local towns and region. This particular plan for Langham-sponsored training has been successful in other countries, equipping pastors who might not otherwise receive any formal training.

“Basically, we are trying to identify a handful of people who, having completed the three levels, and who having understood the importance of preaching from Bible passages, could be trained to then develop Level 1 programs in their own region of town. We feel this would be really valuable, rather than having an expensive central program for a new Level 1. It pushes the training to a local level, which we think is a good idea,” Muhindo said.

Langham Preaching facilitators in Burundi

Burundi

In Burundi, Langham Preaching launched a new program with Level 1 training for 23 participants from six churches. The conference was translated for some participants from French into Kirundi, the native language for Burundi. 50 participants have since been divided into eight small clubs. Each group has a leader and they meet once a month. They review the Langham Preaching material and contribute to each other’s sermon content. Afterwards they will discuss how the sermon went.

All agreed that limiting the training to small groups was indeed the most effective method for maximum impact. But it did pose another issue: how to keep up with the growing demand for God’s Word in this area, especially with several different native languages present. “We are pleased to help our sisters and brothers to improve their preaching and the Langham Preaching system is appreciated by everyone who is following it,” said facilitator Florence Kamegeri.

Côte d’Ivoire

The last Langham Preaching training in Côte d’Ivoire encountered low attendance due to a national crisis, so this past September’s attendance of 33 was met with thanksgiving. This was also the third year for the training at Abidjan where previous Level 1 and 2 events were conducted. “I’m thankful that we had evangelicals from across the spectrum in attendance as well as several general secretaries from the Francophone International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) movement. Langham is getting to be well-known in other countries as the general secretaries return to their campuses across Africa,” said Gordon.

Burkina Faso

Preaching training was also successful in Burkina Faso, said National Committee Chairman Roland Tamini. “We have the idea to plan two review meetings this year, in January and in May,” he said. “We will also plan a weekend meeting for the pastors who came from outside of Ouagadougou. We also have the plan to create a network of groups of participants to do review of the material they’ve received.”

It’s clear that the training in the preaching movements is having a positive impact on the life of the church. “There were some British missionaries who had worked in Congo and had returned to England,” said Gordon. “They visited the Congo again and went to a church where the preacher had attended a Langham seminar. They asked afterwards where he had learned to preach this way, since they had never heard someone remain so close to the text of Scripture. I think this speaks well of the Langham Preaching material, and does credit to John Stott’s lifetime commitment to expository preaching.”

The countries in Francophone Africa are consistently listed by the United Nations as the “least livable” places to live in the world. * By God’s grace, through the pastors and their local congregations, Langham Preaching hopes to change those statistics by sustaining the preaching movements in all four countries in 2008, as well as developing a new program in another French-speaking country, Rwanda.

*UN Human Development Index, http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0778562.html

Visit the Francophone Africa photo gallery of events
Read Gordon Woolard’s report on Francophone Africa
Read the report on the Africa Preaching Consultation

Recently a Kenyan friend of ours made a journey up the Rift Valley.  His normal work is in serving churches in the Nairobi area, specially nurturing the Christian community in Kibera, one of the largest slums in Africa. During these opening days of 2008, the slums have been badly hit by violence and destruction, the centre of a bloody feud.  But today he is on the road, delivering food and blankets to the thousands of displaced people in the west of Kenya, and sharing the gospel of reconciliation with the youths manning the barricades along the roads. 

Speaking of the people at the road blocks, Edward wrote yesterday: ‘With our God, our vulnerability, our prayer and conversations we shall prayerfully urge them to stop this lawlessness. Yes it sounds senselessly risky, unthinkable and shocking to both police and government officials here, and maybe to you too. Blockades have the potential to turn into extortion traps, militia controlled territories as in the case of Burundi where I fell victim, and it may scar Kenya for the rest of our lives. It may mean the end of safe travel on the Great North Road and spell death to our initiatives of training pastors and advancing peace work in West and Northern Kenya.’

Just before Christmas, we were with Edward in Nairobi, along with 20 other African leaders from 13 different countries, for the first Africa Preaching Consultation, which Langham hosted along with the Philip Project.  It was an enormous encouragement to hear of the growth of the preaching movements across the continent, and to see such an impressive group of leaders committed to training pastors and preachers, for the sake of strengthening the churches and transforming societies. 

And here is the link. Training and supporting young leaders in the task of explaining the Bible is not an academic exercise. The 20 country coordinators meeting in Nairobi last month all know what is at stake.  They and their churches are often on the front line, confronting the issues which Edward is meeting now along the Great North Road in Kenya: the horrors of tribal conflict, its devastating impact on refugees, the daily struggles of the poor and destitute, a blindness to the gospel …  Our friends came to the Consultation from countries where these and other stories can be repeated over and over again: what can we say about Isesomo from Congo, where poverty and war remain a wearying reality, but where preachers travel hundreds of kilometres on foot to care for the needy; or about John Bell who came from Zimbabwe, where the believers are struggling to keep their ministries alive in a devastating decline in the economic and social infrastructure, but where they lead the way in caring for those without family or food, seeking to restore hope for a generation of young people growing up with no expectation of a viable future.

It is for all such desperate human situations that God sent his Son, gave his Word, established his church, and called his servants to live and to preach the gospel of reconciliation.  It is this which motivates us to work harder for our brothers and sisters in the Langham family: that through resourcing, supporting and encouraging younger leaders in their Christian service, the ripple effects will, by God’s grace, impact churches, communities, and societies. 

Langham Preaching is soon to enter its sixth year of operations, and is thankful for invitations to develop preaching programmes in over 70 countries around the world. It is presently actively involved in 30 countries, with plans to begin work in an additional 20 countries. In 2008, the first steps will be taken for the development of preaching training in some parts of the Russian Federation, including an initiative in Tatarstan for 30 local pastors and preachers. In addition, pioneer activity will begin through the Mekong Project, designed to equip small teams of trainers from countries such as Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. We also hope to see the launch of a small pilot project for Chinese pastors, which will be hosted in Hong Kong.

In response to invitations from a number of Pacific Islands, Langham Preaching is launching the first Pacific training programme in fellowship with leaders in Vanuatu. Plans are underway to invite over 50 pastors and lay preachers for a level 1 seminar, to be held March 25-28, 2008. Small delegations from Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Tonga will join the event. Our hope is that these delegations will with assistance from LPA be able to launch training initiatives on their own islands in due course. Langham Preaching is committed to work with national leaders in the development of indigenous preaching movements. The conducting of various preaching programmes are steps in the wider strategy of providing support, encouragement and training for pastors and lay preachers country by country. In addition to the three-level seminar programmes, in many countries small preachers clubs, regional networks, day workshops and provision of literature all support and encourage the commitment of pastors and lay preachers to Biblical preaching.

Facilitators for the 2008 event include David Cook, Principal of the Sydney Missionary and Bible College, who is regularly involved in the training of preachers, and Dr Chris Wright, International Director of Langham Partnership International. The event will be supported by Langham Australia, whose staff and Board members will also be closely linked to the developments in the Pacific in the years ahead. For the future, it is our objective to secure programme leaders from Australia and New Zealand to roll out the preaching programme. Langham Australia and Langham New Zealand will work in partnership to develop initiatives in other Pacific Island nations. Langham Literature will support the programme, not only through the provision of literature that is appropriate for each of the seminar levels, but also through the support of indigenous writers and publishers.

–Jonathan Lamb, International Programme Director, Langham Preaching