Nairobi Translation: Back Home!

I am writing this post to wrap up our first ever Nairobi translation trip. Though we were not able to complete the entire 18 sessions in either Swahili or French, we did make good progress and learned a lot. Joel and Bonheur did a great job translating into their respective languages (Swahili and French). Below is an example of each as they worked on translation. (Joel in the first video and Bonheur in the second.)

Joel was able to complete 11 sessions of the Romans teaching and Bonheur completed 12 sessions. I was able to do the initial editing of all the sessions and then get them sent off to the Romans Project home base at Southwest Bible Church in Beaverton, Oregon. The recordings still need to be further edited - mainly cutting out blank spaces so that the teaching and translations flow smoothly together.

Joel, Bonheur, and I are checking our schedules in hopes of meeting back in Nairobi, or actually Karen, in the next month or two so as to finish the remaining sessions.

PLEASE PRAY that we would be able to find a block of 7 to 8 days in the near future so as to finish this project and then get them loaded onto new mp3 players for those who are working on the Romans Project challenge of reading Romans 20 times and writing it out  once by hand. There are already a number of people in Tanzania awaiting the completed translation of Swahili, so it is important that we finish this as soon as possible.

Thank you for your interest and prayer support of the Romans Project and particularly our translation efforts the past weeks near Nairobi, Kenya.

Nairobi Translation: Nearing the End

We had our last Sunday worship time for this trip together at Ken's church and then an afternoon at the safari.

Joel preached this morning from 1 Samuel 12:24 - "Only fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you." It was a good three point sermon with a lot of stories to illustrate. I could see the influence of his training at Dallas Theological Seminary, which he finished a few years ago, and his deep roots in the African culture that utilizes lots of stories to communicate a message. Joel was sharing with Bonheur and me yesterday about the influence his mother has had on him with her sharp Bible memory and excellent story telling. Bonheur helped translate for me as Joel preached in Swahili. Bonheur knows at least five languages well, so had no trouble translating for me. Ken and his congregation welcomed us warmly and it was a delight to worship with them.

After church we all piled into Ken's vehicle and headed back to the Subiaco center and had lunch. (Ken's son, David, is pictured with Joel and Bonheur) Then from lunch we went to the safari that Matt, Justin, and I had attempted to go to with Ken during our May Romans Project trip. At that time we had purchased passes for the Nairobi National Safari, but then we were denied entrance because the Chinese prime minister was visiting and no one else was supposed to enter the park. Ken, however, managed to get us in a side entrance, but military guards kept us contained in one small section riding around in circles seeing the same animals all afternoon.

This time it was completely different. The park had given us vouchers to be used by the end of the calendar year, so Ken and I decided to take Joel and Bonheur along with his three kids and niece. I thought of Matt and Justin the whole time as we saw numerous animals: baboons, zebras, gazelles, giraffes, ostriches, hippos, antelope, and much more. Ken had really hoped to show us a lion, so we scoured the huge park in search of a lion, but didn't find them in their usual places. Just as it had gotten dark enough to turn on our lights and as we were only a few miles from the exit gate, we finally came upon a lion in the road. It walked in front of us a ways and then sat on the side of the dirt road just 10 feet from the vehicle as we passed by. It was quite the thrill to see.

The perseverance with which we pursued our goal of seeing a lion this afternoon illustrated for me the perseverance that Joel and Bonheur have exemplified in their translation efforts this past week and a half. I thank God for these men and their diligence to present themselves as living, holy, and acceptable sacrifices to God in their translation efforts. Tomorrow is our last full day of work and both have their sights set on completing one more session. Bonheur hopes to finish session 12 and Joel session 11.

PLEASE PRAY that God would grant them grace to work well throughout the day.

Tuesday morning we leave to go back to our respective countries. Bonheur and I  leave for the airport at 5am and Joel leaves on a bus later in the morning.

PLEASE PRAY that God watches over us during our travels and that we make our destinations safely.

PRAY also that God would allow us another block of time in the near future to finish the remaining sessions of translations.

Nairobi Translation: A Typical Day

The delay in getting an update out should give you some idea of what a "typical day" entails. We are working from morning until almost midnight most days with breaks just for meals.

We meet for breakfast at 7:30am and enjoy a meal of cornflakes and something similar to shredded wheat biscuits. There is warm milk to pour over it which quickly turns into a warm, soggy mush. The milk is local - i.e. on the property of the Subiaco retreat center where we are staying. As you can see by the picture below, they grow their own produce. The overall property is much bigger than this and has livestock and other garden areas. The dirt is a rich red color and reminds me of the soil in the state of Georgia. Anyway, back to breakfast. Joel and Bonheur also fix toast to go with a hard boiled egg. And then there's coffee, tea, or hot chocolate with the fresh warm milk.

We head off to translate (or edit, in my case) from 8:30am until lunch at 1:00pm. Joel and I have two rooms in the wooden house and Bonheur has moved from his room in the small stone building to a small sitting room in the main building. We took four thick blankets from the room I sleep in and hung them over the windows to dampen the outside noises. The students left several days ago and thus the whole place has been quieter.

Several times an hour Joel has translation questions for me that I can assist him with immediately since we are in the same location. Then every hour or so I go over to the main building to check on Bonheur and he usually has written down several questions for me to address all at once. In the midst of answering translation questions, I work on editing their previous translation sessions. The computer I'm using is still going extremely slow, but I'm thankful that the one's they are using have not had problems. Once I finish editing a session, I then have them make corrections. At first, Bonheur didn't understand that when Scott gave a longer passage to be read that he was supposed to read it on the recording. So those had to be fixed for the first three sessions. On occasion both of  them will overlook a phrase or sentence to translate. Often it has been one that gave them problems and then they never went back to it. I also edit out noises that appear in the translators' track (such as dogs barking, planes flying overhead, etc.) especially when it overlaps with Scott talking. If they are not edited out at this point, then they get all meshed together in the final version. Spacing of when Scott finishes a phrase and when Joel or Bonheur being is another common thing to listen for.

 At one o'clock we meet up for lunch. It is a joy to hear Joel and Bonheur sharing back and forth what they are learning from Romans as they translate. This is exactly what I have been praying for them and I'm sure you have as well. Thank you! They also have fun with some of the words or phrases that Scott repeats from Romans such as: "Me genoito" for "God forbid", or "doreon" for "freely", and the phrase "But now". Other things that have caught their attention are concepts like: "coming unglued", "bookends", and others. Short rests after lunch on the lawn are enjoyed while I go and transfer files from their computers to the one I'm using for editing.

Dinner is at 7pm when we take another hour for our meal. The food is set out in a self-serve manner. One of the things that Bonheur particularly enjoys at lunch or dinner is the fresh juice they have - mango, papaya, banana, avocado, etc. Again, I think they are all grown here at the center. We often have bananas, mangos, or pineapple as a fruit for one of the meals and a salad of sorts for the other. I try to watch what I eat in the salad selection so as not to get sick. Joel's weakness is for the hot pepper sauce they have on the tables. He puts it on most everything. One night he didn't see the bottle of pepper sauce so used a shaker filled with cayenne pepper and won't soon forget that experience. They also have filtered water in pitchers on each of the tables.

After dinner we head back to our work until around 10pm for Bonheur and 11pm for Joel and me. After we get back to the main building where there is Internet access, I check my email and write Cathryn and, if I have the energy, I post a new blog.

Presently, Bonheur has finished translating session 10 of 18 and Joel completed session 9 before dinner and started in on session 10 after dinner. I caught up with them on editing this afternoon, so was able to prepare this post. We are grateful to the Lord for your prayers.

PLEASE PRAY that Bonheur and Joel would have stamina to continue. Joel has mentioned a few times that he can't imagine doing all 18 session in one block of time. It is really hard work and mentally draining. Pray that God would grant them good rest each night and that our fellowship around the table would also encourage them and bring renewed energy for translation.

Preaching at Ken's church: Kibera slums, Nairobi

Ken Onywoki is the Romans Project National Director for Kenya. He is a hard worker for the Romans Project and compassionate pastor at his church in the Kibera slums. God has used Ken and his regional coordinators to expose several thousand pastors and church workers to the Romans Project this year - many of those being in western Kenya. During our May trip Ken took Rick Calenberg, Matt Miranda, and me (see past posts) to that region where we had a day seminar for over 1,000 church leaders. It was the first time I ever taught the Bible under an enormous avocado tree. Well tomorrow there will be no avocado tree in Kibera that I remember, but there should be a church filled with hungry people for God's Word. I plan to preach from John 2:1-11, the wedding at Cana and Jesus' first sign - turning water into wine.

PLEASE PRAY that God would enable me to preach in a clear, straightforward manner that exalts Christ as our Bridegroom and his work on the cross as the perfect provision for the cleansing of His Bride, the Church.

From Place to Place: Day 2

We're on our second day of translation work and in our second location. Each day it has taken a lot of prayer and perseverance to first communicate the need and then secure a satisfactory setting for translation. Subacio is a Catholic retreat center in Karen on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. It is known as a place of quiet for meditation and prayer. While most talk in quiet tones, yet the things that create havoc for recording are cars and trucks passing just meters from the main building, doors squeaking and slamming when opening and closing, guard dogs barking at night, and 23 coed college students from the Netherlands unacquainted and unconvinced about the desire for quiet -- especially upon arrival at 1 a.m.

Oh, the challenges of a project like this!

PLEASE PRAY that God would provide the right set up each day to carry out this mission of translating Scott Gilchrist's (senior pastor at Southwest Bible Church, Beaverton, Oregon) 18 sessions of teaching through the New Testament book of Romans into French and Swahili.

The following pictures show Bonheur and where he was translating today.

The following pictures show Joel and where he was translating today.

Translation Work: Day 1

We are three. Bonheur from Rwanda, Joel from Tanzania, and I - the new kid on the continent.

I arrived late last night and nearly had an uneventful flight from Czech to Nairobi. In the Nairobi airport they take your temperature and mine was in the "red". It was projected up on a screen, so was no secret to all in line behind me that something wasn't right. I failed the test five times in a row waiting 5 minutes between tries. Then I had to fill out a long form with contact information in the case of a "complication". One question asked if I had been in the dreaded "E-zone". No, I hadn't been to Liberia and it's neighboring countries in the past 21 days. In the end, it seems that my medicine against malaria was the culprit. At least there were no bells and whistles. I met with Ken Onywoki on the other side of the visa desk and check out line. We enjoyed fellowship on the drive to the retreat center where we will be working on translating Scott Gilchrist's Romans talks from Ethiopia in May, 2014.

Bonheur arrived by plane earlier in the morning and Joel arrived today, Friday, just before lunch from his overnight bus ride from Tanzania. I started Bonheur out with translation while Joel freshened up from his night sleep on the bus - yes, he can sleep anywhere and through anything. We all met up for lunch and then tried to find suitable places for them to work the rest of the day on translating.

Expectations of the translation process are constantly being adjusted. I expected there to be a period of getting used to the recording program and Scott's teaching style, but I didn't think it would take the better part of a day. The initial goal was to translate 2 sessions a day for 9 days to cover all 18 sessions on this trip. By 10 pm tonight Bonheur was able to complete session 1, after having lost half of his work around 7 pm. Joel is taking a little longer with things, but is a determined learner. They are both hard workers and conscientious to offer their best to the Lord. We have come to realize that there is a difference between interpreting live at a conference and listening to recorded messages and translating.

PLEASE PRAY that God would use the teaching of Romans in their own lives while they diligently work to translate these rich truths into French (Bonheur) and Swahili (Joel).

Back to Africa: Nairobi Translation Trip

Preparations - Preparations - and Packing!

The past two weeks I've logged untold hours editing the Romans talks from Scott's teaching in Ethiopia during our May conference. There was a need to clean up the English track by deleting the other language that Scott's mic picked up during the conference. It took 4+ hours to clean up each session and their were 18 sessions. But now, by God's grace, I'm able to head off to Nairobi, Kenya early tomorrow morning to meet up with Bonheur from Rwanda and Joel from Tanzania who will be translating the Romans talks into French and Swahili respectively.

I packed all day and Cathryn treated me to an early Thanksgiving meal for two. Now for a few hours of sleep before she takes me out to the airport. I should arrive in Nairobi tomorrow (Thursday 27 Nov) in the evening. Ken Onywoki, RP's Kenyan National Director, will pick me up from the airport and take me to a retreat center where the other men and I will work until Dec 9th on recording and editing the two languages. We appreciate all the prayer support you can provide us with.

Our Last Conference Together in Ghana: Please Pray!

We are waiting for Abel, our national director in Ghana, to pick us up for today's conference. Today is our last conference together. Abel has worked hard to broadcast the Romans Project here in Accra and throughout Ghana. Our previous two conference (one in Tamale and the other in Kumasi) were received very well. Not as many people have completed the Romans challenge of reading Romans 20 times and writing it out once, but they have been encouraged to do so and express an eagerness to give themselves to immersing themselves in the Scriptures. God has blessed Rick and me in being able to communicate the importance of expository preaching and how to study a passage of Scripture and preach it to God's people.

Tonight Matt, Justin, Johnathan, and I will be heading back to our respective homes. I was initially scheduled to go with Rick to Nigeria and teach at the Jos Evangelical Theological Seminary, however with the unrest occurring in Nigeria it did not seem wise or absolutely necessary for me to go. The Romans Project board is supportive of this decision. 

There were 118 people killed in a double bombing in Jos just a few days ago and then two missionaries were robbed of everything they had while traveling to another seminary in the Jos area. Their escort was evidently shot and killed. And following this news we also learned of two villages further out from Jos being attacked and numerous people being shot and killed. 

Thus I have decided not to go this time to Jos, but Rick has prayed about his situation and has decided to still make the trip. Please pray for Rick as he travels to Abuja on Sunday and then on to Jos. There are several routes to travel in getting from Abuja to Jos. Pray that God leads him and whoever drives him to take the safest route. 

Rick is very much a people person and feels that his strength of encouragement is needed to go and encourage the believers in their situation in Nigeria. He will be teaching the course we were originally scheduled to team teach and will also have many other opportunities of ministry. Rick and his family spent 10 years ministering in and around Jos in past years, so there are many dear friends and brothers and sisters in Christ that he feels compelled to go visit. Again, please pray for him and for the ministry opportunities.

Thank you for your willingness to pray for this trip. God has blessed us abundantly and carried us through this trip by your prayers and his providential care for us. Please pray that we would finish well together today, that God would be glorified, and that these pastors and church leaders would be built up in their faith and effectiveness for ministry.

Snapshots of Scott: Out From Behind the Pulpit

Many times we think of the speaker of a conference as the "man behind the pulpit", thus I wanted to share a few snapshots to show Scott out from behind the pulpit.

Scott rode the early bus each day to the conference which meant he was there to mix it up with Matt, Justin, and Josh. These were great opportunities to laugh and joke around while setting up the recording and video equipment for the day's conference.

While Scott needed the time during the shorter breaks to retreat to the "green room" and regroup for the next session, during the lunch break and after the last session of the day he would hang around and mix it up with the participants of the conference. I often found Mihret, one of his three translators, and Dr. Masimba (or "Mr. Boston" as Scott referred to him) interacting with Scott as well as small groups of men flocking around him to ask follow up questions and thank him for the day's teaching.

Bach at the hotel he enjoyed chatting with Mr. Mulatu, the owner of the hotel and a kind, Christian man.

One of the highlights of these "out-from-behind-the-pulpit" times came during one of our early morning set-up sessions with Matt, Justin, and Josh. Matt, who really enjoys his coffee, brought a coffee grinder and air press that caught Scott's attention one morning. Scott was so taken by it that he enthusiastically endorsed Matt's ingenuity to provide "home-brewed" coffee on the road. I can think of no better way to end this short blog post than to let Scott share with you his endorsements of Matt's coffee.

Thanks, Scott, for these memorable moments during the conference.

Romans Project in Ghana: Conference #1

Greetings from Tamale, Ghana!

Today we have our first of four conferences over the next five days. We are in Tamale, Ghana which is a very strong Muslim region in northern Ghana.

We have traveled all day yesterday from Accra to Tamale. Last night we arrived at our hotel, had dinner, and went to bed. God blessed us all with a decent night sleep and we are eager for the conference today.

During breakfast Johnathan Todd, mission pastor from Grace Evangelical Church, Memphis, TN led us in a devotional from Romans 1:11-12. Johnathan joined us yesterday at the airport. He had not made it in on Saturday as originally planned due to bad weather in New York, so arrived just 30 minutes before our domestic flight from Accra to Tamale left. God is good!

Pray for us for today's conference. We are to leave right now.

Romans Conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

This past week was so packed that it will be hard to describe. Though I tried several times to give updates, the intensity of the work with the conference and the lack of internet access greatly hindered communication.

The Lord abundantly blessed the conference. Scott Gilchrist, senior pastor at Southwest Bible Church in Beaverton, Oregon taught through the entire epistle to the Romans. There were over 200 pastors and church leaders in attendance from 20 different denominations. There were numerous people giving testimony to the blessings they received from this week in Romans. One of the highlights came Wednesday afternoon as Scott ended the day with Romans chapter 8. After expounding the final two verses - For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor thing to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (vss. 38-39) - the entire crown burst into praise of God. It was a spontaneous display of gratitude offered up to God. Even Scott and the translator joined in with the others and clapped in a thank-offering to God. That was a powerful moment and a great way to conclude the day's teaching on the great doctrine of justification by faith.

Yesterday the conference drew to a close with a very emotional ending. Scott concluded the conference by giving tribute to John Corey, the visionary of this project. John and his family's 35 years of missionary service in Africa began in Ethiopia 50 years ago. He came to dearly love the Ethiopians and one of his final  wishes before dying of cancer two years ago was that Scott's preaching of Romans be translated into Amharic, the national language of Ethiopia. That was the impetus for this conference. The pastors and church leaders were moved to think that such effort would be taken to translate this teaching into their language. Some of the pastors in the cities speak English and can benefit from the mp3 player containing Scott's preaching through books of the Bible, but 85 percent of the people live in rural regions and are unable to listen to English. By translating the teachings of Romans into Amharic, the Romans Project will be able to effectively reach outside the cities.

God blessed the technical aspect of the conference by allowing us to successfully record all 18 sessions. We will soon have those recordings edited and made ready to add to the mp3 player and thus expand the effectiveness of the Romans Project throughout Ethiopia. In fact, we have contracted with an Ethiopian brother named Wakshuma (director of the Trans World Radio efforts in Ethiopia) to both edit the recording for Amharic speakers, and prepare those recordings for translation into other target languages in Ethiopia. The first of those being Oromo - Wakshuma's first language.

Ethiopia is the second largest nation in Africa with 94 million people, of which over 18 percent are evangelical Christians. The potential for taking the Romans Project to that group alone is great. Last night I spent time with a young man named Siltan who heads up a national movement among what he referred to as born again believers in the Coptic Orthodox church. This is a growing movement within the church that is 41 million members strong. He is eager to utilize the Romans Project in his ministry among such evangelical priest in this church.

Thank you for your prayers concerning this week-long conference. The Lord answered your prayers in many ways and richly blessed the conference.

 Scott preaching and Girma translating

 Justin, Matt, and Josh interviewing pastors

Wakshuma will edit the English and Amharic recordings and translate into Oromo

A Quick Update from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Our internet access has been incredible scarce. Right now we are in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and working hard on a week-long conference in which pastor Scott Gilchrist is teaching through the entire epistle to the Romans with translation into the language of Amharic. Please pray for us as the conditions are very challenging here in Ethiopia. By God's grace we were able to work out some kinks in our set-up situation on Sunday afternoon. Today, our first full day of the conference went well. We were able to get all of the sessions recorded for which we are very grateful. Please continue to pray for the remaining days. Right now we are sitting in the Hilton hotel lobby as they are the only place in Addis that has internet access. Our hotel was supposed to have it, but it has not been working. Updates may be scarce for the next few days.

Romans Project: Conference Three - Gahini, Rwanda

Today was a taste of heaven African style. We had an hour and a half ride through the Rwandan countryside to Gahini which was filled with every hue of green imaginable. There were stands of sugar cane, green rolling hills, fields of maize, and banana plantations all over the place. This area of country is rich in bananas. I was mesmerized by the beauty of God's creation here in Rwanda.

The main road was the best I've been on in Africa. In fact, I've come to understand that Rwanda is a bit of an anomaly to much of Africa. Albert told us several stories about their president, Kagame, who has tirelessly worked to bring order to the country and curb the corruption that seems so rampart elsewhere throughout the continent. Yes, they still battle poverty, but its poverty with a different face. Even the village seemed to have a sense of order and dignity to them. One billboard read, "Corruption undermines your integrity, sweep it away." 

This atmosphere of political stability provides a prime opportunity for advancing God's kingdom through training pastors to preach the gospel. Albert told us that over 90 percent of the people live in rural areas and would be classified as poverty level. Farming is the primary occupation in these areas. These farming pastors welcomed us with open arms and were amazed that we would come out to the rural areas to train them in God's Word. This place is fertile soil for the training of pastors through the Romans Project. In fact, on this very site in 1935 revival broke out that spread throughout other areas of Africa. Perhaps God would use Albert Mabasi and the Romans Project to raise up pastors for another revival in and from Rwanda.

As we entered the simply built, church structure, 100 rural Rwandan pastors were bursting with joy through song. One song went like this: "I found my God to be a good God,  my problems are no problem to him." Their clapping and dancing and singing were contagious. Their enthusiasm for learning equaled the intensity of their singing. I was encouraged to see them raise their hands and stand to give answers to many of Rick's questions during the first session - even when several of his questions were intended to be merely rhetorical. As Rick continued teaching, I gleaned information from Albert on the educational background and cultural context of these men. This group was drastically different from the previous two conferences held in the capital of Kigali at Bible schools. God graciously allowed both Rick and me to adapt to the situation and communicate the exact same truths and principles from God's Word, yet in a very different manner of delivery. Our illustrations and examples were drawn from their context of life. So, the lesson on how to study the Bible incorporated illustrations linked with growing crops and the lesson on how to preach God's Word utilized examples from meal preparation.

When Bonheur, our translator for whom you prayed, told me afterwards that he had rarely experienced the kind of oneness while translating for a speaker as he had with us today. I immediately attributed it to your prayers and God's work. Albert, too, was so impressed with how well the time went that he closed by giving credit to the prayers of the saints and the work of God. God richly blessed our time together and greatly honored your prayers. The host pastor pleaded with Albert and us to come back so as to provide them with more training in how to "handle accurately the word of truth" (see 2 Timothy 2:15).

Thank you for praying.

Please Pray: Conference Three - Gahini

This is our last of three conferences that Albert Mabasi was instrumental in planning. It is out in the eastern side of Rwanda in a town called Gahini. There will be 100 rural pastors present. This is really where the need is - rural pastors. Yesterday Albert said that 80 percent of pastors in Rwanda fall into the category of rural pastors with little to no opportunity for training. It is obvious that Albert has a large heart for this type of group.

Please pray for all the logistic involved in seeing these pastors receive at least a portion of training today. We heard testimony from one such pastor yesterday at the end of the conference as he had already read Romans 20 times and written out over half of Romans. (See last picture on last post - Albert is behind the pulpit and the rural pastor is in the middle.)

Pray for our travel today. I don't know what the rural roads are like in Rwanda, but in other countries it can be challenging.

Pray also for Bonheur, our newly discovered translator, to make it on time as he will travel by public bus.

Pray that Rick and I would be able to teach in a way that communicates the truths of God's Word well to those who have had less educational opportunities.

Please keep Matt and Justin in your prayers as they have an almost impossible task of posting all that they are working on throughout the day on internet - an internet that just barely works. Pray that they would not be discouraged as they are doing an excellent job in videoing the conference, interviewing pastors, and taking shots of life in Rwanda. The obstacle, though, is that when they try to post on social media the internet is either non-existent or so slow their unable to put the post up.

Know that your prayers are greatly appreciated. Without prayer this ministry will not take place and the four of us - Rick, Matt, Justin, and myself - can attest to that. Thank you and praise God!

Romans Project: Conference Two - Kigali, Rwanda

Today was our second conference in Kigali. It was hosted by the Africa College of Theology, which has a very nice and new facility. They provided us with the largest room in the building and it was packed. The principal, Dr. Gerard Sserywagi, made opening remarks and then introduced us to those present.

Rick taught the first session. He began by orienting the pastor-students on the history of the Romans Project and it's goal to motivate pastors and lay leaders to be life-long students of God's Word. Then he moved into a teaching block of instructing and exhorting preachers to preach directly from the text of Scripture. That seems so obvious, but so many preachers - and not just here in Africa - are not preaching from the very text of Scripture. They may begin a sermon by reading a passage from the Bible, but then they go off and tell amusing anecdotes instead of expounding the truths found in that particular passage.

I had asked for prayer in a previous post for good translators. English is not as widely spoken in Rwanda as it is in other countries we've ministered. God provided us with a young man named Bonheur who is an incredibly gifted translator. He originally was selected to go with us Saturday to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to translate pastor Scott Gilchrist's teaching through Romans into French. Today he was available to translate for us into Kinyarwanda and will also go with us tomorrow to Gahini for our third conference.

The enthusiasm of those present was exciting. I continue to be amazed at how eager they are to learn these basic principles of observation, interpretation, and application to study God's Word. The interaction of the participants as we worked through these steps was encouraging. They seemed to really be catching on. When we transitioned into the process of organizing their findings from Bible study to Bible exposition, the expressions on their faces showed they were making the connection and discovering the usefulness of these simple steps. Praise God!

Albert Mabasi, the Romans Project coordinator for Rwanda, closed out the conference with a challenge for the participants to complete the reading and writing of Romans in one month. When he asked who desired to take the challenge, all raised their hands. Please pray for all to finish strong.

Please Pray: Kigali Conference Two

We are leaving for our second conference in Kigali and would covet your prayers. More students have signed up in the past 24 hours and now we are up to 80 students. Albert said that it is possible the number would increase. Pray that the right people will be there to be challenged to give themselves to study God's Word and apply it to their own lives and ministries. And then to boldly proclaim it in their churches.

We visited the conference site last night, the African College of Theology, as Rick was invited to give a chapel message. He exhorted the students from Romans 12:10 to be devoted to one another in brotherly love. There are several different denominations represented at the school, but evidently it is difficult at times for denominations to join together in something like the Romans Project. Pray the students will find commonality in their shared reverence for the Scriptures.

Pray for Rick and me that we would have the energy of body and clarity of mind to encourage these pastors and future pastors with the challenge of the Romans Project, to make the reading, studying, and preaching of God's Word a life-long goal.

Romans Project: Conference One - Kigali, Rwanda

Today was the first ever Romans Project in Rwanda. Albert Mabasi did a great job, by God's grace, to get the word out about the conference. Rick Calenberg, International Director of the Romans Project, first met Albert in January of this year. Their acquaintance was made through a mutual contact named Benjamin Nkusi, director of ALARM (African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries). I can see why Albert was recommended for the project and why Rick chose to launch the project here in Rwanda with Albert's help. Albert is a humble brother in Christ who is passionate about encouraging pastors to study and preach God's Word.

Today's conference took place in the capital of Kigali at the Assemblies of God Bible Training Center. The principal of the school, Dr. Fiani, is a friend of Albert's. He had his students ready for the two and a half hour conference by the time we arrived. We started right on time, which is not always expected in Africa. I suspect the fact that this was an all school activity accounted for the difference. These students were from 16 different denominations and spanning a range of ages. Most all of them are presently pastoring churches.

Though we had to cut the normal program by about two  hours, we were still able to cover most of the topics. Rick started with introductions of the whole team - Justin Vanier, who arrived in the early hours of Tuesday, Matt Miranda, and myself. Matt and Justin teamed up to take both video and still shots of the conference and surrounding area while Rick and I taught the various sessions. Dr. Fiani did an excellent job translating into Kinyarwanda for us. A good translator  makes a huge difference. Please pray that God would provide such quality translators at the following two conferences.

The Lord had prepared our time with this group wonderfully, in that three weeks earlier Dr. Fiani had taught an overview of Romans and given the students an assignment to write out the gospel in letter form to their congregations. During lunch Augustine, a teacher at the training center and pastor of a church, told me how perfectly our teaching today fit into what the students had just been through. This gave them motivation to preach through the book of Romans and then some concrete steps on how to study a passage and prepare a sermon. In Augustine's view, the churches throughout Rwanda are shallow in their knowledge of God's Word. Thus there is a great need to have pastors trained to preach God's Word.

Thank you for your prayers. It was evident that God had orchestrated many aspects of this first conference in Rwanda. Praise the Lord!

Pray, Pray, and Pray: Three Conferences in Rwanda

We are about to leave for our first conference in Kigali, Rwanda. Albert Mabasi, the Romans Project point person, has organized three conferences for us: today - Wednesday, tomorrow - Thursday, and day after tomorrow - Friday.

Today we have a mini-conference of just two and a half hours. We are expecting roughly 50 people. Tomorrow will also be in Kigali, but in a different location and will be a full conference program of roughly four hours. On Friday we will be outside of Kigali focusing on pastors in rural areas. The conference will be held in Gahini and is expect to have 100 in attendance.

Each of these conferences focuses on a little different type of audience. While all are pastors and church leaders, the first one is focused more on a younger group. The second group is comprised of pastors who have been in ministry longer and some who are in ministry but also presently being trained. We spoke with the director of the Baptist college in Kigali yesterday and he was eager to extend the invitation to his 37 students. While these first two groups are targeted with pastors and future pastors in the city, the final conference will focus on pastors in the rural areas. This demographic differences also reflect the language differences. Today and tomorrow we should expect more to understand English and Friday will likely  need to be with translation into Kinyarwanda - the national language.

Please be praying for us! I will try to give updates at the end of each day, Lord willing.

A Travel Day in Africa

Romans Project trips are not filled solely with the excitement of conferences, but also with the mundane of travel. Sitting in the comfort of your living room with your computer on your lap and a cup of coffee or tea by your side may tempt you to romanticize the travel aspect of mission trips. All I can say is, "Don't be tempted to go down that road. It may not be quite like you envision it."

10 o'clock in the morning on Sunday May 4th, we left our hotel in Eldoret, Kenya for the airport. Yet another car ride with three of us crammed into the back of a compact car. It would be fine for three young African children, but for three grown men, it's anything but comfort. How the driver navigates his way through the quagmire of city chaos in Kenya is incomprehensible. Add to the traffic a swarming sea of people pushing their way along the sides of the road and you wonder why there are not more fatalities. Actually we have not seen a single accident thus far. Certainly that must be another indication of what theologians call "God's common grace". God's grace extended to both the righteous and unrighteous whether in the rising of the sun or the sending of rain, as Jesus teaches in Matthew 5:45.

At the airport we utilized our waiting time by helping Matt Miranda with a video interview of Ken Onywoki. During the past days together we realized Ken had some valuable insights to share with other national and regional directors of the Romans Project. This is exactly the reason Matt came on this trip. Both Ken and Matt did an excellent job. Recording was completed before take off from Eldoret to Nairobi, and Matt completed editing the nine minute video, comprised of ten short clips, before we boarded the plane in Nairobi later that night for Kigali, Rwanda. And keep in mind that this was a travel day in Africa.

We arrived in Nairobi around 1:00 pm. Ken had the daunting task of transporting us across Nairobi to collect additional luggage and then back to the airport, before he had to leave on a trip to another city by 3:00 pm. Needless to say, it didn't work out as originally planned. Traffic was so bad that we didn't make it back until 6:00 pm, though we did add a short detour to see where he and his wife, Claire, live with their three children. Not only does traffic work against you, but so do the neighborhood roads just off the main thoroughfares. The pounding that both man and machine take from driving on neighborhood roads in Africa is a harrowing experience. And that is putting it mildly.

At this point we have been traveling for eight solid hours. Ah, but finally we are back at the airport; only to wait another five and a half hours before we board our flight to Kigali, Rwanda. I will say that "Kenya Airways - The Pride of Africa" goes the extra mile to pamper their customers. Rick assured Matt and me that these flights always have a warm meal. And sure enough they did. We had breakfast in Eldoret at 8:00 am, lunch at Ken's place outside of Nairobi around 3:00 pm, and finally dinner on Kenya Airways about 12:30 am today, May 5th. We arrived in Kigali at 12:30 am, 15 minutes after take-off from Nairobi - with an hour time zone change in midair. That's just another aspect that goes along with travels; remembering where you are, and what time it is.

Albert Mabasi, our Rwandan host and coordinator of three Roman Projects over the next five days, met us in front of the airport with a kind smile and firm handshake. "Welcome to Rwanda!"

The Romans Project in Kimilili, Kenya

After two hours of hard driving crammed into a compact car, we arrived at a church on the edge of Kimilili, Kenya. The last stretch was on red dirt roads with an assortment of "holes" filled with water and "hills" high enough to get high centered on if not taken at the appropriate angle. We drove through rural western Kenya, and it was beautiful. Yes, some of the people live in dirt huts with thatched roofs, but I will say that i see a lot more smiles on poeples' faces here than in much of Europe.

As we entered the area of Kimilili where the church was located, we were greeted with a huge - and I mean huge - banner with all the details of the Romans Project. Ken, and his regional coordinator, bishop Charles Naibei, together with a committee of 10 others, canvassed Kimilili and up to 40 km in every direction with personal invitations, three huge banners, and a car driving around for the past three days with a loud speaker on top announcing and reminding pastors and church leaders of today's Romans Project.

The church building was way too small to accommodate the expected 1500 participants so they set up plastic chairs and took the wooden pews out into the courtyard. In the center, under an enormous avocado tree, they constructed a platform from which we were to teach. I've never experienced anything quite like this in all my years of ministry, and it's not just because we don't have avocado trees in the Czech Republic.

In the end, 1280 pastors and church leaders showed up eager to learn. It's not so much that the numbers are large, but that the large numbers show the people are hungry for God's Word. This simple, yet profound challenge of the Romans Project to read Romans 20 times and write it out once in a notebook is spreading like wildfire. In testimony after testimony of those who have completed the challenge we are hearing of lives being changed by the power of God's Word. When pastors saturate their hearts and minds with the message of the gospel in Romans, their lives are being transformed. In fact, their entire ministries are being transformed and their people are being properly fed God's Word. Oh, the joy of hearing how the simplicity of preaching and teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ transforms the lives and ministries of these pastors!

Ken Onywoki: Friends, Sending Church, Mission Field

Our first overnight was spent just outside of Nairobi in the guest quarters of Ken's friends, Gabriel and Rachel. They were gracious hosts providing us with very comfortable accommodations and a nice breakfast shared with them in their home the next morning. Around the table we enjoyed a wonderful meal and great fellowship with them as we learned of their involvements in their local church, New Life Mission. This church serves as Ken's sending agency in his mission field of pastoring a church in the Kibera slums of Nairobi.

In January, during my first Romans Project trip to Africa, Ken told me that another church in Nairobi had asked him to be their pastor. It would have meant a larger church and more stable salary. Yet he declined the offer, knowing there would be no one to replace him at his church in the slums. He didn't have the heart to leave the church in Kibera without a shepherd.

Yesterday I gained another perspective on Ken and his heart for the lost in the slums of Kibera. He walked us through the slums and to his church before we flew to Eldoret in western Kenya for the conference. It is hard to fully describe the experience of walking to the church in the heart of the slums. There are a number of churches there and as we walked by one of them, he told us that several of his members had been "coaxed" over to it. What was his response to the other church? He thanked them for offering his members a place to worship and leaving him more room in his church building to reach out to other lost souls with the gospel. Ken said that as long as it was a church that preaches Christ, then he's okay with it. "After all," he said, "there's only one Chief Shepherd of the Church, and that is Christ." Ken is content to rejoice that Christ is being preached in the Kibera slums of Nairobi, Kenya and that now their church has more room to grow in an otherwise confining and chaotic mass of humanity.