I want you to meet Pastor Moses.
In the small West African country of Togo, he serves at the only gospel-preaching church in his village. Many members of his congregation have come out of generations of animism and voodoo. To this day, ancestral worship and other idolatry shape daily life in the surrounding community.
In the face of so much spiritual darkness, Pastor Moses seeks to shine the light of Christ. Yet as he labors to proclaim God’s Word and disciple his congregation, he faces a challenge shared by millions of pastors worldwide:
- Many Christians in the church have never even owned a Bible.
- Trusted theological resources are scarce and financially out of reach.
- Meanwhile, the influence of false teaching is rampant.
By God’s grace, Ligonier recently supplied Pastor Moses and his church with the Reformation Study Bible and other trusted discipleship tools. His congregation is now better prepared to stand as a beacon of light in a sea of darkness. Yet in many places around the world, falsehood threatens to drown out the true gospel.
The global church needs our help. I’ve seen it firsthand. We thank God for the supporters who share Ligonier’s commitment to strengthen His people. Will you join us to bring trusted Bible teaching to even more Christians? Your donation today can help equip pastors for a lifetime of faithful ministry and spread the light of God’s Word among the nations.
A pastor like Moses carries a calling of eternal weight. Day after day, he sacrificially shepherds God’s people: admonishing the idle, encouraging the fainthearted, and helping the weak. He must give an account for every soul under his care and for every word he teaches them (Heb. 13:17; James 3:1). All his labors will prove fruitless if they do not rest on the authoritative Word of God.
Yet today, of the roughly five million pastors worldwide, 95 percent lack formal theological training. Most pastors have limited access to trusted resources to help them study and teach the Bible. They’re unprepared to form disciples who can grow strong in the faith amid an unbelieving world. All the while, false teaching abounds; the darkness is rising.
These challenges are not new to our time. Five centuries ago, the church was shrouded in another cloak of spiritual darkness. When preachers and teachers courageously took up God’s Word and proclaimed it faithfully, the Protestant Reformation dawned. God dispelled the darkness in many places, delivering hearts from sin, hopelessness, and superstition.
Post tenebras lux. “After darkness, light.” This Reformation rallying cry sounds through the Bible-teaching outreach of Ligonier Ministries as we seek to spread the light of God’s truth throughout the global church. Dr. R.C. Sproul led the charge when he launched Ligonier’s study Bible distribution to pastors in need. He understood that a renewal of the historic Christian faith starts with leaders thoroughly equipped for the work of the Word (2 Tim. 3:14–17).
When a pastor receives the Reformation Study Bible, he gains a trusted, lifelong companion to enhance his teaching ministry through:
- Exhaustive verse-by-verse commentary from 75 distinguished scholars,
- Dr. Sproul’s clear and precise notes covering the whole scope of theology,
- And two millennia of historic Christian creeds and confessions of faith.
And when pastors are better equipped for their calling, the whole church benefits from the light of God’s Word.
We seek to equip 500,000 pastors with the Reformation Study Bible by 2035. God has blessed this outreach; our pace is quickening, and we’re already 40 percent of the way to this goal. Last month alone, Ligonier’s supporters enabled the equipping of tens of thousands of church leaders throughout Africa. I was privileged to see their profound gratitude and renewed encouragement firsthand.
Yet I also glimpsed the depth of the problem. Prosperity preachers are flooding Africa with containers filled with false teaching. The cults are there too. Darkness remains across the continent. To counteract this, we must accelerate the distribution of study Bibles to spread the light of God’s truth.
Reaching our goal to equip half a million pastors still requires significant funds. Your support today can accelerate this outreach while fueling multi-year translations of the _Reformation Study Bible _into Arabic, Russian, Chinese, and other major languages.
All of Ligonier’s outreaches exist to serve the global church, from our newly upgraded app, to the expansion of RefNet, to YouTube and satellite TV broadcasts, to Tabletalk Bible studies and translated books, to conferences and training events around the world. Your prayerful and financial support can further each of these outreaches and strengthen pastors to shine the light of God’s truth.
Dr. Sproul said of Ligonier’s study Bible outreach, “We’re talking about an investment that has long-lasting impact in the lives of people.” Your gift today will help place study Bibles in the hands of pastors like Moses and accelerate worldwide Bible-teaching outreach.
Thank you for joining Ligonier to strengthen the church, equip the saints, and proclaim God's holiness among the nations.
