International Training & Equipping Ministries

Sunday was more about reflection than activity. The event of the day was the church service at (ITEM Coordinator) Prince’s church. It is hard and at times unfair for a westerner to give an opinion of a “worship” service.
One of my doctoral classes 25+ years ago was “The Leader as Worshiper.” It was one of the more meaningful and helpful classes I had. The professor, a worship leader with a PhD in church music/worship, defined “all that we are responding to all that God is.” We are “eyes,” “nose,” “feet,” “hands,” “ears,” etc. So, in worship there is a place for kneeling (the body worshiping), singing (the tongue), listening (the ears), seeing (such as stained glass), and smelling (even incense). All can be a part of worship.
What we experienced didn’t all seem to be worship. That was our opinion.

Henry and I spent today, Friday, with the ITEM-Liberia team. I think this is only my second time here and Henry’s first. ITEM Associate, Dan Packer, has been our point man. Dan has done the bulk of the raising up of our team here.
Our first coordinator, Michael Allen, died in March 2020 due to an infection of some kind. His mentee/disciple, Prince Guankeh, took over. The planning and energy to move forward has been quite aggressive (in a good way) but I’ve held them back some, wanting to get here myself and get reacquainted with the team and be reassured that they understand the mission of ITEM. I was pleased with what I saw and heard.

Henry and I have been in Liberia for about 27 hours and it feels like it’s been 27 days. There has been endless issues but I think the most grueling part of the time in Liberia is over. In the past 27 hours, I experienced “new math” and concluded 1+1-4.

Greetings from Liberia. It seems like only 36 hours ago I was getting out of bed at the Red Lion near the Portland airport. And it was! It’s been a mostly (I said mostly) uneventful trip. There were a couple of frustrating, patience stretching moments but they are no in the rearview mirror. Click here to get a few more details, a preview of our time in Liberia, and a link to a few new pictures.

The two week trip is under way. Before I get home on the 22nd, I will be meeting with the Liberian team, doing a seminar in Nairobi, and then on June 19 I will be speaking to a group on the topic “The Need for Apologetics in the Church.” I can tell you for sure this trip will be a test. In fact test 3x.

Next Wednesday I will be returning to Africa. I will have two stops and doing a variety of things. I will be meeting with our team in Liberia, doing a seminar in Nairobi, and speaking at an apologetics seminar in Nairobi as well. These are great opportunities but there are going to be “Covid-test” challenges.

We awoke today to an absolutely gorgeous day. The sun is shining, the temperature is in the low 70’s, and Mount Mulanje is showing off.

COVID–19 made the planning for this trip extraordinarily difficult. Travelers are required to have a negative COVID–19 test before entering each country, and each country

There is an African proverb that says every day a gazelle awakens and realizes that if he does not outrun the lion, he will not