Pray BFF Letter #317
December 14, 2018 (pdf | epub)
“My Name Will Be Great!”
Dear Prayer Partners,
The Lord is pressing my heart and mind at the end of this year. What does He want completed to make disciples in every nation? Or, more particularly, what does He want me to do before He returns? How does He want to use BFF to accomplish His purposes?
Part of what is making me re-think God’s purposes for BFF is how an increasing number of Bible colleges–in India, Philippines, Nigeria, Myanmar, etc.—are gratefully using BFF resources without charge. Originally, when writing about Advanced Discipleship Training, I had comparatively few resources and focused on clarifying what training should look like. For this past decade, I have been concentrating on writing Biblical training resources. Now, the Lord appears to be connecting the ADT vision with the vast amount of BFF resources. We offer 24 courses, but there are many other current resources to link in to present a training curriculum.
A brother in Tanzania recently rekindled my thoughts by asking for help to start a Bible College. This intrigued me. I told him that we have no money to help start-ups, only resources, and advice. He still sought my aid. I told him to pray, and he told me that he has already been praying for years. It sounds like it is time to begin! How does God want us to help? How can we make the most of BFF resources? Actually, back in 2011, I first had contact with this pastor/radio broadcaster. I sent him our free BFF DVD. Our resources are now 20 times larger.
My possible visit to Tanzania and East Africa in March/April 2019 will help me refine these thoughts. In particular, I am considering to help these very rural pastors/church planters to get needed training that will help them be more effective in their ministries.
The idea is that the pastors would travel and convene together at one or more common points for training every month or two. But they have no money or books or the internet. Could we somehow get them an iPad device filled with their books and videos so they could study and read the months they are away? We have the training resources. How can they have access to these resources when printing is very expensive? How can these pastors/church planters make most of the time while serving?
Please pray that this upcoming African trip will build up these pastors. Do you see the commonality of this problem with the situation in the Philippines I shared not too long ago? God has burdened my heart to mature these pastors so that they can effectively care for their sheep and reach out to the lost on the fringes of God’s kingdom.
- The Lord is hearing our prayers and increasing the distribution of our resources. The BFF website already passed 4 million pages read this year! (This does not include resources otherwise distributed (thumb drive, books)
- Thank the Lord for a good BFF board meeting.
- Linda’s cough is better. Actually, her heart started to trouble her again (like 4 years ago) and so a little medicine went a long way to bring down her blood pressure and release the pressure on her heart.
- Our good friends, Ridge and Connie, brought two Chinese scholars to our house this week to join us in trimming our Christmas tree. Though the scholars don’t know the Lord, they were very interested in everything Christmas.
- Thank the Lord that two people have committed to regularly giving to the BFF ministry! Others also have given. This has helped a lot.
- Kathryn is happily living on her own (with two housemates) closer to church and work.
Pray:
- Pray for wisdom as I seek to understand further how the Lord wants to use the BFF resources around the world.
- Keep praying for this year’s budget. We are still in need of $25,000 to reach this year’s goal. Click here for our recent financial update letter.
- Pray for finalizing the details of my upcoming African Short-Term Mission (STM).
- Our Isaiah Sunday Training Class is almost finished. I will be teaching one of the last two classes.
- Our new curriculum, Fundamentals of the Faith, starts in January. I will be teaching some of the first classes.
- Isaac will be applying for college scholarships for next fall.
Paul
Rev. Paul J. Bucknell, President, Author, and Instructor
Biblical Foundations for Freedom
Email: pb@foundationsforfreedom.net
Phone/text: (+1) 412*398*4559
(Mobile)
3276 Bainton St, Pittsburgh, PA 15212 USA
BFF Facebook: www.facebook.com/Biblical-Foundations-for-Freedom-BFF-209924859048429/
Paul’s Twitter: @PaulJBucknell
Donations
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