Acts 29’s Church in Hard Places team is currently training 155 church planters from poor and remote communities around the world. These church planters are part of the Church in Hard Places apprenticeship which provides training in church planting, leadership, theology, and more over two years. Every apprentice is assigned to a regional cohort, and though much of the training is completed virtually, apprentices gather together with their cohort annually for three days of intensive training. The expectation is that many of the apprentices will be prepared for assessment with Acts 29 at the end of their training.
We recently held a training intensive in Nairobi, Kenya for 24 aspiring church planters across East Africa who are part of the CiHP apprenticeship. These pastors are ministering in hard places such as inner city slums and remote rural villages where access to gospel-centered theological training is rare.
In East Africa, the prosperity gospel and false prophetic ministries are misleading many people. These deceptive heresies teach that God blesses those he most favors with good health and material wealth. They deceive people into believing their faith will be rewarded with good fortune and that God’s favor must be earned. The CiHP apprenticeship helps people learn how to best read and interpret the Bible. One participant shared that for the first time, he’s learning how to preach the Bible in a way that stays close to the intended meaning of the text.
The conference was a great encouragement not only to the participants but also to the facilitators. The training is transforming the lives and ministries of future planters. Their philosophy of ministry and understanding of the church is changing for the better. Many of them started doing ministry without receiving any proper training or discipleship.
The intensive also provided an important opportunity for participants to learn from other African pastors who are part of the Acts 29 global community. We pray for God to continue providing resources so we can train and equip more church planters who otherwise would be leading innocent souls astray due in part to their lack of access to theologically robust training. The harvest is plentiful in East Africa but workers are few. We’re thrilled to see this group of men grow and flourish in their love for the Lord and for his Word. May the church of Christ expand throughout East Africa and beyond for God’s great glory!
