Ethiopia or Bust

This April 13-27, a pastor friend (Scott Duley of LaGrange, KY) and I will be traveling to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to teach in a Pastor’s Training Institute. Anthony Mathenia one of the missionaries Pleasant Ridge supports, was asked this January to take full responsibility for training 72 Ethiopian men who have signed up to go through Bible-training, then move into the unreached Ethiopian countryside to plant churches! Think of it: 72 men, sent out two-by-two to preach the gospel and start new churches in totally unreached regions of the country…and Anthony gets to train them from the ground up! More than that, Scott and I get to help. In fact, our two weeks of teaching will inaugurate the Training Institute!

Let me give you the details. For two weeks, Monday-Friday, these men will attend classes with Scott and myself all day long. He will be teaching half the day on the doctrine of God; I will teach the other half-day through the Sermon on the Mount. Then, in months to come, these men will come back to the city several more times for more intensive training. In a couple of years, we hope to have 72 (and maybe more) men who are “thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3.17). What a privilege to have a tiny part in that! Would you pray with me for this trip?

·Pray for the logistics that have to come together to make a trip like this possible…travel details, shots, funding, etc.

·Pray for these 72 pastors…that God would prepare their minds and hearts in advance for the work He is calling them to do.

·Pray that Scott and I would be thoroughly prepared for our classroom time. I need to spend about half-a-day each week between now and then, working on the teaching material. So pray we’ll both be diligent!

·Pray, especially, for Anthony and Amber…that God would give them grace and endurance as they invest in these men long-term.

Please do pray...