‘May their tribe increase!’

Langham Preaching Volunteers

Who are Langham Preaching Volunteers?
They are men and women who freely give their time and energy to facilitate Preaching Seminars or coordinate and lead Langham Preaching Programmes in their local regions.

Why do they do it?
Because ‘the purpose of Langham Preaching went straight into their hearts!’ They were inspired by God, either when they experienced it themselves or when they witnessed others having their ‘eyes opened’ to an expository way of preaching from the whole of Scripture.

Does Langham support their work in any way?
Langham Preaching provides funds for their travel expenses, and contributes to the cost of events, e.g. accommodation, books and so on.

What are the qualifications for a Volunteer?
Many volunteers have themselves completed the Preaching Training Seminars; but it varies between countries. In some places there has been no prior Langham training. Langham Preaching then provides international facilitators to help with initial training – and not necessarily facilitators from the West. For example, Nigerian facilitators recently trained preachers in South Sudan.

Emmanuel Oladipo moved from being a volunteer with LPUKI to fulltime employment with Langham Preaching in 2009. When he retires at the end of 2014, he hopes to ‘revert to the more exulted role’ [of volunteer], as he explains:

“What do a Kenya fabrication engineer, a Ugandan Pharmacist and an Ethiopian theologian have in common? In my experience with Langham Preaching, they are all active volunteers spending an enormous amount of time and personal resources to encourage Langham Preaching in their respective countries. What would the ministry be like without their selfless input, and that of others like them around the world?

Each volunteer brings a unique contribution: Gordon Woolard, for example, I consider to be an ‘unusual’ American – he speaks a second language, and this he uses to train our colleagues in Francophone Africa.

David McCahon was a successful research scientist who subsequently served for many years as a Baptist pastor before volunteering to facilitate preaching seminars in West Africa in his retirement. His exemplary lifestyle, insightful preaching and teaching, and diligent mentoring of individual participants bless in equal measure.

Some volunteers, like Christo Jonah, Emeka Egbo or Victor Obeng, are seconded for significant periods of time to partner agencies such as IFES or The Truth Mission.

Others, like John Bell, Frank Shayi or Matthew Gonkerwon, add volunteering to the workload in their churches or Bible colleges. They not only teach and preach but also organize events, lead teams, supervise groups and build preaching movements.

Even though their countries are, in some cases, among the poorest on earth, volunteers all serve without remuneration from Langham Partnership International.

Ignatius Mainbu’s banana plantation gives him an income that enables him to generously volunteer his time.

Goat farming supplements Elkana Gonda’s income as a part-time teacher in a Bible school.

I too served as a volunteer on the LPUKI Board for several years before I got ‘demoted’ to staff member in 2009. As I now revert to the more exulted role, I praise the Lord no end, and I take my hat off to those volunteers with whom I have been privileged to serve – and to all the others, in all their countries and ministries beyond my personal experience.

As we pray in Africa, ‘May their tribe increase!'”

Langham Preaching, Dec 2014