About 1.4 million people make up the contingent of the Chinese Filipinos in the Philippines, a group that is primarily strong in its Christian faith. Interestingly enough, many of the churches in that community are self-governing, self-supporting, and self-propogating, getting little help from foreign missions. It is this indigenous strength that’s key for the growth of the church in China itself. And it is why building a biblically sound study program for local pastors is a crucial strategy for the Biblical Seminary of the Philippines (BSOP), led by Seminary President Joseph Shao. BSOP’s commitment to deeply rooted biblical training has helped grow congregations from hundreds to thousands.

Established in 1957, BSOP has always strived for wholistic Christian

BSOP students on a mission trip in the Philippines

training to develop students in spiritual growth, biblical knowledge, and ministerial skill. BSOP serves primarily Chinese-Filipino students and is an anchor for training leaders in the church. And with recent growth of Christians in the Chinese-Filipino community, BSOP feels the need more than ever to strengthen the indigenous leaders.

Most important is the outreach that serving those communities has had created for the church in China. BSOP has many Chinese students who return to establish the church in their regions. Acting as a lifeline for the church in mainland China is crucial to the seminary’s role in God’s kingdom.

“It is only by God’s grace that we are able to draw a strong contingent,” says Joseph. “We have partners who introduce key students to us. We have some key pastors who endorse our ministry and send important leaders to us. Our alumni are endorsing students. We have focused on the basics in our training ministry, in the proper interpretation of the Word, correct doctrines, Christian education, and caring counseling methods.”

The church in China today is comprised primarily of these four churches:
• Open Church (recognized and sanctioned by the authorities)
• Registered Church (registered but not controlled by the open church)
• House Church (not official; congregations meet in houses and offices)
• Returnees Church (comprised mainly of believers who return from overseas)

BSOP has served participants in all four churches and continues to see God at work and alive in China. “We have learned that churches are growing, due to the faithful teaching of the Word of God. One church grew from 300 members to 1,000 attendees, while another grew from 400 to 1,000 attendees,” says Joseph. “One particular alumnus was asked to lead a revival meeting upon his return to his hometown, and 2,000 believers gather to hear him. One couple in the northeast region is in charge of 500 cell groups. Outreach ministries flourish due to the involvement of some of our alumni.”

The high standard of biblical education and focus on indigenous church leaders is why up-and-coming professors such as Langham Scholar Samson Uytanlet are key to the future of the impact BSOP has on the the Chinese-Filipino church.

“Even in the past, the Chinese Christian community had this desire to reach our kinsmen who live in the mainland. What happened several years ago, with the opening of Chinese department in BSOP, was really a breakthrough,” Samson says. “[Now], locals can remain in the Philippines to serve in the Chinese churches there, yet at the same time we are not neglecting mission work to China because the Chinese from the mainland are going to BSOP to be trained so that they can serve there.”

Samson is currently completing his doctorate at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky., and will return to teach at BSOP in a few years. He represents the hope that the ministry of BSOP will continue as it strengthens the Chinese and Filipino Christian communities to grow in numbers.

About 1.4 million people make up the contingent of the Chinese Filipinos in the Philippines, a group that is primarily strong in its Christian faith. Interestingly enough, many of the churches in that community are self-governing, self-supporting, and self-propogating, getting little help from foreign missions. It is this indigenous strength that’s key for the growth of the church in China itself. And it is why building a biblically sound study program for local pastors is a crucial strategy for the Biblical Seminary of the Philippines (BSOP), led by Seminary President Joseph Shao. BSOP’s commitment to deeply rooted biblical training has helped grow congregations from hundreds to thousands.

Established in 1957, BSOP has always strived for wholistic Christian

BSOP students on a mission trip in the Philippines

training to develop students in spiritual growth, biblical knowledge, and ministerial skill. BSOP serves primarily Chinese-Filipino students and is an anchor for training leaders in the church. And with recent growth of Christians in the Chinese-Filipino community, BSOP feels the need more than ever to strengthen the indigenous leaders.

Most important is the outreach that serving those communities has had created for the church in China. BSOP has many Chinese students who return to establish the church in their regions. Acting as a lifeline for the church in mainland China is crucial to the seminary’s role in God’s kingdom.

“It is only by God’s grace that we are able to draw a strong contingent,” says Joseph. “We have partners who introduce key students to us. We have some key pastors who endorse our ministry and send important leaders to us. Our alumni are endorsing students. We have focused on the basics in our training ministry, in the proper interpretation of the Word, correct doctrines, Christian education, and caring counseling methods.”

The church in China today is comprised primarily of these four churches:
•    Open Church (recognized and sanctioned by the authorities)
•    Registered Church (registered but not controlled by the open church)
•    House Church (not official; congregations meet in houses and offices)
•    Returnees Church (comprised mainly of believers who return from overseas)

BSOP has served participants in all four churches and continues to see God at work and alive in China. “We have learned that churches are growing, due to the faithful teaching of the Word of God. One church grew from 300 members to 1,000 attendees, while another grew from 400 to 1,000 attendees,” says Joseph. “One particular alumnus was asked to lead a revival meeting upon his return to his hometown, and 2,000 believers gather to hear him. One couple in the northeast region is in charge of 500 cell groups. Outreach ministries flourish due to the involvement of some of our alumni.”

The high standard of biblical education and focus on indigenous church leaders is why up-and-coming professors such as Langham Scholar Samson Uytanlet are key to the future of the impact BSOP has on the the Chinese-Filipino church.

“Even in the past, the Chinese Christian community had this desire to reach our kinsmen who live in the mainland. What happened several years ago, with the opening of Chinese department in BSOP, was really a breakthrough,” Samson says. “[Now], locals can remain in the Philippines to serve in the Chinese churches there, yet at the same time we are not neglecting mission work to China because the Chinese from the mainland are going to BSOP to be trained so that they can serve there.”

Samson is currently completing his doctorate at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky., and will return to teach at BSOP in a few years. He represents the hope that the ministry of BSOP will continue as it strengthens the Chinese and Filipino Christian communities to grow in numbers.

Travelling in a three-wheel tuktuk across the city of Colombo (my guidebook warned me of ‘the anarchic driving conditions’ on Sri Lanka’s roads), it was a relief to arrive at the Centre for Graduate Studies, a bright and welcoming building in the centre of the city. Part of the Lanka Bible College and Seminary, the Graduate Centre supports leadership and pastoral training, distance learning initiatives and a Masters course. The Centre has just celebrated the opening of its new library.

Its well-ordered shelves, growing stock of some 8,000 volumes, computer facilities and Internet access provide an essential resource for those engaged in theological training. Carried out in fellowship with many agencies around the world, including the Overseas Council which supported the building project and Langham Literature which supported the book stock, the library will be a welcome haven for quiet study and theological reflection, just metres away from the bustling streets of downtown Colombo.

But those streets are the mission field in this predominantly Buddhist country, where only a small percentage of the population owes allegiance to Christ. The growing church is engaging with the demands of mission in a challenging religious and political context, and the oasis of a library provides one of the essential resources for true engagement with the city and country – a necessary retreat in order to advance the cause of mission.

Amidst growing news of the persecution of thousands of Christians across northern India, a small group of Christian leaders met in Delhi last week to explore ways of coordinating their efforts in the training of pastors and lay preachers. Across northern India there are remarkable signs of church growth.  Compared to the south of the country, the region has been a tough environment for Christian witness, with far fewer resources and Christian initiatives than in the south. But the tide has been turning: leaders are planting thousands of churches in the huge northern states, and more energy is being given to their support through training initiatives of all kinds.

Recognising the overwhelming need to strengthen the churches through the training of preachers, the team of 12 leaders met for a short consultation convened by members of the Langham Partnership Regional Council for South Asia. Paul Swarup, Finny Philip and Paulson Pulikottil, themselves former Langham Scholars, sustain an active interest not only in the academic arena and in Christian publishing, but in the grass-roots needs of local churches. Specifically, they share the concern of Langham Preaching to find ways to strengthen biblical preaching in the many new emerging churches across northern India.

Drawing together agencies from various areas of northern India, the Langham Preaching consultation had the following outcomes:

•    All participants recognised the benefit of exchanging training ideas. Many of them were not aware of each other’s training work, and the opportunity to receive news, learn from the example of others, and pray for each other’s ministry, was a very significant outcome of the consultation. It is hoped that the friendships established will allow for ongoing communication between the different agencies.

•    The consultation determined to redouble efforts in the training of trainers, seen to be a priority need for all of the agencies involved in northern India. Given the vast scale of the work to be done, the most important need is to equip a new army of trainers who will carry forward the training of pastors and lay preachers within their own villages and towns.

•    The consultation decided to establish a database which will list all available resources – appropriate training materials, books and other resources which will serve each agency in the training of preachers.

•    It was decided to encourage Langham Preaching, in fellowship with several of the agencies at the consultation, to support a new training initiative in Nagaland. Here the churches have been growing rapidly, but there is a strong need for training amongst pastors. Langham Preaching will lead the initiative during 2009, carried out with help from facilitators from northern India.

•    The consultation agreed to meet annually and to extend the network of those who are invited to participate.

There was a strong feeling that this was the time for energetic commitment to the cause of preaching training, and for every effort to be made to coordinate our work for the benefit of the growing church of northern India.

Amidst growing news of the persecution of thousands of Christians across northern India, a small group of Christian leaders met in Delhi last week to explore ways of coordinating their efforts in the training of pastors and lay preachers. Across northern India there are remarkable signs of church growth.  Compared to the south of the country, the region has been a tough environment for Christian witness, with far fewer resources and Christian initiatives than in the south. But the tide has been turning: leaders are planting thousands of churches in the huge northern states, and more energy is being given to their support through training initiatives of all kinds.

Recognizing the overwhelming need to strengthen the churches through the training of preachers, the team of 12 leaders met for a short consultation convened by members of the Langham Partnership Regional Council for South Asia. Paul Swarup, Finny Philip and Paulson Pulikottil, themselves former Langham Scholars, sustain an active interest not only in the academic arena and in Christian publishing, but in the grass-roots needs of local churches. Specifically, they share the concern of Langham Preaching to find ways to strengthen biblical preaching in the many new emerging churches across northern India.

Drawing together agencies from various areas of northern India, the Langham Preaching consultation had the following outcomes:

•    All participants recognized the benefit of exchanging training ideas. Many of them were not aware of each other’s training work, and the opportunity to receive news, learn from the example of others, and pray for each other’s ministry, was a very significant outcome of the consultation. It is hoped that the friendships established will allow for ongoing communication between the different agencies.

•    The consultation determined to redouble efforts in the training of trainers, seen to be a priority need for all of the agencies involved in northern India. Given the vast scale of the work to be done, the most important need is to equip a new army of trainers who will carry forward the training of pastors and lay preachers within their own villages and towns.

•    The consultation decided to establish a database which will list all available resources – appropriate training materials, books and other resources which will serve each agency in the training of preachers.

•    It was decided to encourage Langham Preaching, in fellowship with several of the agencies at the consultation, to support a new training initiative in Nagaland. Here the churches have been growing rapidly, but there is a strong need for training amongst pastors. Langham Preaching will lead the initiative during 2009, carried out with help from facilitators from northern India.

•    The consultation agreed to meet annually and to extend the network of those who are invited to participate.

There was a strong feeling that this was the time for energetic commitment to the cause of preaching training, and for every effort to be made to coordinate our work for the benefit of the growing church of northern India.

Kenyan Preachers’ Club with Mercy Ireri

We all agree that a church is more than its services, a family more than its meal times. And since it began six years ago, Langham Preaching has sought to encourage ‘fellowships’ rather than just run events. In several countries there is gradually emerging a fellowship of preachers – a ‘movement’ for biblical preaching. Supported by seminars, books and training resources, such a movement is most clearly seen through the emergence of preachers’ clubs in towns and villages. Meeting regularly in their home regions, small groups of pastors and lay preachers gather to study a Bible passage, work on sermon preparation, and plan their preaching series. And of course they pray for one another and support each other’s desire to preach better. Linked to regional or national seminar programmes which provide training materials and good models for Biblical preaching, preachers’ clubs are the heartbeat of national preaching movements.

Preachers’ clubs are growing across Kenya, encouraged to meet regularly by country coordinator Mercy Ireri, who uses her cell phone to good effect as she chases up local leaders for news of their club meetings, or encourages them forward with new ideas. Pastors often contact Langham Preaching via our Web site, and we can quickly connect them with Mercy who then plugs them into the network of preachers’ clubs gradually extending across the country. Mercy says, ‘A few months ago you forwarded to me an email from pastor Jonathan in Nakuru. I put him in touch with the leader of the preachers’ club, Asman, there in the Rift Valley. Asman told me that they had a good meeting and are planning to work together. At the time I put them in touch it was during the violence – it did not even cross my mind that Jonathan is a Kalenjin and Asman is Kikuyu. Asman told me that it was a miracle for both of them to sit together and even have a cup of tea!’

For the past three years a small core of 40 pastors have been attending the Langham training programme in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and developing preachers’ clubs in their home regions. And now? ‘We have actually 28 clubs in the country with 298 members’, says country coordinator Muhindo Isesomo, who travels widely to encourage them. ‘And I believe this will increase after the next Langham training of trainers event in October’. Through the generosity of friends at St Andrew’s church Oxford we have recently been able to support their work through the provision of bikes and Bibles, enabling the pastors to travel to their many scattered congregations and to meet to study scripture together.

The story is similar elsewhere in the world. Ghana reports the cascade effect of the training through local meetings in different denominations; two good groups are meeting in Jamaica; in Tanzania, preachers’ clubs have been established across the country, forming the base for 13 regional programmes which are now starting small training events for local pastors. And in Bolivia and Columbia, and other Latin countries, preachers’ clubs are vital training arenas – so much so they are called ‘escuelitas’, little schools for preachers. For any movement to catch fire, local people must own it, and passionate and committed people in the country must drive it forward. We don’t know if this will happen in each country, but this is what we pray for – national preaching movements which seek to unite, encourage, equip, train and inspire all those who are faithfully teaching and preaching God’s Word.

Read more about Cynthia and her work with the Chinese Living Bible

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Kenyan Preachers’ Club with Mercy Ireri

We all agree that a church is more than its services, a family more than its meal times. And since it began six years ago, Langham Preaching has sought to encourage ‘fellowships’ rather than just run events. In several countries there is gradually emerging a fellowship of preachers – a ‘movement’ for biblical preaching. Supported by seminars, books and training resources, such a movement is most clearly seen through the emergence of preachers’ clubs in towns and villages. Meeting regularly in their home regions, small groups of pastors and lay preachers gather to study a Bible passage, work on sermon preparation, and plan their preaching series. And of course they pray for one another and support each other’s desire to preach better. Linked to regional or national seminar programmes which provide training materials and good models for Biblical preaching, preachers’ clubs are the heartbeat of national preaching movements.

Preachers’ clubs are growing across Kenya, encouraged to meet regularly by country coordinator Mercy Ireri, who uses her cell phone to good effect as she chases up local leaders for news of their club meetings, or encourages them forward with new ideas. Pastors often contact Langham Preaching via our Web site, and we can quickly connect them with Mercy who then plugs them into the network of preachers’ clubs gradually extending across the country. Mercy says, ‘A few months ago you forwarded to me an email from pastor Jonathan in Nakuru. I put him in touch with the leader of the preachers’ club, Asman, there in the Rift Valley. Asman told me that they had a good meeting and are planning to work together. At the time I put them in touch it was during the violence – it did not even cross my mind that Jonathan is a Kalenjin and Asman is Kikuyu. Asman told me that it was a miracle for both of them to sit together and even have a cup of tea!’

For the past three years a small core of 40 pastors have been attending the Langham training programme in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and developing preachers’ clubs in their home regions. And now? ‘We have actually 28 clubs in the country with 298 members’, says country coordinator Muhindo Isesomo, who travels widely to encourage them. ‘And I believe this will increase after the next Langham training of trainers event in October’. Through the generosity of friends at St Andrew’s church Oxford we have recently been able to support their work through the provision of bikes and Bibles, enabling the pastors to travel to their many scattered congregations and to meet to study scripture together.

The story is similar elsewhere in the world. Ghana reports the cascade effect of the training through local meetings in different denominations; two good groups are meeting in Jamaica; in Tanzania, preachers’ clubs have been established across the country, forming the base for 13 regional programmes which are now starting small training events for local pastors. And in Bolivia and Columbia, and other Latin countries, preachers’ clubs are vital training arenas – so much so they are called ‘escuelitas’, little schools for preachers. For any movement to catch fire, local people must own it, and passionate and committed people in the country must drive it forward. We don’t know if this will happen in each country, but this is what we pray for – national preaching movements which seek to unite, encourage, equip, train and inspire all those who are faithfully teaching and preaching God’s Word.

By Jonathan Lamb
International Programme Director of Langham Preaching

Blood River is a best-selling title by Tim Butcher that tells the story of his remarkable journey across the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – on the back of a motorbike. He followed the footsteps of Stanley, who first charted its mighty river in the 1870s. And if you would like an insight into the shattered infrastructure, advancing poverty, and sustained devastation from civil war, this is worth a read. ‘His extraordinary account describes a country with more past than present, where giant steamboats lie rotting in the advancing forest and children hear stories from grandparents of days when cars once drove by.’

Yomping through the Congo on a motorbike is near suicidal. But there are others on their bikes travelling across the broken landscape of this huge country. They are pastors and evangelists. For the church in DRC is growing and, against all odds, it is being supported by faithful men and women who teach and preach God’s Word.

Muhindo Isesomo is a short and stocky man, strong in body and in faith, with a mischievous smile and a determined spirit. He once told me that, when visiting some of the far-flung groups for which he cares in DRC, his plane crash-landed, but he survived. I think I would have abandoned the trip, returning home to count my blessings. But walking from the wreckage, Isesomo thought to himself, ‘I’ve survived the crash, so God must want me to visit these believers’. He’s like that. (Do you remember Paul’s testimony to the Ephesians? ‘I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace’ Acts 20:24.)

Isesomo has many jobs, but one is to serve as country coordinator for Langham Preaching. For the past few years he has worked with Gordon Woolard, an American member of the Langham team who is a fluent French speaker and an experienced pastor-teacher, training a small group of 40 pastors and preachers. They have had an annual one-week seminar, bringing together small clusters of 4 or 5 people from each of the main regions of the country. Working steadily on the basics of biblical preaching, the three-level programme has sought to encourage faithfulness to the Bible and Christ-centred application to the challenges of congregations in the DRC. Participants mostly have to fly to the seminars, now that the road and rail networks are so devastated. And now? ‘We have actually 28 preachers’ clubs in the country with 298 members’, says Isesomo, who travels tirelessly to encourage them. ‘And I believe this will increase after the next Langham training of trainers event in October’. Preachers’ clubs are a feature of the work in many countries, providing continuity and local support for hard-pressed pastors, and encouraging local pastors to work on Bible passages together, share their sermon outlines, plan their preaching programmes, train lay preachers, and pray for one another.

Through the generosity of St Andrew’s church Oxford we have recently been able to support their work through the provision of bikes and Bibles, enabling the pastors to travel to their many scattered congregations and to meet to study scripture together. ‘We have bought 200 Bibles, and each member in the club will have one Bible and we can keep some for those who join us later’, says Isesomo. ‘ And we have bought 61 bikes which are now available to the different preachers’ clubs.’

And that’s not all. ‘Another idea came to us for the ten people who will be trained next October as trainers from our different dioceses. We saw that they will also need means of transport to do the work in their areas, and it is not possible to do that by using the bike because of long distances. So through your gift we have bought 10 little motorbikes.’

So with bikes and Bibles, some regular preaching training, and the support of a remarkable pastoral leader, the word of God is making progress across the demanding terrain of the DRC. Please pray for these many preachers as they evangelise new towns and villages, and as they serve their growing congregations – on wheels!

Igor Amestegui conducts Level 4 training with Quechuan pastors

International Programme Director, Langham Preaching

Many of us would have learnt about the Incas when we were at school – an ancient and highly civilized empire in South America. But maybe we are not so familiar with the Quechuas, a group of indigenous South American tribes who are direct descendants of the Inca Empire. Quechua (pronounced, ‘ke-che-wah’) is spoken by several million people in Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Chile, but there has only been one translation of the entire Quechua Bible since 1993.

Charito and Igor Amestegui

Igor Amestegui, Regional Facilitator for Langham Preaching in Latin America, has been working in fellowship with several mission agencies to support the training of preachers who serve the Quechua community. Running a series of four seminars for 22 participants, Igor began with the basics of studying the Bible passage, and later introduced the first steps of preparing talks from Bible passages. A simple manual – ‘How to prepare to preach’ – written in Quechua, was a useful tool for the training sessions and will be a standard manual for the team to use in future training events.

Igor found that most participants came from rural contexts with limited educational background, so the group studied pastoral themes from Psalm 23, and Igor crafted the course to ensure there was plenty of practice built into the seminars. ‘In a highly oral culture, where the pattern of thought is more concrete than abstract, it is vital to use simple language and accessible concepts to help preachers extract the key principles from the Bible text’, said Igor.

‘A great achievement is that there is tremendous motivation amongst the brothers and sisters who participated. They are also putting into practice what they have learned. For many this has been a new way to read the Bible, even though they have been pastoring churches for years’, said Pio Victor, the Director of Mosoj Chaski, a radio ministry reaching Quechua in Bolivia and one of the partners in the project.

Igor knows that these are just the first steps of training. ‘It is my prayer that the Word sown and the tools given during these seminars may bear abundant fruit, so that the Word of God is preached in the Quechuan world and that this will bring growth to God’s glory’.

Visit the Langham Partnership International photo gallery for more images of the Quechuan Preaching project