Please help in the care and

feeding of pastors overseas!

Thursday

“Can a nation be saved in a day?” In a word, Yes! Can they be

discipled in a day? In two words, No way!

Today, in 2010, the world is experiencing unprecedented revival.

In fact, evangelical Christianity is expanding at a rate more than three
times as fast as the world population—most of this exponential
growth occurring in the Third World. Just think: In A.D. 100, there
were 360 non-Christians for every true believer. Today the ratio is less
than seven to every believer. What does this mean? God is winning!

While this staggering spurt of Christianity worldwide is cause to

celebrate, it also presents a major challenge. Why? As of this writing,
there are only two million documented Christian pastors in the Third
World to help spiritually feed untold millions of new converts—
spiritual babies who, without our help, will be left to raise themselves
or worse not grow spiritually at all!

Even more disconcerting to us, most of these pastors (95 percent)

have been placed in the pulpit as brand-new believers themselves—
without any opportunity for further ministry training. What does that
produce? I hate to say it, but it produces babies teaching babies.

The Church is filled with spiritual babies and toddlers for only one
reason: a serious lack of any real discipleship. But how can a convert
disciple another convert? That’s almost akin to the blind leading the
blind! The Bible says, “If you continue in my Word then you are my
disciples indeed.” This is why it’s critical that pastors get the training

(over, please)

I NT E RNAT IO N A L P.O. Box 82808 Lincoln, NE 68501 (800) 759-2425 www.backtothebible.org

they need—training that goes far beyond books, binders and broadcast
media, though they are certainly critical components of a pastor’s training.

That’s why I’m writing you today—pastors need our help! Many of
them are living and working in nations that you have a stake in—both
financially and through your faithful prayers. Because of this, I’m
asking you to send your most generous gift today so that together we
can continue to give them the resources they so desperately need to 40 years
first get discipled themselves and then to mentor/teach/train others.
ago:
We at Back to the Bible are committed to this goal. Thanks to your 1.3 million
continued support, we’re encouraged by the strides we’re making Christians in
together in the various countries we serve. But, it’s still only a drop in Indonesia.
the proverbial bucket—in 2010, we need to increase that stride!

How could we do any less when so many of these new pastors

are going out there and putting their lives (quite literally) on the line to
Today:
11 million.
share the Gospel and help mature new believers? It’s a monumental
But … 50,000
task made even more difficult by the fact that 2 out of 3 people
(in 76 villages),
throughout the world have little or no religious freedom!
are without a
Take Indonesia. In this heavily Islam-influenced nation, pastors are pastor.
faced with pastoring sheep whose decision to follow Christ is costing –Source: Operation World

them far more than a polite rejection, a snide remark or even the loss of
a promotion.

In Indonesia, being a lover of Jesus can—and often does—cost

you your house, your job—even your life! These courageous Christians
demonstrate that often the only antidote for “easy believism” is
persecution. Persecution, I’ve observed, has a way of making believers
more desperate for God’s Word.

One of our newly trained pastors received this

comment from a young Indonesian convert:
“I’m a new believer and so thankful for your
Bible teaching. I want to know more
about the Bible. Would you send me
a Bible? I want to read the Bible!”

Seeking Solace: An
overseas pastor’s
wife receives much
needed prayer.
 Frans Silalahi: Our Indonesian Director

Can you imagine having such a love for God’s Word before you
even receive a Bible to read, let alone own one? This just shows
the hunger that is out there among new converts in other countries
to know the meat of God’s Word—a Word that well-trained pastors
cannot give them unless you and I make it possible!

Because of this great need, we’re more serious than ever in

our commitment to disciple and train as many indigenous pastors as
possible—as quickly as possible—so that they can become “disciplers”
themselves. As you can read by the enclosed pastor testimonials, ministers
in Indonesia, for example, are receiving critical training in: Bible study and
preparation, radio broadcasting techniques, basic leadership and management skills
as well as Christian counseling principles and techniques!

These powerful pastor testimonials demonstrate that if the church wants

to reach the world it needs to concentrate its ministry-wide efforts on making true
disciples and that begins by training pastors. Training national pastors by providing
biblically sound tools of discipleship will ensure that God’s unchanging, irrefutable and
life-transforming Word will be working to save “to the uttermost” the millions of new
believers who are coming into the kingdom in unprecedented numbers.

“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a

testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”

Won’t you help me help them? Help me train more pastors so they can, in turn,
disciple those whom God has committed to their care. The alternative—to allow new
believers to remain babies in Christ all their lives—is unacceptable to me. I think it is to
you too.
By His Grace,

Woodrow Kroll
President

P.S. We had some great successes last year. To see examples of some of our
amazing successes—including milestones like hundreds of new pastors being trained
in Brazil as well as a total of over 40,437 responses to a new media ministry in
Indonesia—make sure you take a look at the enclosed reply card. And, while you’re
at it, please make sure you give your most generous gift today. I can’t tell you what a
difference that will make in our overseas ministries!