Train one, Impact Thousands
“What is the purpose of life?”
“Is God real? Is the Bible real?”
Because of her training under Langham Scholar Dr. Seble Daniel at Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology, Tigist can now help her teens find answers to their questions in God’s Word.
These are questions that youth leader Tigist hears daily from the group of teens she mentors at her local church in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. They are looking for truth, meaning, and real hope in the midst of the troubled world they’ve grown up in.
Langham Partnership identifies and mentors emerging theologians like Seble Daniel so that they can multiply leaders like Tigist who bring Christ into hard places.
For Tigist, it’s made all the difference. She says, “Investing in theological leaders [like Seble]…it changes the face of the church…It’s like when you put lights on in a dark room, you can see where the wrong things are, where the messy things are. . . Studying with Seble helps me to understand the Word of God and how to deal with issues.”
Investing in the Next Generation
In her teenage years Tigist recalls her pastors and leaders being unable to connect the Gospel to her own pressing questions and doubts about faith and life. It’s what drove her to attend seminary, where she realises teaching and empowering teens—the next generation—is important in a culture where youth are often not taken seriously. As one of Tigist’s seminary professors, Seble has been a transformational role model and an encourager of Tigist’s heart for young people.
Even as Tigist draws inspiration from the life and teaching of Seble—one of the first women in her denomination to earn a PhD in Bible and Theology—imagine the scores of young people that Tigist now teaches and inspires.
Seble’s leadership continues to influence an area where educated women are the exception, not the norm. With the platform her PhD provides, Seble pours her life into building up more leaders who will impact their communities.
Tigist shares, “We need strong people with a strong theological foundation to change this country. We need people, like Dr. Seble, who know the culture and who know the Scripture.”
Transforming Lives
Seble helped Tigist understand Scripture and how to apply it to issues Ethiopian teens face. Now a passionate and confident mentor, Tigist has seen her youth ministry grow from 20 teenagers to 70. In addition, Tigist serves as director of Alpha Ethiopia, part of a widely known, global organization that connects people to the basics of Christianity.
“What I learn from [Seble] helps me to provide a proper [biblical] meal for the young people,” she says. “I see their lives transformed in their thinking, and in their faith and belief in Jesus. It’s not just ‘I believe in Jesus,’ but they know who Jesus is.”
Raising Up Women Leaders
Tigist is especially invested in the lives of young girls, helping them become strong, godly women who will go on to be leaders in their communities.
“In our community, it’s really tough being a woman and being an educated woman,” Tigist explains.
Tigist is mentoring these young women and girls so that they know their worth and potential—and it’s transforming lives.
Thank You for Your Generosity that Multiplies Impact
Your gifts that equip Langham Scholars like Seble with the PhD they need to become transformational agents of change has incredible impact. How do we know? Langham partnered with agency Excellence in Giving to help us measure and evaluate this impact. Just ONE Langham Scholar will go on to directly train 7,733 leaders (more like Tigist!) for the global church – 3x more than they would have without a PhD. We praise God for the ripple effect of your generous support of leaders who impact generations for Christ.
Please join us in prayer for…
SCHOLARS
Pray for Egyptian Scholar George Bishai and his family in Alexandria. George has deferred his PhD and hopes to return to Australia later in 2020. Pray also for a Scholar from Myanmar hoping to come to Australia to study.
PREACHING
Praise God that seminars were held in the Solomon Islands in early March and that the one planned for Fiji in May is able to go ahead online. Pray for the facilitators and participants in the Fiji training and that the technology will work without problems.
Langham Preaching Events
Due to COVID-19 all Langham Preaching Seminars are postponed or cancelled until end June 2020. The Global Leadership Team monitor the situation and revisit this decision every month. Pray that all who have attended training will put into practice what they have learnt and will be used by God to bless their communities. Pray for Preaching clubs around the world who are able to meet online.
LITERATURE
Pray for all those involved in ongoing work on a number of One Volume Commentary projects, including: Slavik Bible Commentary translations, Central Asian Bible Commentary, Central Eastern European Bible Commentary, ABC Amharic translation, South Asia Bible Commentary translations into Tamil, Urdu, Hindi, Bangla and Malayalam, Latin American Bible Commentary – Portuguese translation.
Gillean Smiley writes…
Many of the world’s great discoveries and innovations have occurred during times of great crisis and change. It seems as though facing challenges unleashes the creativity and inventiveness of the human mind, and our willingness to accept the need to do things differently. The response of churches in Australia and across the world to the biblical call to “not give up the habit of meeting together” has been amazing, as we find ways to study, learn, pray and fellowship together even while physically apart. I wonder if in the future we will reflect on this time as the catalyst for new ways of reaching our communities with the gospel, and new ways of growing together as one Body.
One of the exciting new ways we plan to hold Langham “events” in the coming weeks is through online sessions with international speakers – often Langham scholars – who will be able to share what God is doing in their context, and respond directly to questions you will be able to put to them either before or during the session. More than just a podcast or recorded talk, this will be an opportunity to interact personally with leaders from the worldwide church and learn from their wisdom and insights.
We will email you with times and details for coming events, including the site to send questions in advance. If there is a particular scholar or location from which you would like to hear, please let us know!
A special thank you, also, for your generosity and ongoing faithfulness during this time of economic hardship for many. We are deeply grateful that we are able to continue with the work of Langham now when it is more important and urgent than ever.