“It is the Word of God that will change the heart of our people, and then we will be able to live in peace.”
Alex Karimbia is a lecturer at Bishop Gwynne School of Theology (BGST) in Juba, South Sudan. He firmly believes that training godly church leaders who can faithfully preach the Word of God is key to bringing about peace in his nation.
Before he became a lecturer, Alex completed a Bachelor of Theology degree at George Whitefield College (GWC), South Africa, a world-renowned institute providing in-depth theological training.
“It’s actually the vision of George Whitefield College that they…bring people from all the world especially from Africa, to be trained, so that they can go back and teach and preach and disciple.” – Alex
During his time at GWC Alex was challenged and grew through academic study, fellowship groups and involvement in a local church. He believes he is now much better equipped to teach others.
“The three or four of us who came back from GWC, we have impacted the college (Bishop Gwynne School of Theology) quite a lot. The quality of the materials that we give and how we teach, I think it has made a big difference to the college and it has also made the college now really grow in terms of having lecturers who can teach.”
Alex teaches topics such as the Old Testament, preaching, the Trinity, biblical literature and how to engage with African traditional religions to his 37 students.
“I take it as a joy that I can teach the students so that they will be going back to their different dioceses (across South Sudan) and begin to proclaim the gospel truthfully to the people.”
As well as helping to bring about peace, Alex sees the vital importance of faithful Bible teaching to the faith of thousands of believers across South Sudan.
“In South Sudan we can say…90% of the population are Christians. But then when it now comes to practicalities… they don’t live out their faith as Christians. And that partly is because of lack of the knowledge of God… The level of education is very low.”
Lack of reliable internet connection and printing facilities mean it can be difficult for Alex to prepare lessons. He is sometimes unable to access the literature he needs or print resources for his students. His work-around is to share documents for reading via WhatsApp and print extras at his own expense for any who do not have WhatsApp. AID is also working with BGST to improve internet access.
Please pray for God to use Alex and his fellow lecturers to build up His Church in South Sudan.
How can I help?
AID currently supports 2 students at GWC called Jok and Garang, as well as providing salaries for those such as Alex who have graduated from GWC and now lecture at BGST.
You can support students like Alex currently studying at George Whitefield College by donating here.
Find out more about our links with BGST and GWC here.
