I love to teach. In fact that's pretty much all I do these days. When
I'm not teaching at the Kikongo Pastor's Institute, I'm preaching at
the International Protestant Church of Kinshasa. Of all the things God
could have chosen for me to do, teaching surely wouldn't have been
very high on my list. I must agree with Paul that God's strength is
perfected in weakness.

Back in the last century when I became a Christian I was invited to
help in the church Youth Group.  Being the shy guy that I am, I told
Judy, the youth pastor's wife, that I would do anything I could to
help the youth group … except speak in front of people. That sacrifice
was beyond anything that I thought I would ever be capable of. Judy
just laughed and said, “Let's just wait and see. If God works in you
like he did in Bill (her husband) then we'll never be able to get you
to stop talking.” There are some in Sunday morning church who feel
like this prophesy was fulfilled.

Well, now, many years later, I'm teaching future pastors for rural
villages in Congo. At least, that's what I get to do one week a month.
 It's a great privilege that I take very seriously. The Institute
provides the only ministry training that many of these pastors will
ever receive. It's important that we give them things that they can
use to shepherd the churches where they will go.

Of course the most difficult part is not teaching them conceptual
things like the books of the Bible or the history of the early church.
The continual challenge is to provide practical examples and uses for
what they are learning. We have some idea of what they will face in
the villages and we want to prepare them to have a fruitful ministry
there. I guess Jesus gives us the best model for that sort of
teaching. He was the master of making the spiritual practical.

Just this morning I was teaching about the doctrine of angels and
demons in the Systematic Theology class.  We were talking about James
4:7 which says, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”  I
reminded the students that one of the biggest problems in the village
is the fear of demons. As future pastors a big part of their work will
be to teach people that our God is greater than any demon and if they
put their trust in Him, He will take care of them.

I'm sure that the look on all their faces at that moment was something
like mine when Judy told me that I'd be speaking in front of people. I
could just see them thinking, “I'll never be able to do that. It would
take a miracle.” For me it was the fear of public speaking. For our
future pastors it's the fear of standing against centuries or
millenniums of tradition. In both cases it requires a miracle. If  God
doesn't work, then we fall flat on our face. In our weakness God's
strength is made perfect.

I don't know what challenges you are facing right now. It may not be
as difficult as changing the worldview of an entire village, but it
probably is more challenging than public speaking. Sometimes it's just
hard to believe that God will help us out. But He always
does...miracle after miracle. It's His way.

So, if you want to pass the exam in what Pastor Bill used to call “The
School of Hard Knocks”, just remember “Greater is He that is in you
than he that is in the world.” (I John 4:4) and “My grace is
sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (II
Corinthians 12:9). Put it to practice and see what God does. I'll bet
you'll be as surprised as I was. His grace really IS sufficient.

Please pray for our students and their teachers. Pray that they will
get the best preparation possible and that they will succeed in their
future ministries.