Volunteers Make Ministry Happen
Each week, as many as 2,500 people walk through the doors of Back to God Ministries French ministry center in Kinshasa, Congo in response to our media outreach. People are responding to the Gospel and desire to learn more about the Christian faith. “We cannot do discipleship without our volunteers, just because of the sheer numbers,” notes Rev. Paul Mpindi, French ministry leader.
A network of 225 trained volunteers in several places throughout Africa—pastors and church leaders—serve as mentors to new believers and seekers enrolled in our Bible study correspondence course. On average, more than 5,340 students enroll in the Bible study course each month, and these volunteers provide ongoing supervision as students work through the lessons.
Several volunteers deliver Bible study materials to people who live too far away to come to our ministry centers for lessons. Other pastors provide spiritual counseling for those who come with deep needs. “We set up appointments and several pastors come every week to provide individual counseling,” Rev. Mpindi explains.
“This also creates an important partnership between local churches and Back to God Ministries International,” he adds. “We connect with these church leaders through our training conferences. We serve them first by providing biblical teaching, and in return they volunteer to serve with our ministry. Most of these volunteers do not have money to give in support of our ministry, but they joyfully give of their time.”
Rev. Mpindi repeats, “We could not do this part of our ministry without our volunteers.”
In fact, more than 750 volunteers serve Back to God Ministries International around the world, multiplying our outreach and discipleship capacity. The ways these volunteers offer assistance are varied, but essential for providing effective media outreach for each of our ten language ministries.
- Volunteers assist in our Chinese and Japanese ministries by providing the voices for audio broadcasts. Fifty volunteers assist the Chinese ministry with distributing discipleship materials.
- More than 200 partner churches throughout Brazil provide volunteer staff to follow-up with people who request prayer or spiritual counseling in response to the DisquePaz (Dial Peace) ministry.
- At least 170 volunteers throughout the Middle East quietly disciple seekers who want to know more about the Christian faith.
- Since the 1980s, volunteers in West Michigan and Iowa have faithfully delivered up to 40,000 Today devotionals to area churches and businesses, providing God’s Word for people in many communities. A volunteer team in Nigeria helps distribute 5,000 Todays throughout villages there. And we’ve learned of people in China and Cuba who, on their own initiative, have been sharing BTGMI devotional booklets with people hungry for biblical instruction.
Rev. Bob Heerspink, Director of Back to God Ministries International emphasizes, “Because of the nature of media ministry, volunteer staff in many places throughout the world are crucial for carrying out discipleship ministries with those who contact us with questions about faith and Christian resources.”
If you are interested in volunteer opportunities with BTGMI, visit our website at BackToGod.net/get-involved/for-you. We would love to partner with you as an online mentor, prayer partner, or various other opportunities.
