Coming from a church in Sudan rife with conflict and low on evangelistic zeal, an assistant pastor felt lost and confused when he arrived at a seminary in the Middle East.
“Three months in, and I was ready to throw in the towel,” Kamal Abdalla* said. “I wanted to give it up and go back home. But every time I prayed about it, the Lord would tell me in one way or another to do my best and persevere, so I did.”
When he returned to his church in Sudan after three years in 2019, he was a different man eager to help his congregation become a different fellowship, he said.
“Without theological education, I do not think I could have ever allowed the Lord to work through me as He has so far,” Abdalla said. “I used to be very aggressive when dealing with conflict inside the church and was timid and shy when reaching out with the gospel, but the Lord changed all of that.”
“I used to be very aggressive when dealing with conflict inside the church and was timid and shy when reaching out with the gospel.”
Having been trained in both conflict resolution and the importance of sharing the gospel, Abdalla resumed work as an assistant pastor involved in teaching, training and leading youth ministry. He had learned how important it was to make and share peace with those around him, and the seminary also helped give him the sensitivity and courage to share the gospel in any situation, he said.
Abdalla led efforts to reach non-Christian areas of Sudan with the gospel.
“It is amazing how the Lord is growing the church in places where believers are not allowed to practice their faith,” Abdalla said. “More and more people are coming to Christ, and we are doing our best to serve them.”
New Christians grew in faith as they came together in small home groups to worship and pray together.
“I do not know what God is going to do through them, but I am thankful that He is allowing us to be a part of this ministry, and I pray that He continues to use us as we reach out to those who have yet to receive the gospel message,” he said.
One of the five groups he leads recently took the initiative to help supply aid to a refugee camp lacking in resources, which opened up gospel opportunities.
“When the refugees asked why we were doing this, we always answered that we were just doing what the Lord told us to do,” Abdalla said.
Church leaders often engage in ministry without receiving proper training or discipleship, leaving congregations zealous but shallow, he said. Abdalla has a vision to prepare youth for greater outreach.
“We have a need for ministers who have strong theological foundations, so I want to focus on training youths from a young age and disciple them so that they have strong roots in the Word of God,” he said. “This will help the church altogether. It will also help us break out of our restrictive customs and embrace a God-centered direction that seeks spiritual growth with Him first and foremost.”
Peace-Building
The head of the native ministry that operates the seminary said Abdalla’s growth has been encouraging to him and other leaders.
“We are always humbled by His powers of transformation as we walk alongside them during their journeys of theological education and see them grow into effective church ministers and leaders who serve the growth of the kingdom,” he said.
At the seminary, Abdalla was trained to lead peace-building initiatives in Sudan. What he learned about conflict resolution for Sudanese society he also applied to problems at his church. He not only revived a youth ministry that had succumbed to conflicts among team leaders but addressed a broken relationship of his own.
“The first thing I did when I went back home was make peace with a pastor I had fallen out with years before,” he said. “It used to be that when we saw each other, we would go out of our way to avoid each other. But at seminary, I learned that I could not serve the Lord without acting like Him, so I strove to make peace, and I am thankful for it. Today, he constantly encourages me and supports my ministry.”
Native Christian workers are benefiting from such training throughout the Middle East. Please consider a donation today to help train them for challenging tasks.
*Name changed for security reasons