Students are being equipped at CPx in Cape Town
We are currently hosting our first in-person CPx in Cape Town since 2019. Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, we brought together 15 students from Mozambique, various parts of South Africa, Armenia and Switzerland for this training 1-17 September.
CPx stands for Church Planting Experience and is our flagship training program for indigenous and cross-cultural leaders who want to be equipped to make disciples and plant churches among the least, the last and the lost.
We are incredibly happy with the class of students that we have. Each one has been called to this training and is an impactful leader in their own location. Some are already in ministry in their locations in Mozambique and South Africa. Others are in transition, waiting for God to show them where to reach out to next. And some are looking to pioneer among new unreached people groups.
We didn’t advertise publicly about this training, but by August people were clamoring to attend. We learned that our current members and strategic partners are the best way to find new students. They helped us identify the key indigenous leaders they were raising up who were ready for further training. We have learned that this is the best way to find students to train who will be faithful to implement what they have been taught.
One excellent example of this type of student is Aviwe from the Eastern Cape province in South Africa. He has felt God calling him to apostolic/pioneering ministry. He started by visiting a new village. He would spend time with them, sharing the Gospel and planting a simple church. Then after that was established he would move on to the next village. He’s never received any training for it, but he was already acting as a catalytic church planter. When he found out about CPx he was eager to participate, to join with others with similar vision and get better equipped for the work to which he was already called.
We are so thankful for what God is doing at this very moment among the 15 students at this CPx. Our team has been impressed with the caliber of the students. They have opened up vulnerably and been incredibly humble and teachable. They are engaging with the content and asking great questions. We are excited to see how the rest of the in-person training goes. The training will continue after 17 September with a nine-month internship for those students who choose to continue. The students will be placed in small groups for mutual coaching and accountability. They will continue in these coaching groups as they return to their ministry locations to implement what they have learned.
The Covid-19 pandemic threw many challenges at us in the organizing of this CPx. We had planned to put on CPx in March 2020, but had to cancel at the last minute. We were unsure how to continue with constantly changing lockdown regulations from the government but we knew we had to find a way. We chose to create a social bubble among the CPx students and team, and also to wear masks, sanitize and socially distance as much as possible. We did have to limit the size of the class to 15 because of regulations on gatherings, but everyone was able to attend and the training was immensely successful despite taking place in a pandemic. We are happy to have found a way forward to conduct in-person trainings during Covid.