A great group of students!

It is exciting to have completed the first day of class! I have 15 students, most of whom have 10+ years of experience as pastors. Some live and serve in remote villages while some live in larger towns. One lives in the midst of ongoing tribal warfare. Another is living by faith as he serves as a traveling evangelist, being largely dependent on the food that they grow in the family garden. All of them express a great heart for their people and a passion for preaching God’s Word. It is humbling to be with them. What a privilege to play a role in helping them further develop their gifts of communicating God’s Word through preaching!

I think that class today went well, although that is always a bit challenging to judge as the teacher. Because of missing a day of class with my ‘travel interruption,’ we met from 8 until 1pm. We covered a lot of content as well as studying the Word and praying together. They also began their study for their preaching through the book of Jonah. It is encouraging to see the nods and affirmations as we study together.

One of the big ideas is learning how to give and receive constructive feedback on our preaching. I am challenging them to disciple other future leaders and preachers by engaging them in thinking through what makes a sermon better or worse. For their project, they will have to ask people to give them feedback using a semi-structured form. While getting valuable feedback about their own preaching, I am also hoping that they will be teaching others what good preaching is made up of, and helping stirring in the hearts of some the call to preach.

I have been invited to preach at a local church on Sunday, and then to speak at a local university next Friday to a mixture of Christian and non-Christian students. I am most honored. I am trying to develop a sense of the people through the descriptions these pastors are giving of their people, but I know I am only scratching the surface. I pray that God might use the novelty of a professor from the US to draw the attention of others to Himself.

I am also thankful for the time with missionaries here at the college. Their stories of God’s faithfulness are most encouraging and challenging. And what a great ministry this college has of developing the current and future leaders of the churches of Papua New Guinea! Surprisingly, many if not most people in PNG would consider themselves Christian, but apparently few have anything more than a formality. One of the great challenges for these preachers is to reach the heart of people who figure that going through the motions is good enough.

This week class focuses on content that I present as we prepare for their preaching next week. Each night I am making adjustments and preparing for the next day while also trying to learn names and faces. I am doing well in terms of the time zone and have been healthy, for which I am very thankful.

So thank you for praying! And please keep praying that God would use this time to further sharpen these men as those who proclaim God’s Word to change lives for His glory!

-- John