Sunyani Field Report

“The leadership seminar has helped me to understand Christian leadership…It has opened my eyes to [the] role and conduct of a Christian leader in the church of God. In effect, Christian leadership is service and accountability.”

“I am a Catholic and a Charismatic leader in the church….It is our hope to learn the true teaching to change some of the beliefs or doctrine the church has clung to that may not be the true teachings. This conference has uncovered a lot of things to me which will help me go about renewing my church.”

“The material on leadership is going to be adopted to run my [youth] leadership training seminar slated for October. I have really been blessed with this material which I think would go a long way to help the youth have a biblical view of what leadership is about.”

“I am thankful to ELI because 1st Timothy has become new to me now…. I have made up my mind to organize conferences for my pastors and church leaders and even other church leaders from different denominations. May the Lord give me this grace.”

These are samples of the very encouraging comments we received after the Sunyani conference on Biblical Leadership from 1 Timothy. This was the final training conference for a group of men who, after they have taught their first conference, will become ELI Certified Course Instructors.

Over the last five years, Sunyani has become something of a second home for me. But as the thunder growled and sheets of rain battered our hotel, I realized that somehow I’d always dodged the full rainy season. Not that I’m complaining, mind you. Aside from those occasional torrential downpours, the weather was actually very pleasant – mostly cloudy and low 80’s. People carried on despite the rain: street vendors simply covered their wares with plastic; farmers ignored the sprinkles as they burned fields and planted maize; ladies wore plastic shopping bags for hats and ELI teachers (along with everyone else) squished carefully around the larger mud puddles.

The conference itself was a delightful time of teaching and fellowship around the Word of God. This group of men (there were about 15 who attended) has been involved with ELI for years now. Each of them has become a friend and feels free to comment, question and participate in the conference. In fact, their participation was a big part of what took place. Since they were training to actually teach the ELI curriculum (more on that in a minute), we wanted to give them an opportunity to practice. So, the ELI team taught the first 6 lessons and then the trainees (in groups of 2 or 3) taught the remaining 7 lessons to the class. What a bunch of gifted guys! As they taught the material, each with their own styles and illustrations, we saw things in 1 Timothy that we’d never seen before. And as we took time for comments and questions after each presentation, their insight and maturity were evident. We came away very encouraged and excited about what these men will be able to accomplish for Christ’s Kingdom.

The value of having Ghanaians teach their fellow countrymen should be obvious. But, for those who might be questioning why ELI is taking this approach, let me give you a quick apologetic:
1) This is essentially the method used by both Jesus and Paul. (i.e. commit the truth to faithful men and then cut them loose to train others. See 2 Timothy 2:2)
2) Training trainers is the next logical step in developing a strong church with a self-sustaining indigenous leadership. We hope that some of these men will soon begin teaching the training seminars and we just become advisors. Having the Holy Spirit and God’s Word, they are much more effective communicators of God’s truth in their culture than we could ever be.

3) Equipping leaders is the most efficient and cost-effective way of doing missions. It also builds up the church because everything rides on the character and quality of the church’s leaders. Except in those areas where the Church is not yet established, equipping leaders should become the primary mission’s paradigm for the 21st century. Let them do evangelism and start the churches; we assist them by equipping leaders. (There’s a book in there someplace!)

Here’s the facts: these 15 men directly mentor 200 other leaders, who obviously teach a number of other people. Consequently, through the leaders they are training and through their own teaching/preaching, these 15 men impact the lives and beliefs of about 11,000 people! And that’s BEFORE they begin teaching these conferences on 1 Timothy. Interpret those quotes at the beginning of this update in the light of this kind of influence.

THAT’S why I’m so excited about what God did in the final week of this trip. ELI has 15 new partners in Ghana – along with the 25+ trainers in Nigeria – who are building up Christ’s Kingdom. Oh! And one other thing: Chris Fowler is planning to return with us in February. He absolutely loved the teaching and the people in Ghana – and God’s people there were blessed by his teaching. Pray for Chris as he takes this next step of faith.

Well, it was a long trip home. But it was safe and, aside from a close call on making one flight, largely uneventful. We landed in Atlanta on Tuesday afternoon, thankful for God’s protection and for His incredible grace in giving us the privilege of teaching in West Africa. Thank you too for your faithful support in prayer and in material ways. We could not do it without you.

Grace and peace,
Dan.

Susan and I will be in several churches in the next month, speaking about the ministry of ELI. If you would like us to come to your church, we still have some open weekends. Drop us a line and let’s work out a time.

[I'm cross-posting this at my ELI blog site: www.equippingleadersinternational.org/steere. Check out the ELI site for more information on what ELI is doing around the world.]

Kumasi Field Report

“We don’t fly to Accra on Sundays,” the bored attendant said, “the next flight is on Wednesday.” Standing there in the bewildering chaos of the Lagos airport, I had no idea what to do. I had my ticket in hand, but there was no flight, no refund and no helpful suggestions. “Who might have a flight to Accra?” I asked. “I don’t know – can’t you see I’m busy here? – try Virgin Nigeria.” Praying the whole time, I approached the Virgin Nigeria counter and inquired. They had a flight in three hours, and yes, they would sell me a ticket. Praise God! Although the flight was an hour late in departing, I was on my way to the next venue.

So, my first week in Ghana got off to a late start. And even though I had had no way to tell him about the delay, Sam Oppong was there – unruffled after a four hour wait – when I arrived in Accra. Chuck Emerson and Chris Fowler flew in soon afterward and, aside from Chris’s missing luggage, the team was assembled and ready to go. We drove to Kumasi on Monday, bouncing along through long stretches of road construction interspersed with nicely paved highway. Arriving at the hotel, we settled in and prepared to begin our conference on Tuesday morning.

This week we taught Romans to the students at the Sholoh Bible Training Centre for Pastors. Under the leadership of Bishop Samuel, Shiloh matriculates nearly 100 students through the Bible training program each year – most of them pastors and church planters. I have taught here several times before and the growing relationship with the Bishop has produced an agreement: ELI will come to Shiloh twice a year to teach Romans and 1 Timothy to each class. They are thrilled to have the “top-up” (i.e. fuller instruction) that ELI provides, and we are excited to be able to provide solid Biblical teaching to so many pastors.

Chuck, Chris and I rotated through the lessons in Romans and I laughingly told them I was on holiday for the week, since I had their help. That all changed on Wednesday, however, when Chuck became sick and passed out after teaching his lesson. He fell hard on the concrete and everyone immediately went to prayer as we tried to bring him around. Although he regained consciousness rather quickly, the Bishop determined that Chuck needed to be seen by a doctor. So, he was rushed off to a local clinic run by Dr. Asafo Adjei – an internationally known medical doctor who is also a graduate of Shiloh and the pastor of a local church. While awaiting news of Chuck’s condition, we continued the conference. By God’s grace, he was fine, he just had some abrasions on his forehead from falling on the concrete.

However, Dr. Adjei was adamant (and the Bishop agreed) that Chuck should have a day off. So, I took his lessons for Thursday, which meant that I was privileged to teach through much of Romans 8,9 and 11. I was greatly encouraged as I was reminded of the “big picture” of God’s plan of redemption and restoration. Wherever we serve, and whatever we are called to do for Christ, we are ALL indispensible actors in His cosmic plan. He causes all things to work together for our good, and our labors are being woven together by His sovereign will to bring about the culmination of all things. “For from Him, and to Him, and through Him are all things. To Him be glory forever!” (Rom. 11:36) That truth is often obscured from my eyes when I’m in the U.S. But while here in Africa, witnessing the hunger for God’s Word that is so characteristic of God’s people here, my vision clears; the eternal span of God’s covenant faithfulness becomes tangible, and I can only praise Him for the privilege of teaching His people.

We finished the conference on Friday, but the shortness of our time forced us to skip over some sections of the book. Thankfully, it is ELI’s practice to provide those who attend our conferences with copies of the notes we teach. This enables the leaders we equip to return to their churches with some good material for preaching and teaching. It’s all about multiplication: teaching God’s people by equipping their leaders with the Biblical instruction they need.
Although we didn’t teach on Saturday, we did have some serious responsibilities – relational duties, so to speak. Sam Oppong’s son Daniel has become a good friend over the years, and he has developed a relationship with a young lady named Abigail. On Saturday morning, all of us drove to Abigail’s home for an official courtship ceremony called “Knocking.” This is a formal meeting between the families of the prospective bride and groom and it is considered the beginning of engagement process. You see, in Ghana a marriage is considered to be the joining of two families, not merely the joining of two people. The role of the extended family is vitally important in maintaining the web of relationships that regulate every part of life here. Chuck, Chris and I were privileged to help represent the Oppong family – giving advice to the prospective couple and praying for them and for their families. A symbolic gesture of unity was given and received (because both families are Christian, an empty envelope was used in the place of the traditional round of alcohol), and the deal was sealed. Daniel and Abigail hope to be married sometime in December. With the formalities past, we drove out to spend the afternoon at picturesque Lake Bosomtwi, just outside of Kumasi.

Sunday morning Chris and I each preached in a local church. While Chris went with Pastor Moses, I returned with Chuck to Dr. Adjei’s clinic and preached on Romans 8:31-32 to the church the doctor pastors there. The evident love for Christ in their enthusiastic worship warmed our hearts, and their embrace of God’s Word, “If God is for us, who can be against us,” reminded us again of why we are here. We look forward to our week in Sunyani. But more on that in the next field report.

Thank you for praying for us. The enemy is active, as always. But delays, sickness and interrupted schedules are overcome as God’s people pray together. You are partners with us in this work, and we thank God for each one of you.
Grace and peace,
Dan.

Akure Field Report - the Car Repair Edition

“What does that light mean?” Gideon asked. We were 2 hours away from Akure and making good time when the warning light came on. “The steering is very hard!” And in short order, the ancient Mercedes began to overheat. Both Don Mountan and I quickly advised him to pull over since we’d obviously lost a belt of some sort. Checking under the bonnet (the hood to us Americans), our suspicion was confirmed. The tightening pulley had broken and the belt had fallen off. We appeared to be in the middle of nowhere. “Lord,” I prayed, “send us someone who knows how to fix this!” I had no sooner spoken than 2 men ran up to check on us. It turned out that they were mechanics and their roadside “repair shop” was less than 100 meters down the road from where we had pulled off! Using only a couple of hand tools and a dilapidated welder, they pulled the radiator and the broken pulley, welded the broken piece back together, reinstalled everything and put the belt back on. All of this in less than 90 minutes and for a total cost of 4,000 Niara (@$50). God is good.

It seems that ministry in Nigeria is full of “excitement” like this: nothing seems to work quite right. The electricity randomly shuts down throughout the day; old cars break down regularly; traffic is unpredictable. For Nigerians, such things are normal – they have learned to live with a high degree of chaos. We Americans, on the other hand, are used to being in control of our time, our possessions, our lives. This illusion of control (and it IS an illusion!) creates our zone of comfort. But much of that illusion is stripped away in a place like Nigeria, forcing us to face the question of what is truly important. Are we willing to give up a measure of comfort for the sake of ministry?

I flew into Lagos last Saturday evening, breezed through customs and then came to a screeching halt as I waited and hour and a half for my bags to appear. I had a few anxious moments during that time since I was carrying all the books and copies for the two Bible courses being taught at the opening of the Antioch Graduate College of Theology. Thank the Lord, all three suitcases made it through! Don Mountan flew in from Uganda while I was staring at the luggage carousel, and Gideon found us without any problem. So far, so good. But our usual (less-expensive) hotel was closed, so we paid $100/room at another hotel. Even that was cheap, for Lagos!

Arriving in Akure the following evening (after the adventure with the car repair), Don and I settled in and prepared to begin our classes on Monday. As you would expect with any new venture, there were a million details to handle and almost as many questions to answer. Feeling our way along, we were confronted with the significant differences between American and Nigerian educational expectations and requirements, as well as the amount of time required to earn a degree from AGCT. Along the way, we tried to set out a vision of AGCT as the preparatory school for the leaders of an African Reformation. The students caught that vision and, even with the rigor of the academic requirements, most signed up to enter the degree program. At the end of the day, we had over 30 students and some 15 additional people who wanted to audit the classes.

The teaching went very well. Don divided his class into study groups and each group taught a portion of the material on the Doctrine of Christ. And in my class on Biblical Interpretation and Preaching, they learned the rules for properly handling the Scripture. Although I lectured through the material, the examples I gave provoked huge amounts of discussion – and often laughter – as they realized they have been misinterpreting certain passages. I’m so excited about this class, because it has the potential to change the ministries of these preachers and teachers and, through their more accurate teaching of the Word, to significantly impact the lives of those who hear them.

We finished up our teaching on Friday afternoon, and Don and I held a very exciting meeting that evening at dinner. A dozen Nigerian businesspeople from Akure met with us to hear Don present the new ELI business-as-ministry program, ELI Infusion. They were thrilled with the program and wanted to know how soon it could begin. This program has a huge potential to support and equip leaders while leading to the transformation of their culture.

Saturday morning, we left Akure on the drive to Lagos. Once again, the car broke down – several times! By God’s grace, we were able to call a mechanic from Akure to fix it the first time. When it happened again, Gideon called him and he told Gideon how to repair the problem. From that point on, we rattled (literally – the tires were out of balance) our way into Lagos. Between the breakdowns and the heavy traffic backups, it made for a long day. But we arrived safely and I’m ready to move on to Ghana next week.

Thanks for your prayers!
Dan.

1 Samuel 25:21-22

He has paid me back evil for good. May God deal with David, be it ever so severely, if by morning I leave alive one male of all who belong to him.
1 Samuel 25: 21-22

A protracted series of trials can set us up for over-reaction.

We’ve all done it: whatever happened was just a small thing, but we snapped and said words that we wished we could take back. Maybe it had been a difficult week, or perhaps we were stressed out by our circumstances. Whatever the reason (or excuse), we over-reacted.
David has been on the run for quite a while by this point. We aren’t certain how long it’s been, but the stress has continued to build. Up to this point, he has responded well – even being willing to step away from his personal desires and submit to the Lord’s means and timing. But now Samuel has died. (25:1) David’s living link with the Lord, the man who mentored him and held him accountable, is gone. The severe and unexpected stress of this event has opened David to temptation.
So, when David asked Nabal for some material support (a reasonable request, in the light of the protection David had provided) Nabal’s refusal provoked a response completely out of proportion with David’s previous actions. After all, he hadn’t killed Saul when he had the opportunity, and Saul certainly had done far more to provoke David than had Nabal. David also hadn’t taken vengeance against those who had tried to betray him to Saul. But now, under the stress of his protracted trials and the loss of Samuel, David decided he would kill Nabal and all the males in his household.
What’s going on here? David had stepped away from the God-centered view of life that had dominated his thinking in chapter 24, and had begun to focus on himself. It was likely Samuel’s death that brought this change. We aren’t told whether David had begun to despair about the fulfillment of God’s promise, or whether, with Samuel gone, he felt it was up to him to bring about that fulfillment. Whatever he had concluded, David was focused on himself, on his reputation, on his needs, and not on the Lord. Consequently, Nabal’s insult was intolerable to David and pushed him in the direction of disaster.
This same kind of situation happens frequently. A man will bear patiently with his wife, but when one of the children or someone at work says a wrong word, he takes them off at the knees. It’s how believers end up committing adultery – feeling unloved for so long that a brief temptation brings an over-reaction. We see it illustrated elsewhere in Scripture as well: Elijah slaughters the prophets of Baal but then runs from the threats of Jezebel. Peter follows the Lord, professing his willingness to die with Him, but then panics and denies Him three times.
Satan understands this principle and will seek to use it against us whenever he can. He will throw his “change-up” pitch when we are under the greatest stress, seeking to lead us into sin. (See Matt. 4:1ff) He tempts us to sin and then, if we succumb, he accuses us of hypocrisy and faithlessness. Strangely, under the stress of the circumstances, we will often agree with him and begin to condemn ourselves. His goal is to gain leverage that will enable him to estrange us from God. But we often do his work for him by condemning ourselves, even though Scripture is clear that Christ has removed all condemnation. (Romans 8:1)
So, how do we stand against this kind of attack? How can we avoid over-reacting under stress? Our Lord’s advice to the disciples in the Garden is straight to the point: “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” (Matt. 26:41) We need to be watchful, learning the signs that indicate that we are under stress and anticipating that the enemy will try to tempt us when we are in those circumstances. When the temptation comes, we must pray that the Holy Spirit will enable us to overcome it. (Notice there’s no indication in the text that David inquired of the Lord before acting.) Then, we have to realize that although our hearts desire to obey, our physical condition can often blunt or negate that desire. Sometimes when we recognize the symptoms of stress, the best and wisest thing for us is to take time to rest and recharge – to unstress BEFORE we face temptation. When we do, we often gain the strength we need to face, and overcome, the enemy's attacks.
But we often don’t do what we know is best to do. David did none of these things, so he is headed into a disastrous situation. Thankfully, God often intervenes in such situations to keep His people from sinning. (See 1 Cor. 10:13) He has done it for us, and He is about to do it for David.