FBC Evening Service

0 views

0 comments

02:55
All right, appreciate the good prelude music tonight. Thank you, Victoria, for your playing this evening.
03:00
We're going to sing number 89 in our hymnals. Let's stand together as we do so, all the way my
03:07
Savior leads me, even if it's to Chad or Myanmar on the other side of the world, you know, wherever.
03:49
For I know what e 'er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well.
03:58
For I know what e 'er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well.
04:07
All the way my Savior leads me, cheers each winding path
04:14
I tread, Gives me grace for every trial, feeds me with the living.
04:26
Fiery steps may falter, and my soul athirst may be,
04:33
Cushing from the rug before me all the spring of joy
04:40
I seek. Cushing from the rug before me all the spring of joy
04:48
I seek. All the way my
04:53
Savior leads me, all the fullness of His love,
05:00
Perfect rest to me is promised in my Father's house above.
05:08
When my spirit, called immortal, brings its flight to realms of day,
05:17
This my song through endless ages, Jesus, let me all the way.
05:25
This my song through endless ages, Jesus, let me all the way.
05:36
Let's pray. Father, thank you for the way that you do lead us every step along the journey.
05:45
Sometimes those steps are very obvious. The ways you lead are very clear, direct.
05:51
Sometimes those ways that you lead are more indirect and subtle, but you lead us, and we thank you for it.
06:00
Thank you for how you've worked in the Williquettes' lives, and you have led them through the years of pastoral ministry, and then to these years now of helping other pastors and equipping them for the work of the ministry.
06:16
I pray that you would bless the service this evening and the report on the work of PEP, and I pray that you would meet with us as we've come to meet with one another and with you.
06:28
We ask in Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. I want to read a brief passage in 2
06:36
Timothy. I'm going to start with chapter 1, verse 13, and then down into chapter 2.
06:47
2 Timothy chapter 1, verse 13. Paul is writing to a much younger man, a pastor, pastoring the church at Ephesus, and he says to Timothy, Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.
07:08
That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. This you know, that all those in Asia have turned away from me, among whom are
07:16
Phagellus and Hermogenes. The Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain.
07:25
But when he arrived in Rome, he sought me out very zealously and found me. Lord, grant to him that he may find mercy from the
07:32
Lord in that day. And you know very well how many ways he ministered to me at Ephesus. You, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
07:43
And the things which you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
07:53
Lord, add his blessing to the reading of his word tonight. Another hymn in our hymnal, the
07:59
Lord's leading and knows the way we take, number 118. 118.
09:46
My sin
10:06
I forsake, my cross I will take, now thy servant did, my bloom has grown.
10:46
Very good. Well, we are glad to have Scott and Victoria Williquette with us tonight. So how long has it been since we started supporting you?
10:54
Do you know? Remember? Off the top of your head? You don't have those things memorized? Yeah, right.
11:01
If I don't know, yeah, there's no reason for you. But anyway, it's been a long time, several years, since you started out,
11:07
I think, in this ministry of pastoral enrichment program. It's a sub ministry under Baptism in Missions.
11:16
And so, yeah, you've been doing it for several years now. Um, 10 years, Victoria? Yes. 10 years.
11:22
10 years, okay. She has all that stuff. Very good.
11:30
She says 10 years. I don't quiz her. Okay, very good. Well, you come on ahead. Do you have a problem?
11:36
I do not. We have some of the lights down.
11:51
We probably see things a little better. Can you hear me if I just really project? Yes. You're back there going, no, what did you say?
11:59
I'll really try and project. Um, okay. So you have supported us for quite some time.
12:06
I don't know the exact number of years, but I think fairly quickly. We were on deputation. We were in Rockford, Illinois for 19 years.
12:14
We're on deputation. And I think, um, you know, your church family, one of the first places we went to, uh, came to.
12:23
We've known, uh, your pastor and his wife for many years. And even though they knew me, they still said we could come.
12:30
So it was really nice of them to do that, allow us to come and, uh, present the ministry. And your church folks took us on and generously support us.
12:40
So thank you for that. If you don't get our stuff, I send out a pep talk, uh, uh, every two months or so.
12:50
And then give you general updates. And then when I'm overseas, I will send out updates from wherever I am.
12:59
Assuming I have internet, which I don't always have internet, but I try to do that. So if you're not getting those, let me encourage you to get those.
13:07
I need somebody to have a sheet of paper at the end of the evening where all I need is your name and your email, legibly written.
13:17
Legibly written. Scribble, scribble, scribble .com does not help me. So that way you'll know what's going on.
13:23
You'll be able to pray for what we're doing. We're with the
13:30
PEP ministry, Pastoral Enrichment Program. That's PEP. And I had said from the very beginning, you're getting involved.
13:37
This is basically Bible college out of a suitcase. So we go to third world contacts and train men who won't get trained any other way for one reason or another.
13:47
Either they don't have enough formal education in their own country. They don't have a financial ability to go to college.
13:55
Sometimes it's a language issue. For instance, we're going to get three places tonight. Chad, Ghana, and Nepal.
14:05
And in Ghana, which was colonized by the British, English is the kind of the main language.
14:14
But if you get out into the boonies, into the villages and so forth, hither and yon, people don't speak
14:19
English well. There are different dialects being spoken, all right? So there's a
14:25
Bible college in Wap, Ghana, which I'm going to show you
14:30
Wap in a few minutes. And it's been training pastors for a number of years.
14:37
A good Bible college started five hours of admissions many years ago. You have, there's an entrance exam.
14:44
You have to be able to speak, read English fairly well to get in. So that means that the men who want to pastor or from those villages, they're not going to get trained because they can't pass that entrance exam.
15:01
So one of the professors started this ministry, and you'll see him in a few moments,
15:08
Matthew Yanak is his name, started a ministry of training men from hither and yon, utilizing
15:15
Wap as the Bible college. So anyway, the bottom line is the men we train won't get trained any other way.
15:24
So that's what we do. The situations are difficult. This is all third world.
15:29
No place we go is a vacation spot, I can guarantee you. So Pastor Weiss, we're planning a trip together.
15:36
Where are we going together? Ghana. I'm going to bring him to Chad when it's 120 degrees, but I thought the first trip would be a little nicer to him.
15:46
So it won't be quite that bad in Ghana. So anyway, okay. These are our grandchildren.
15:51
I thought I'd show you that first. They're really a highlight of our lives, our earthly lives.
15:57
The Lord is, of course, the greatest highlight of our life. This is Asa, Abby, Adrian, and Barrett.
16:05
And Abby has a two and a half month old. This, I think, is at Christmas time.
16:11
They're all a little bit older now, but you get the picture. It's really, really fun.
16:19
They exhaust us. Now, why is that they doing that? Anyway, so PEP, enriching the mind, encouraging the spirit, enhancing the ministry of pastors,
16:33
Bible college students, reaching future generations by training
16:40
God's shepherds. So we don't go and proclaim the gospel. I preach while I'm there, and the gospel might be in a sermon that I'm preaching, but we're not going there for that reason.
16:53
We're going there to train pastors. And the idea is that as we train pastors and then learn how to understand, and as they learn biblical theology and shepherd their people, as their people grow
17:15
Christ in their villages and towns and cities, which is exactly how it works here. Your pastor's job is to train
17:22
God's people here in the work of ministry, so that you and he, and Chris, of course, are going to.
17:35
Okay, so this is Paul's second and third missionary journey. He went back, of course, and provided further training to believers.
17:44
He planted churches on his first missionary journey. The second and third, he went back to provide more training.
17:50
We're really kind of that. We go back to believers and provide more training.
17:55
People ask where we go. I say wherever it's hot, humid, bugs, big bugs, they eat the bugs.
18:01
Those are the places we go, right? Okay, so now Chad. I don't know why this is doing this,
18:07
Pastor, but I'll just try to disregard.
18:15
So okay, Chad's the first place we're going to talk about. So Chad is there.
18:24
Central African Republic is here. We're going to talk about Ghana in a few minutes. That's right here.
18:29
So Chad, right here. You land in Jemena and you fly to Saar, if you've got money, in a
18:43
MAF plane, Missionary Aviation Fellowship. Really expensive. More often than not, we take a bus, a 15 -hour bus that is really, really challenging.
18:52
The roads are awful. It's 110, 120 or more on the bus. Very stuffy.
18:58
If the bus has air conditioning, which these full buses don't, but if you get one that actually has air conditioning, the
19:07
Chadians will stuff tissue paper and fabric into the vents because they don't like the cold air.
19:13
I'm like, funnel it all here. I'll take all of it. But anyway, it's hot on the bus and challenging.
19:21
This is just to give you a feel for it. That's a MAF plane and I was flying at one time and I was informed mid -air, oh, we're going to pick up some guys at another little strip.
19:34
So they landed on a little strip. If you've ever seen the old Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan movies, you remember some of those scenes where you got this little dinky plane and it's just dirt and they managed to land.
19:47
That's a little bit what this is like, okay? Without all the Tarzan calls.
19:54
So this is Chad from the air. Very flat. Okay, I thought I'd give you a feel for what it's like in different seasons.
20:01
So this is the rainy season. 94 to 98 degrees. Things are green. The first three or four times
20:07
I went there, it wasn't the rainy season. It was the dry season and everything's brown, which you'll see in a minute.
20:13
But this particular trip, green. Bananas and other fruits, vegetables growing.
20:19
Really green, beautiful. These are the boys pushing the cattle, okay?
20:29
All green. Now these are the villages. You'll see here villages. And just real common, dirt block, mud block walls with a fast roof.
20:43
Now if you're in a town, if you're in a city or a medium -sized city or town, there will be concrete block buildings.
20:52
But many of the men that I'm teaching, and I visited one last April, happened to, our bus broke down heading from one place, heading from Jimena to Saar, that 15 -hour deal.
21:10
The bus broke down. And we happened to break down right next to a large village.
21:16
So we thought, let's go walk around the village, which we did. Met a man that I've taught, one of my students.
21:23
He went through the program. And he's pastoring in this village that looks just like this.
21:29
So yes, there are concrete block buildings in the cities. But many of the men we're training are in this kind of setting.
21:41
I like this picture because I like the juxtaposition of the hut, the
21:46
Gilligan's Island Hut and the Moor Circle. I just think that's interesting. Okay, dry season, 100 to 120.
21:59
At nighttime, where you're sleeping with a missionary, there's no air conditioning. They have a fan on you blowing hot air all night.
22:08
And it does cool down at night. It'll cool down from 120 to 105.
22:15
And it doesn't cool the house down enough to make any difference. You're still just lying there, you know, sweating all night.
22:22
That's just how it is. I don't know what these cattle are eating. There's just not much here.
22:34
So that's a village. If you're driving on the road, you're going to come across a village just like this.
22:43
Have I shown you this picture ever and talked about this picture? Anyone remember? If the pastor doesn't remember,
22:50
I'm going to tell you a story. So the parents will sleep in one hut, the children in another hut.
22:58
And the living room is right here. Living room playroom is right there. And somewhere there's a lean -to that is the kitchen.
23:07
Fire always going. So why is this the playroom and the living room?
23:15
And I did a number of trips there. And I asked one time, why every place
23:20
I go there's dirt? Doesn't grass grow in Chad, Africa? Why is it dirty everywhere? And I was finally told.
23:30
Every snake in Africa but two are venomous. So by the way, every snake is venomous, possibly poisonous.
23:39
So when a Chadian or an African sees a snake, they leap into action. And they kill that thing because it's probably going to kill them if they don't.
23:50
And then in the grass, scorpions and many, many other insects that are really, really venomous.
23:59
So one time, I was in a missionary's house in Chad. And I was staying with them.
24:06
And it was like a Friday night or a Saturday night. They were having, they gathered some other missionaries together. And they were just having fun playing
24:12
Uno like these crazy missionaries typically do when they get together and eating and all that kind of stuff.
24:19
And I come out, shorts and a t -shirt and sandals. And as I'm walking toward them,
24:25
I see this about four or five inch, probably five inch centipede and probably half an inch wide.
24:35
I mean, just long and wide. This is not a centipede size I've ever seen in my life. Jet black.
24:41
It was really pretty, almost glossy jet black. And I said, hey, what is this?
24:48
I'm kicking it. Every time I kicked it, it kept coming back toward me. I kick it again. What is this called?
24:55
What is this? So some, one of the ladies, the female missionaries, she did a
25:01
Spiderman, leaped in the air, took her shoe, landed on that thing, and beat that thing.
25:07
There was centipede all over the place. Okay, what's the deal here?
25:16
Every leg on that centipede is venomous. And I was kicking it around like a dumb
25:21
American with my little sandals, you know, just waiting to be stung and screaming. So that's, they tear up the grass because they don't want their children to die playing in the grass.
25:34
So in the summertime, the kids are playing in the dirt, and the, I'm sorry, in the dry season, they're playing in the dirt.
25:41
In the rainy season, they're outside playing in the mud. Because better that than them to be stung by something that could easily kill them.
25:50
My wife and I, please take pictures of wildlife, but I did get a picture of a camel.
25:58
There's a guy fishing, and I saw hippos that particular day. I kept my distance because they're mean, but I did see them.
26:07
Okay, preaching on Sunday in the churches. So this is a typical church.
26:12
You see it also is blocked with corrugated metal roof. Seating's not quite as comfy as yours.
26:20
Typically, men on one side, ladies on the other. And I'm preaching here. This is someone, this is someone's offering.
26:29
Peanuts. Bag of peanuts was the offering these people brought that particular Sunday. I'm a fan of European farmers.
26:36
Bring it next Sunday, see how that works. This is the only church in all my overseas traveling, the only time
26:43
I've ever gotten an honorarium. So we're done for the day. I'm done preaching. I'm going, the missionaries and I are going to the car.
26:52
Pastor walks up, gives me a live chicken. I said, well, I'm not sure it'll fit in my luggage.
26:59
Trying to kind of not take the chicken home with me. But the missionaries took it.
27:04
And it was used appropriately in the next couple of days. Anyway, I don't know if your pastor would prefer that.
27:13
I think he'd rather have cash, maybe a live chicken. But try it.
27:18
We have peanuts, try them too. So this is another church. Men on one side, ladies on the next.
27:25
And often they will serve, if the American's there, they're going to serve food. Because they want to honor.
27:31
It's very wonderful. And it's expensive for them. So they're serving food.
27:37
And I'm going through the line. You'll see French bread. Always, always, always. Sudden, various and sundry other things.
27:45
So I'm here eating. This is Julien, my translator. Always been my translator. He's now a friend.
27:52
Speaks superb French and great English. And he's a great translator. And he's taught with me every class.
28:00
And translated for others as well. He's also a really good theologian. And just a good, godly, faithful man.
28:07
And you'll see, he's dressed American. I'm dressed Chadian. And often that's the case.
28:14
And I'll tell you why. I asked your pastor. I would tell you, when you go over to these places as an
28:24
American. You have to dress up when you're preaching at a church. So you wear a tie.
28:30
I'll tell you, a tie is not fun at 110, 120 degrees. So I found out that if I dress
28:37
Chadian. I can get away with this. This is exactly how I dress in a Sunday morning.
28:43
Just kind of slip on leather shoes. Kind of hiking, water wicking pants. Which I wear the whole time
28:49
I'm there. And then a Chadian. I have three Chadian shirts made for me. So now I'm good.
28:55
I don't have to wear a tie when I'm preaching. Okay. But I'll tell you, it's funny. We graduated one crop of guys.
29:03
And I preached for that graduation. I came dressed like this. Every Chadian came dressed to the hilt.
29:13
Suit, tie. I mean dressed like your pastor is. And I got up and said as I started.
29:19
Why am I the only one here dressed like a Chadian? What is the deal? I mean even the students. The students wore the best clothes they had.
29:26
And it was Chadians.
29:31
I feel like I'm the only Chadian in this whole building. Anyway, they often will dress more
29:36
Western. That's the best clothing they'll have. They often will dress that way. Okay, that's.
29:43
You know what that is, don't you? If I have to voice it. Okay, you know what that is, right? Okay, Christian schools.
29:50
So let me tell you about this church. Where we're teaching every day. The church was built with the help of Baptist Women Missions.
29:59
Like 60 years ago. A lot of believers there in Saar. And the church was large.
30:07
And so they, the BMM provide money for a large plex.
30:15
With a wall around it. So they could have a Christian school as well. And that could develop over time.
30:22
So that's what developed. The building is interesting.
30:28
Where we're preaching at. There's a scene of men. I may have told you this at a previous time. I don't know.
30:34
The auditorium is shaped in a T. So a long hall like this.
30:40
And a long area here. And then over here. Branches out that way. A long area there.
30:46
And another one there. Because early on. The pastor would preach in French.
30:52
To the people in front of him. And there'd be a guy right here. Standing over here and translating.
30:58
Into another dialect. Teaching those people. And the guy here. Translating for another group.
31:05
These people. So we had three languages. At the same service. Same sermon.
31:12
All the announcements. Everything's. You repeated, repeated. So that's. Now is a purely French church.
31:18
But it's a large building. As you'll see in a few minutes. But also they did a Christian school over time. So I thought
31:24
I'd give you some idea. What that's like in this kind of country. So there you are. Very different than what we have here.
31:33
I will tell you that the quality. Is better than the public school. And the unsaved.
31:39
Who live there. Who have money. Will typically send their kids. To the Christian school.
31:45
Because the academics. Are so much better at giving. The believers. That an opportunity.
31:51
That was to the kids. Of course. And parents as well. Over time. And remember it's a hundred.
32:02
The hot seas. It's 110. 120 degrees. Okay. Student life.
32:12
Meaning the art students. So getting water. Either washing your hands.
32:18
Or they're getting a glass of water. I never use that water. Don't get near that water. You drink that water. You're going to be sick as a dog.
32:24
Within about 20. 14, 15 hours. You're going to be. You'll be wishing you were dead.
32:30
Okay. This is Manioc Root. Manioc Root is. Made into what they call.
32:36
Bull. Bull is French for ball. And it's a ball of. Basically dough. It looks like. Bread dough.
32:43
So here you have it. This will be a meal. Like lunch or supper. Or a chatty. A dough.
32:49
That's just like bread dough. And they tear off a hump. And they dip it in this. Kind of a.
32:55
Well it's different kinds of sauces. And that's that's their meal. Some of the sauces.
33:01
Are extremely. Gross. To watch them eat. I can't describe to some of them are like.
33:08
Dip and. And there's a string of this stuff. It just looks.
33:14
A number of us. Americans are like. I can't watch them eat. That looks really gross.
33:22
But that's what they eat. So here these guys are doing that very thing. And they're sitting on their launches like that.
33:28
I couldn't sit like that for more than 10 seconds. And I'd be screaming. My legs don't work that way. But they're very used to it.
33:34
And they're eating as a group. Again just. Fellowship during the day.
33:42
You gotta find a place to sleep. This again is this large church building. And the guy.
33:48
Found a spot. Mosquito net. Apparently brought some. Rugs with him.
33:54
This is. The latrine. And I'm showing you this because. It's yucky.
34:01
But they wanted to be a blessing to me. Because it's yucky. I can't tell you it's worse than anything you've ever experienced.
34:11
They're repainting these on the inside. Making them nicer. I said. And then some plastic chairs.
34:17
I said. You know if you cut a hole. In one of these plastic chairs. That'd be a blessing to every
34:23
American. Whoever comes here from now on. Instead. Somebody built this for the
34:29
Americans. So this is now called the American toilet. Okay. Now it's weird.
34:36
And a little funny. But. It's also kind. It's really kind. Okay. Teaching is fostering preaching and teaching to 124 students.
34:48
So. We're teaching preaching to the men. Teaching to the women. There are women in here.
34:53
We want them there. Because we want the women. To learn how they can take every class that we're teaching.
34:59
We want the women to learn. Then the gifted women especially. To learn how to handle the word of God. Correctly.
35:05
Teach it. Well. To train other ladies and children. Just like we need here.
35:11
There are women who are gifted teachers. And we want them to be able to see their gifts develop.
35:17
And used in the church. They know they're not going to be pastors. They know they're not. But they have gifts.
35:25
We want to develop. So that's why it's preaching and teaching. Okay. So here's how this went.
35:33
We're there for two weeks. I'm teaching this course. And another pep guy is teaching another course.
35:41
I'll teach an hour and a half. Those two weeks.
35:47
But because of this. Because it's this course. I try to get through the first 70 pages. In the first week.
35:56
Because the next week is going to be a little different. So I get to the first 70 pages. Which covers some hermeneutics.
36:03
Now we've got hermeneutics notes. I'm going to be teaching that in Chad in a month. Hermeneutics is how
36:08
I'm interpreting the Bible. We have a whole class on that. But during this course,
36:14
I'm preaching. We also review a lot of those hermeneutical principles. And then how to construct a sermon is the main point of the course.
36:24
But it's not going to work if we're just lecturing them. Here's how you construct a sermon.
36:30
That's not going to work. Because they don't see a model. They don't hear preachers who are good.
36:36
They don't see pastors who are good at handling the Word. Organizing the text. And preaching it well.
36:41
They don't see it. And so unless we kind of get them jump started down the road.
36:48
They're not going to develop it. So what we do is.
36:54
I get through that first 70 pages of 100 pages. And they have my notes. They have our notes the first day of class in their language.
37:03
The second week for the early part of the day. I'm finishing those 30 pages.
37:08
And then the latter half of the day. From I think it's two to five o 'clock.
37:15
We're doing preaching practicums. So we'll divide you guys up into groups of 20.
37:22
Here's a group of 20. There's a group of 20. Find a leader who's got some education. Some background behind him.
37:29
And he leads this group. He takes this 20 over there. And he subdivides them into smaller groups of five.
37:37
And then he divides those five up. Go over there. You're in these little groups of five now.
37:46
I've given them a text the day before. And we look at different texts. Poetry, Psalm 121.
37:54
Section from Romans or Epistle. Narratives and places in the
37:59
Old Testament or Gospels. Different genres. Different types of literature. And they've got five sermons that they're going to work on.
38:05
So I give them the text the night before. They start studying. They're trying to get ready because they know the next day they're going to be preparing a sermon.
38:16
Then those five groups of five, they come together. And they're studying. Each group of five is studying the same exact biblical text.
38:25
And they've got a couple hours to work through it. And at the end of that, they should have a sermon constructed.
38:35
And I've already taught them the first week how to do that. Then the last hour of the day, those groups of five come together with their group of 20.
38:48
And now one guy from each group of five stands in front and preaches a 10 -minute sermon.
38:55
Introduction. It's short, obviously. But introduction, main points, sub -points, conclusion, all that.
39:00
And the goal is as they do this, they'll not just read a book or hear a talk, but they'll actually be involved in the work of exegeting the text with other men and then the work of constructing a sermon.
39:16
So that's what you're going to see now. This is Judy. I'm going to get my trains there.
39:22
I mean, those microphones work like one third of the time. You can't trust them. I was going to,
39:27
I was talking to a pastor about coming and doing a chat trip. He says, I love doing PowerPoint.
39:35
You can bring it with you. But there's no power 80 % of the time. And there's no setup for PowerPoint.
39:43
Anyway, so you get a feel for the men now. They've got our notes in French. We don't discriminate.
39:56
We're fine with little kids taking the class. We don't mind. So this wife, this woman, her husband's taking the class.
40:02
She's also taking it. And when her two kids, because she has a daughter that's also there. When her two kids allow her to be in there, she's in there taking notes just like her husband.
40:13
Okay, so here's some notes outlining how to interpret and how to prepare a text and then how to prepare a sermon.
40:22
Here's what it looks like. So two o 'clock to five o 'clock, we've got these practicums for the second week.
40:29
Interpretive process. This is the basics, the most basic. The pastor's background and genre
40:36
Is this a narrative, a story? Is this an epistle? What is this? What's the background?
40:42
What's going on if this is the book of Acts and there's a whole backstory? What exactly is going on? If Paul's writing this, where's
40:49
Paul? Where is he? Is he in jail? Where's he at? Who is he writing?
40:55
The believers, what's their situation? All this kind of background information. Look for key and repeated words.
41:02
Oh, sorry. The author's flow of thought and intended meaning. In the author's writing, there's a flow of thought.
41:09
We have that now with every type of writing. There's a flow. There's a beginning and an end, and there is the end and therefore is in buts in between.
41:17
You traced out that flow of thought, okay? So and I taught all this the week before, but this is what they're trying to accomplish now.
41:25
The pastor's main idea or theme and the exegetical outline that flows from that text. And then, you didn't realize that your pastor does all this work, did you?
41:33
He does. He doesn't just suck this out of his thumb on Saturday night at nine o 'clock. This is now the sermon outline.
41:41
I hope you don't do that, by the way. Introduction, main idea, which is the proposition, main point, sub point, so forth, and conclusion.
41:51
This is what they're trying to actually do now during this second week. So I took pictures of them doing what they do.
41:58
Here are these guys. Here's the ladies' group right here. They're all writing.
42:07
They're all thinking. Sometimes they're arguing, which is really fun to watch. These guys, we're trying to work out what does this text mean?
42:15
That's where we're going. What does it mean? Not what do they want it to mean? What do they want it to say?
42:21
What does it actually say? And then organizing all that in a way that's understandable to be teaching it.
42:28
I like this one here. This guy's face. See his face? It's like, what are you talking about?
42:35
And then this guy here. It's the discussion and the argument and the work, which is great to see because these guys have never done this in their lives.
42:48
This is totally formal. And at the end of the day, you get together in a group of 20.
42:55
One guy's preaching 10 minutes. The other guy's preaching 10 minutes. And the goal is that basically every sermon is the same.
43:04
Now, why would that be true? Why is that the goal? Because it's the same text. How many meanings does the text have?
43:11
One. Now, there are various applications and they're going to apply a particular text in a way differently than maybe an
43:18
American will. But the basic meaning of the text, it's the meaning of the text.
43:24
We don't make that up. We don't try and stick our own thoughts in there. We draw, we exegete.
43:30
We draw from the actual text. And by Wednesday of that week, of this particular week, one of our guys is fluent in French.
43:39
I had him walking around listening to the sermons every day. By Wednesday of that week, he said, yeah, the sermons are pretty much the same.
43:49
The main point and the theme of the sermon is pretty much the same from group to group. I traced out the flow of the main points and sub points.
43:58
And by Friday, it was even better. That's the goal. Now, this is just a basic introduction.
44:04
This is all we can do. But it is working. Okay, Kathmandu, Nepal now.
44:21
Let's see. Nepal's right there. China to the north.
44:28
China always trying to gobble up whatever it can. And they are. But there's Kathmandu right there.
44:37
Right here's Kathmandu. This is a mountain range. What mountain range is it? Anyone know? Himalayas.
44:43
Okay. So look at that. I mean, they're just right in the mountain range. There's not a flat piece of property there.
44:53
You're on a hill or a mountain if you're there. I didn't take this picture.
45:00
I wish I had, but I didn't. This to me is the
45:06
Bantrak family. This is how that feels to me. I didn't take this one either, but I sure like it.
45:12
So life in Kathmandu, just a couple things. So let me show you this picture here. You see this building right here?
45:20
Square, but going straight up. Four, it actually is four stories. Most of them are three or four stories.
45:26
So the church that we're going to be looking at, they rent this building just like that one.
45:33
Four stories. And one story is classroom space, children's ministry, all that, and the nursery.
45:41
Another level is the pastor's apartment, his home. Another level, Israel, is their fellowship area.
45:51
Where they eat in their fellowship. There's also a concrete baptistry up there that looks really uncomfortable.
45:57
So anyway, that's how things work there. And you'll see that same shape of building is pretty much everywhere you look.
46:04
So I'm on the top of this building looking around in every direction. You see in the distance, mountains, no matter where you're looking, there are mountains in the background.
46:17
This is another direction. I did take this picture.
46:25
I was in a cable car going up on the mountain sides, and was able to take this picture.
46:31
Lovely, beautiful. Now, I want you to notice, this is Kathmandu right here.
46:38
And a mountain range. And those valleys. Valleys there, valleys there. Other cities and towns throughout that area.
46:47
So Kathmandu's there, largest city in Nepal. Over the next mountain range, there are more valleys and more villages and more towns and more people who need the gospel.
47:01
I did take this one too. It's not as good as those first two though. Those are outstanding. Okay, so life in Kathmandu, almost all the pictures
47:11
I took, I took it from the back of a motorcycle. Now, think about a motorcycle, and in this culture, don't think
47:20
Harley Davidson. No one's got a Harley there. The men and the women are this tall, and they weigh about 100.
47:32
I'm this tall, and I don't weigh 140. Those days are long gone. Anyway, so I'm getting around on the back of a motorcycle.
47:48
It's a medium -sized motorcycle, and the guy in front's 140, and I'm in the back.
47:55
Now, what does that tell you? What's this gonna look like going through the town? It's gonna wheelie. With the weight distribution,
48:01
I'm thinking, we're gonna wheelie off every place we go. Okay, thankfully, God was gracious and kept the front tire on the ground.
48:10
Anyway, most of the pictures are from the back of a motorcycle, and there's a certain intersection in the middle of the city where a whole bunch of streets converge.
48:20
There's no signage, by the way. No stop signs, no yield signs, no speed limit signs, nothing.
48:26
There's nothing, nothing, nothing. It's literally every man for himself, and you can't be polite.
48:32
If you're in a motorcycle, you can't be Christian. Go ahead. I'll wait for you, too.
48:39
You will never move. You have to be just as aggressive as everybody else, or you're not gonna move. And the distance, and I remember being in the back of the cycle, we're going, and weaving in and out, and I'm like, okay,
48:52
I'll live through this, maybe. And, you know, there's a credit card width between me and the next cycle or the next taxi cab.
49:00
We were really close. Anyway, it's interesting. You pray a lot in the back of a motorcycle like that.
49:22
If it's really hot out, of course, there are flies everywhere. This was a cool time.
49:28
So still not real sanitary, but I should bring some
49:34
Norwex quads with me and just wipe all that down, be very popular. Any Norwex ladies in the room?
49:42
Really, no Norwex ladies here? That cult hasn't, I mean, that group hasn't gathered here? Most ladies just love
49:50
Norwex. I don't like eggplant, but it really is pretty, so that's that picture. All right, preaching to 40, 50 believers on a
49:58
Sunday. This was around Christmas, so you see Christmas decorations are up. I'm wearing a fleece.
50:05
Everyone else is typically dressed a little more warmly. It's 50 degrees, which is perfect for me.
50:12
They're counting the offering, like in the front corner. It's a great way to have accountability here. Okay, teaching 25 to 30 pastors and leaders.
50:24
So I want you to notice the grade here. Again, we're on a mountain.
50:32
Notice that building. So the church, where I'm teaching every day, is that's halfway to the church.
50:42
Can you see the grade? I would tell Vicki, you know, halfway up there, I'm like having a heart attack, because this is like this a whole way.
50:55
Thankfully, I didn't have a heart attack. It was fun, but interesting. So wait a minute. That's the motorcycle that I got there on.
51:06
Okay, so it gives you a feel for the size of the motorcycle. So here we are teaching.
51:11
You see carpet on the floor, which is really unusual. I've never seen it before, but it's because they're sitting on the floor.
51:18
So they're on teaching. Translator there, this is Pastor Gore. He's at the board adding any notes that we want added there.
51:31
Ladies on the right, men on the left. The men's situation is hard. These guys all work.
51:36
They want to be at the classes. They're pastors or they're pastoral students.
51:41
They want to be pastors, but they work a full -time job. So they might be there Monday, Thursday, Friday, but they're not there every day because they got to work a job and find a way to navigate that.
51:52
Ladies are more consistent. They didn't have that same struggle. You can see from this that my teaching was extremely exciting.
52:10
Very engaging. Launching fellowship on the roof now.
52:18
Okay, what do you see right here? Fish head looking right back at you.
52:27
I don't like fish. Some people love fish. My wife likes fish. I can't stand the smell of fish.
52:33
I'm not trying to offend any of you. I can't stand fish. I certainly don't like some. It's staring back at me when
52:39
I'm eating it. So anyway, I have a lot of rice and lots of vegetables when
52:44
I'm traveling. So these ladies are very kind, working very hard. So here, this is a typical lunch.
52:52
Some sort of a meat, green leafy dhal. Dhal is lentil soup, basically.
53:00
I like dhal. I mean, we eat lentil soup. We first had dhal in India. It tastes fine.
53:06
I can do that. Now they get in this line. Give me some rice.
53:13
Give me a little more rice. No, no, I don't want that. Give me the dhal. I'll take dhal. I'll take some of the greens.
53:19
No, thanks. Keep the fish eyes to yourself. I'll live without those. And then I sit down and I eat and I'm fine.
53:27
And they're all sitting there. Well, like the second or third day, the pastor noticed. Why am
53:32
I not eating? Why am I not eating? I'm eating. I'm eating. Look at this.
53:38
I'm fine. Totally fine. No. And the next day, he brings me a pizza.
53:43
I'm like a personal size pizza. Now, let me tell you, pizza, in a third world context, doesn't taste good.
53:54
They don't know how to make pizza. In Chen Africa, we got pizza one time at a fancy restaurant that made pizza.
54:04
And I think we did half and half, meat and so forth. And all veggie on one half. Y 'all know what veg -all is?
54:13
A can of veg -all. Like peas, corn, potatoes, beans, carrots.
54:21
Well, that's what they did. Pizza crust, a little bit of cheese. I'm in Portland.
54:26
So I'm looking at this. It was awful. It was awful.
54:33
They don't know how to make pizza anywhere. I've not been to Italy. Maybe someday I'll get some real
54:39
Italian pizza. But I'm more used to an American, right? Well, anyway. So he brought me pizza.
54:45
I'd already eaten. I was full enough. But I ate a piece or two and then shared it with others.
54:52
And this cost him money. So again, kindness, kindness, kindness. We see this every place we go.
54:58
They want to honor you. They want to care for you. They want to be a blessing to you. Anyway, so this is standard meal situation.
55:07
And they're eating. This is Pastor Aron. It's like the
55:12
Pillsbury Doughboy with that coat on. And I'm like in this fleece because I'm not cold.
55:23
Oh, yes. I was in the first time I went there. So I'm in an airport going to Nepal.
55:38
And I struck up a conversation with a woman. She said, where are you going? Oh, you are?
55:45
You need to buy pashminas for your wife. They are gorgeous.
55:51
That's the way they make pashminas. They're imported everywhere else from Kathmandu, from Nepal. The wool or whatever it is, is just outstanding.
56:01
Very warm, beautiful. And so I bought like 15, 20.
56:08
My wife, my daughters, my daughter -in -law, anyone I thought with very beautiful colors.
56:14
And I just, when I went recently, I took, I was taking orders. I mean, do you want, what color do you want?
56:23
So purple and blue, and I went yellow. They're, of course, thinking,
56:29
I'm going to get a pashmina for a friend of mine as a Christmas gift. So I should have brought a second suitcase just for the pashminas on the way home.
56:38
Anyway, those are beautiful pashminas these ladies have on, which my wife does love and my girl.
56:53
And it's fun to watch her, watch it, watch her wear it. So young guys and old guys.
57:02
This, okay, so this is in the morning. Every morning you meet on the roof before class starts and they serve tea.
57:07
So I'm drinking tea in my little, my little fleece. And they, the leaders walk up to me. No, no, no, that's not for you.
57:15
And they give me like a ceramic cup of coffee. Nescafe, that's the best coffee they have.
57:21
I know you love coffee. I'm sure you love Nescafe. I was going to bring you some. I still might.
57:28
I'm going to Amazon order some Nescafe and have it sent to your house because it's wonderful.
57:33
So I'm drinking Nescafe. Typically, this was before they got to me. I was still drinking tea.
57:39
And I don't like tea or coffee. But if you pour eight pounds of sugar in there, anything tastes good.
57:45
But other than that, I'm not a real fan. But anyway, they're very kind, always kind.
57:51
So that's the group. And again, you'll see if you're wondering if I'm kidding about the height and weight.
57:58
So this guy's top of his head are my eyeballs. This is Ken Lovell. He's another pep guy.
58:05
So he and I can do this together. So this is a really exciting thing.
58:10
So during the week, we got to know these guys. This is Pastor Gore, Pastor Hayid, Pastor, no,
58:19
Pastor Aron, Pastor Hayid, Pastor Gore. I can't remember his name. They all have advanced degrees. They have taught, they got battle cards,
58:29
MDiv or MNiv -THM. And they're well, well educated. So I'm talking to these guys during the week saying, well, why are we here?
58:39
You don't need us. We got you. And Nepal needs to train
58:44
Nepal. You know how much it costs for an American to go there and all the rest of it? I mean, you can train your people so much better.
58:52
You know the main language and all the dialects, or at least half a dozen of them.
58:58
You can handle the food. You don't mind eating fish heads with eyeballs staring at you. You're fine with the weather and all the rest of it.
59:05
You can handle it all. Why are we coming? Because I was, I'm not angry about this, but it's a legitimate challenge.
59:13
So we start talking about this. And they proposed to me on a Wednesday or Thursday, PEP should come and teach us masterclasses.
59:24
So these guys are all well educated. But the PEP guys come for a week at a time or two, whatever they can arrange.
59:31
And there are these guys and about five or six others, well educated. We get them and we train them in the
59:38
PEP material. And we go deeper in the material than just the words.
59:45
Let's talk about this theological point. Let's dig deeper here. Prepare them well.
59:51
Give them the notes. They can be translated in whatever dialect. And then they go into those.
01:00:01
So we, this was an Italian restaurant where they had pizza. I got lasagna because I was tired of pizza.
01:00:08
I didn't want to have any more pizza. I had lasagna and we mapped out a plan for this to happen.
01:00:15
Who are the guys involved? Give me the, you guys, here's a piece of paper. I want your name.
01:00:21
I want your contact information. I want the, where you went to school. I want the degrees that you have. I want all this kind of stuff.
01:00:27
Every guy writes it down. And then we're able to be here. You write down their names, where they went to school, what degrees they have.
01:00:36
And then let's talk about doctrinal statement. You have to have a common doctrinal statement. You can't work together.
01:00:41
So we talked about charismatics, women preachers, some of the basic dispensationalism, some of the basics.
01:00:48
And then, okay, let's talk further about what the doctrine, what your theology is.
01:00:53
And they're all right on the same page. So we're mapping this out. And right now, it's still in the works because there's been a law passed in India that has kind of leaked over the border into Nepal.
01:01:10
And it is basically no influence from outside religious teachers.
01:01:17
And so now they're battling that. I'm hoping that that's not so much a law, but just the desire of the most recent politicians that we can, can we get over this or not?
01:01:32
Anyway, so we're still working this out. But that was such a fun night, thinking through how we can train them, and they can then go on and teach their people, which really is the goal of this.
01:01:43
These countries cannot keep depending on the Americans. Because there will be a time when Americans can't go back.
01:01:50
And we're seeing it in India and Myanmar right now. And it can happen here.
01:01:56
So they've got to have leaders who are well trained to train others. Oh, and there's
01:02:01
Abby. She's so adorable. I admire her trying on hats. Anyway, I thought you'd want to see that. Okay, now teaching in Ghana, I'll make this quick because we're already late.
01:02:12
So Ghana is here. You land in Accra, here, and then take a flight in country to Wah, which is right here.
01:02:24
So small, it's not even on the map. A Bachelors of Admissions. College is there, as I explained to you earlier. But the guys we're training can't pass it in the entrance exam.
01:02:34
So life in Wah, just a little bit. This is just kind of standard kind of pictures you're going to see as you're walking down the street.
01:02:41
This is a tire place, area of tires. We had a problem with a tire from getting worked on.
01:02:49
I always think if I was in that situation, I'd have my grandkids, like, their wrists are tied with rope and wrapped around.
01:02:59
I mean, this kid's not getting off unless I get him off. I'm not sure how they do it, but this is a real common picture.
01:03:09
These ladies are weaving fabric and making garments. Right on the side of the road, dirt road.
01:03:17
See all the dirt? Everywhere you look is dirt. It's not like here. Asphalt, concrete, nicely done.
01:03:23
Nice trees and grass and flowers. Not in these places. Ghana is much better than Chad.
01:03:29
Your past year of good experiences, much better than Chad. But still, Africa in third world.
01:03:38
That's the building I taught in, that we taught in. That's a church building. Yams. They grow lots of yams there and export them.
01:04:02
Teaching pastors and church planters. So that's that building. Much nicer than you'd see in Chad, typically.
01:04:09
Concrete, yeah, concrete block and then actually painted. The floor, I forget if it's concrete or tile, but it's nice.
01:04:17
Nicer. Probably the reason the, yeah, the reason in Nepal they have carpet is because they're sitting on the carpet.
01:04:24
You just don't find that in any other places. So here's the men I'm teaching. Taught systematic theology one over there.
01:04:38
It's not as hot as Chad. It's hot, but it's not as hot as Chad. I think it probably got 95 to 100.
01:04:51
Again, some of these men speak English well. At least half of them don't. So they can't get into college.
01:04:58
The ones who are there who speak English well have already gotten education at the college they just want more. And so they're hearing the
01:05:05
Americans teach, which is often kind of the thing. So we have notes, our teaching notes in English and in Wali, their language, depending on what you speak, what you spoke.
01:05:19
This is how I always dress. Hiking shoes, pants like this, water wicking, water wicking shirt, always very drab because mosquitoes love dark colors and they love the color blue.
01:05:33
And you don't want a malaria -carrying mosquito to get near you. So I dress, I'm a very drab person anyway, but this is kind of what
01:05:42
I wear all the time now. But anyway, you wear drab, Brian, you can, but you're going to be getting malaria soon.
01:06:00
They've got our notes in their language. Eating Q &A during lunch under this big tree.
01:06:09
It's the coolest place to be. A little bit of a breeze. This is rice and bits of fish.
01:06:18
They're really spicy. You know, no problem, I can eat that. This is also fish.
01:06:25
So one day they had fish and they put it in front of us. You know, I have a little looking right at me and scales and all that.
01:06:33
In fact, the three guys who were there, one a Brit and then two Americans, we all need fish.
01:06:39
It's funny, I don't want fish. Give us, and it's huge fish because they're very kind.
01:06:44
Other guys get little bits. We get these huge fish. No, please, we're fine. Give this to someone else.
01:06:53
Give me the small, I said, give me the smallest fish you can get. Least fish you can get. So I think it was that one there.
01:07:00
Burned to a crisp. I'm fine with that. I'm just, it scales.
01:07:05
I'm just peeling on a scale, finding a little me nibbling, nibbling, talking, praying for the rapture.
01:07:13
Taking off scale, repeat, repeat the process, repeated. It's fine. And then rice and whatever.
01:07:20
So that's, and then this is the last meal I had in Matthew and Ana's house. Bull and peanut sauce.
01:07:30
Fine. And goat. The goat is so, the meat is so tough. I couldn't get my teeth in it.
01:07:36
I'm not kidding. I'm gnawing on this bone with a little bit of meat on top. I had the same problem with Chad one time.
01:07:43
I grabbed a drumstick out of the big pot of drumsticks. I'm trying to eat this thing. My teeth were,
01:07:49
I must have really wimpy American teeth. I couldn't break into this meat. It was like leather.
01:07:55
I eventually just gave it to Ginny on my train and said, eat this. He wolfed that thing down in three seconds. And so when
01:08:01
I couldn't eat this, Matthew and Ana, I just can't. Wolfed it down. They must sharpen their teeth once a week just to be able to eat.
01:08:07
Um, anyway, the good fellowship. These are the guys. We'll have a similar number of guys.
01:08:16
Maybe two more. This is Matthew and Ana in his home to take the meal. His wife made this garment for us.
01:08:25
And uh, just okay.
01:08:30
So pray for us. Pray for additional financial support and ministry partners. Uh, the economy is, it is what it is.
01:08:38
I went to the grocery store the other day, bought 10 or 11 items and spent over a hundred bucks. And these work really a lot anyway, you know, the economy.
01:08:48
So, and one of our couples in support is generously just retired. So they had to drop out of support.
01:08:55
And one of our churches in Wisconsin is closing its doors, it seems. So these are just things that happen to missionaries.
01:09:01
So pray for additional support. I am going on the road a little more again to try to supplement, try to fill up the gap.
01:09:08
So if you could pray for that. And then pray for both of us when I'm overseas. And then pray for additional
01:09:13
PEP team members. There were four couples involved when we started. Now there are two going, the husbands are going overseas.
01:09:21
Myself and Ken Lovell, who you saw a few moments ago. We're it. He typically, because Ken speaks
01:09:27
Spanish, worked very well. He was a missionary in Peru for a few decades. We aim him typically at Spanish speaking parts of the world.
01:09:34
And I'm going everywhere else, Asia, Africa, and so forth. We need more full -time guys. So please be praying for that as well.
01:09:41
Need more full -time team members. We are utilizing adjuncts. Pastors in the states who have solid education and faithful ministry experience.
01:09:51
Your pastor is going to be one of them in 2045. And so God's using the adjuncts to fill in some gaps.
01:10:00
But we really need some full -time guys because there's just too much going on. All right. Any questions?
01:10:10
She's got a question. You mean today?
01:10:20
I don't think we're having Sunday school tonight. Next Sunday, though.
01:10:28
But you're excited about Sunday school. You're excited about Sunday school. Good for you.
01:10:35
Who's your teacher? You don't know. What?
01:10:43
Oh, well, you're excited. And everyone here is excited that you're excited. So next
01:10:49
Sunday morning, I assume you're having Sunday school next Sunday morning. It's scheduled for next Sunday morning. Don't miss it.
01:10:56
Good question. Yes. When and where do you go next? The next thing is Chad in October teaching hermeneutics.
01:11:07
The beginning of the year, the end of 23, the beginning of this year, quite a few trips.
01:11:14
Gap in the middle. I've just become the director of PEP. So now there's just more administration to do.
01:11:22
And because I knew 2025, I've got four trips planned and PEP administration going on.
01:11:29
I'll be in our churches like we're doing now. This summer and then fall a little bit.
01:11:36
So we're not doing much traveling this right about now. But October, we're going to Chad for two weeks.
01:11:43
And then 25, we've got planned Ghana twice, Chad once, and hopefully
01:11:50
Myanmar once if we can get into the capital city and if the pastors can come to meet.
01:11:56
And we're still working on Nepal and a few other places as well. Good. Yes, ma 'am.
01:12:23
I'm not sure
01:12:33
I do. So in some cases, there are churches out there that don't have pastors. In some cases, there are no churches in the villages.
01:12:43
I'll give you an example. Matthew Dena in Ghana. The Bible College is training men and Matthew is using
01:12:54
PEP as training men. Well, when we were there, we took a few days and drove around in a van.
01:13:00
And all these young Ghanaian men who were teaching were in the van.
01:13:10
We drive for a few hours, get off the dirt, right on dirt land, further and further in on land and stop.
01:13:21
And all of a sudden we get out and Timothy would say, I'm sorry,
01:13:27
Matthew Dena would say, this man is going to be pastoring a church here.
01:13:33
This man has been driving his motorcycle every weekend.
01:13:38
He works a job in the city. He drives two or three hours, wherever it is to this village.
01:13:45
He's been evangelizing in this village. And some people are coming to Christ. And so we now,
01:13:53
Matthew and this guy, maybe a few others, have gone to the village leaders and asked, can we have property?
01:14:01
Would you give us property for a church? And the village leaders were discussing and eventually come up with a decision.
01:14:08
And in most cases, it's yes, a lot of land, a whole lot of land, acres and acres of flat dirt.
01:14:16
Don't think in terms of grassy and beautiful trees and streams. That's not it. Flat, brown dirt.
01:14:24
So to answer your question, this village doesn't have a church. This man's been evangelizing in the church.
01:14:31
I mean, sorry, in the village. And now they have property. A building needs to be built.
01:14:38
But it will be somehow eventually built. A church will be planted. This man will pastor there.
01:14:44
So as we're training him, he'll be prepared to pastor there. So that's either there are churches in villages that don't have pastors.
01:14:54
And the guys we're training will end up going to those churches. Or there are many, many villages that are training the men who will pastor.
01:15:05
Does that answer your question? Yeah, that's good information that I'm not putting.
01:15:38
Wherever we go, I don't speak the language. So I can't ask those kinds of questions. None to the average pastor.
01:15:44
How's it going? Tell me about your church growth and so forth. I can't really ask those questions. And we're basically shuttled back and forth between where we're staying and the teaching back and forth and back and forth.
01:15:57
The language limitation is way higher. It minimizes the ability for us to have strong relationships with men to ask those kinds of questions.
01:16:07
And if I ask the leaders, so like in Chad, there's a group of 600
01:16:13
Baptist churches. When we started, it was 500. Now it's 600 in a
01:16:18
Baptist association. If I ask the leaders, they might have some idea, but they can't keep their thumb on what's happening everywhere in Chad either.
01:16:27
So I just don't. Are they, do many of them give up?
01:16:50
Yeah, yes, both. Just like, just like any pastor. Some, you know, they don't all serve for 40 or 50 years.
01:17:01
Some of them don't survive that long. Ministry's hard. It's also extremely hard when you're poor the whole time.
01:17:07
I mean, dirt poor, dirt, dirt, dirt poor. A lot of the men, we talk about the call to pastor, which
01:17:13
I talk about. This is such a thing as a call to pastor, which largely consists of spiritual giftedness that God has given you and the recognition of those gifts from other people.
01:17:24
But some men are like this. They become a Christian. They start growing in the church that they're in and they have two options in front of them.
01:17:32
I can dig ditches or I can farm or do whatever and be dirt poor. Or I could pastor and be dirt poor and my life will hopefully accomplish something for eternity.
01:17:44
For some men, it's just that kind of decision. They're going to be poor no matter what they do. And they decide,
01:17:50
I'd rather be poor and serve God and have something to take with me to heaven when it's all done.
01:17:57
Than just do a normal job that I would normally do. So, but yeah, there's discouragement and victories.
01:18:04
You know, every pastor experiences them and some men don't stay the course.
01:18:12
Mike, you have a question? At this moment?
01:18:21
No, not really. Yes. Yellow fever, some of the basics. I'm always taking malaria pills when
01:18:28
I'm there. So yes, the standard ones. Yes. COVID, you're asking about COVID. After COVID, it was crazy.
01:18:36
You can't get in if you haven't been vaccinated. And if you're going to be tested,
01:18:42
I was tested in airports. Like the time distance between me being tested here in the
01:18:48
States and actually landing in this country was such a great amount of time.
01:18:53
I'd actually get tested again in the airport. And the major airports had those kinds of medical options.
01:19:01
You could do that. Now, COVID is for the moment. Yeah, but the standard vaccinations, yes.
01:19:11
And so you just ask your local health department, what's going on in Ghana right now?
01:19:17
What's going on in Chad? Sleeping sick, you know, yellow fever, whatever it is, and you're vaccinated as you need to be.
01:19:26
Yes. There's not a lot.
01:19:37
So our question was, do most people have more than just their Bibles? Now, if you're in Chad and you speak
01:19:43
French well, a lot of commentaries and Bible study books and materials have been translated into French and you can get those, but they're really expensive.
01:19:53
So even if they have something available, it doesn't mean they can afford it. As far as like Sunday school materials, the kinds of things that we take for granted and use all the time, that stuff is of limited availability unless you're like French speaking.
01:20:09
But some of the places we go, Wali and Wah, there's nothing in Wali.
01:20:17
If you're in India, Hindi, there's nothing in Hindi. So it just depends where you're going.
01:20:26
But by and large, I mean, they just don't have what we have here. We have it and most of us can afford it.
01:20:34
Most of them, many of them don't have it because it's not available. And if it is available, they probably can't afford it.
01:20:45
Thoughts, questions, side remarks? Okay. Pastor, you want to close?
01:20:52
Thank you. We're grateful for your support. We appreciate this ministry and your pastor's wife, your pastor coming with me in 2025.
01:21:05
All right. Well, let's pray. Thank you, Father, for this good report tonight.
01:21:10
Thank you for the ministry of PEP and do pray for Scott, Victoria, for the support that's needed to continue that work for others to take up the mantle that has been left behind.
01:21:27
And just pray that you continue to prosper the work as long as the doors are open. We pray that you keep those doors open.
01:21:33
So, Lord, bless now, even as I travel home tonight, journeying mercies and continue to prosper the work, we pray.
01:21:43
We ask all this in Jesus' name, for his sake. Amen. All right.
01:21:49
Well, listen, have a good week this week. Serve the Lord wherever you are, whatever he's given you to do.