Ministering in the midst of war
Watch this video to see how Walk thru the Bible is ministering to children in Ukraine – and how the Word of God is bringing hope – and power for life in a difficult reality.
A Place to Belong
Walk Thru the Bible’s Pastor’s Institute
“I was at the point of giving up on ministry,” says Pastor Jimmy Moyambo, “because there was just too much struggle in all areas of my life, especially financially and in my ministry. There was no support at all. There was no one encouraging me. And as a young pastor, if there’s no one to encourage you, it makes you want to give up.”
Pastor Jimmy serves as the full-time pastor of Tabernacle of Worship in Tsakane, Gauteng, South Africa.
Then I found Walk Thru the Bible’s Pastor’s Institute. They gave me tools and training, but most of all, they gave me encouragement and community,” he said. “I started using the first resource I received Crucible: The Choices That Change Your Life Forever. And as I preached it, God spoke to my heart and encouraged me through it. He ministered to me and inspired me to keep going. I realised that yes, God has a purpose for our lives, and when He calls us to something, He will make the way for us.” (Crucible is Walk Thru the Bible’s course on the life of David.)
Soon, the captain at the local police station asked Pastor Jimmy to share a message with the policemen at their precinct. Six police officers came to hear that first message from Crucible, and they asked Pastor Jimmy to come back and share another message. When he went back the next week, more officers showed up. As the weeks went by, more and more officers attended. Since then, “I’ve shared so many Walk Thru the Bible resources with them that I’ve received from Pastors Institute, and this has had such an impact on them,” Pastor Jimmy said.
Pastors Institute
Walk Thru the Bible’s Pastor’s Institute is an initiative born from our three-year strategic plan to double global ministry impact. It was initially launched as a pilot program in 2019 in Johannesburg with more than 150 pastors – and from there refined to better meet the needs of pastors, not only in Southern Africa, but also in other regions.
“The goal with Pastors Institute is to provide an opportunity for pastors to get trained and equipped with sermon content and personal development resources,” says Lee Helling WTB’s Regional Director in Southern Africa. “Our primary target is under-resourced pastors, but it’s open for all pastors. And we’re finding that it brings great value in both a resourced and under- resourced setting.”
Pastor’s Institute provides informal Bible training. Pastors who are enrolled in Pastors Institute receive solid theological training and tools that they can take back to their congregations and communities. Each year, pastors who are enrolled with Pastor’s Institute will be provided with four Walk Thru the Bible courses—taken from the Biblical Character Series and other WTB courses— and with training and tools such as translated sermon notes to help with sermon prep.
“But Pastors Institute is so much more than a content or resource drop. Pastors do need that, but it’s also the notion that you are part of a family, a community, a group of people who care. We’re not just here to put pastors through a course, or even hand them a resource, and then we disappear. We are here to walk the road with them.”
– Lee Helling, WTB Regional Director for Southern Africa
“But Pastors Institute is so much more than a content or resource drop. Pastors do need that, but it’s also the notion that you are part of a family, a community, a group of people who care. We’re not just here to put pastors through a course, or even hand them a resource, and then we disappear. We are here to walk the road with them.”
– Lee Helling, WTB Regional Director for Southern Africa
In Southern Africa, Pastor Mpho Khumalo is the Pastors Institute coordinator who oversees the operations, as well as the recruitment of pastors into the program by a team of equippers who report to him. He also tracks the progress of the pastors toward the requirements for Pastors Institute graduation.
Pastors Institute equippers serve part time and are pastors themselves. Each pastor that joins Pastors Institute is assigned to an equipper. Their role is to shepherd, encourage, and motivate the pastors assigned to them. “We [equippers] walk with the pastors through the training and the process, showing them that this is a valuable and workable path,” says Pastor Jimmy, who is one of the equippers. “We also encourage them and pray with them and check in with them to see how they are doing with working through the resources and the sermons,” he says.
For a pastor to graduate from Pastors Institute, they are first trained in the content or course. They then complete an assessment and teach the material to others in their church or community in order to receive a credit. When they’ve completed the four courses (which gives them four credits), they are qualified for Pastors Institute graduation.
The first four Walk Thru the Bible courses in the Pastors Institute curriculum of study were Chiseled: Becoming the Masterpiece God Created You to Be (a study on the life of Peter),
Refuge: Finding Home in a World of Change (a study on the life of Ruth), Catalyst: Helping
Others Pursue Their Purpose (a study on the life of Barnabas), and Bible Study Simplified (How to Study the
Bible for Yourself).
Another factor that has influenced the strategy and impact of Pastors Institute is that most pastors preach one sermon on a topic and the next week preach on a different topic. “Often that doesn’t do the material justice,” Pastor Jimmy says. “With Pastor’s Institute materials, it’s a series. The tools are in the form of a series, and we teach deeper on a particular person or subject from the Word of God, spread out over a number of weeks. This has caused greater impact and transformation in the lives of the people in my congregation.”
Pastor Mpho agrees: “Because of the training they’ve received from Pastors Institute, the pastors can build a whole sermon series and are able to preach it. It’s giving them a new perspective on how they can teach from the Bible.
Impacting pastors first, who then go on to impact their communities…
Pastor Mpho tells about a bishop who attended one of the trainings. The teaching was on the Biblical Character Series called Detour: Finding Purpose When Life Doesn’t Make Sense (based on the life of Joseph). “I’ll never forget the bishop coming to tell me afterwards to share about his deep pain because he had been betrayed by some of the people in his congregation. And as the bishop sat through this teaching on the life of Joseph, he knew exactly what to do when he left that session.”
An elder of Pastor Jimmy’s church was also struggling with forgiveness. “And after learning about the life of Joseph, from Detour, the elder said to me, ‘I now see that it is the will of God for me to forgive because it not only helps that other person, but it also heals me. Because sometimes, when we don’t forgive, we are digging a hole for ourselves. Sometimes things aren’t happening in our life, and we don’t understand it. Little do we know that the bridge we build with forgiveness will mend many things.’ After he forgave, his life was transformed,” said Pastor Jimmy.
“That’s the kind of impact we’re seeing,” says Pastor Mpho. “God is really opening up the hearts of the pastors and healing them, and they are taking what they are learning to their communities. And the pastors are finding a place to belong, not just to be equipped. When you leave, you’ll never feel alone, because Pastor Jimmy or another equipper will be calling you and asking you, ‘How are you doing? How far are you with the courses? What’s going on with your life and ministry? How can I help you?’ You’ve got someone to walk alongside you, someone to call when you are stuck.”
“As pastors, we cannot cry in front of everyone. So to me, Pastors Institute is also a place to be comforted,” says Pastor Jimmy. “This fellowship, this community says, ‘You can do it. We understand what you’re going through.’”
Please pray with us for the pastors that will be equipped and encouraged through Pastor’s Institute. May they lead their conngregations to deeply and faithfully engage with God’s Word – because that’s when everything changes!
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We celebrate our graduates!
A celebratory and joyous atmosphere prevailed at Umndeni Fellowship Christian Centre in Tsakane on the 22nd of June 2024. The occasion was the official graduation ceremony of 48 graduates from Pastor’s Institute, and also the graduation of some new otLIVE instructors.
The excited graduates were supported by family members and friends. Together, we celebrated the hard work and perseverance of these men and women – as well their commitment to teaching God’s Word in order to see lasting lifechange in their communities.
This event marked the graduation of the second cohort of students from Pastor’s Institute – and our appreciation goes to Bishop Mkhwawane who delivered the main graduation address and participated in the “capping” of the graduates on stage.
This was also an opportunity to acknowledge the important role of the Equppers who motivate and encourage the students – and regularly ‘check in’ and connect with them. The graduates who had taught the most number of participants and events were also recognized.
Pastor’s Institute is a Walk Thru the Bible initiative to provide resources and training for pastors – as well as a platform for networking and encouragement. As part of the Pastor’s Institute requirements, the graduate complete four Walk Thru the Bible courses, as well as practical teaching components and a short evaluation.
Hear from the graduates themselves …
Pastor’s Institute has opened up a whole new world for me in terms of understanding the Bible and knowing how to approach teaching it. Most people just preach from their own understanding – but now this has opened my mind! What I have learned at Pastor’s Institute will help me as I teach outside in the community, where I especially try to reach children who are going through trauma.
~A.M.
One of the major things I have learnt through Pastor’s Institute is about sermon preparation. I have learnt to look at the context first and at what is going on in the book, and then only to start to prepare my sermon. From the course Refuge I learnt how, in many ways, we are all refugees living in troubled times in a foreign land – but that we find our ultimate refuge in our Father, God. From the course Catalyst, I am encouraged to be a catalyst to others, to help bring them to salvation.
~ Alias Peter
I learnt so much from my Equipper at Pastor’s Institute. He greatly encouraged me as I faced a lot of difficulty during this time and was on the verge of quitting.
~ Simon
I am grateful and humbled by Pastor’s Institute. I have been greatly equipped.
~ Collen Mathanjana
My faviourite course from Pastor’s Institute was Refuge. The book of Ruth tells of how Naomi experienced a famine with regard to food. Actually we all can experience famine – be it with our health, or spiritually or emotionally. God brings us through that.
~ Gugu Maduma
My eyes have been opened to the idea of helping the people I teach move to the next level.
~ Queen
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Launching otLIVE with Scripture Union leaders in KZN
The 27th of June 2024 brought an opportunity to present otLIVE and otSTORIES to a group of more than 50 SU leaders in Phoenix, KZN. These influential men and women work in over 35 schools in Durban, Pietermaritzburg, the Midlands, and North and South Coast areas, where they minister to children on a weekly basis.
According to Garland Sam, SU Regional Director in KZN:
“We aim to bring a Christian witness into the schools – and are involved in running small groups, providing psycho-social support, literacy support and assisting with school assemblies. We want to maximise every Gospel opportunity. We are already in the 3rd term starting with otSTORIES at some of the schools and have opportunities to do the full otLIVE Event.”
otSTORIES provides a creative, easy-to-use and systematic way to teach the Old Testament stories to children. otLIVE presents the big picture of the Old Testament in an easy-to-understand and memorable way. We pray that these will ignite a passion within the children for God and His Word.
Yolande, one of the SU participants, remarked, “This will help me to do ministry with children and youth in a creative way. I am also motivated to make my own relationship with God a priority through the daily reading of His Word.”
May God be glorified as we partner together – and may we see many children reached with the Good News of Christ.
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