Spirit of Grace School of Ministry

In what seemed a very strange bit of timing, God began to make His calling to ministry real to me in the last few months prior to my graduation from college with a teaching degree. At the time my thought was, “Lord if you wanted me to be a preacher, why did you wait until I have nearly finished college. It would have saved me a lot of trouble had you called me several years earlier. As it turned out, God (ever the economical One) has made use of my teaching experience and background all through my adult life. Recently He began to impress me deeply with the desperate need for ministry training in the third world countries, and especially in the nations of Africa. I once talked with two pastors, one from Uganda and one from Kenya, about the ministers in their respective ministerial associations. Between them they had personal knowledge of about 90 pastors. I asked them, “Of the ministers that you personally know, how many of them have had formal Bible training in some kind of Bible College or seminary?” Between them they could only think of one or two. Since that time God’s word to me has been, “Train My servants.” Spirit of Grace School of Ministry, which opened in January, 2007 in Webuye, Kenya, was the beginning of our obedience to that command.

     Here’s how the School of Ministry model works. We have put together a list of the finest Christian books ever written, and have begun to order these books for our students. Although there can be no definitive list that would satisfy every theologian, most of the books we have chosen are classic Christian works that have stood the test of time, or tell the stories of some of the greatest “heroes of the faith” in the history of the church. We will be establishing a library of these books in each school of ministry, for our students to check out and read. Along with these wonderful books, we also provide mp3 players which are loaded with teachings from some of the finest Bible teachers in the body of Christ. The students will listen to these teachings in small groups, and then discuss them. These teachings will cover important books of the Bible, like Romans, Colossians, and the gospel of John, as well as fundamental theological truths, such as justification by faith, the new birth, the Person and work of the Holy Spirit, growth in grace, and Bible prophecy. The beauty of using MP3 players to provide these teachings is that the players are totally portable and will run on one small battery. Most Africans do not have electricity in their homes, so these tiny digital devices are ideal for them.

     Each student will have an advisor / mentor who will personally oversee their educational progress and make sure they stay on schedule with their reading and listening to the teachings. They will also participate in “hands-on” ministry and evangelistic events. The need for ministry training is so great in Africa, that we envision expanding our school of ministry throughout the continent of Africa.

 We need your help! Between our regular mission outreaches and the initial and ongoing expenses of this school of ministry, we are going to need to trust God for financial blessings as never before. But considering the enormous blessing this training can be to the body of Christ, we cannot afford not to do it. Please ask the Lord about how you can participate with us in blessing our brothers and sisters in the nations that are in such a desperate situation. The need is great, the time is short, but our God is all-sufficient!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                --- Dennis Pollock