If I dropped dead tomorrow, and accomplished nothing else to develop Courageous Kingdom Leaders, I would die a very satisfied servant of Christ by what He allowed me (and my son Seth) to be a part of with the 400 amazing leaders I just spent a week with in Liberia.
14th Annual ECOL Convention
I was invited to speak for the annual convention of the Evangelical Churches of Liberia (ECOL) with 400 Pastors and church leaders in attendance by the end of the week.
ECOL is led by a courageous band of bi-vocational, sacrificial, soldiers for Christ, enduring tremendous challenges and sufferings for the sake of the gospel.
Pastor Moses Paye serves as the ECOL’s President (seen in the picture above right with most of ECOL’s lead team – left side in the black jacket).
I am honored to call him a personal friend and so thrilled that he is able to focus full-time effort with his role in ECOL (and other ministries, including a KWM leadership equipping radio broadcast) because of the generosity of several who support him through KWM.
God granted supernatural grace, freedom and power as I delivered 5 leadership equipping sessions on the theme “Walk in a Manner Worthy of Your Calling”, shared a special commissioning message and participated in several Q & A sessions.
(see more below on commissioning service & testimonies from Pastors who attended the conference)
There were times I just couldn’t hold back my tears of thankfulness to God as:
- I sensed the Holy Spirit’s presence and power working in palpable, personal and tangible ways.
- I saw the incredible hunger of these under-resourced Pastors to learn – many of them walked 8-12 hours, and then rode in crowded vehicles another 8-10 more (in some cases) to be able to attend!
- I heard “Acts Like” testimonials of Pastors / Warriors serving on the front lines!
In addition to speaking at the Conference, God gave many other opportunities for me to share including:
- 2 live radio interviews
- Speaking at an international worship/church service, which was also broadcasted on air
- The first, and newly formed, CBMC – Christian Business Men’s Connection, in Liberia. This was an unplanned, but welcomed opportunity that sprung up after arriving.
Seth, “The White Man” in Action
Another added thrill for me was to have my son a part of this trip.
He conducted some special sessions, sharing from God’s Word and orchestrating some games for the kids at the conference (and for those in the village where the conference was held).
Being 6′ 2″, he towered over everyone. That, coupled with being the only white person besides me anywhere, he was a MAGNET to the kids!
Everywhere he went an entourage of kids followed him around, clinging to him for attention and crying out, “White man! White man!”
O how it melted my heart to hear all the kids shouting out his name, “Seth, Seth, it’s Seth,” each day as we arrived. In addition to sharing the gospel and God’s Word with them, he shared every ounce of his heart. I was so proud!
Commissioning Services
Toward the end of the week I was honored to share from God’s Word prior to a special commissioning service where 4 new missionaries were being sent out by the ECOL fellowship to share the gospel and start new churches in outlying villages.
This marked an historic occasion for the ECOL. In addition to the four pictured above being sent out, they commissioned their first ever ECOL missionary to take the gospel outside of Liberia. He will be starting a church in Gambia (to the north of Liberia) in a predominantly Muslim populated region.
Please pray for this courageous brother (not pictured for safety reasons) who will be leaving his family behind for several months as he starts this work.
Conduit of Contributions from God’s People
I’m reminded of the scripture from Ephesians 4:16 where it says that Christ’s body – the church – can only be built and matured “as each part does its work.” (NIV)
Should God allow KWM future ministry / mission trips to Liberia, it would be my dream to bring other gifted pastors, business leaders, evangelism/outreach teams etc.
Though God did not see fit for that to happen on this trip, I was privileged to be a conduit for the invaluable contributions of others that went a LONG way to strengthen and encourage what God is doing through Pastor Moses and ECOL.
The advancement of the gospel and the establishment of new churches in Liberia is greatly hindered because of villages being inaccessible – especially during the rainy season.
What circumvents this, saving the health of ECOL church planters and saving hours upon hours of their time traveling by boat and/or foot, are motor bikes.
Motor Bikes
Through the generosity of various donors KWM has been able to supply 4-5 motor bikes for the ECOL’s use. This time I was able to present another at the commissioning service, representing the generous saints from the Evangelical Free Church in Sidney, NE.
This bike was presented to Jehu – pictured above. Jehu drove us to and from the conference site each day. He is a very humble and quiet man who has turned down serving as a Pastor multiple times because he knows his calling is to evangelize!
He told me he was looking forward to receiving the “soul winners crown” from our Savior! He was so elated! I can’t wait to hear all the stories of those he leads to Christ because of the simple, but invaluable gift/tool of a motor bike.
The ECOL is in need of and praying for 6 new motor bikes for those newly commissioned and sent. If this is a project you would like to help with CLICK here.
Manuals, Leadership Handbooks, & Bibles
- Thanks to printing help from the Church at Loveland in Loveland, CO we were able to give each Pastor of the churches represented a handbook complete with the all conference notes that they will in turn share over and over again with other leaders they will be training.
- I have gleaned much from the teachings / writings of Dr. Ken Boa with Reflections Ministries. One such resource he’s co-authored is Handbook to Leadership. Thanks to his generous contribution, we were able to give each of the ECOL lead team a copy of this book to further their relationship with God and strengthen their leadership skills. (see ECOL group picture above).
- In addition to the 4 missionaries commissioned, 6 new Pastors were ordained. Due to the generosity of Gideons International we were privileged to give each of these men a hardback Bible.
Many Others Who Gave & Prayed
Some of you may have just stumbled across this blog, or have read other KWM posts on occasion, or may have just a distant familiarity with the investments that KWM is making in the lives of thousands of Christian Business Leaders and Pastors.
If God has stirred your heart as you have read this and you feel led to give a one time generous gift, become a monthly support partner with KWM, or give in other creative ways, please click here we would love your help. Your gifts will be stewarded well and are available to use for tax deductible purposes.
For those reading this who are a regular part of our prayer / support team (and those who contributed to our expenses for this trip to Liberia):
Tears of thankfulness are coming to my eyes just thinking of how KWM is nothing without you! You are so incredibly valuable to our ministry! Thank you, thank you thank you. I hope this feeble attempt to describe what God did is more than inspiring and encouraging to you for the vital part you played!
I received about 40 hand written testimonials from some of the Pastors at the conference who wanted me to pass along their thanks to you.
Testimonials from ECOL Convention Pastors
Here are a few excerpts of the testimonials:
“I was deciding to send my letter of resignation to my church as a Pastor, but because of this conference and Pastor Dan’s teaching, I have decided to withdraw my decision despite my church member’s attitude toward me.”
“I am a local ECOL church missionary in the interior. I walk about 1-3 hours to evangelize…I will help teach others about what I learned from this conference. Thanks for supporting Pastor Dan to come to Liberia.”
“The one who God sent to come to open our eyes on so many things…I did not know before.”
“This teaching has helped me and shown me the road for righteousness.”
“I was sick before the convention but God healed me.”
“I am the coordinator for church planting / evangelism. The teachings of Pastor Dan presented impacted my life and ministry by helping me to understand how to work on turning setbacks into setups and the need to take time for rest.”
“The teaching from the conference make great impact in my life – especially the teaching on Christ’s method for making disciples… From now on I will use these methods to bring people from darkness to the light.”
“I never knew that leaders in the ministry need to get a resting time, and that ministry is hard, even outside Liberia.”
“This powerful teaching has made me to respond to the calling of the Almighty God through His Son…”
20 “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
(Ephesians 3:20-21, NIV)