Report Pastor Training Trip May 2024

This pastor training conference was interesting since it was a joint effort between InTouch Ministries and International Celebration Association. The 30 Life Principals created by Charles Stanley, the former Pastor of First Baptist Atlanta and the founder of InTouch Ministries was the foundational content of the training sessions.

I was looking forward to the InTouch men meeting our team and I was assuming the chemistry and coordination would work well and it really did exceed my expectations. At the conclusion plans were being made for another training session in Berbice next year.

It was great catching up with the pastors I had previously met at the pastor training sessions.

Three pieces of technology were rolled out at the conference that had been 18 months in the planning stage. The first were the projectors provided by International Cooperating Ministries from Virginia. We are conducting an experiment in Region 1 to see how the pastors utilize this technology to provide Bible study materials to their congregations. What is the profile of the pastor that is most likely to put this technology to work in their ministry?

If this is used wisely over the next six to nine months and we are seeing discipleship growth then we will roll out the distribution of these projectors in other regions of the country.

The second technology was android tablets provided by InTouch that contained all the seminar content covered in the two day sessions as well as a seminary on a tablet. The content is robust from several translations of the Bible, several commentaries, Strongs Word Greek and Hebrew dictionary, childrens content and several Christian movies such as the Jesus film.

In Region 1 which was the first two day session we conducted training on the projectors. As expected some pastors were quick studies on the use of the technology and some were not. I was working with one pastor that could not get the concept of using a track pad on the projector by using you finger to move the cursor on the screen. Fortunately Alex is very accomplished in teaching technology and trained the pastor on the concept.

The afternoon of the second day of training was devoted to training on the tablet. We will have to follow up with the pastors over time to ensure they are getting the maximum use and how they integrate the resources in sermon preparation.

The third piece of technology was the “Torch” from InTouch. This is a four inch in diameter by 8 inch tall wireless sound system. In Charity we were in a church that measured 30x80 feet. It was hot but we had fans that were great but loud. Alex used three of the Torches (they network wirelessly over an FM frequency and also have a wireless headset the pastor/trainer can use). They were fantastic and the sound filled the room even when we had the fans on and there was a rainstorm on the metal roof of the church. This was the first time the InTouch people had used the Torches and we made several videos of them in operation so they could take the experience of using this technology in the field back to Atlanta. It was a huge success and we can really use these in the churches we work with. We used them all day and the batteries were still above 80%. These can recharge with solar. This is an incredibly low cost solution for small churches to have a state of the art sound system. They have hooks so they can be hung from the ceiling and very bright LED lights so they are both a lighting and sound solution for a church.

I am excited how technology can support these remote churches in a way I never thought possible.

Now for some statistics. We had 20 pastors trained in Region 1 near Venezuela and 10 pastors trained in Region 9 near Brazil. Each location had challenges for the pastors to travel. Region 1 was having a drought so the rivers where the pastors live were low and in some places the larger boats couldn’t use their large motors. They had to use small boats with 15 hours power engines to tow the larger boats through those low areas. In Region 9, the opposite problem arose. They had massive flooding and the bridge some of the pastors needed to use to travel to the training event collapsed. There was a lot of prayer around this situation and equipment showed up in time to raise the bridge and allow the pastors to travel across the river and make it to the training. We were so very grateful that both sets of pastors were able to come and be blessed by the wonderful conference.

Another highlight of the trip had to do with the Muslim lady who owned the restaurant where the Region 1 pastors ate.  She observed the prayer before the meals and someone saw her standing off to the side with her head bowed. As Jai went to her to pay the bill, she asked him to pray for her. He asked her exactly what she wanted prayer for. She said she wanted know the TRUTH. Jai used the Steps to Peace With God tract and explained all the verses that told the plan of salvation. She said it all made sense and she prayed to accept Jesus and have her sins forgiven. She said her husband is a devout Muslim and wouldn’t be happy but she knew that she wanted to become a Christian. Every month, Jai goes back to Charity where this took place as he travels the the river villages. He will be able to continue to talk to her and we pray he will be able to talk to her husband too. God is continuing to work in so many ways.

Thank you for your prayers for God’s ministry in Guyana.