We pray this week for Hillcrest Baptist Church in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, which, of course, served us as host at the recent conference, and where Billy Zwart serves as pastor-teacher. The church writes,
At HBC, we are grateful for Sola 5, and we want to praise God again for the opportunity we were given to host many brothers and sisters for the conference, sharing our homes and lives with you.
We truly appreciate you all and your prayers. Please join with us by praying for the following:
1. Pray that the conference, which was an immense encouragement to us, will continue to bear fruit among us; that we will be moved by the Spirit to pray more fervently for our sister churches; that the example of our sister churches will challenge and stretch us to be bolder in our sacrifice for the kingdom and our efforts to be a sending/ planting church. Pray that those who served will be shaped by the experience to further seek Christ’s kingdom over comfort, and that the same joyful fervency will spread to others.
2. We praise God for opening doors for us to launch an in-house publications ministry, and for the opportunities for gospel influence that are coming as a result. Pray that, through our church, good biblical resources will reach the hands of many in our community and further afield, to push back the tide of false teaching in our country.
3. We are supporting the training of a new group of potential church leaders from various communities around us. The training in isi-Zulu is in systematic theology (using an exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession), preaching and biblical counselling. Pray with us that it will produce sound biblical teachers and lead to greater spread of the gospel in KwaZulu-Natal in years to come.
4. We have completed a two-year systematic training with a group of young men in our congregation. We will focus now on preaching among that same group of men. Pray that God will raise up elders for the future, and men able to handle the word of God rightly. Pray that God might even call someone from among us to fulltime ministry, and that we will have courage to send from our best into the harvest.
5. We have another Quest for Truth event planned for October. Pray that God will send people from our community who are lost, and that we will be bold to present the gospel, and that God will open hearts to receive it. But also pray for us to grow in discipleship, that our members will have strong confidence in the gospel and have greater courage to share their faith.
2. We praise God for opening doors for us to launch an in-house publications ministry, and for the opportunities for gospel influence that are coming as a result. Pray that, through our church, good biblical resources will reach the hands of many in our community and further afield, to push back the tide of false teaching in our country.
3. We are supporting the training of a new group of potential church leaders from various communities around us. The training in isi-Zulu is in systematic theology (using an exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession), preaching and biblical counselling. Pray with us that it will produce sound biblical teachers and lead to greater spread of the gospel in KwaZulu-Natal in years to come.
4. We have completed a two-year systematic training with a group of young men in our congregation. We will focus now on preaching among that same group of men. Pray that God will raise up elders for the future, and men able to handle the word of God rightly. Pray that God might even call someone from among us to fulltime ministry, and that we will have courage to send from our best into the harvest.
5. We have another Quest for Truth event planned for October. Pray that God will send people from our community who are lost, and that we will be bold to present the gospel, and that God will open hearts to receive it. But also pray for us to grow in discipleship, that our members will have strong confidence in the gospel and have greater courage to share their faith.
Thank you for your prayers.
In Christ,
Billy Zwart