Pastors and Leaders Bible Conference — Ghana
Dear Prayer Warriors,
Thank you for your prayers! Once again, they were answered. No surprise there. Here are just a few examples:
- The day of my departure from Dallas, a door opened for a live interview with a local Ghana TV station. Answered prayer!
- The wall of fire that keeps malaria away. Again, answered prayer!
- At one point, Cyprian’s car battery lost its charge and needed to be jumped, which is not an easy thing in Ghana. Most do not have jumper cables. Instead, you find someone willing to let you remove the good battery from their car so you can use that battery to start your car. Once your car starts, you give the other person back their battery and put your dead battery back in its place so the alternator can then recharge it. If you did not follow that, no worries. The main point is it is hard to get a car battery jumped when you need it, yet our Heavenly Father provided a willing participant within about ten minutes, so we were able to get on our way without much delay. Answered prayer!
- Another way God answers your prayers that never ceases to amaze me relates to spiritual needs. My pastor back in Houston will be teaching something that fits perfectly with what I am teaching. Once added, it brings more meaning, more depth, more understanding to the subject or passage at hand. Here are two quick examples:
- My pastor was teaching how God’s promises are a link to the Bible teaching in our souls. He used a “Google search” as an analogy. You put in one or two words about something you want to know and a whole host of information pops up. A promise claimed does the same thing. It quickly forms a link to all the biblical teaching stored in our memory center that relates to the solution we need. It is like a query pulling in all relevant teaching that can be applied. I was teaching faith rest as part of the unique spiritual life, so it fit right in, and it came at just the right time. The pastors loved the “Google analogy.”
- On this last trip to Ghana, he was teaching how God’s grace supply is unconditional, but our needs are conditional, depending on where we are in fulfilling God’s plan and purpose for our lives. That fit perfectly and added another dimension to what I was teaching on logistical grace support.
We all know the importance of daily Bible teaching, our daily spiritual nourishment. I emphasize that repeatedly with the pastors, pointing out that they will never be trained for the ministry without it. I stress that they cannot teach what they do not know. To help supplement their learning, I have been sending them written messages via WhatsApp. It is a great way to not only teach them more from the Word of God, but also to review what has already been taught, giving them the benefit of repetition. When they write back with questions, that lets me know what needs to be explained with more clarity. Usually, I will turn that into a follow-on message.
That has led to requests from others in other countries. So now the written messages are going to pastors and others in Liberia, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Sudan, Senegal, and Sierra Leone. That too is answered prayer.
Your answered prayers are with me every step of the journey as our Heavenly Father opens the doors and the Holy Spirit guides in what to teach. Please continue to pray for the Ghana group that they would be constantly reminded of the need for their daily intake of God’s Word, and their need to ponder and consider it as they implant it in their souls, so that they might see the application of it in their lives.
Teaching the men in Ghana is such a pleasure. Most of them grew up with false teaching and legalism. And yet they have latched onto grace. We eat meals together, and that has provided me an opportunity to get to know them on a more personal basis. They are good students with impeccable manners, so eager to learn, so hungry for truth, so grateful for the Bible teaching. You can’t help but love them.
I am very thankful for Cyprian Awuah, a most gracious host, who works tirelessly to ensure the conference runs smoothly. Because of Cyprian, all I have to focus on is teaching. That is a blessing in itself.
To God’s grace that supplies everything we need to fulfill His plan,
Terry Wilson
“The Lord your God goes before you on your way, to seek out a place for you to encamp, in fire by night and cloud by day, to show you the way in which you should go” (Deuteronomy 1:33).