Ethiopian Pastors College Officially Begins

An update from Josh Pannell, Pastors College graduate, and Dean of Trinity Fellowship Pastors College…

Hello again from Addis Ababa, it’s such a joy to write to you again, and I write with great news!

The Trinity Fellowship Pastors College officially launched on September 15th, and the students have already completed 8 of their 41 courses for the year. Each new class starts on Tuesday morning and lasts through Friday for a total for 25 classroom hours. On top of that, they are completing 200 pages of reading as well as submitting projects and papers for each of their classes. They are also studying Biblical Greek in the mornings. It’s a lot, but they are all doing great!

We have both lifelong pastors and top-notch scholars coming to teach these classes, including over 20 pastors from Sovereign Grace churches. Most recently we welcomed Dr. Bryan Blazosky from Bethlehem Seminary in Minneapolis. He spent the week working through Paul’s letter to the Romans with the students, a class he’s taught for the past 14 years.

Because most of these men grew up under prosperity gospel preaching, we have two course on gospel centrality in our curriculum. Michael Granger taught on The Gospel-Centered Life where the students spent the week exploring the gospel from different angles and learning how it functions in the Christian life. Joel Carlson (Emmaus Road Church) taught on Gospel-Centered Ministry where students explored how the gospel shapes both the pastor and his church. We know that the only true and lasting remedy for the prosperity gospel is the true gospel, and we want these men to have the gospel sink down deep into their hearts. To my joy, I can see that happening, and the fruit of those two weeks is obvious. These men are becoming gospel-men!

As I think about all that God is doing, I find myself so grateful. And I’m especially grateful for our partnership with Sovereign Grace Churches. God is on the move, and he’s using prayers and your gifts to do unthinkable things. Thank you for your continued investment in me, these men, and Trinity Fellowship.