Conference Recap

On Saturday eventing Matt Bixby, Russell Raymer and I arrived home from our 2 1/2 day intensive pastoral ministry class/conference in Saltillo. A total of 22 pastors attended the event which began on Thursday morning and ran through noon on Saturday. Although they were very busy and exhausting days, the conference was very rewarding. The pastors really seemed to appreciate our instruction, and we enjoyed many opportunities to interact and fellowship with them.

On Saturday after the conference ended a group of 12 UCLA students joined us for a youth activity with the young people of the host church. They did a fine job and it was great to see our students minister so willing and joyfully.

Thanks for your prayers for this conference. We trust that God will use this and and the conferences we do in the future to increase the effectiveness of local churches in ministry. Right now we are planning on two more similar conferences in 2008 in other cities. Please continue to pray for us as we seek more opportunities minister to pastors and churches in Latin America.

Here are a number of photos of the conference:

Conference in Satillo, Coahuila

Tomorrow afternoon (Wednesday) my colleagues, Matt Bixby and Russell Raymer, and I will be heading to the city of Satillo in the state of Coahuila for a three day Pastor's conference. Over the course of the three days I will speak for approximately 8 hours on the topic of pastoral ministry/pastoral theology. My lectures are entitled "Pastoral Perspectives from Paul." Here are the three main topics I will be giving:

• Pastoral Perspectives in Acts 20: "Take care of God's Flock" (an exposition of Paul's discourse to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:18-38)
  
• Pastoral Perspectives in Ephesians: "Equip the Saints for the work of the Ministry" (an exposition of Ephesians 4:11-16)
  
• Pastoral Perspectives in Colossians: "Present every man perfect in Christ" (an overview of Paul's pastoral vision in Colossians 1-2)

Please pray for this conference. Please pray for me as I share the burden that God has placed on my heart. I'm very burdened to communicate Paul's vision of pastoral ministry to the men who attend and I feel that the message of the passages I will be teaching is crucial for the church in Mexico today. And please pray for Matt Bixby as he speaks on the topic of Expository Preaching. Like my topic, Matt's topic is vitally important and desperately needed here in Mexico. My prayer is that God will use these three days to inspire and motivate the pastors who attend to passionately pursue a biblical model of pastoral ministry and that as a result their pastoral effectiveness will be greatly increased and multiplied.

"And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding." (Jer 3:15)

Soli Deo Gloria!