Sitting in the audience of 2,500 pastor trainers from 100 countries around the world: humbling, inspiring, energizing!
That is how I felt as a participant in the first Global Proclamation Congress recently held in Bangkok, Thailand. Ramesh Richard of the Dallas Theological Seminary convened the Congress. The chief goal is better-trained pastors – thousands of them. I attended, along with Timothy Olonade, our Vice President of International Training, to launch Lystra Global, a system designed to support international pastor training. The response was overwhelming.
Thank you for your prayers and financial support of all we are doing. Completing The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible® series this month is an incredible milestone for the ministry. The Lord is opening doors for even more pastors, leaders and scholars to use the material. Markets in the UK and Australia are opening. Prison Fellowship is using our material as they train new pastors behind bars. And we are exploring the possibility of using Outline Bible Resources as high school curriculum for home schoolers.
Our prayer is that God will use those who, for centuries, have been providing insight and oversight of His Word to reach the next generation of His “proclaimers” – opening hearts and minds around the world to His love and the Good News of His Son!
Thanks again for partnering with us by praying, connecting and giving. It is making a difference!
Dave Worland, President/CEO, Leadership Ministries Worldwide
NOTES FROM THE GLOBAL PROCLAMATION CONGRESS
- The world population is 7.4 billion
- 50,000 new believers are baptized each day, creating a need for 1,000 pastors to shepherd their faith
- 5 million new faith communities will be planted in the next 4 years – but at the current rate, 70% of them will fail in the first year
- Of the 2.2 million leaders shepherding congregations, only 5% of them are trained for ministry