Eswatini (previously called Swaziland) is a small, land-locked country in Southern Africa. Many people there are struggling with poverty and unemployment. This makes them susceptible to the prosperity gospel and healing messages that are being preached in many places.
Johannes Mngomezulu is the Chairman of Langham Preaching in Eswatini. He is passionate about seeing pastors and lay preachers trained to properly expose and preach the Bible.
‘Hooked [because] they teach how to preach from the Bible’
Johannes had just finished a Bachelor of Arts in Theology when he first heard about Langham and their work through Langham Preaching.
He recalls, “Langham Preaching [in Eswatini] was brought by my brother Sifiso Dlamini, who happened to meet Dr. Shayi in South Africa. And then that’s where I got to know about Langham as he was sharing with us about what Langham is and what Langham does.”
Langham’s work was compelling to Johannes because of how they approached the Bible which, as a study of theology, was something he was passionate about but not a common experience within his country.
Johannes shares, “I was so hooked by the fact that they actually teach on how to preach biblical truth from the Bible which is so different from the heresy that we all see around the world.”
When he speaks of heresy, Johannes is thinking of the prevalence of harmful theology preached a lot in Eswatini and other places in Africa. He explains, “What we see here in Eswatini is emphasis from the pulpit for the healing gospel and the prosperity gospel. To me, Langham brought back the biblical truths in the pulpit that should be preached, rather than [emphasising] the prosperity and the healing gospel.”
Johannes acknowledges that the conditions many people live in, with heavy burdens and poverty, make the idea of a gospel that brings wealth compelling – but he knows it is a false gospel and his heart is to see people truly know Jesus, His grace and His peace.
Simple and applicable training
After learning about Langham Preaching, Johannes got involved in the training. He shares, “When I was doing Langham level one, I realised that Langham brought a simple model to come up with the message from the passage, like a shortened version of what I learnt in college. It enables you to just get the right message from the passage.”
Johannes found the accessible nature of the training for the average preacher very exciting, and so he got further involved. Now he is the Chairman of Langham Preaching in Eswatini!
In addition to his ministry with Langham, Johannes is also a lead pastor at his church. He applies his Langham training there.
He explains, “In my church, I’m trying by all means to use the expository preaching method, which I employ much more of the model that I learned from Langham rather than what I learned from college. Because with this model from Langham, it’s a shortened version of what I learned in college. It’s more practical.”
200 preachers and counting
Over the years of the Eswatini ministry, over 200 people have been trained in the method of Langham Preaching. This is resulting in thousands of people hearing faithful preaching in their churches each week!
Johannes shares, “Our main dream is that as we preach, as pastors here in Eswatini, we need to preach one message from the pulpit. And how do you make that [happen]? We have seen Langham helping us [with] that because we bring the pastors for Langham training. The product thereafter will be pastors preaching basic biblical truths.”