Here at Calvary Chapel Bible Training Centre we’re praising God for His faithfulness over the past fourteen years. Our hearts are full of joy and thanksgiving as we continue training men and women to study and teach the word of God in Ghana and throughout West Africa.
Earlier this year we began conducting church services, including Children’s Ministry, for the local community here in Pepease. We’re now praying about constructing a church building that could also be used for conferences and a new Pastoral Training Program we hope to begin in January 2015. An increasing number of our incoming students are pastors or assistant pastors, yet many have never been part of a church reflecting a Calvary Chapel style of ministry and church life. Our desire is to allow students to have a church experience rooted in the practices of the early church. “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.”
Acts 2:42
Pastor Chuck believed that if you saw a need God showed it to you so that you would help meet that need. Over the past two years we have visited some of the churches pastored by former students. A key observation was that women and young children are the majority in every congregation, especially those in the North. Most of the women have unbelieving husbands and their sons lose interest in church by about age 10. We believe God opened our eyes to these needs so that we could come alongside and help.
We began with Women’s Conferences that focused on Christian Family Living. Our aim was to help wives and mothers learn the Biblical principles that apply to marriage and raising children in the Lord. Just recently we had a praise report from a church in Burkina Faso where we had a Women’s Conference in February. There are now 5 husbands attending church who were brought by their wives. Last year that seemed impossible to those women, but God has been at work in their homes and relationships!
Our prayer is that God will also show us how to help the churches minister to the children while they are still very young and willing to receive the truth. Children’s Ministry directed at Evangelism, Bible Lessons, Scripture Memorization, and possibly mentoring young boys who don’t have a godly male example in their lives, could all be part of effectively capturing the next generation for Christ.
