Fruitful ministry in dry ground

Last month we were privileged to do an Utumishi Course training for pastors and gospel workers in Mutomo, Kitui County. It was a long drive to get there - almost 2 hours of murram road after turning off Mombasa Road. But it was well worth it to meet with these dear brothers and sisters who are striving to serve their congregations and communities in very difficult conditions.

It was a joy to interact together and look at preaching the gospel from Old Testament narrative, servant leadership, the pastor's family, and above all to go back to the good news itself of the one who became utterly poor that we might have the riches of adoption to sonship. Fidel, James and Daniel did a great job delivering engaging teaching and training (katika Kiswahili) and it was wonderful to see the pastors working hard in groups, digging into Genesis 27, seeking the big point and crafting a sermon outline.

But this is dry ground - not just literally - the soil here in south Kitui is very sandy - but also socio-economically and gospel workers face enormous difficulties even surviving from week to week with congregations which are not able to support themselves let alone the pastor. These are realities we really need to wrestle with, even as we trust in the God who loves to use the weak and poor to shame the strong and rich and as we turn to the gospel of the Saviour who grew as a root out of dry ground.

Here are some resources on issues of poverty and finances in relation to gospel ministry:

We look forward to returning to Mutomo for another training later this month. Pray for us and for the pastors there, for faithfulness and gospel advance. If you're interested in hosting a training in your church network get in touch at iserve[at]iserveafrica.org.

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