March Newsletter

Since I'm still racing to catch up after returning from West Africa a week ago, I'm posting our monthly newsletter in lieu of the regular devotional on 1 Samuel. God willing, the devotionals will return next week.

Here's a picture of the Three Musketeers (Chuck, John and Dan) from Ghana.

- Dan

March 6, 2007

Dear Partners in Ministry,

How do you summarize a month as ministry-intensive and productive as February has been? Many of you have been receiving our email updates, so you know what happened while I was in West Africa. But even a weekly update can’t convey the sense of openness and opportunity that I experienced as I taught in Ghana, Nigeria and Liberia. The Lord is opening doors so that EPI can help meet the crying need for Biblically-trained church leaders in the developing world. And it is the leaders themselves who are crying out for more training! Repeatedly, in location after location, the comments and the conference evaluations centered on one consistent theme: “This is the kind of training we need; EPI must return.” Here are a few sample comments:

*“I would like to ask that such a conference be held twice, not even once, every year here in Bekwai. The notes you prepared [are] also a good material I can use to teach all types of people. Thank you!”

*“The Lord used this conference in my personal life to transform me. It has fortified me to preach to my congregation upon what I’ve learnt from this conference.”

*“It has been wonderful. You have opened our eyes. Please come back every year.”

*“The teachings are very good and effective, so we need extra next time.”

*“The time is too small. You have to extend it next time. We need you again.”

*“We have laid the foundation of the truth with little emphasis on the walls and roof. If we could have another time to build the house and furnish our building.”

During the four weeks of this trip, we ministered to nearly 500 church leaders, teaching them in public sessions and speaking with many of them individually. These leaders will, in turn, teach what they learned at the conferences to thousands more of God’s people. Thank God for providing these opportunities! And yet, we have only scratched the surface. Here is some of what God has set before us:

• In Ghana, I have taught in 5 venues, including the 2 new ones opened on this trip. There are 36 separate venues used by the Bible Training Centre for Pastors and all of them are open to EPI.
• The Shiloh Bible Training Centre in Kumasi, Ghana has asked us to bring an EPI team to this city of 1 ½ million to work with the 90+ pastoral students that pass through their doors every year. They have also offered EPI the use of their facility in this centrally-located city to provide seminary-level training for students from all over West Africa who want further training.
• We have also begun talking with the Presbyterian Church of Ghana – one of the larger denominations in the country – about providing training for their pastors and elders.
• The Servant Leadership Institute of Nigeria has asked EPI to return on a yearly basis (more frequently, if possible) to help teach and to mentor church leaders in Nigeria. In addition, they have contacts in Benin, Togo and Ivory Coast and would like to open doors for EPI into those French-speaking countries.
• I am corresponding with the head of the Bible Training Centre for Pastors in Liberia. They have some 150 pastors and church leaders in their program and are very interested in having EPI work with them.
• The newly-formed Presbyterian Church of Liberia has asked for EPI’s help as they seek to establish themselves as a Reformed, evangelical denomination that is committed to the authority of God’s Word. They will need regular training, mentoring, books, Sunday School curricula and financial help as they recover from the effects of a devastating civil war.
• There are two Christian schools in Liberia, one in Monrovia at the Evangelical Presbyterian Church and the other a Presbyterian boarding school in Todee, that need significant infusions of help and finances. They were given copies of our Christian Education curriculum and need help training their faculty.

This is truly “a large and effectual door that has been opened for us.” We could easily send 5 or 6 EPI teams to West Africa each year and still not fully meet the need. Thank the Lord, both John Herberich and Chuck Emerson are already planning to return to Ghana. They are both excellent teachers and were well-received by God’s people there.

Will you pray with us?

• Thank the Lord for safety and effective ministry during this past month.
• Praise for a brother who has been led to supply our need for a new laptop.
• Pray that, having opened these doors of opportunity, the Lord will supply the teachers to meet these needs.
• Thank the Lord for two new monthly supporting churches: Covenant Presbyterian in Chattanooga and Faith Presbyterian in Tacoma, WA.
• Ask the Lord to continue to provide our financial needs. He has done wonderful things and we are now close to 60% of full support.
• Pray for our Father’s blessing on a Missions Conference in Charleston, WV on March 24,25.

Thank you again for your prayers and for your enthusiastic support of this ministry. God is enabling us to bring Him glory as we labor together for Christ’s Kingdom.

Grace and peace,

Dan and Susan.