Conference in Ubombo trains up local pastors

Manzibomvu Baptist Church - Local ministry leaders equipped to build healthy churches

As the world moves further from God, believers are contending to uphold God’s Truth in churches. Healthy churches are few and far between, but Macedonian Ministries continues to press on, training up and equipping leaders to walk in the ways of God. 

Macedonian Ministries, a registered Public Benefit Organisation (PBO), seeks to grow and advance God’s Kingdom by taking the Christian Gospel to unreached places. Some of the spheres in which they minister include church planting, training church leaders and reaching out to those in need. 

In the last decade and a half, the PBO has partnered in the planting of 18 churches in Ubombo, KwaZulu-Natal alone. Most of the pastors in this region are bi-vocational and live off the land; hence, most of them have not attended seminary. 

“One of our main priorities is to equip leaders in rural to remote areas. For them to uproot their lives and leave their source of income to attend seminary is simply not possible,” said Trevor Eayrs, Founder and President of Macedonian Ministries. “It is for this reason that we train and teach them on-site.”

On the weekend of 2 October 2020, Trevor and Trent Eayrs facilitated a workshop on Biblical Theology at one of the local churches, Manzibomvu Baptist. Most of the Baptist pastors and ministry leaders from the surrounding areas attended the conference. 

Covering a number of topics, such as Doctrine of Scripture, Doctrine of the Trinity, Doctrine of Creation, Doctrine of Salvation and Doctrine and Ordinances of the Church, the workshop was a structured attempt to bring about church greater health and maturity in the region. 

Macedonian Ministries strongly values teaching Biblical principles from a scriptural standpoint. The conference was largely an effort to grow and align leaders to a New Testament view of how churches ought to function.

“This was an attempt to lay aside our personal ideas and opinions, so that the truth of scripture may come to the fore and cement itself as the final authority which rules in all matters of faith and conduct,” Trevor explained. “The Q&A sessions were especially fruitful as they highlighted real issues that these pastors are facing. It was a joy to give satisfactory answers and counsel directly from the Word of God.”

Bongani Nzunza, one of the local pastors, expressed his appreciation for the teachings about the Trinity of God. “We find that our members are going away to fraudulent churches, which are not in touch with the Bible. We must get back to basics and align ourselves with the work of the Holy Spirit. Everything we do is for Christ, not for us.”

Similarly, another leader from the region, Thula Zikahli, shared that he was greatly blessed by the conference. “We teach about Jesus, but there is still a lot of confusion in our churches. It’s not easy for us to go to university and we lack knowledge, so we must have the confidence in what we’re talking about. Pr Trevor is doing a great work – that man is bringing the real Gospel of Christ to us,” said Thula. 

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