We started WordPartners training in Ethiopia in 2010 with two groups of fifty-five total pastors. God used the training in these early days to transform pastors and instill a vision to transform many more pastors and churches. In 2012, one pastor described his experience with these words:
“When God called me to preach, I had only a Bible, but I knew that God had called me. But without proper training, false teaching came into the church… This training is an answer to prayer… God is about to do something great with us.”
Since then, the first two groups have graduated and sixteen graduates have risen up as “Mentor Trainers,” now leading over twenty training groups in Ethiopia. Here’s how one MTer from Iteya describes his ministry training other pastors:
“Some of the pastors I am training have been in church service for more than 20 years without well-defined principles to follow when teaching or preaching. They are tempted to copy from TV or from audios/videos that talk about personal experiences with a lack of focus on the Bible. But this training puts principles and tools in their hands by which they can see the Bible talk for itself. A transformation comes when their eyes are lifted from these TV preachers to the challenge of staying within the framework of what the Bible teaches. Knowing these principles, they have developed confidence in what they are doing.”
God has done something truly great in the country of Ethiopia!
