December 1, 2006
Greetings! It is that special holiday time of year, which gives us the opportunity to report to those who have prayed, given and shown interest in the ministry we have with JARON. We trust all of you are well and finding fulfillment in serving where you have opportunity as well.
As I mentioned in June, JARON has been invited to begin a ministry training course for pastors who serve in the villages of Limpopo Province in the northeastern part of the country. The first phase of what we hope will become a multi-year Global Leadership Training Project took place July 21-August 12.
More than anything else, this trip confirmed the need (and renewed the invitation) for us to become involved in the training of Christian leaders in the region. In those eventful three weeks I was involved in the following:
One week was spent networking with Afrikaans leaders in the Pretoria area, discussing needs and touring existing ministry projects. There are multiple layers of ministry we can easily plug into and provide training and other things in north-central part of the country.
The final two weeks were spent working with Shangaan ethnic people in Limpopo Province. A brief summary of this training week follows:
I taught a Christian leadership seminar to fifty church leaders from two different churches.
I led a marriage seminar for pastors in the city of Giyani.
I met with key pastoral leaders to discuss the details of a JARON Bible Institute program to meet the academic and practical ministry needs in the area.
The JARON team put together a medical / relief project in several area villages.
I along with several others, participated in a discussion for future development of a Christian camp that would serve the entire northeastern region of South Africa.
We met and established good relationships with many wonderful people, whom I hope to see again in future trips.
Thanks for your prayers, Mike Bogart
