Tag: Myanmar

06Feb

February 2021 Update

God continues to accomplish many things around the world despite all that is going on in the world. In many respects for ENW, 2020 was a whirlwind and 2021 is off to a great start!

India Mini-Module Course

It was a joy to teach a mini-module course via Zoom in India last month: January 14^th through 18^th (Sunday through Thursday). This mini-module course was taught for Heritage Baptist Bible College and Seminary, Tamil Nadu, India. Dr. Rein Alweill and I had the privilege to team teach that class. This was a change in venue for us, as ENW was able to be in India “face to face” in 2018 and 2019.

Uruguay Pastoral Training Conference

The next thing on ENW’s agenda was an ENW series of video recordings for Uruguay’s Pastoral Training Conference. “Foundations for Advanced Biblical Counseling” was the module. We will meet at Park Avenue Baptist (Pastor Dave Robinette) February 8^th through 10^th and begin the training on Monday morning.

Brother Dave and I will be doing this training. Kevin White, our missionary contact in Bolivia, is home on furlough and joins us to do all the verbal translating. ENW is incredibly grateful for this providential timing. Rossana, pastor Gaby’s wife, did all the hard copy translation work for the men in Uruguay.

The sessions for this year include:

How to think and what to do about your past
The Cultural Doctrine of Self-Esteem, Self-Love, and Self-Image
Anthropology: The Scriptures Speak
Biblical help for stressed-out people
Replacing sinful pride with Christ-like humility
Dethroning the god of materialism

Philippine Youth Conference and Pastoral Training Conference

ENW will be conducting a second youth conference via Zoom in the Philippines at the end of February (26th). Pastor Vanni Solores (pastor of Anchor Baptist Church in Legaspi) is the host pastor and is working diligently to make all the technical connections as well as to get as many pastors and youth in his area involved as possible.

In addition to the youth conference, Pastor Vanni is organizing a pastoral training conference to be conducted on three consecutive Saturdays for the Filipino pastors (Friday evenings from 7:00 A.M. to 3:30 A.M. for us). This Pastor’s Conference will also be conducted through Zoom on March 19^th, 26^th, April 2^nd. The training will be from Unit Two — Foundations for Biblical Counseling.

Please pray that the devices, electronic equipment, and internet/Zoom connections will all be functioning at peak capacity for all these training sessions.

Myanmar Training Conference and Special Need

ENW had tentatively set up a tour in Myanmar for June, but this will most likely be postponed based on the latest political happenings there. Please pray for wisdom in this decision and for the people of Myanmar through the challenges occurring.

One of our concerns in addition to the pastor’s conference is our church plant in Tedim. The pandemic has affected Pastor Mang’s meetings with the church plant group. Also, the basic food needs of the study group are serious. One individual told Pastor Mang that they boil 2-3 cups of rice for 8 to 10 family members. One bag of rice can last a family for one month and the cost of each bag is approximately $35. If anyone would like to sponsor one or more bags of rice for these families, please send the money to our sending church, Grace Bible Fellowship (address at the end of the update). Please mark your donation for the “Mang Rice Fund” and we will be sure it all goes for this project of supplying rice for the Myanmar families under Pastor Mang’s pastoral influence.

Doctoral Work on Ordination

On sort of a personal note, I have gotten my doctoral work published and will receive my first hard copy in the mail soon for final edits. I would love for this to be a help for many churches/pastors as we prepare the next generation of shepherds. The title of my doctoral work is ORDINATION: Rediscovering & Restoring the Biblical Process to the Ecclesiastical Context. This is the biblical process whereby young men are identified, recognized, evaluated, prepared, and authorized by the church based on their passionate desire (I Timothy 3:1), character qualifications (I Timothy 3:2-7; Titus 1:6-9) and sovereign gifting by God (Ephesians 4:11). Please pray with me that God will, indeed, use this work for His glory and His church.

Thank you for your continued prayers and financial support especially during these times of uncertainty and readjustments.

29Feb

Myanmar February 2020 Update

ENW recently returned from our third tour in Myanmar. The opening comment that essentially summarizes our time there is “blessing on blessing”.

God met every need for our trip. The financial need (over $8K for this country where the average pastor’s salary is $20-$25 per month), the need to re-schedule our flights within about 48 hours of departure (to avoid China), and the need of a teaching companion. Nevin Hersch, an elder-in-training from our sending church in Somerset, PA traveled with me along with his oldest son, Nevin Steve. Another blessing is that we all sustained health and safety throughout the three-week time away (we never take this aspect for granted).

The teaching emphasis this year was on Foundations for the Christian Family. Because of that focus, we invited the pastor’s wives to accompany them to the conference, breaking the cultural precedent of the wives virtually never traveling with their husbands to these kinds of meetings. They typically remain at home with obvious responsibilities there. God gave us 16-17 wives to attend both weeks of the training which was exciting to be sure. Our total attendance this year, including the wives, was about 65 for each week of training.

One of the highlights of having the wives there was our desire to make sure each couple left with a set of wedding bands which virtually none of them had because of the cost. One young couple told me they “borrowed” rings for their ceremony since they simply could not afford them. We had a “ring ceremony” of sorts as each couple determined the sizes needed. We then bought little “gift boxes” to package the rings, then the following day was “ring presentation” day. The couples were very excited and grateful for their new bands.

My travel companion, Nevin Hersch, helped me with teaching at the conferences in Myanmar this year. Nevin did a wonderful job in preparing as well as communicating family truths to these faithful men and women. It was a joy, help, and personal encouragement to have him along. Following are some of Nevin’s comments regarding his three weeks with ENW in Myanmar:

Have you ever beheld a beautiful sunrise, sunset, or some grand geographic feature, and snapped a picture only to be quite disappointed at the uninspiring photographic reproduction? I believe my words here will be much like that photograph. It was a delight to have my oldest son as a traveling/ministry companion as we joined with Pastor Hill for the Myanmar ministry. This was my first ENW trip where I had the opportunity to minister alongside of Pastor Hill. Both my son and I greatly enjoyed our time of ministry together with him. It was such a joy to fellowship around truth pertaining to the Biblical Christian Family with these pastors and their wives. Unpacking the rich biblical truths that are highlighted below with these dear brothers and sisters was such an encouragement personally. It was a great privilege and incredibly humbling to see the hunger of these pastors to grow personally and for ministry in their local assemblies. It is very exciting to know God will accomplish His purposes through the Truth we were able to declare in Myanmar!

Foundations for the Christian Family Training included:

The Theology of Marriage
Conflict Resolution
Becoming God’s Kind of Wife
Becoming God’s Kind of Husband
Defining the Role of a Parent
Nurture and Admonition
Evaluating & Responding to Manipulation and Disrespect
The Bible, Teens, and Sex
Helping Your Child Have a Heart for God

By the grace of God, the pastors and their wives returned to their church ministries better equipped to shepherd their own families and teach their church families to do the same. An added blessing is the training of men and women who are eager to learn and grateful for what they are taught.

Another highlight to our time in Myanmar was having several of the men who attended the conference for the first time indicate they wanted to “catch up” by obtaining the training ENW offered the first two years (Unit One: Foundations for Biblical Ministry and Unit Two: Foundations for Biblical Counseling.) This training will be done under the leadership of Pastor Dal Go Mang, ENW’s point man (organizer, translator, and II Timothy 2:2 man for Myanmar) and his selected group of six pastors that he is mentoring in between our annual conferences. Pastor Mang and the other pastors will prepare for and provide the training for these men. “Nationals equipping nationals” is a challenge we are thankful they are willing to embrace.

Another component of the ENW ministry is getting into the churches of these local pastors. This year we visited and ministered in two village churches: the villages of Lum Zang (Pastor Pau Hau Zung) and Dim Lo (Pastor Khai Hem). As we left the village of Dim Lo, it was such a blessing to give a month’s salary worth to both the pastor and youth pastor. Pastor Khai Hem and his youth pastor receive 60,000 kyats (apx $41) and 30,000 kyats (apx $20) respectively. Praise the Lord for the men willingly and faithfully serving Him in these local ministries on such a meager monthly income!

On a practical note, Pastor Dal Go Mang and his family were grateful to receive enough money from donations given to them during this trip to install a hot water heater for their bathroom shower (which is detached from their house). Brother Mang said it “hurt” to take a shower because of the cold temperatures. This new equipment was the result of a generous gift from the First Emmanuel Baptist Church of Summerville, SC and an anonymous gift from a couple from Grace Bible Fellowship in Somerset, PA.

Travel and training in this country is the most expensive of all the ones ENW has the privilege of serving. Because these men have virtually nothing to contribute to the overall cost of their training, we simply want to be as much of a blessing as we can while God supplies the needs. With that in mind, please consider a generous gift as ENW plans for next year’s training in Myanmar. Every personal gift is tax-deductible (www.equippingnationals.org).

Thank you all so much for your faithful prayers, support, and interest in preparing the next generation of shepherds for the churches of Jesus Christ. Chris and I hope this letter is extremely encouraging for each of you!

22Feb

India and Myanmar January/February 2019 Report

ENW began its winter tour on January 22, 2019 flying to Trichy, India, home of Heritage Baptist Bible College and Seminary. This was ENW’s second visit and the continuation of Biblical Counseling Training there. The student body, now grown to 40-45 students, was a joy to teach as they are so eager to learn. The class format consisted of lecture sessions, group workshop/research sessions, and group discussion/open note exams at the close of each day. The class was designed to ensure truth and concepts were embraced and clearly understood for life application and ministry rather than simply teaching as much material as possible and reproducing facts on an exam. My goal was that teaching for life application brought us closer to “causing the students to learn” rather than just “acquiring knowledge”. One unusual experience for me this year was having a 13-year-old student in a college class room. He was a sharp little guy and such a joy to teach.

ENW’s next stop on this winter tour was Tedim, Chin State, Myanmar. This training opportunity is one of our most exciting and very promising in terms of the II Timothy 2:2 model. Our contact, Dal Go Mang (who has translated all written material as well as all oral teaching sessions) is quickly becoming an eager “Timothy learner” for this mentor. It was a joy to hear brother Mang comment regularly about learning and applying these principles of local church ministry and shepherd care.

One of the training concepts I challenged him with (again, flowing out of our II Timothy 2:2 model) was to select a few men he could begin working with in between ENW’s annual meetings. Before the day was over he had accepted the challenge and hand-picked six “faithful, capable men” to begin the process. What a thrill! We have already begun an initial conversation about him and his team reaching out as trainers to another area of Myanmar.

ENW spent two weeks laying the foundation for pastoral private word ministry (i.e. Biblical Counseling). This idea of pastoral counseling was very new to this group of 35-40 pastors. Prior to this training, the pastoral task of “Word Ministry” was essentially preaching one or two times per week. By the end of the second week, this imbalanced perspective was wonderfully adjusted, to God be the glory.

Next year the two-week training will be Foundations for the Christian Family. Our goal for that training is to have all the wives join their husbands for the conference. Having said that, your help with your prayers and finances are humbly requested.

This year two of ENW’s supporting churches each sponsored one week of the conference at $2,500 each. That covered the cost of food and fuel for the men with some left over. It takes approximately $50 per person, per week. Next year, with the wives joining their husbands, the weekly sponsorship (X’s 2 for both weeks) will be about $2,300 per week. This is considering 40 pastors and 30 wives as some of the pastors are single. What we had left from this year’s conferences will be applied to and lighten the financial load for the 2020 conferences.

The choice to have the wives attend with their husbands is a bit unprecedented in Myanmar as it is uncommon in this culture. The conference is sure to be a huge blessing, especially considering the subjects to be covered.

Any gift will be a much-appreciated investment in these shepherds and their wives and is tax-deductible. Gifts can be sent to: Grace Bible Fellowship, P.O. Box 1015 Somerset, PA 15501. Make any checks out to Equipping Nationals Worldwide and earmark it for 2020 Myanmar conferences.

Thank you for your continued interest in and consistent support of training the next generation of shepherds. Chris and I are grateful for those of you who support us personally and regularly as well. Our goal is to be fully supported by year’s end. Please pray with us to that end.

If you know of a church or individual that shares the same passion for training pastors, please contact them and have them go to our website: www.equippingnationals.org or send me their information and I’ll be happy to make contact.

ENW’s next tour is just around the corner as we will be departing on March 14, 2019 for Bolivia and then on to Uruguay. These tours are back-to-back in South America.

We continue to be your co-laborers for equipping next generation leaders for the churches of Jesus Christ, by His grace and for His glory.