TLT FORIA TRAINIG

Foria Timothy Leadership Training

Building up Christ-Centred Leaders, Setting the Foundation for Christ-Centred Churches

From the week of February 4^th to 8^th, over forty church leaders from the Christian Reformed Church of Sierra Leone gathered in Foria to participate in the Timothy Leadership Training (TLT) sessions that have been taking place since 2010. These leaders came from all over Sierra Leone, from Waterloo to deep in the Koinadugu district, and they represented different tribes and traditions yet all came together to learn about Christ-centred leadership in the Christian Reformed Church. The entire week was truly a time of transformative learning, with facilitators from Zambia, Nigeria, and Canada present to convey the teachings of the week. The teachings ranged from insightful discussions about serving God in work and worship led by Rev. John Phiri to a practical exercise in how to preach effectively led by Rev. Istifanus Bahago. In the preaching seminars, participants were given a bible verse selected by Rev. Bahago and asked to prepare a five minute sermon working off the principals of biblical preaching they had developed over the past three years. This exercise was not only personally beneficial for each participant, as they were given constructive feedback and comments after their sermon, but it was hugely effective for the group as a whole since every member of the training session was allowed to give feedback and ideas about how the individual could improve their sermon in order to clearly convey the message of salvation. The preaching sessions were very encouraging, as the growth in these leaders over the years was clearly evident: people who could not even read and write well had gained enough from the TLT sessions since 2010 that they stood with confidence and shared the message of salvation, as relevant to their specific text, with the whole group.

 It was also refreshing to see leaders working together, watching those who were strong in literacy skills helping out those who were not, and seeing them practice sermons with each other and encourage each other before their formal presentation. Even some of the younger participants, Abu M. Jalloh and Amara Fefegula, both members of The People’s Foundation of Sierra Leone (TPFSL) who began participating in the TLT sessions over the past year offered very strong sermons, demonstrating a confidence and knowledge of scripture that encouraged all the other more experienced participants as well.

While the preaching sessions were very practical and it was easy to see the impact of TLT on all the participants, the other sessions also offered insight into the important of TLT through the discussions, insightful questions, and general participation that was evident throughout. Rev. John Phiri finished teaching on the guidelines for worship in his sessions on serving God in work and worship, and nearly all the participants were able to respond to his questions about what they had learned over the past years, citing examples from their own congregations about how the guidelines for worship were incredibly useful as a tool for church leaders. Rev. Ezekiel Sudu also carried out teaching on Christ-Centred Leadership, and discussed many cultural issues such as humility, taking on the role of a follower in leadership positions, and realizing that it is God who places one in leadership, not anyone else. Considering the struggles that the CRCSL has had in the past regarding leadership, these sessions were not only meaningful, but they truly affected those participants who came into TLT with an open mind and a ready heart prepared to learn. After every session all the participants entered into prayer, asking for grace where they has strayed in their leadership, and praying for God to direct them in their future leadership so they could serve with humility rather than pride. Certainly, these sessions on leadership were not only necessary, but transformative for those who were willing to learn and grow.

 Rev. Isaiah Magaji carried out sessions on teaching the Christian Faith, which centred on how to plan not only your sermons, but also the time devoted to visiting members, spending in the office, and creating action plans with specific activities and an intended result so that regardless of the outcome, participants could go back and look at their plans and learn how to improve in the future. Rev. Magaji’s sessions truly challenged the participants in a meaningful way, as he kept reminding participants that any plan being made should agree with the plan God has for you, stating that those who fail to plan, plan to fail. Certainly, all the participants were challenged to develop their plans and set clear goals for the growth of their ministry. On the last day of the training, all the participants presented their action plans from the previous year, and it was a joy to see more funds being raised locally in some very small communities through agricultural projects and increased weekly giving at the churches. These action plans proved that TLT sessions are truly bringing CRCSL closer to its goal of local sustainability, and it was a blessing to see the small steps that are being taken towards this goal. Finally, the training ended with a workshop on success stories given by Ms. Krissi Bucholtz, the founder and director of The People’s Foundation of Sierra Leone (TPFSL), a non-profit organization that works to empower and educate youth throughout Sierra Leone. Ms. Bucholtz offered practical advice and examples from her own work about how to use report and story writing to convey transformational change, in order to keep up a positive relationship and effective communication with partners overseas. All the participants at TLT stated they would appreciate a longer workshop on effective communication and success stories, as they felt those were areas they particularly struggled in. On the last day, all the facilitators gathered to pray for the leaders in CRCSL, asking that God would take control of their plans and their lives in order to grow His kingdom here in Sierra Leone. Certainly, TLT was a huge success and a demonstration of God’s work being done here in Sierra Leone. As partners, family, and friends, we ask that you continue to join hands with us in prayers and support in order to continue the work that has begun.

Please stand with us regarding the following prayer points:

-That the last TLT training in July would be successful and a glory to God

-The graduation ceremony for the first set of TLT trainees, set to take place on July 5^th 2013

-God’s selection for the 2^nd set of participants for training, set to begin in February 2014

-Prayer for the Leadership Training Coordinator, Rev. Ezekiel Sudu, and his family as they travel home for service from July-August 2013

Thank you, as always, for your support and prayers, and may God continue to use CRCSL to bring hope to the people of Sierra Leone and shine light where the darkness has tried to overcome!

Report compiled by Ms. Krissi Bucholtz

Acts.2;47.

The Bible ,in Acts.2:47 says,"praising God  and enjoying the favor of the people.And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."
This verse continued to be fulfilled everyday right from the time of the apostles, church fathers and now in Sierra Leone. Last Sunday in the village of Gbokoroma  near Kabala about fifteen miles. three Aldults where baptized by Rev, Edison Kamara, two professsed their Faith, giving us a total of five. we expressed our joy as did the apostles in the early church, because this village is 98% Muslims. i believed is that with this few, God will continue to add to the number daily.
The event was celebrated with songs and merriment.at the church and the pool where the baptism took place. my wife,and i we were there to witness and share our joy with Judith and Bernhard {our children,} who made a public profession of their faith in Christ Jesus. Rev. Ezekiel James Sudu  did the administration of the profession of faith.
 After the Baptism we had a Holy communion service, which was the first for the newly baptized and those that professed. what a Joy our hearts were felt of.

above the three women, second pics.Rev.Edison baptizing one of them. third pix. sudu,judith,bernhard. bahago,and jemimah{parents}the 4th pix. is Rev. Sudu welcoming Bernhard and JUDITH INTO THE MEMBERSHIP of the Body of Christ.

Updates from Sierra Leone

 UPDATES FROM SIERRA LEONE

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This our first Sunday in kabala church on 19^th January. Istifanus, Jemimah , Judith and Bernhard.

Dear beloved brethren.

I bring you Christian greetings in the name of our Lord.

As you have read from my letter of introduction. We are finally settled in Sierra Leone for the kingdom work. My two kids Judith and Bernhard have started going to school here in Kabala.

On 4^th to 8^th of February we were out in Foria for a TLT training . we had 28 indigeneouse leaders taking part in the training. It was an excellent experience for us as I listen to these leaders giving reports of their action plans were they have done well and the challenges they face.

Success stories were indeed interesting in places like Kabala . alkalia. And waterloo. I  hope you have read the join report myself and John Phiri had sent out.

On Monday Feb. 11 we started  a week prayer and fasting in the entire church. We are pleased with the turn out and the participation by the members. We also want to thank you for praying along with us . we know the lord had heard our plead for the land and for the growth of his Kingdom here..

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Rev Phiri and Magaji who came from Zambia and Nigeria to Facilitate in TLT training have both returned home safely.

Boys Brigade;  it’s a young Christian organization that was begun several years in Europe. Is very active in the Nigerian church. My son Bernhard who is 12 was a member and he has ask if he could start it with the young people in the Church. He felt that is his own way of contributing to the growth of the church by reaching out to young  people of his age.(the object of the boys brigade. Is the advancement of Christ kingdom among boys and the promotion of habits. Of obedience. Reverence. Discipline. Self respect and all that tends towards a true Christian manliness) it’s a uniform voluntary organization. I pray that this will help the young people to come to now Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.(Bernhard Bahago)

VISITING THE CHURCHES.

For me to know the people and the places we will be working . we visited most of the churches, and the villages. We started on the 4^th of march and ended on 22^nd . we finally came back to Kabala on 23^rd.

 My team members in the visit were, Rev. Mamburu B Jalloh and Ezekiel James Sudu (the training co-ordinator ),of the Church. We started in SAIDUYA  and ended in Waterloo near Freetown.

 It was  indeed an eye opener for me to see what is on ground what need to be done for the growth of the young church.

In this visit, I prepared a questionnaire for the people and the leaders to response. Some of the questions were: what is the average attendance of worshipers in the congregation? What is their total average offering for the week, what are their weekly activities, beside Sunday worship, do they have a pastor or Evangelist, who pays for the pastor or evangelist, do they have a place of worship, how many communicant members do they have. Will they be able to pay for their Evangelists if outside funding is not available.Rev. Jalloh

We also try to find out if they have a parsonage for their evangelist.

Of course the answer to these questions and several were based on individual places. But one thing that is common is that most of the evangelists we met are volunteers, a lot of the churches do not have a parsonage where the evangelist or pastors stay. In towns like BO, and Waterloo. The SIT.(office in Kabala) did rent an apartment for the pastor. Except for one village Barli, In TIKONKO Chiefdom, the villagers built a two room apartment ,with outside toilet for the Evangelists and in some like Dankawali, an unbeliever gave accommodation to the evangelist to use free of charge.

The journey was quiet interesting as we went through the valleys and the hills and crossing the longest river that passed across Sierra Leone from the north  down to the Atlantic ocean in the west.

little emmanuel sudu on top of the hill.

The joy we saw is the interest the people have for the gospel. Though every places has its peculiar challenges , but in all we give thanks to God that  the seed of the gospel is growing steadily in the heart of the people.

There are two stories that we got which shows how God is working in the heart of the people as they made decision to follow Christ, they are determined to keep the faith despite discouragement they received from their fellow villagers who are not Christian.1. Dankawali, is a village of about 9miles away from Kabala. The story of this village , as was told to us by Rev. Jalloh is that , about three years ago when they went there to start a Church, one of the villagers showed them two grieves of two missionaries who had attempted to start a Church but died. Therefore they should be ready to face the wrath of the gods of the LAND . But the sovereign LORD BEEN ON THEIR SIDE ,they did not fear the treat but went a head to start the church. The first day they were met by a big python,  while they were in the service, but the Lord did not allow the snake to do anything to them, suddenly it disappear. Today there is a Church , the only church in the village(CRC) . 

(Dankawali church)

 Similar story is told of the church in GBONGBOTO, here a forest was given to the believers to build a church , the villagers called that place evil forest , were they belief that the evil spirits live and especially the gods of the hunters. They thought the Christian will be afraid and that the church will not be built. Glory be to God, darkness can not withstand the power of light. The Christians cleared the forest and today stands a church in the place and some community members seeing that nothing had happened to the Christian, they are now moving to build their houses  at the area . what a great change the gospel has brought to the village. (below are the pictures of the church and part of the forest cleared)

Now are give thanks to God ,we have finally settle down for work. God willing on April 25^th to 26^th we will be having a synod meeting to decide on the constitution and set a date for the first election of National Leaders of the church. Recently the Kabala church women had a seminar on the role of the women in the Reformed church. Jemimah and REV. Sudu facilitated the seminar. At the end of the program. Election was conducted for the leaders of the women fellowship of Kabala Church: The joy is that it was done in a peaceful atmosphere, six women were chosen by the fellowship. This election preceded that of the national women leaders which was conducted  in Foria.  Mrs. Finah Kamara (a teacher at the Crc School Kabala was chosen as the national leader of the CRC SL women fellowship. For the Kabala Church those elected were; Mrs. Nyima Marah ; Leader. Sinkarie J T Koroma ; dputy, Rosetta F.SESAY sec;, Monoca F Marah ; ASST.Musu Kargbo; Treasurer and Mankapri Koroma ; Fin sec.

 PRAYER REQUEST;

We continue to ask for your prayers for the following;

1.       Pray for the success of the synod meeting’.

2.       . Pray for me as we settle down to work. That God will give us the strength and the ability to do the work , more especially Good health.

3.       Pray for REV, SUDU as he is planning for home service in July.

4.       Pray too that God will continue to grant us the couragew and the comfort as I mourn the recent passing away of my sister back in Nigeria.

5.       My son Johncalvin is writing his final examination to finish his high school in Nigeria in july. Pray for wisdom and for him too to find a college next academic year.

6.       The education of my Children here in sierra leone is a big Challenge especially for Judith, pray that God will help us to find a good school for her. Here or somewhere.

7.       Crc Sierra Leone is a young Church, pray for more support for the growth of the Church. Especially Crwm That they will be able to raise the require budget for the ministry here .

Thanks for your prayers and support for the work. Please continue to give your support so that the young Church here will grow.

OUR CHALLENGES.

1.       There is need for motorcycles for the Evangelists in the Field’

2.       A lot of these communities do not have a good place for worship, there is need to continue to assist them for them to raise structure where they can meet for worship. see example of some of the meeting places.

3.       The challenges in the cities is too numerous, especially places like Freetown ,Waterloo and Bo. To get a Land to build a Church is really very difficult, in times of the cost, Apiece of Land in Waterloo measure 100ft by 50 ft its cost between Two thousand to Three thousand  Dollars. This is very hard for the few people we have in those cities can afford to buy. There is need to help them.

4.       More workers are needed to reach out to other communities with the gospel.

Once again I will Like to say a big thank you for your support, to the work here in sierra Leone.

Remain Blessed in the Lord.

  Your servant in the Kingdom Ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ.

  Rev. Istifanus B. Bahago.

CRC SL/CWRM Leadership consultant

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This is a Church in mamburia. in the Tonkolili District.

Where will God hear us?The village of Mamburia is off the road to Makeni from sambaia Bendugu, From the story we got in this village was that there use to be a few christian present there . but one day the devil  attack them as was in the church history in present day north Africa.
 There is a man in this village who claimed to have had a dream about Jesus Christ, who told his followers not to follow him, that Islam was the only true religion. he calls himself a prophet. he went to several villages preaching his so called dream. as the scripture said . those that were not rooted in the Christian Faith, backslid ed. the church was almost , non existence. But thank to the faith of few faithful who stood their ground dis-pact the persecution by this man and his followers.
 Today they erected the above structure as a place of worship. the small footpath beside it is the road to the traditional shrine. they were consider as outcast, hence the will be greeted by the evil spirit when they come to town. interestingly non of the evil spirit  has ever attack them.
  we encouraged them to remain faithful . that is not were we worship , but whom we worship sincerely from our heart.we may be fortunate to have a nice auditorium to worship or not but when we worship God in truth and in spirit , he will hear us and blessed us.
 The interesting thing now is that this so called dreamer ,has been discovered to be a deceiver and he was caught  having affairs with peoples wives who were following him as their leader. and so many have deserted him. though he has caused a lot of havoc in that church, but the faithful are willing and desirous to continue.Presently there are eleven people that still go to church, they are determined to evangelize and win more souls to the Lord.
The dreamer"s name is Karamogo Lansana Marah.
Please pray for the people of Mamburia the few believers that they will remain faithful.
Pray too that Mr. Marah. will repent of his blasphemy and accept Jesus as his Savior as was with the Apostle Paul.
Pray for Mr.Daniel D Sesay , the prayer leader for Mamburia to remain strong to guide the few believers.
Pray, and assist the few believers there to have a place of worship. they are planing to build a place for worship.

A SHATTERED HOPE REVIVED.
  The story of the resurrection of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ, was indeed a revived hope of salvation . the  gospel of Luke 24:13 ff, tells of the disciples who were worried, as the discuss on their way to Emmaus of the event of His death and the resurrection news. thereby when Jesus eventually appears, thou at first they could not recognized him , but whenat the breaking of the bread, their eyes were opened and the could see,


Peter J.T. Koroma celebrating Easter

and recognized Jesus, their shattered hope of slvation was rekindled. and so the ran quickly back jerusalem to report with much Joy and celebrations in their heart.

  The news and the story of the resurrection as told to the congregation of the CRC SL Kabala was celebrated with great dancing and shout of joy in the lives of the believers.
 Yesterday sunday 7th April was a week after the resurrection the worship was full of lives as the congregation in the usual African way of celebration of great events dance , praise God , there was no age barrier as both the young , adult and the kids expressed in their Dancing and praises.
 One interesting thing that happened at the worship was the continue zeal of serving God and commitment to the growth of the Church. The congregation  challenged themselves ,to the development of the church infrastructures. the have decided to take two offerings every sunday. the second offering they called it special development fund.  one of the projects at hand is to have additional pews, as the current benches been used are not enough to seat , worshippers, as the congragation increased every week. The second project on mind is to purchase additional land where they will build a parsonage in the Future.
 Mr. mankoro Yanka , ios a cleaner at the office, he had never attended any formal education but was able to attend an adult literacy class were he can now read the Bible in his native language, that is KORANKO and KRIO. Last year he accepted the Lord as his saviour. he has now enrolled in the catechism class. the interesting thing about Mankoro. is that he love to tell his non christian neigbour about Jesus. presently he had led four people to come to the Church . three of them have now enrolled into the catechism class as well. this  is taking place just after our  one week prayer and fasting . .
  we give thanks to God for the Growth of the crc in Sierra Leone,

TOWARDS SELF SUSTAINING

Towards  self sustaining.
its said that a journey of a thousand miles begin with a step.
 This is the good news we are having in the Christian Reformed Church Sierra Leone . Kabala Congreagation. last year  octorber  28. this congration dedicated a church auditorium whch they built in three months.
 Then on 1st April, on easter monday , council met . for the first time they apointed a pastor,{pastor peter Alpha] they will pay him , provide accomomdation for him as well.
this is a great step towards reduction on external funding, for now the practice is that most of the pastors working in the church are been paid stippen from world mission . for the Kabala church to have  challenged themselve to begin to pay their pastor is a step of a thousand miles.
 Its my hope are wish that other congration of the CRC SL will follow , so that external funding can go into other areas of Church growth and Evangelism and capital projects'
 Prayer requests;
  While we rejoice with the Kabala church. pls pray for the Church in BO town . their building was pulled down by storm a week ago . that has force the small and growing congration to find an alternative temporary sellter  for worship. that they will continue in Faith'
 pray for safe travel for the students and staff of SURREY CHRISTIAN SCHOOL IN CANADA who visited the CRC School. they left this morning for Freetown, where they will stay for couples of days and then fly out on sunday morning.

celebrating easter in sierra Leone

Easter is a global event that , especialy for Christian to celebrate the resurrection of Christ.
 the event was celebrated in sierra leone with fanfare, at beach , moutain top. forest reserved etc.
the interesting thing that amazed me is seeing the muslims in koinadugu district of northern Sierra Leone celebrating the easter more than the Christian in the region.
  Christian in Koinadugu. are actually on the minority. hence one can see the population of the muslims over shadowing them.
 The questions is do they know what they are celebrating? the answer may be no , but its an opening for us to let them know the essence of the celebrations. Happy easter.