White Fields Missions Report regarding STEP in the Philippines, January 7-11, 2008
Vincent Greene

White Field’s three year STEP Program (i.e., Supplemental Teaching in Expository Preaching) for Filipino church planters is valuable and needed. After teaching Homiletics 1, one of its core courses, I have better understood the purpose of STEP – to help Filipino church planters understand and apply the task of expository preaching. As a result, I wanted to make sure that I provided each man with the tools necessary so that they could accomplish both exegesis and exposition of the biblical text.

Before teaching the course, my goal was to prepare a PowerPoint presentation that would help the men learn what is necessary to becoming a biblical expositor. I labeled three key components: demonstration of biblical character (1 Tim. 3:1ff; Tit. 1:5ff), accurate understanding of the biblical text (2 Tim. 2:15), and effectively proclamation of the biblical text (2 Cor. 5:11). It was my purpose with this trip to emphasize the second of the three components (my visit in January 2009 will center upon the third component).

The men responded well to my teaching. In conjunction with Wayne McDill’s Preparing Bible Messages: A Workbook in Bible Exposition, I outlined for them 10 steps that, if followed, will help them arrive at an accurate understanding of the biblical text. The training took place over four days, and it consisted of lecture and group assignments. I selected 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12 for them to apply the ten steps. The men interacted with me by asking questions which brought clarification to what they were hearing from me. I am now working with Steve Wheeler and Leo Ordiales of White Fields to create a structure by which these men can work through the exegetical process at a much slower rate.

White Fields New Philippino Pastors for 2008

The Re-Creation Center in Rizal, Philippines was a good location to do the teaching. Even though there was ample space, the men were divided into two groups so that the class size would be smaller. Since I taught one group in the morning and the other group in the afternoon, I found it easier to interact with the men. I was even able to divide the men into smaller groups of three students so as to facilitate their learning of the exegetical method.

I found the daily interaction with the men very rewarding. These men have a burden for the ministry to which God has called them. They already see the importance of the command “Preach the Word.” They have now committed themselves to learning the process of biblical exposition. Their lives and devotion is a testimony and an encouragement to me that God is working in other parts of the world. May God be praised in all that He is doing among Filipino church planters. I am thankful to be a part of their training, and I am looking forward to teaching Homiletics 2 in January, 2009.