We can also be reached via email at info@trainpastors.com

Did you know that for 100 pennies each day for 3 months you can participate in oversees missions by  training 3 African pastors this summer? When pastors attend a TPI institute, they are provided money for transportation, a meal during the training session, and materials allowing them get the most out of the training. This summer we are planning five institutes and you would greatly bless us by enabling three pastors to attend. You can do this by pledging $30 a month for three months. That is just $1 a day for 90 days! Your gift will further the Gospel’s march through churches in Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Swaziland, and Malawi. Will you partner with God in this ministry?

Please send your gift, just $30 a month for 3 months, to Training Pastors International, 5132 Wedgewood Road Lynchburg, VA 24503.

Training Pastors International is planning to conduct five pastoral training institutes for African pastors during July and August. (Please see the schedule below). We presently have 200 to 300 pastors planning to attend these institutes in five different countries. We are expecting 1200 total pastors who want to receive the training. (Please see the plan below to train these pastors)!

The cost to train these pastors is $36,000. That represents $30 tuition per pastor, which covers the pastor’s expenses for the week.

The breakdown for the $30 tuition expense is as follows: it covers the food expense to feed the pastors lunch, the transport expense to pay their bus fares (most of them walk up to 10 miles to get to a bus and them catch a bus to get to the institute each day), the cost to rent the venue, the materials such as a notebook and certificate, and other miscellaneous expenses such as electricity, sound system, etc. For the pastors coming from a long distance away, it covers their lodging at $1 a day for a big room with no running water or electricity to put down their bedroll.

Dear Friends, John and I are both in Johannesburg, South Africa, staying at a lovely Bed and Breakfast. We have a few days of much needed rest before we head to Cape Town here.

My flights over were uneventful and blessedly half-empty, so we could all spread out. Guess that’s one of the advantages of flying on Thanksgiving Day. There had been a lot of talk about the new airport security measures, and even the threat of a protest in Charlotte. I was a little concerned, but actually made it through security in Charlotte and then Dulles with no problems. Yes, they had the new x-ray machines, but you could easily get into another line. I didn’t see any pat-downs at all. They did have a lot of TSA personnel working, and I was through the lines in 10 or 15 minutes. I’ve certainly been through a lot worse – even in those same airports.

The email here finishes up John’s first week in Malawi. Sorry we’re behind, but he’s been super busy the last few weeks in Zimbabwe and then Swaziland, teaching by himself. And I’ve been busy keeping things up at home and then getting ready for the trip. Thank you so much for praying for us. We are so thankful for the work the Lord has called us to do, and to see him at work in the lives of these spiritual leaders. Jennifer Balmer

Here is John’s report on more of the institute in Lilongwe, Malawi. He did get a sore throat that week due to the cooking fires, but he is fine now. He’s been in Zimbabwe the last few weeks by himself, which has been very tiring. He finished the teaching yesterday, and will have a few days rest before heading to South Africa. I leave next Wednesday morning to join up with him there. Thanks for standing with us in prayer for these trips, the institutes, and the pastors. 

Jennifer Balmer

John is currently in Zimbabwe, well into his third week of institutes. He’s by himself, so it’s been a little rough. I leave two weeks from yesterday to join him in South Africa. The email below chronicles the beginning of his first week in Lilongwe, Malawi. John was thrilled that 27 people came forward to receive Christ in a small village church. One was an alcoholic and another a witch. Even though our main goal is to train pastors, it’s still exciting to see people coming to the Lord and lives drastically changed. The institute was well planned by the Mission 4 Jesus team and things ran smoothly. Feeding and housing over 200 pastors AND actually starting on time the first day is quite a feat. 

Thank you for your prayers for us,

Jennifer Balmer

John and the Missions 4 Jesus team should be finished with the institute in Lilongwe, Malawi, but the email below from John chronicles his flight there and the first few days before the institute even began. It’s quite amazing to think about how I met this team on an airplane last year when I was traveling alone to Africa, and now how that ‘divine appointment’ has let this partnership. We have such an awesome God who is always at work, even when we don’t know it.

This email tells about how the people live and what you might see in Africa. It’s never exactly the same and never dull. While the team didn’t have running water where they were staying, they were able to get pizza in town and go to a grocery store.

John has mentioned to me that he is getting a sore throat from the smoke from the fires where the women are cooking lunch. Please pray for his health, as he’ll be teaching alone for the next several weeks.

Jennifer Balmer

Dear Friends,
 
We bring greetings to you this Fall as Jennifer and I embark on our Fall TPI Missions Trip to Southern/South Africa for seven weeks to train approximately 1,000 indigenous pastors. We have also included the Summer Missions Trip Report in the attachment above, where we conducted six TPI Institutes in July/August for 1,365 pastors in six countries (Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, and Zambia). Please read this report as it contains four testimonies from some of the pastors who received the training this past summer.
 
John will be partnering with a ministry called Missions 4 Jesus located in Monroe, North Carolina, to put on the very first TPI Institute for 300 pastors in Lilongwe, Malawi, which is the 15th African country to now receive TPI pastoral training institutes. He will be teaching along with Pastor Osco Gardin, Jr., an African American pastor from Elizabeth Missionary Baptist Church in Monroe, North Carolina.
 
In November, John will partner with Multi Ministries headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, to conduct five TPI/CLI (Christian Leadership Institute) pastoral training institutes in five cities in Zimbabwe (Chegutu, Kadoma, Kwekwe, Redcliff, and Bulawayo). He will be teaching these five institutes by himself as the only pastoral trainer, so please pray for strength each day of this month.
 
Later in November, John will travel to South Africa (Barberton, Johannesburg, and Cape Town) and Swaziland to teach and train pastors in several different contexts. Jennifer will join him during this part of the trip in late November.
 
Finally, John and Jennifer will be involved in the REAP (Revival, Evangelism, and Prayer) Conference in early December, which is a preaching and pastoral training conference put on by Multi Ministries for 400 pastors from some 13 countries in Southern Africa. John will be preaching and teaching pastoral training seminars at this conference.
 
John leaves this Thursday, October 21st and will return by God’s grace and strength on Friday, December 10th. Jennifer leaves on Wednesday, November 24th and returns with John. Our schedule involves the following dates and places:
 
2010 Fall
Institute Schedule
 
October 25-29
Lilongwe, Malawi
 
November 1-21
5 Institutes in Zimbabwe
 
November 23-24
Barberton, South Africa
 
November 25-26
Mbabane, Swaziland
 
November 27-30
Johannesburg, South Africa
 
November 30-December 5
Cape Town, South Africa
 
December 6-9
Magaliesberg, South Africa
 
THESE NEXT FOUR PARAGRAPHS ARE VERY IMPORTANT!
 
We need your prayers primarily because we are seeking to equip and train many indigenous pastors who have very little or no training for their ministries. We are traveling to areas where the Evil One has kept the Church in check for a lack of understanding even though there is great zeal for God, but a lack of knowledge of God’s Word.
 
As a result, the Devil is seeking to stop each of these institutes from taking place, disrupt them when they are actually in progress, and confuse them after we leave. Prayer, obedience to His mission, and trust in His strength are the only antidotes in bringing many of these pastors into God’s blessings of preaching the Word of God, leading the Church of God, and reaching the world for God.
 
There are yet many unreached peoples groups in Africa, and we are seeking to train the national pastors to reach them. They already know the languages, cultures, and the peoples themselves, but do not know what to do or where to begin.
 
Would you consider helping us to pay for the pastor’s tuition for institutes we seek to offer this Fall so they can receive this training free of charge? It costs us about $30 per person to train pastors in Africa, and each institute cost is in addition to and above our personal needs. It will take a great effort to help put on these institutes, but the need to train these 1,000 pastors is critical to reaching people for Christ in their areas.
 
We can only train as many pastors as the Lord provides through the generous support of churches and individuals in the United States.
 
We still need many to join us in helping to cover the costs for the 1,000 pastors to receive this training. Would you consider helping these pastors get this training by offering to pay for their tuition, which is $30 per pastor? If you have already done that, we thank you for standing with us to help train these pastors. If you would like to help train them, every $30 trains one more pastor. You could be launching a pastor’s ministry in a country where there are great needs and many people that need Christ as Savior!
 
If you would like to get involved in this missions project, please make a check out to Training Pastors International and send it to 5132 Wedgewood Road, Lynchburg, VA 24503.
 
Thank you for your prayers and gifts to help us in this critical task for the Church in Africa. We rejoice in the privilege to serve our Lord in this tremendous task of “teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” (Matt. 28:20). We could not do this without many of you standing with us in prayer and giving to make it possible.
 
Yours for Christ’s mission,
 
John and Jennifer Balmer
Training Pastors International
Africa Missions Trip – Fall 2010
 
Training Pastors International
5132 Wedgewood Road
Lynchburg, VA 24503
434-386-0266
www.trainpastors.com

John has been home now for just two weeks, and has been busy! After such a long trip and long flights home, it was a great missions trip to Africa this summer! The email below concludes the fourth week in Kinshasa , DRC. Over 300 pastors attended the institute, and 247 certificates were given to those who came to all the sessions. It can be difficult in the Democratic Republic of Congo , but it is very rewarding.

The email also contains details of John’s travel from Kinshasa to Harare , Zimbabwe , via Nairobi , Kenya . Once again, there were difficulties and miscommunication, but it all worked out in the end.

Thank you so much for praying for the teams while they were gone. We are so pleased with the trips and rejoice that many people came to Christ and leaders were equipped. Please continue to pray for the pastors, as they face many hardships and challenges daily.

Jennifer Balmer

Dear Friends, Right now I’m supposed to be on the way to Dulles airport to pick up John, but his flight from JFK to Dulles was cancelled. Now I’m just waiting to hear when they’ll get him out. After such a long trip and long flights home, it’s a shame he gets stuck on the last leg.

His journal here continues the week in Kinshasa, DRC, which was the fourth of six institutes this summer. It is always a challenge to hold institutes in this country due to the presence of wars and much chaos and the sheer numbers of people living there, but God is so faithful. Over 300 pastors were trained that week.

Thank you for your prayers. It’s good to have John back in the US, even if he isn’t quite home yet.

Jennifer Balmer