Ngozi Pastoral training

The prayer above of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, praying for his disciples could not be more relevant than in our gathering at Ngozi, for pastoral training from April 18 through 21, 2023. Indeed, in Ngozi, we had 47 pastor attendees, and a number of pastor trainers. These 47 pastors came from different backgrounds and denominations. During my class, I gave a chance to each pastor to introduce himself/herself, sharing the challenges each one of them meets in the ministry God called her/him to do. At my dismay, I was shocked to hear about only very little collaboration among the servants of the same Lord. No wonder why Jesus challenged his disciples about “being one”. Being one is the ultimate condition for the world to believe in the Jesus we all preach. Just think about it: we may be zealous in doing God's work and yet fail to do his will depending to our relationships, especially we Christians, let alone we, leaders. God is love, that is a fact. The apostle John challenges us: “If anyone says, “I love God”, but hates his brother, he is a liar, for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4: 20).

As I share this, I challenge all Christians who are reading this post to be extremely careful. We are not asked only to love one another, but to fully cooperate and act in a manner that makes us one. That is the condition for the world to know that, the Jesus we are preaching, is indeed sent by God. Remember, we are all preachers! Some in the pulpit, other in their community, at the job...etc. It was St. Francis Assisi who said once: “Preach the Gospel at all times; when necessary, use words”. Since I agree with Francis, I believe our own lives are the message, the preaching to the world. The first thing we are required to do by Jesus, as his followers, is to be one. We can only be one, in loving one another, supporting each other, as we are having this journey called life together on earth, waiting to join Jesus, where he went to prepare for us, our permanent homes. Jesus prays that we may be one as he is one with his Father. Let us be one, my fellow Christians, my fellow servants of God! Ngozi Pastoral training in pictures: