09/09/2017 – Final Words from Liberia

I am sitting in the airport in Casablanca, Morocco, collecting my thoughts from yesterday’s final class and graduation.  Our graduation service ended yesterday with 60 men and one woman completing their coursework.  What made this class unique?  There are likely several things, but I think two things made the difference.  First, the men are truly excited about GBTF’s proposed plan of a 3-4 year completion plan rather than twice that time.  They can see themselves doing every class.  Secondly, the entire Liberian Baptist movement has been energized by the church-planting prospects for the organization.

Pastor Togba told me on the way back from Gbarnga yesterday that they want to be the largest and best trained organization in Liberia fulfilling the Great Commission.  I don’t see why that can’t be the case.  We will return in January of 2018 to teach the third installment of our curriculum and empower 24 more church planters through our partnership with Advance Ministries to start churches from their local Bible study groups.  The men are truly excited about what lies ahead.

So as I sit here, exhausted from a strenuous week of teaching, preaching, and traveling in the bush, I have a strong sense of God’s blessing upon the great work of Global Baptist Training Foundation.  What an amazing journey we have been on for almost six years now.  And to think that we are really just getting started!  Pray that God would give us more partners for helping to fund each classroom.  By 2020, there will be 12 per year!  We are presently praying for a sponsor for this Liberian class.

Thank you Coffee Club and all of our prayer, financial, and Board partners.  Thank you, Lord, for enabling us to do your work.

Bruce

P.S.  I have been trying to reach our Haiti host to confirm our March class and have not been able to reach Bro. Charles Winsky.  I have just been informed that he had been bribed by a local judge in his area for 5000.00 US dollars.  He has refused to cooperate with the corrupt judge, and he has been in jail for several days.  He has refused to cooperate because he knows that by doing so he feels that he will participate in the corrupt system he so desperately wants to change.  Pray right now for Charles.