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From Anxious to Courageous: the Story of Pastor Richard

[vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]When Pastor Richard Kachipande walks to the pulpit of Grace Baptist Church every Sunday, he moves with confidence and passion. He has his sermon properly planned out, the verses well organized and above all he fully understands church administration. He preaches with clarity, knowledge, and a passion strengthened by the Biblical studies that he completed earlier this year, courtesy of our Bible school.

If one met the pastor 2 years ago, the story would have been different. Pastor Richard started preaching in 2015 but he admitted that he lacked important skills and knowledge to perform his duties well. For example, he said, every time he was to preach he would simply pick verses from the Bible at random and hastily draft a sermon.

“I did everything without proper guidance,” Pastor Richard disclosed “I never planned in advance. When Sunday arrived, I would just grab my Bible and browse for quick verses.” He explained that at times, he never understood the scriptures and he struggled to come up with themes for his sermons. According to the pastor, he was conducting his tasks without focus and, to a certain extent, merely based on what he knew and without experience. He had limited knowledge in the art of writing sermons.

Pastor Richard realized that he needed to receive training in order to sharpen his church leadership skills. Most importantly, he recognized the need to gain knowledge in church administration since that was a crucial step in his work as a Pastor.

“I felt determined to improve my skills. I wanted to get further knowledge and insight in church leadership.” He observed. In 2016, Pastor Richard’s quest to acquire training in theology found him registering at our Bible School. Coincidentally, it was also the year that we opened the school and he was among the first intake. Upon commencing the Biblical course, the pastor immediately discovered what he had been missing all alone.

He commented that enrolling at the Bible school was the best decision he has ever made because he finally found everything he had been searching for. He singled out Homiletics as one of the most important subjects that significantly helped him. Homiletics deals with the skills of preaching or delivering a sermon.

“Homiletics made me realize where I was lacking when preaching. It taught me how to organize my sermons. It helped me to have a deeper understanding of the Bible and draw relevant themes from scriptures.” He boldly revealed.

That is not all. At first, Pastor Richard stated, he was not very good at conducting outreach ministries. He used to be a very nervous person – which was a stumbling block when he was evangelizing door to door in the communities.

“When preaching outside the church, you meet different types of people with different religions and beliefs,” He said, adding “I had no idea how to properly approach these people and this was a big setback in my work as a Pastor.” He said a subject called Missions changed all that. Missions trains the Bible School students on the practical aspect of preaching in the communities. This assisted Pastor Richard to overcome anxiety and fear when spreading the gospel to people on a one-on-one basis.

The pastor has since put into practice the experience he acquired from the subject. He remarked that his church now conducts open air preaching sessions in neighbouring communities at least twice a month. Not only that, he is now able to provide counsel even to fellow pastors and church elders.

“There is a lot more that There is Hope Bible School helped me gain. I am a different church leader now. I have been enlightened and my spiritual knowledge has grown.” Pastor Richard closed.

Our Bible school is financed by God’s Economy and Hilfe für Brüder. International.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][/vc_column][/vc_row]