Theological Training and Discipleship Update

Having just returned from Kenya and Uganda I want to share some exciting news about how our Foundation of Hope Training and Discipleship is moving forward in East Africa. If you have followed our progress over the last few years you know that our plan has always been to equip more indigenous pastors and church leaders to accelerate the training and discipleship among both believers and unreached peoples of this area. Our prayers for this have been answered and we are seeing a rapid expansion by our partners.

Earlier this year we started training two new groups of pastors and leaders in Northern Uganda. One of these groups in a predominately Muslim area and many of the attendees are Muslims who have come to know Jesus and are eagerly sharing the Gospel in their communities. We are working with local missionaries from Pioneers Ministry to further the training in several more locations next year.

Our second group consisted of many younger people than we have experienced in previous trainings. Some of them were our own students from South Sudan attending trade school and university in Uganda and others from a partner church located in one of the many refugee camps. Several of these young people have already begun to use the material to share with fellow students and other refugees in the camp. Praise God for raising up a new generation of faithful workers who want to share the Gospel!

We also began the process of training qualified trainers more quickly so that they in turn can use the materials to reach more areas. One of these pastors is currently working with over 250 other pastors and church leaders and he is anxious to share this with them. He hopes one day to take his family to Malawi to do church planting and training there. Another of the pastors will be taking the material to northern South Sudan to begin training there and hopes to eventually train Muslim background believers from Darfur in Sudan.

Rift Valley Hope is conducting training conferences in two different locations of Kenya. I was able to accompany Pastor Isaac and Pastor Peter to assist them as they began training a new group of pastors from the Masai tribe. The Masai pastors were very enthusiastic about the training and wanted to know how quickly we could expand the training as they estimated there are another 200 leaders living in even more remote areas that need to hear the training. RVH is also planning to start another series of conferences with Muslim background believers next year in Southern Kenya.

Just let me say that I was truly overwhelmed by the opportunities God has placed before us in this area. Please pray for all of the workers as they expand the teaching in some difficult places where persecution is pervasive. Our hope is to help cover the costs of their training conferences as they go forward. If you would like to assist financially, please consider giving to our Theological Training and Discipleship Fund. Thank you for your support!

Blessings,

Darrell Parrish
Director of Theological Training and Discipleship