In John 15:16, the Lord said, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will remain.” Although He was speaking to the disciples, these principles apply to all of us as followers of Christ: Christ chooses us and places us where He wants us to be (“appointed”), so that we can bear lasting fruit for His Kingdom.
Susan and I have enjoyed the blessing of being part of CPC for the past three years because God’s truth is preached here, God’s people are active here, the Holy Spirit’s power is evident here, and Christ’s Kingdom is advancing as a result. We have come to know the character and vision of CPC as a Kingdom-oriented church, and we have been encouraged by your friendship, your openness and your commitment to living as a covenant community. We have been thankful to serve God together with you and honestly expected nothing more. So Christ’s appointment surprised us – but what a wonderful surprise! Truly, “the lines have fallen to us in pleasant places.” Ps. 16:6
This fact that we have come to know each other beforehand makes your call to serve as associate pastor a very special privilege and a high honor. Thank you. I am humbled by the enthusiasm with which both the Session and the congregation embraced this call, and I ask for your continued prayers as I take up this new role.
But I want you to understand at the outset that this will not be the typical pastor/congregation relationship. In essence, CPC has enlarged the international component of its Kingdom work by calling me as a missionary/pastor. But since my work Equipping Leaders International involves the mentoring of pastors and leaders overseas, it requires me to be absent for extended periods of time. That’s the atypical part of this call – my pastoral work at CPC will primarily involve our brethren overseas.
So, as your associate pastor, I want you to know what my schedule looks like for the early part of 2009:
In February, I will spend a week in Nigeria at the Servant Leadership Institute, working with Dr. Gideon Umukoro. I hope to complete the training that will enable 30-35 Nigerian equippers to teach Biblical Leadership from 1 Timothy. (This is the same group of men that Pastor Caines and I taught last August.) Each of these men will commit to teach at least two Biblical Leadership conferences per year to their fellow countrymen, greatly multiplying the impact of these truths.
I then will teach Biblical Leadership at three conferences in Ghana: to a group of 90 pastoral candidates at a Bible Training Centre for Pastors in Kumasi, to a new venue of Baptist pastors in Aflao, and then to a group of prison ministers (mostly Anglican) in Accra.
I’ll be home for the month of March and then return to Africa in early April. First, I’ll speak at the national conference of the Agape Evangelical Church in Ghana. The next week I’ll be training 20+ Ghanaian equippers to teach Biblical Leadership. The final week I will be in Uganda, speaking at the Silver Jubilee of the Full Gospel denomination.
All of this is now YOUR ministry too. As I go on your behalf, I ask for your prayers.
Pastor Steere