January, 2009

January, 2009
Dear friends and family,
Pictured below is Bishop Peter Kololi of Tanzania, East Africa, scanning the books he received via US Postal Service M-Bag. Of the 39 Leader’s Libraries that I mailed overseas in 2008, 36 have arrived so far in Rwanda (11 of 12), Uganda (9 of 10), Kenya (5 of 5), Tanzania (4 of 4), Ghana (2 of 2), Romania (2 of 2), Bangladesh (1 of 1), India (1 of 1), Democratic Republic of Congo (1 of 1), and Nigeria (0 of 1). That’s 92%.
I have divided forty books into Libraries A (13 books) and B (27 books). The more influential a pastor is, the more books I will send him. Bishop Kololi is not only a key church leader in his region (Babati-Manyara), he also oversees a Bible school, the students of which will have access to his A and B libraries.


One of the faculty members of TNARS (The North American Reformed Seminary), http://www.tnars.net/, a free on-line seminary, Rev. Bill Bauerle of the Coram Deo Study Center in Arizona, is currently writing a whole new set of curricula to match the books in Library A. This way, I can mail an application form to TNARS along with the first curriculum (on Knowing God by J.I. Packer) in every M-Bag. The recipients can then begin earning a degree from TNARS without cost, and without ever needing a computer! They simply do all their assignments and exams with pen and paper and mail them back to the US for grading.
Here is an excerpt from an e-mail I recently received from Rev. Bauerle regarding an assignment he received for grading from Pastor Herman Timonah of Kenya:
“This man’s work is delightful on a number of levels. First, the sheer devotion to the work. There is almost 200 handwritten pages he mailed to me. It is written very neatly and readable. I actually am humbled at the labor he has put into this. Secondly, this reads very devotional. The pages drip with a love for the things of God.”
Another TNARS faculty member, Dr. Larry Bray, happens to live very near me, so we meet for lunch on a regular basis to plan and coordinate our two ministries into an ideal partnership!

I had planned on returning to India next month to teach several pastors’ conferences, but my surgeon strongly warned me against it. So I have asked Pastor Vijay Raju, with whom I have worked on two other trips, to teach our Leadership and Marriage conferences in my place. So my cancellation is his opportunity to exercise his own spiritual gifts and abilities. And what better way to put into practice the vision implied by our name, Equipping Pastors International, than to turn over our ministry to indigenous, qualified pastors who already know the language, culture, issues and needs of their own people? Please pray for Vijay and his wife, Swarupa (below) as they plan and prepare for teaching trips throughout India during the month of March. You can follow their ministry at http://www.christgospelministries.org/.
Goals for 2009
I. M-Bags- I hope to send out up to 100 Leader’s Libraries by M-Bag this year, now that I can no longer travel overseas. I plan to continue contacting publishers, inquiring about discounts and even free books for this worthy cause.
II. TNARS Partnership- I plan to continue working with Dr. Larry Bray and Rev. Bill Bauerle of TNARS to get as many seminary level curricula into the hands of as many needy and eager pastors as I can.
III. Other Languages- I plan to begin looking for great Christian books, especially those that are already on my M-Bag list, in other languages (French, Spanish, Swahili, Hindi, et al).
In His service, Ken Aull
PS If you would like to see a list of the books that are included in the Leader’s Libraries, you can find them at http://www.equippingpastors.com/, in my last newsletter (Indian Summer 2008), under Updates on my page.

Indian Summer 2008

Above I find myself privileged to be sitting between Suresh, gifted singer, associate pastor and worship leader, and his lovely wife Swapna, and Rev. Vijay Raj, pastor and founder of Christ Gospel Ministries, and his equally lovely wife Swarupa. For five weeks this summer, we led six EPI pastors’ conferences in two states (Andhra Pradesh and Orissa), 5 on Leadership for over 600 pastors total, and 1 on Marriage for 90 couples.


The enthusiastic response was humbling as God was clearly using us for His purposes and glory. We are already planning our next series of conferences for pastors in India in the early part of next year.
As an example of what we taught, here are the six purposes of Marriage:
1. Partnership (Gen. 2:18-24);
2. Procreation (Gen. 1:28);
3. Protection from Sexual Immorality (1 Cor. 7:2,9);
4. Pleasure (1 Cor. 7:3-5);
5. Picture of Christ and His Church (Eph. 5:22-33);
6. Personal Sanctification (Prov. 27:17; the “one anothers”).
We also taught the following three essentials of godly leadership:
1. Character (1 Tim. 1:5; 3:1-13; 4:12; 6:11);
2. Courage (1 Tim. 1:3, 18; 5:19-22; 6:17-19);
3. Commitment, or Faithfulness over time (1 Tim. 4:6-16; 6:12, 20).



These men are holding some of the books that we sent to Vijay through EPI’s M-Bag Leader’s Library ministry. These future pastors will be able to get a theological education in the Training Centre behind them, which will begin its first class on August 20 with 25 students.
Here are the books that are included in the M-Bags:
1. The Reformation Study Bible (English Standard Version)
2. The Crossway Comprehensive Concordance (for the ESV)
3. Webster’s New World Dictionary and Thesaurus
4. Africa Bible Commentary (for Africans only)
5. New Bible Commentary (Wenham, Motyer, Carson, France, editors)
6. New Bible Dictionary
7. The Christian Counselor’s NT and Proverbs (Jay Adams)
8. The Westminster Confession of Faith, Modern English Version
9. Salvation Belongs to the Lord- Intro to Systematic Theology (Frame)
10. Systematic Theology (Wayne Grudem)
11. Overcoming Temptation (Ralph Lloyd)
12. The Portable Seminary (David Horton, general editor)
13. According to Plan- Intro to Biblical Theology (G. Goldsworthy)
14. Essential Truths of the Christian Faith (R.C. Sproul)
15. Now, That’s a Good Question! (R.C. Sproul)
16. Getting the Message- A Plan for Interpreting and Applying the Bible (Dan Doriani)
17. Biblical Eldership (Alexander Strauch)
18. The NT Deacon (Alexander Strauch)
19. Knowing God (J.I. Packer)
20. Tell the Truth (Will Metzger)
21. A Ready Defense- the Best of Josh McDowell
22. Basic Christianity (John Stott)
23. How Long, O Lord? (D.A. Carson)
24. The Liberation of a Resentful Wife (Carol Arnold)
25. Great Words (Jack Arnold)
26. Charts of the OT (John Walton)
27. Charts of the NT (Wayne House)
28. One to One Discipling (Al and Lorraine Broom)
29. When the Road is Rough and Steep (Harry Kilbride)
30. Heaven (Randy Alcorn)
31. The Purity Principle (Randy Alcorn)
32. The Treasure Principle (Randy Alcorn)
33. The Grace and Truth Paradox (Randy Alcorn)
34. Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ (John Piper)
35. Let the Nations Be Glad! (John Piper)
36. Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die (John Piper)
37. Christ-Centered Preaching (Bryan Chapell)
38. Prepared to Preach (Greg Scharf)
39. Nine Marks of a Healthy Church (Mark Dever)
40. How to Study the Bible (Kay Arthur)





I am planning to spend the rest of this year purchasing these books and packing them in M-Bags to send overseas. My goal is 75 M-Bags, most going to Africa, some to India, and a few to other parts of the world. If you would like to help finance this project, make your check out to EPI, write “M-Bags” in the memo section, and send it to my home address. I promise that 100% of your donation will be used for this purpose.
Smiley and her dolly (given to her by Vijay and Swarupa) and I thank you on behalf of the most faithful but untrained pastors of the world!