By Matt Norman
When I sat in a room with 15 pastors, church leaders and theological educators in Sofia, Bulgaria this September, I realized again why this work matters so deeply. Each person there represented a community, a church, even a network of churches across Europe and beyond. They carry the responsibility of guiding others in faith, but more than that, they carry the hope of raising up new leaders who will shepherd the next generation.
The challenge they face is one you may recognize. For too long, education has often meant sitting in a classroom, listening to a professor lecture and then taking an exam. Knowledge gets passed along (we hope), but does transformation take root?
One participant put it honestly: “Throughout my education, the teaching was always about what the professor wanted to say. I have sat through many boring and even irrelevant courses. But in this experience, I learned that teaching isn’t just about delivering information—it’s about helping people really learn, so they can grow into the leaders God is calling them to be.”
That shift changes everything. In Sofia, we didn’t just talk about new methods of teaching. These leaders practiced them. They discovered how to design learning that engages the head, the heart and the hands. They learned how to create spaces where pastors, students and church members could reflect deeply, wrestle honestly with Scripture and step forward in faith with courage.
One leader told me afterward, “This training changes not only what I teach, but how I listen, how I create space for dialogue and how I invite people to discover truth together.”
And here’s the beautiful part: this isn’t just about 15 leaders in one room. Each of them is now taking what they learned back to their own contexts, seminary classrooms, local churches, denominational gatherings, where they will train and equip others. And those new leaders will go on to form still more leaders. The impact multiplies.
This is why I do this work in partnership with IBTS. We are equipping leaders who equip leaders. We are strengthening those whom God calls not just for today, but for tomorrow.
This is also why your prayers and your gifts matter. Your support makes it possible for leaders across Europe and beyond to be equipped in new ways, so that communities can be served more faithfully, and the gospel can take root in fresh, life-giving ways. Thank you for being part of this story of multiplication and transformation.