The Evangelical School of Theology Educational Center (EST) had the privilege of hosting a team from Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock, Arkansas USA, April 11-20, 2015.
“…to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up…” Ephesians 4:12
The goal was to involve the FBC team in ministry with the Open Academy of Theology (OAT), which is one of EST’s main programs. The concept of OAT is “We are where people need us”, continues to inspire our efforts and prove successful in its activities. OAT is organized in partnership with local churches in Wroclaw and Lower Silesia on the basis of their needs and we see benefits of that in deepening the relationship between EST and the everyday ministries of churches. EST faculty visit churches in their environment and serve their needs.
Members of the Little Rock team included Clay Adkisson and Jimmy Thoma (pastors at FBC), Ann Blair (Coordinator Church Planting Leadership Residency with Fellowship Associates), and Michael Dennis (a businessman). Participation in this trip provided the team members with opportunities to teach and preach and also connect with pastors and churches in Wroclaw and Lower Silesia. The FBC mission team visited several current and former OAT churches and learned about the ministries, activities, goals and future plans of these churches.
Also, the FBC team joined with OAT Coordinator (Dr. Wojciech Kowalewski) and a team from EST to plan a one-day Pastors’ Retreat at Zamek Topacz (near Wroclaw). The theme of the retreat was ‘Leadership Based on Trust’, based on Dave Kraft’s book, Mistakes Leaders Make. Pastors heard a brief overview of two topics, “Allowing Ministry to Replace Jesus” and “Allowing Control to Replace Trust” by Wojtek Kowalewski, Clay Adkisson and Jimmy Thoma. The talks were followed by small group discussions, which were encouraging and beneficial for the pastors and church leaders. There was also a special time of praise, prayer and worship. The retreat concluded with lunch and more fellowship. The participants included pastors and church leaders from 15 churches as well as EST faculty and staff.
There were also opportunities for the FBC team to meet with the EST presidium, faculty and staff. The team taught in the course on Church Leadership during the EST extension weekend. They gave a PowerPoint presentation on the ‘Art of Delegation’.
Hopefully, this inaugural mission trip will be the first of many for future mission teams to serve and minister to Polish pastors and church leaders and to cooperate with Polish churches. If your church is interested in exploring partnership opportunities with EST’s Open Academy of Theology, please contact Marek Kucharski, EST Chancellor, at m.kucharski@ewst.pl.