The Answer Our World Needs: A Personal Message From Steve Childers
Dear Friend,
Last night I spent an hour on a secure video conference answering questions (with a translator) from church leaders in the persecuted underground church in East Asia who are completing one of Pathway Learning’s Fall online and onsite church planting courses in Mandarin.
It’s both humbling and thrilling to realize that only through Pathway Learning do they have access to this kind of practical, seminary-level training in their language and contextualized for their culture – to equip them to “win, build, and send” disciples of Jesus Christ in their nation.
Jesus calls us to “Make disciples of all nations.” (Matt. 28:19). The most effective way to make disciples of all nations is to equip his church leaders to plant and develop healthy churches with effective ministries of evangelism and discipleship around the world.
The challenge we face is that there are millions of church leaders, especially in the developing world – where most Christians live today – without access to the training and tools they need to plant and develop healthy churches that transform lives and communities.
In 2022, Pathway Learning’s (PL) vision is to equip as many underserved church leaders as we can to help make disciples of all nations, especially among:
the rural poor in Muslim West Africa,
the persecuted in the underground church in East Asia,
the resistant unreached in Japan,
the secularized in Western Europe, and
the urban poor in North America.
So at PL, we’re pursuing several strategic ways to help transform lives and communities among all nations next year. Here are three of them:
FIRST, PL is continuing our training of underserved church leaders worldwide. They are today’s frontline indigenous church planters, pastors, teachers, and evangelists serving in some of the hardest and most challenging areas of the world. Through our innovative online and onsite learning cohorts, led by trained facilitators, church leaders have already been equipped in more than 60 countries, 300 denominations, and 7 languages. And we’ve just begun!
SECOND, PL continues to establish strategic partnerships with church leader training organizations, such as indigenous denominations, networks, mission agencies, seminaries, and churches, to help them be more effective in training their church leaders to develop healthy, flourishing churches wherever they serve around the world. We allow our partners to not only translate our training into their languages but also to contextualize it and teach it in their unique culture.
THIRD, PL’s training of church leaders is holistic. Our focus is on not only equipping leaders to grow in their knowledge of the Bible and theology, but also on equipping them to grow in godly, Christ-like character. One of the key marks of PL is our strong commitment to “the primacy of godly character” in all our training. Our focus is also on equipping leaders to develop the practical ministry skills (preaching, discipling, etc.) they need to be effective in ministry.
There are more strategies that PL is using to help equip church leaders to plant and develop healthy churches around the world. Yet even these three alone are worth celebrating.
But don’t forget these essential truths:
1) The greatest battle, the battle of all battles, is the battle for the human heart.
2) The greatest way to transform human hearts is to make disciples by leading people to saving faith in Jesus Christ and equipping them to grow to spiritual maturity in Christ.
3) The most effective way to make disciples of all nations is to equip church leaders to plant and develop healthy churches with effective ministries of evangelism and discipleship all over the world.
In 2022 the spiritual battle rages for the hearts of men and women around the world. In Ephesians 6, the Apostle Paul reminds us that our battle is not “against flesh and blood,” but against “the spiritual forces of evil.”
If you want to help us fight this battle in 2022 to see this amazing vision realized, our first request is that you would pray for us to have the resources we need to equip more underserved church leaders.
Our second request is that you would make a gift to Pathway Learning as we strive reach our year-end goal of $100,000 by December 31. Simply use the secure link below to give now – and help make a lasting difference in our broken world for Christ and his Kingdom.
For the King!
Steven L. Childers
President
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