On Sunday afternoons, you will find missionary Pete Bitner sitting at the head of a long table teaching a Bible Training Course to 10 leaders from the small city where he and his family live in Togo.

The class represents seven different churches and seven different denominations. Three are pastors. Two are lay-leaders who pastor church-plants. Two are lay-leaders serving as assistant-pastors. One is an indigenous missionary who assists the Kotokoli Bible Translation team, and another preaches live for a local radio station. The only woman in the group is a children’s Sunday school teacher who leads a class of up to 30 with no curriculum provided.

All of them have had little, if any, formal theological or pastoral training. They have a real love for God’s Word and have much ministry experience. They have countless questions. Many people depend on them and come to them for answers to all kinds of spiritual and everyday problems.

This two-year course is giving them a foundation in doctrine, Bible study methods, Old and New Testament Survey, spiritual growth, church history and teaching methods, among other topics.

But Pete has provided more than a formal education. "These students have certainly been able to catch his heart through his teaching and the many discussions" Pete's wife, Carolyn, said. He has had an influence on their lives and on their ministries. Several students come to Pete individually for advice and counsel.

Pray

Please pray for these leaders:

• to be better equipped through this training.
• to be used by God to minister to those under their care.
• to be grounded in the truth of Scripture.
• to catch a vision to reach out with the love of Christ to those living all around them from the “majority religion.”