It has become evident that it is beneficial to get church leaders in Swaziland to meet together as often as we can. It is especially beneficial if those meetings are for the purposes of increasing education, bearing each other’s burdens and provoking each other on to love and good deeds.
The last time preachers met for a Workshop at ACC, they asked if we would be so kind as to present workshops twice a year and we were only too happy to oblige. Our theme was “To the Glory of God,” taken from Phil. 2:1-5, 11.
With an attempt to sift out the Barnabases in our midst, the topic for Friday evening was “If you have any encouragement…” When subjects are ‘workshopped,’ the presenter does a brief introduction of the topic and then he divides the attendees into five or six groups, each with a question relating to the topic that they must answer. At the end of discussion time, a representative from each group is required to summarize rather than expand on the groups deliberations. On Friday evening, this was followed by the viewing of the first half “The Gospel According to Matthew.”
Saturday proved to be a long, intense, and fruitful day. Topics included “Any Affection,” “Being like-minded,” “One Purpose,” “In Humility,” and “Personal Interests versus Interests of Others.” In addition to this feast on the word, we were given an abridged tour of the Tree of Life orchard and workshop as well as the library and computer lab. The plans for the new library were laid out to our church leaders so that they can catch the vision. The open forum discussion that followed revealed areas that College staff and church leaders need to work on, if we want to motivate evangelism and church growth in Swaziland.
Lynn Rhodes did an outstanding lesson on “The Attitude of Christ,” after supper and those who had any energy left continued to watch “The Gospel According to Matthew.” On Sunday morning we joined with the Tubungu Church of Christ for worship, and Elliot Magongo, an elder from the Fairview church closed with a lesson entitled “To the Glory of God The Father.”
We were very well fed by the cafeteria staff and we can honestly say “a good time was had by all.”
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By Kurt Platt
View our photo gallery from the Leadership Workshop