Spiritual renewal for PNG Preachers
by Wendy Toulmin, Langham Partnership Australia
The first Level 1 Langham Preaching seminar in Papua New Guinea has taken place earlier this month at the Christian Leaders Training College (CLTC) Banz, an hour’s drive east of Mt Hagen. We were warmly welcomed by Principal Ezekiel Ivihi and his staff.
This is Langham Preaching’s third initiative in the Pacific, supported and funded by Langham Partnership Australia.
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| PNG seminar |
118 preachers attended from 24 different denominational groups, as well as students from CLTC, a contingent from SIL-Wycliffe, delegates from Gospel Recordings, Evangelical Alliance, and a number of other organisations.
The seminar was facilitated by Paul Windsor, Associate Director for Langham Preaching, with Melbourne’s Andrew Reid and Tim Johnson. This was Andrew's first return to PNG after spending his childhood there.
Many participants spoke of the seminar as a time of deep personal renewal.
“A long time in ministry can leave the tools going blunt,” said Pastor Gireva, a senior pastor with the Christian Life Centre. “This week has been about becoming spiritually sharpened again.”
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| Sermon outlines around the auditorium resembled an art gallery |
During the group feedback sessions we posted the preachers' sermon outlines all around the auditorium.
“It resembled an art gallery as people wandered around,” said Paul Windsor. “The quality of their work progressed so much through the week that during the final feedback session I decided to walk through the gallery myself and stop and ‘commentate’ on the various features of each outline,” he said.
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| Dr Rosie Crowter with seminar participants and books by her late brother Phil. |
Five associates of Australian Indigenous Ministries joined the seminar, building partnerships with CLTC and Langham as they develop preaching training for an indigenous Australian context, and David Kima, Director of the very active Evangelical Alliance-PNG brought an enthusiastic contingent from Goroka.
Another key initiative of the seminar was the provision of the late Phil Crowter’s highly-acclaimed Pray-Prepare-Preach resources to many of the participants. It was a highlight having Phil’s sister, Dr Rosie Crowter, a missionary in PNG, with us. Rosie came with a group of pastors from Western Province.
The Level 2 seminar in PNG, preceded by a condensed Level 1 for a small group to be selected from denominations and provinces under-represented this year, is on track for December 2010. Pray for Emmanuel Kauna, David Kima and other members of the local organising committee.
Thankful for God's Blessing & Provision
Please join with us in thanking God for his blessing throughout 2009. We have seen his provision and enabling for preaching programmes in many different countries. He has blessed our staff with safe travels. There are exciting Literature projects which continue to move forward and new scholars starting their studies.
We want to thank each one of you for your partnership with us. Your prayers for the work of Langham Partnership are very much appreciated and we will continue to keep you updated in the months ahead.
Measuring Success
Two Africa Bible Commentary consultants went for a one week visit to Tanzania to meet key church leaders to raise support for the Kiswahili ABC and to kick-start the preparations for its launch in June 2010. This visit reaffirmed to us how much this products needed (and being waited for) by the Kiswahili church. In a meeting with translators, editors and reviewers, one of them, teaching in a seminary in Dodoma, Tanzania's capital city, made an astounding statement: "I was fortunate to have been allocated some of the books I teach at the seminary to review for the commentary. I must make a confession, during the readings, I felt a strong urge to call all my former students back and make a big apology, and then re-teach the books afresh using these new insights, so relevant and contextual."
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For your prayers
- Pray for Langham Literature director Pieter Kwant as he prepares to visit Sydney January 2010.
- Pray for the continued “sharpening of their spiritual tools” by the participants of the PNG Preaching Programme; and that a good number of preaching clubs will be formed and flourish in the coming year for the strengthening of the Church in PNG.
- Pray for Ma’afu Palu, assigned to be in charge of teaching Old Testament next year at the Sia'atoutai College in Tonga. Also as he leads one of the community villages in College – "Sardis". [There are seven residential villages all named after the seven churches of Revelation 2-3.] – that he may be godly and gracious. Pray for the wonderful opportunity Ma’afu has been given to be involved in the proposed curriculum for the Year 11 Biblical Studies Course in Tonga – to be examinable at a national level.