Written by Paul J Bucknell on May, 06, 2024
Prayer Letter #393

By God’s Grace

Dear Prayer Partners,

Much preparation goes into these seminars. Paul taught these African Malawi pastors for seven hours over three days on ZOOM, going through The Life Core: The Heart of Great Training. We had a huge challenge this time.

The main coordinator didn’t show up! The last I heard from him was Sunday night, on his way to get there one day early. Then I got a phone call that all the pastors were there Monday morning, but the coordinator didn’t show up, nor did all the money needed for food and expenses. This is the first time I have had two coordinators, and it turned out fortunate because though the main one was absent, the other could slowly pick up things. We are grateful that we had sufficient funds to compensate for the extra expenses, etc.   

The big question was whether they should go forward; initially, we didn’t know what happened. It turned out that the coordinator’s car broke down in the middle of the night, and he lost his phone when others helped push his car. He had to have his car towed back home; he arrived two days late. Praise God for an excellent translator (into Chichewa language). How we conducted ourselves through the confusion and misunderstandings became a big lesson.

“I am grateful to God for being a part of this work and process. I have learned a lot throughout, and also in your handling of the monetary issues that arose.” —Malawi coordinator

Paul has now edited and uploaded the videos, translated slides, and handouts to the BFF website. They learned much about discipleship and want more teaching, but I explained that they need to implement what they learned about discipleship right in their churches. 

Meanwhile, Paul enjoys getting back into numerous other incomplete projects.

 Praise

• The Indian pastors have found the Zoom classes very helpful. “We are so grateful brother, you have done a very great thing for us.” 
• Despite the challenges, the Malawi pastors greatly appreciated the seminar.
• Thank the Lord for a gift toward our STM expenses.
• The preaching at the Chinese church had a great response.
• Praise God, who gave me strength and calmness to deal with the seminar pressures amidst ongoing teaching.

Thank you for your prayers!

Pray

• Pray for the last Indian Zoom training class on May 7th. Paul will use the training resources to show how marriages grow and develop.
• Paul speaks at the local Chinese church (in English) on May 28th. 
• Paul will speak in Chinese about Indian missions on June 2 in Maryland.
• He seeks wisdom on proceeding with Zoom training, perhaps him holding an English class over the summer. (I just got an ad from Zoom that they can translate for our viewers in 36 languages—on the go. Of course, more money.)