Articles & News

Equipping the Equippers

July 27, 2016 There are so many wonderful ways God uses His Word as we teach it simply and systematically around the globe. In that sense, the ministry of Thru the Bible is like a beautiful diamond in God’s hand—its beauty can be seen as you look at its various facets.

One of the most exciting ways God uses TTB is to empower pastors, evangelists, and teachers. This is because when we reach an individual who is called to preach and teach, our impact is leveraged through that person. Also, one of the most common concerns for the church around the world is leadership development and correct doctrine. What could be more strategic than empowering those who lead and teach?

The highly respected missionary publication, Operation World, lists ten key issues for prayer for the global church. Here are the first five:

1. Maintaining a clear witness to the uniqueness of Christ in the midst of growing religious pluralism and post-modernity.
2. Sustaining the centrality of the Scriptures in today’s world.
3. The effective functioning of local congregations.
4. Leadership development is the crucial bottleneck to church growth.
5. Discipleship is regarded by many Christian leaders as the greatest challenge facing the church today.

This is an imposing list of needs, but by God’s grace, Thru the Bible is helping to answer those issues by equipping church leaders. Those who listen to Dr. McGee’s teaching in their own languages receive solid, balanced biblical instruction so that they can meet these challenges. And we are thrilled to report that huge numbers of pastors, evangelists, and leaders listen to Thru the Bible as our online and over the air broadcasts in over 100 languages and dialects are heard almost everywhere on earth! Let’s take a moment to reflect on some of the exciting ways God uses TTB to equip pastors:

So many pastors around the world lack access to real theological training or the financial ability to attend seminary. A ministry colleague returned from a trip to Angola, during which he met with many pastors working in that spiritually impoverished country. One of the most common phrases he heard was, “TTB is my Bible school!”

Several years ago, I was in Nepal visiting places where our Nepali programs had been used to plant churches. One man invited us into his simple home made with mud walls and a dirt floor to hear his story: He had been an animist (one who worships spirits in objects such as rocks and trees), but by listening to TTB in Nepali, he came to faith in Christ. When he began sharing what he was learning, his family members also trusted Christ, but his neighbors began to persecute him. He continued to faithfully share his faith within his community, and now he leads a church in his home with five families in attendance. Without TTB’s radio broadcasts, this man would not have met the Lord Jesus Christ and certainly would not be able to lead a church!

On that same trip I was in India and met a man who had been a gang leader and a murderer. While in prison, he heard about a program in his language that taught the entire Bible. So he told the warden he needed a radio because he wanted to know the true and living God. The warden granted his request. That man not only came to faith in Christ, but was released from prison for his good behavior and today serves as pastor to five different churches!

God is using Thru the Bible’s Kabyle-Berber broadcasts to plant churches in the predominantly Muslim country of Algeria. We hear many reports like this one: “My father discovered your programs and shared it with our neighbors. Together we started a small church. It has grown to 150 worshippers.”

The African country of Mali is more than 87% Muslim, yet the government provides religious freedom despite mounting pressure from neighboring countries to become an Islamic state. One Thru the Bible listener named Hawa takes full opportunity of that freedom. He writes, “Thank you for the wind-up MP3 player and biblical messages! I am now a traveling evangelist, offering my people the hope and love found in Jesus Christ!”

Thank you for making it possible to offer God’s Word so freely to train and equip those who are leading the church of Jesus Christ all across the world!

- Gregg Harris, TTB President