As some of you will know, I am flying to Zimbabwe on September 24 to participate with a small team of Australians who will be serving the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian. The focal point of the training is providing an intensive on biblical preaching at the Presbyterian Theological College in Harare. Planning was also in place to do a three-day elders preaching conference, which has now been removed from the program due to constraints from some members of the Australian team.
The intensive program has been run in the theological college for over a decade by Australian Presbyterians who have had a heart to see biblical doctrine transform a country that has been broken- hearted by false teaching. Over the last decade, with the establishment of local leaders and this external training, biblical truths have been strengthened to the point that the 2024 trip looks set to be the final intensive provided by Australians before handing the program over to national leaders. It is a privilege to be part of this final training program. My role at the college will be to work with smaller numbers of students in tutorial form in between the formal lectures. I still need to do preparatory work for this intensive, so prayer would be appreciated.
I hope to do some preparation in a stop-over in Dubai on the way to Zimbabwe. Through one of our GMPs at SCPC, I was able to make contact with a local leader who is part of Redeemer Dubai, a church planted in 2010 with a heartbeat similar to Redeemer Presbyterian church in New York City. In my stay in Dubai I have been invited to attend Gulf Theological Seminary and I have also aspired to make contact with some members of their pastoral team whose books [1] I have read and benefitted from.
This visit has been 12 months in the making, with family and friends sponsoring me to participate, yet now the moment is fast approaching. It has therefore been a harried month to ensure all is prepared abroad and back home with SCPC. Thus, I will be part of our great party at Celebration Sunday and then fly to Sydney on the Sunday night, ready for a briefing from the team leader on Monday in Sydney.
Here are some prayer points for my time:
- Give thanks for the team at Redeemer Dubai who have warmly agreed to host me for my time
there. - Pray for lessons learned at Gulf Theological Seminary, about how the gospel can intersect in our Global cities.
- Pray that I might have the opportunity to have a meal with members of the pastoral team at
Redeemer. (I have also sent a message to Australian Pastor Ray Galea, now serving at Dubai
Fellowship, about the prospect of meeting.) - Pray that I would be adequately prepared for the intensive at Presbyterian Theological College in Harare.
- Pray that the truths of God’s word would ward off false teaching and find a home in the hearts of African Pastors, that their hearts might sing in extravagant worship of Christ.
SP
Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. Fear the Lord, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. Psalm 34:8-10
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[1] Dave Furman is one of the pastors at Redeemer Dubai, he and his wife, Gloria, have both published books with Crossway books:
https://www.crossway.org/books/being-there-tpb/
https://www.crossway.org/books/treasuring-christ-when-your-hands-are-full-tpb-2/
