Mission to Kisumu - Part Two

The picture-based Bethel Series teaching was especially accessible to the Kenyan pastors.  Once each of the teaching pictures is explained in the local language, Luo in Kisumu, the students understand the important points being made. For these faithful Kenyan pastors, the Bethel Series seminar is the equivalent of a seminary-level overview of the Bible. They will take their newfound understanding and use it in their preaching, teaching and evangelism.

Mission to Kisumu 2019 - Part One

At the Bethel Series New Testament Seminar in Kisumu, Kenya, on January 14-18, 2019, we expected 150 Kenyan pastors to attend. 

On the first day of the seminar, almost 200 pastors came.  We had to print an additional 50 Bethel Series books to accommodate the larger than expected turnout.

Like the Bethel Series Old Testament Seminar we held last year in Kisumu, the seminar was a Spirit-filled week of learning, studying the Bible and joyous worship.

The Kenyan pastors attended each day wearing their Sunday best clothes after traveling long distances in buses and on foot.  Many pastors slept on the floor of the Manna Ministries facility on mattresses as the distances to their homes was too great to commute daily.

The raucous, Spirit-filled worship before, between and after the teaching was a highlight of the seminar.  We all agreed that we should import some of the Kenyans’ enthusiasm for worship back to our home churches in America.

Bethel Series Graduates Talk About Their Experience

The following video is from First Presbyterian Church in Waunakee, WI.  This should give you an idea of how life-changing the Bethel Series has been for everyone who has completed the Bethel Series Intensive Course. 

I will let the video speak for itself.

The Bethel Series “Mission to Kisumu” January 14 – 18, 2019, Kisumu, Kenya

The Bethel Series “Mission to Kisumu” will train 125 Kenyan pastors - A mission team of seven Bethel Series trained teachers and support personnel will travel to Kisumu Kenya, 

in January to teach the Bethel Series New Testament lessons to 125 Kenyan pastors who took the Old Testament training in January 2018.  This will complete their Bethel Series training.

These Kenyan pastors have a strong faith and are bold in their proclamation, but they lack formal religious training.  The picture-based Bethel Series is an ideal way for them to understand the Bible as the continuous story of God’s redemptive acts throughout history.  Once they see the Bible through the lens of the Bethel Series, they become more effective pastors, and they can spread the Good News to untold, unreached people.

This model of training pastors in the developing world has been successfully used for many years, most recently in Bogota, Colombia, in September and Nairobi, Kenya, in April.  Members of the Kisumu teaching team have taught pastors using this format in Haiti, Colombia, Honduras, Indonesia and Kenya.

At the end of the one-week intensive teaching sessions, the pastors are overwhelmed with excitement at their newfound understanding. They cannot wait to return to their congregations and use what they have learned.  These pastors are like the “good soil” of Matthew 13:8. God will use them to bring forth a harvest well beyond what we can ever imagine.

For $94, we can train a Kenyan pastor in the Bethel Series New Testament - The cost to train each Kenyan pastor over the five-day, twenty-lesson training is low by our standards, but the benefit is astonishing.  

A significant reason for the low cost is the careful stewardship of expenses (i.e., airfare to Nairobi is paid by the all-volunteer teachers and support personnel).

Mission to Kisumu

     January 14 - 18, 2019

Budget based on: 7 people going on mission                         

                                                      125 pastors in attendance     

                                                               

                                                                                          Per person                Total

Airfare to Nairobi paid by people on mission                      Paid                    Paid

Food                                                                                          $120                   $840

Lodging                                                                                     $440                $3,080

Airport entrance tax                                                                  $50                   $350

Translators                                                                                                           $300

Food for pastors in attendance                                                                        $1,875

Local printing for Bethel Series books                                                            $1,750

Transportation Nairobi-Kisumu-Nairobi                                                        $1,200

Gifts to local workers                                                                                           $250

Graduation gifts to pastors in attendance                                                          $313

Overhead and Miscellaneous Expenses                                                           $1,762

  

Total Expenses                                                                                                   $11,720

Cost to train one Kenyan pastor                                                                            $94

Why not provide a $94 scholarship for a Kenyan pastor to attend this training? - We pray that you will join us in this “Mission to Kisumu” and provide a scholarship for $94 for one or as many Kenyan pastors as is appropriate for you or your church.  You will receive updates, pictures and videos throughout the trip.  After the trip, you will receive a video that can be shown to your congregation to give them an idea of all the good that their scholarship has provided.  By providing a scholarship, you will be joining us in our mission to help bring biblical literacy “to the ends of the earth.”

Please send your scholarship funds made out to The Bethel Series with “Kisumu” written on the check to:

The Bethel Series
312 Wisconsin Avenue
Madison, WI 53703   

Down and Up the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem

Using Mark 15:15-25 as my text, I preached this sermon at Bethel Lutheran Church in Madison, WI, on August 19, 2019 on my journey down and then up the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem. 

The Via Dolorosa is the street venerated as the street Jesus walked up the hill to Golgotha where he was crucified.

My wife and I will be leading the 3rd Annual Bethel Series Pilgrimage to the Holy Land on January 14-24, 2020. 

For more information go to: www.bethelseries.org/pilgrimage or contact me directly at Jeff@BethelSeries.org or by telephone to 608-579-5700. 

Space is limited to 25 people and we are filling up.

Soli Deo gloria!

Manna Academy School visit on January 8, 2018

During our Mission to Kisumu Kenya to teach the Bethel Series Old Testament lessons to 126 Kenyan pastors, we visited Manna Academy School.  It was wonderful to see the children and to meet their incredibly dedicated teachers and their principal, Mr. Joseph. 

I made the video nearby to give the children in my grandson, Jeffrey's class an idea of what school is like in Kenya.  As I was making the video, I realized that perhaps seeing the children would inspire some people to pray for Manna Academy and inspire others to donate to this very worthy cause.

I close with a picture of a couple of my new pals from Manna Academy.

Soli Deo gloria!

The 2nd Annual Bethel Series Pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 2 1/2 minutes

You can hear about the 2nd Annual Bethel Series Pilgrimage to the Holy Land, February 22 - March 3, 2019, in the video above.

It will be an amazing, Spirit-filled experience!

Pilgrims on our 2018 trip were universal in their praise of the trip. You can read what they have to say by clicking here.

The trip is limited to 25 pilgrims and the cost, based on double-occupancy, including airfare from Chicago or New York, all breakfasts and dinners, sightseeing tickets, etcetera, is $3,590 per person.

You can download the 2019 Pilgrimage brochure here or contact Jeff Quinto at Jeff@BethelSeries.org or at 608-849-9220.