Empowering Them to Understand & Teach the Parables of Jesus
Two large tents were set up side-by-side under the hot sun of rural East Africa as 45 senior pastors from churches in the surrounding villages made their way to a two-day meeting for Biblical equipping and empowering. We were excited to serve them by providing practical theological education in ways that they could use every Sunday as they teach their congregations! What a joy to equip these Ugandan pastors by guiding them through the steps of studying the Bible so they could better serve the people in their churches. Over the course of two long days we could tell that they were being empowered to serve well as their new skills of Scripture study helped them be more confident in the Word and in their ability to teach others.
The Scripture says that “…if someone aspires to be a church leader, they desire an honorable position.” And, these pastors are honorable people! They love the Lord, and they humbly serve the people in their churches. We were eager to provide the training they had asked for because we know that these pastors have little or no access to theological education.
Many months before – we were up in the snowy mountains of Colorado praying about what content to teach these men and women of God. We remembered what the local leaders in Africa who had agreed to serve on a committee told us. These influential pastors needed to know the Scriptures on a deeper level. They needed to know the teachings of Jesus and how to prepare sermons to guide and instruct their congregations. After much prayer, we decided to teach on the parables of Jesus and how to preach the central truths from the parables.
Did you know that the parables were central to Jesus’ teaching for His disciples? Did you know that the parables of Jesus make up about a third of His recorded words in the Gospels? Once we had settled on a theme for our curriculum development, we began to grow more and more convinced that training on the parables of Jesus could bring life-changing impact to these African leaders and their churches.
As the pastors began to arrive, I remembered that one of my favorite parts of training rural pastors is when we can bring them resources to help them serve their communities! Smiles on the faces of these godly people say so much when they received an Africa Study Bible! These are the first study Bibles they have ever received – and for some pastors in these communities the first Bible they have personally owned. We are humbled and thankful to partner with Christianbook International Outreach. They provide study Bibles and other Christian books to people in remote areas who are learning to study the Scriptures.
Another one of my all-time favorite things is when we opened the box containing the second resource we brought!!! Take a moment and imagine how a pastor might feel when he tries on his first pair of reading glasses and can clearly read God’s Word! Imagine the look on their faces as they see for the first time with clear eyes as they open up their Bible. It is an emotion-filled time of thankfulness.
The last resource came out of boxes filled with Children’s Bibles! These pastors will read to many hundreds of children in their churches for years to come. How many people will come to know and love the Lord from these pages? We will never know – this side of heaven. Additionally, these books will help equip the pastors with simple, easy-to-understand Bible stories to use in their teaching.
When the pastors arrived, we greeted them with a warm welcome and prayer. I shared a verse of Scripture from 2 Timothy, “Study to show yourself approved…” and I could tell that these good people were ready to work!
While I thoroughly enjoy standing up and speaking to a captive audience, I also know that credible research shows that active engagement enhances learning, retention, and application. So, we encouraged the participants to be ready to think, interact, and encourage each other in their ministries.
After training on a simple framework of Observe, Interpret, and Apply, we guided them over two days though an interactive time through the parables of: The Sower (Mark 4), The Three Servants (Luke 19), The Good Samaritan (Luke 10), and The Prodigal Son (Luke 15). The depth of insight these pastors showed while standing up and sharing with the group what they were seeing in the Scriptures was deeply moving. The hard work they did in their table groups was on display as they stood and shared with their peers. I believe that many friendships and partnerships deepened during this time.
It is one thing to gain new understanding of the Scriptures and quite another to preach it on a Sunday morning! These servant leaders were eager to take their new understanding of the Bible and teach it to their congregations. So, we walked them through the transformative teaching model of “Know, Be, Do.” These ministers want to convey more than just information – they want the Holy Scriptures to have a transformational impact on the lives of their church members. They discussed in their groups, “What do I want my people KNOW?” and then, based on what they know about the Scriptures, “Who do I want them to BE?” and lastly, building on who they are becoming in Christ, “What do I want them to DO?” The conversations were both deep and joyful! When they sat down to practice writing sermons for the equipping of the people they love, the hard work became a joy. You could see it on their faces!
Toward the end of our time together we shifted from active training and learning to assessing if the training was effective and transformative. By the grace of God – this was such a joy-filled time! I asked, “Do you think you could now teach your congregations with sermons based on these four parables?” I think the shouts of “YES!!!” could have been heard for quite some distance! They responded with another joy filled “YES!!!” when they were asked if they felt equipped to preach on the other parables of Jesus that we had not studied.
These leaders enjoyed learning new ways of understanding the Scripture, and they were also so happy to be building trust and deepening friendships. The stories these pastors have been telling of partnering with other pastors in their villages are so encouraging to us!
We are so thankful to the Lord and to the ministry supporters who make it possible for us serve these pastors.
Joyful celebration after receiving training certificates!