More than 80% of pastors around the world have little or no biblical training. That’s why the Langham Preaching programme walks with the global Church, training pastors to preach and teach the Bible.
One pastor who attended a Langham Preaching seminar in India four years ago says his preaching completely changed. And as a result, people’s lives are being transformed.
Meet Pastor Michael Thomasraj:
“I am married with two daughters, and live in Bangalore, India. I’ve been a Pentecostal pastor there for 17 years. My church, which is predominantly Tamil-speaking, is attended by around 500 people. I started the church straight after studying at SAIACS (the South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies).
“I came across Langham in 2018 after having something of a mental breakdown. At the time, I was unable to preach anything meaningful. I was also teaching at SAIACS and was given the opportunity to meet Paul Windsor (Langham Preaching Director) for counselling.
“Paul asked me to come to Hyderabad where training was happening. During the Level 1 seminar, Paul preached from Nehemiah. This was a small breakthrough for me. I was given a Philippians passage and eight steps to write a sermon.
‘The passion I had lost came back’
“While I was preparing this, I felt lifted up and had an experience I’d never had before. I got back the urge to preach God’s Word and the passion I had lost came back. During the next few days, the whole training was so different and helpful. I returned to Bangalore and immediately began working with Tamil people in improving their preaching and saw huge results.”
Pastor Michael urged his fellow Pentecostal pastors to get on board with Langham Preaching training. To his surprise, 100 people came to a ‘Langham Vision Meet’ he arranged.
“They all wanted to come back for a Level 1 preaching seminar. Everywhere the training happened, over a hundred people attended – all in the Tamil language. I thought just a handful of people would come. I felt the Lord was doing more than we imagined.
Entire method of preaching shifted
“I’m so grateful to God for that. Please pray for these young pastors. We usually don’t preach biblical sermons in the Pentecostal church. There was a lot of pushback. Other churches and denominations, people who have come to Langham training, have shifted their entire method of preaching.
“Many of my pastor friends are preaching from a passage and people’s lives are being transformed. It’s making a huge difference. People have liked it so much they don’t want to go back to using topical sermons.
“They’ve caught on to learning and applying God’s word. I see it every week. It’s been a great experience. This has been a great turnaround even in our churches, by what God has been doing through Langham.”
Your support of Langham is transforming lives in India – thank you!
