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eNews December 2014
Greeting from Gillean Smiley, CEO
As we say farewell to Ronald, one of our Scholars in Australia, the International team is finalising arrangements for the next round of Scholarships – with all the arrangements and organisation that goes with such a huge undertaking. This eNews, we meet another scholar preparing to return home, and help the church in Zimbabwe tackle the issue of poverty and the prevalence of a “prosperity gospel” in a Biblical way. Please pray for the Scholars preparing to return home, and the new Scholars preparing to begin their doctoral studies in the New Year. In keeping with Langham Partnership’s goal of raising the standards of locally available training, many of these Scholars will be based in tertiary institutions in the Majority World! Thank you for your support, both prayerfully and financially this year. We praise God for His continued blessing on this ministry. All the team at LPA pray for a safe, peaceful and spiritually refreshing time for you, as you reflect on the wonder of the coming into the world of Jesus Christ: fully God and fully human. Christmas Greetings
Join us in prayer…
PREACHING:
LITERATURE:
SCHOLARS:
Upcoming Langham Preaching events
Please pray for the Langham Preaching facilitators who will be involved in the training itself, and particularly for Paul Windsor, the Programme Director for Langham Preaching. Using Scripture to tackle poverty in Zimbabwe
The Langham Partnership supports many scholars around the world. Ronald Lal Din Suah (Myanmar) and Qaiser Julius (Pakistan) are our two most recent PhD scholars here in Australia, with Ronald preparing to return home having successfully completing his doctorate. Meanwhile, other scholars are also nearing the end of their studies, and preparing to provide leadership in the local Church, on their return home. Collium Banda from Zimbabwe is another Langham Scholar, nearing the completion of his studies at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa. As Zimbabwe has enjoyed a recent rapid growth in Christianity, it has experienced a parallel spectacular rise in poverty. Abandoned office blocks and factories in Bulawayo, for example, are fast being occupied by an array of churches preaching the ‘health-and-wealth’, or ‘prosperity’, gospel. He began his studies with an assumption that the prosperity movement has a low view of future Christian hope and teaches that material prosperity is attained by faith, with no emphasis on practical work. At the same time, he assumed that mainline missionary churches [in the traditional denominations] have been overwhelmingly interested in ‘spiritual’ salvation only. However, Collium reports, ‘I found that prosperity churches, despite their shortcomings, often acknowledge the necessity of hard work for attaining material prosperity. And, in Zimbabwe, they have been in the frontline of rejecting poverty, with leading entrepreneurs emerging from them! Collium hopes to use his studies to formulate a framework for training pastors. Part of his quest is how to apply the resources Jesus has provided for and in his church to facilitate the poorest also earning a liveable income. ![]() Collium married Vhaidha in December 2013. They expect their first baby in January 2015 ‘My immediate task on return to Zimbabwe is teaching at the Theological College of Zimbabwe and providing leadership in my home-church denomination. With the complex challenges faced by the church in Zimbabwe, and in Southern Africa, I hope also to join the wider discussion on tackling poverty, particularly as faced by Christians.’ Collium’s prayer request is for wisdom in juggling his present responsibilities (including a baby due in January). His PhD thesis is entitled ‘Eschatological Hope and Material Wellbeing in a Zimbabwean Context of Poverty: a Dialogue with Jürgen Moltmann” and he is on track to submit it by Easter 2015. |
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To learn more about our ministry visit langham.org Langham Partnership Australia, PO Box 530, Springwood NSW 2777 Australia Tel. 02 4751 9036 | Email. Aust ralia@ langh am.org |