Beverly and I are leaving for South Africa later today. We plan to visit congregations in Johannesburg and then in Lilongwe and Blantyre, Malawi. We plan to document our journey on Travelpod and you can follow it by going to www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/victorkubik/17/tpod.html . We want to share with you visits with our brethren for whom we have a fond attachment.

The newest podcast is about the coming trip to Africa. Darris McNeely and I talk about it on Inside United at: www.ucg.org/members/united-news/inside-united/inside-united-podcast-episode-047

Our visit has a spiritual and humanitarian purpose. We are first and foremost interested in the health and growth of our United Church of God congregations and ministry. It's been two years since we've visited there and want to see firsthand how everyone is doing. We are thankful for the service by Aaron and Michelle Dean from the home office who, in his role as International Advisor and Senior Pastor, has overseen many details relating to finance and organization in that region.

Some of our ministry from the home office will visit various congregations during the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread. Darris and Debbie McNeely will be in Tampa, Peter and Terri Eddington in Kansas City, Gary and Barbara Antion in Omaha, Steve and Kathe Myers and Aaron and Michelle Dean will visit churches in Texas and Oklahoma.

In about a week we will mail a major subscriber letter to 176,000 Beyond Today readers. The letter focuses on the Church that is behind Beyond Today.

My letter reaches out to people who are regular subscribers and tells them more about our service and services. In our letters we are focusing more and more on how we can be of help and service personally to those who come in contact with us.

A looming reality in every part of the world is preparing and training the Church's leaders of tomorrow. That is true both in the United States and everywhere else in the world. New elders and pastors will be needed very soon and we must be training them now.

The theme for the next round of ministerial conferences will include the training of tomorrow's leaders. All around the world we are focusing on preparing and educating our successors. When Jesus Christ returns to this earth, He must find that we are "so doing" His work (Matthew 24:46). It is a daunting and sobering task, but one that is vital and we are up to it, which leads me to the next point.

Ministerial Education Program

For some time we have been examining our education programs with the intent of streamlining the offerings in a unified pastoral development program. We currently have several programs: online ministerial training, Labor in the Word, and a Pastoral Development Program initiated last year for the first group of ministerial trainees. These programs have served us well. Content for much of these is online and will continue to be a resource.

Our vision is a ministerial development program that serves the needs of new trainees, pastors and elders throughout the stages of their ministry and lives. Training in the skills to care for the membership is ongoing. We are all disciples, and a disciple is a lifelong learner. Education never ends. Our ministry needs a comprehensive program to promote effective pastoral skills in service to the Church.

Since the beginning days of United, several teams of ministers have worked at different times to meet these needs. Documentation from those past efforts show a consistent pattern of topics that our education program should cover. Every effort will be made to create a comprehensive program. Delivery methods will include online instruction, online seminars, regional conferences, an onsite pastoral development program, and resident Ambassador Bible College instruction. Much of this is already being done in part.

I have asked Darris McNeely to assist Ministerial and Member Services by coordinating a project to draw together all the present training elements, to determine new subjects to be added and to put in place a comprehensive educational program that will serve the present and long term needs of the Church. He will be assisted by Steve Myers and others.

Regular meetings have begun to develop this program. We will be soliciting input from our U.S. regional pastors and international areas to ensure the needs of the work and ministry are met. In our next round of regional ministerial conferences we plan to talk extensively about this subject.

I wish you all a wonderful Festival season. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.