This story is Part One of our year-end campaign: Equipping the Nations to Reach the Nations. As you read what God is accomplishing around the world, we invite you to partner in this ministry by supporting student scholarships with a year-end gift. Our goal is to raise $2.5 million by December 31 to continue equipping pastors across our 19 member schools.

When a man is trained to be a pastor, a supernatural work occurs (Romans 15:15–16).

Pastoral training is not the study of facts for their own sake, nor a pursuit of methods, metrics, or ministry models. It is a shaping of the heart—so that a man might be transformed into the likeness of Christ.

It is the study of the Word that results in a man transformed by the Spirit to reflect the character of Christ. Only a Christlike man may be a righteous model (1 Timothy 3:1–7), love the church, and have an eternal impact for the glory of God.

This is the impact that changes lives, saves souls, and shines the good news of Jesus to those in the darkness.

This season, TMAI’s goal is to support these men through the funding of student scholarships.

For most of these men, formal training would be unreachable without a scholarship. Your partnering in the ministry is often what makes their calling possible.

Because when one man is trained, an entire church is strengthened—families, marriages, communities, and cultures experience the ripple of a transformed shepherd.

In Honduras, the impact of one scholarship has reached beyond the soul of the pastor—and even beyond the borders of the nation.

“I had a great desire to study the Word of God. I didn’t know how…so I asked [a brother in Christ] how I could study better, how I could learn to preach.”

Nain was born and raised in Parma, Honduras. He was saved by God at twenty years old and felt the call to plant a church, even before his seminary studies. But he knew that he needed help—needed to be equipped to do what he was called by God to do.

He writes,

“I had a great desire to study the Word of God. I didn't know how… so I asked [a brother in Christ] how I could study better, how I could learn to preach. He gave me a MacArthur Study Bible, and in the MacArthur Study Bible was the Grace to You website. So I started listening to [Grace Community Church Spanish Ministry Pastor] Henry Tolopilo.

I really liked expository preaching. Where I worshiped, there was no expository preaching. And, well, I listened to Henry Tolopilo—he preached very well. I liked it. He said that you had to study the text a lot to preach well, but I didn't know how.

So, I said, ‘Well, I have to call this man to ask him where I can learn to preach like that,’ and I called him.

I spoke to Henry Tolopilo, and I commented that I was listening to the expository preaching, that I really liked how he was preaching, and that I wanted to preach like him. I didn't know what I was saying at the time, did I? I'll never preach like him, but I wanted to preach like him.

I asked him where I could study to preach like him. Then he asked me, ‘Where are you from?’ ‘Ah, I'm from Honduras,’ I said.

‘Ah, you’re in luck today,’ he said.

‘Why?’ I said.

‘In Honduras, we have a seminary called the Seminary for Expository Preaching (SEPE) that will teach you to preach just like me,’ he said. ‘You can do it there.’

So, the following month, I bought my ticket and came to Honduras, and I started studying at SEPE.”

Nain graduated from SEPE in 2013.

He currently serves in Parma, pastoring a church plant called Iglesia Bautista Hefzi-Ba with a congregation of about 40 members.

He is now a SEPE professor.

“Not only did they teach me how to study it, how to apply it to my life, but also how to preach the Word of the Lord to others—how to help others understand what the Word of the Lord says. ”

Nain’s desire is to reach more of the surrounding communities through evangelism and church planting. He continues,

“…[SEPE] taught me how to use the Word well—how to study it in a precise way, in a profound way. It was something I wanted to be able to do, and in the seminary, they taught me how to do that.

I am also grateful because they taught me how to preach the Word to others. Not only did they teach me how to study it, how to apply it to my life, but also how to preach the Word of the Lord to others—how to help others understand what the Word of the Lord says.

It is one thing to understand it, another to comprehend what it says, and yet another to be able to convey to the church what God says through his Word.”

For Nain and dozens of other men trained in Honduras, the opportunity to study at SEPE has utterly rebuilt and transformed them. And as a result, the impact of this opportunity is catching fire throughout the region.

SEPE currently has 54 students from six countries around the Central American region, with graduates from ten different South American nations. The reach of SEPE’s 151 graduates is profound, with graduates pastoring local churches and engaging in remote ministries to indigenous people groups such as:

training men among the Quiché in Guatemala,
training and planting churches among the Pech in Colón and Olancho
training and planting churches among the Lencas in Santa Bárbara,
evangelizing in Peruvian jungles,
training and planting churches among the Tolupanes, and
training men among the Miskitos in La Mosquitia.

This not only represents the scope of the ministry but the sacrifice that these men and their families make to travel to the seminary for training.

One student rides a horse, crosses a river by boat (or by rope if a boat is not available), hitches a ride, then purchases multiple bus tickets to get to class.

And they make this sacrifice gladly because they recognize the value of being rightly trained to preach, shepherd, and teach the Word.

This is the impact of a scholarship: a man trained, a church strengthened, and a nation reached with the gospel.

TMAI thanks you for your continued support in this effort by aiding the ministry of men in Honduras and beyond through student scholarships.

Please consider partnering with us financially or in prayer for the sake of men like Nain being used by the Lord to advance the gospel around the world.

This year-end, our goal at TMAI is to raise $2.5 million for student scholarships across our 19 member schools. Please consider making a gift by December 31st, 11:59 PM PDT. If you’d like to support us in this way, please click the button below.

Donate now

The Call in Central America

When a man is trained to be a pastor, a supernatural work occurs (Romans 15:15–16).

Pastoral training is not the study of facts for their own sake, nor a pursuit of methods, metrics, or ministry models. It is a shaping of the heart—so that a man might be transformed into the likeness of Christ.

It is the study of the Word that results in a man transformed by the Spirit to reflect the character of Christ. Only a Christlike man may be a righteous model (1 Timothy 3:1–7), love the church, and have an eternal impact for the glory of God.

This is the impact that changes lives, saves souls, and shines the good news of Jesus to those in the darkness.

This season, TMAI’s goal is to support these men through the funding of student scholarships.

For most of these men, formal training would be unreachable without a scholarship. Your partnering in the ministry is often what makes their calling possible.

Because when one man is trained, an entire church is strengthened—families, marriages, communities, and cultures experience the ripple of a transformed shepherd.

In Honduras, the impact of one scholarship has reached beyond the soul of the pastor—and even beyond the borders of the nation.

Nain was born and raised in Parma, Honduras. He was saved by God at twenty years old and felt the call to plant a church, even before his seminary studies. But he knew that he needed help—needed to be equipped to do what he was called by God to do.

He writes,

I really liked expository preaching. Where I worshiped, there was no expository preaching. And, well, I listened to Henry Tolopilo—he preached very well. I liked it. He said that you had to study the text a lot to preach well, but I didn't know how.

So, I said, ‘Well, I have to call this man to ask him where I can learn to preach like that,’ and I called him.

I spoke to Henry Tolopilo, and I commented that I was listening to the expository preaching, that I really liked how he was preaching, and that I wanted to preach like him. I didn't know what I was saying at the time, did I? I'll never preach like him, but I wanted to preach like him.

I asked him where I could study to preach like him. Then he asked me, ‘Where are you from?’ ‘Ah, I'm from Honduras,’ I said.

‘Ah, you’re in luck today,’ he said.

‘Why?’ I said.

‘In Honduras, we have a seminary called the Seminary for Expository Preaching (SEPE) that will teach you to preach just like me,’ he said. ‘You can do it there.’

So, the following month, I bought my ticket and came to Honduras, and I started studying at SEPE.”

Nain graduated from SEPE in 2013.

He currently serves in Parma, pastoring a church plant called Iglesia Bautista Hefzi-Ba with a congregation of about 40 members.

He is now a SEPE professor.

Nain’s desire is to reach more of the surrounding communities through evangelism and church planting. He continues,

“…[SEPE] taught me how to use the Word well—how to study it in a precise way, in a profound way. It was something I wanted to be able to do, and in the seminary, they taught me how to do that.

I am also grateful because they taught me how to preach the Word to others. Not only did they teach me how to study it, how to apply it to my life, but also how to preach the Word of the Lord to others—how to help others understand what the Word of the Lord says.

It is one thing to understand it, another to comprehend what it says, and yet another to be able to convey to the church what God says through his Word.”

For Nain and dozens of other men trained in Honduras, the opportunity to study at SEPE has utterly rebuilt and transformed them. And as a result, the impact of this opportunity is catching fire throughout the region.

training men among the Quiché in Guatemala,

training and planting churches among the Pech in Colón and Olancho

training and planting churches among the Lencas in Santa Bárbara,

evangelizing in Peruvian jungles,

training and planting churches among the Tolupanes, and

training men among the Miskitos in La Mosquitia.

This not only represents the scope of the ministry but the sacrifice that these men and their families make to travel to the seminary for training.

One student rides a horse, crosses a river by boat (or by rope if a boat is not available), hitches a ride, then purchases multiple bus tickets to get to class.

And they make this sacrifice gladly because they recognize the value of being rightly trained to preach, shepherd, and teach the Word.

This is the impact of a scholarship: a man trained, a church strengthened, and a nation reached with the gospel.

TMAI thanks you for your continued support in this effort by aiding the ministry of men in Honduras and beyond through student scholarships.

Training Church Leaders Worldwide

TMAI provides strategic academic, financial, and operational support to biblically sound theological and ministry training centers around the world. Partner with us in strengthening local churches by supporting the training of indigenous church leaders worldwide.

The Call in Central America

When a man is trained to be a pastor, a supernatural work occurs (Romans 15:15–16).

Pastoral training is not the study of facts for their own sake, nor a pursuit of methods, metrics, or ministry models. It is a shaping of the heart—so that a man might be transformed into the likeness of Christ.

It is the study of the Word that results in a man transformed by the Spirit to reflect the character of Christ. Only a Christlike man may be a righteous model (1 Timothy 3:1–7), love the church, and have an eternal impact for the glory of God.

This is the impact that changes lives, saves souls, and shines the good news of Jesus to those in the darkness.

This season, TMAI’s goal is to support these men through the funding of student scholarships.

For most of these men, formal training would be unreachable without a scholarship. Your partnering in the ministry is often what makes their calling possible.

Because when one man is trained, an entire church is strengthened—families, marriages, communities, and cultures experience the ripple of a transformed shepherd.

In Honduras, the impact of one scholarship has reached beyond the soul of the pastor—and even beyond the borders of the nation.

Nain was born and raised in Parma, Honduras. He was saved by God at twenty years old and felt the call to plant a church, even before his seminary studies. But he knew that he needed help—needed to be equipped to do what he was called by God to do.

He writes,

I really liked expository preaching. Where I worshiped, there was no expository preaching. And, well, I listened to Henry Tolopilo—he preached very well. I liked it. He said that you had to study the text a lot to preach well, but I didn't know how.

So, I said, ‘Well, I have to call this man to ask him where I can learn to preach like that,’ and I called him.

I spoke to Henry Tolopilo, and I commented that I was listening to the expository preaching, that I really liked how he was preaching, and that I wanted to preach like him. I didn't know what I was saying at the time, did I? I'll never preach like him, but I wanted to preach like him.

I asked him where I could study to preach like him. Then he asked me, ‘Where are you from?’ ‘Ah, I'm from Honduras,’ I said.

‘Ah, you’re in luck today,’ he said.

‘Why?’ I said.

‘In Honduras, we have a seminary called the Seminary for Expository Preaching (SEPE) that will teach you to preach just like me,’ he said. ‘You can do it there.’

So, the following month, I bought my ticket and came to Honduras, and I started studying at SEPE.”

Nain graduated from SEPE in 2013.

He currently serves in Parma, pastoring a church plant called Iglesia Bautista Hefzi-Ba with a congregation of about 40 members.

He is now a SEPE professor.

Nain’s desire is to reach more of the surrounding communities through evangelism and church planting. He continues,

“…[SEPE] taught me how to use the Word well—how to study it in a precise way, in a profound way. It was something I wanted to be able to do, and in the seminary, they taught me how to do that.

I am also grateful because they taught me how to preach the Word to others. Not only did they teach me how to study it, how to apply it to my life, but also how to preach the Word of the Lord to others—how to help others understand what the Word of the Lord says.

It is one thing to understand it, another to comprehend what it says, and yet another to be able to convey to the church what God says through his Word.”

For Nain and dozens of other men trained in Honduras, the opportunity to study at SEPE has utterly rebuilt and transformed them. And as a result, the impact of this opportunity is catching fire throughout the region.

training men among the Quiché in Guatemala,

training and planting churches among the Pech in Colón and Olancho

training and planting churches among the Lencas in Santa Bárbara,

evangelizing in Peruvian jungles,

training and planting churches among the Tolupanes, and

training men among the Miskitos in La Mosquitia.

This not only represents the scope of the ministry but the sacrifice that these men and their families make to travel to the seminary for training.

One student rides a horse, crosses a river by boat (or by rope if a boat is not available), hitches a ride, then purchases multiple bus tickets to get to class.

And they make this sacrifice gladly because they recognize the value of being rightly trained to preach, shepherd, and teach the Word.

This is the impact of a scholarship: a man trained, a church strengthened, and a nation reached with the gospel.

TMAI thanks you for your continued support in this effort by aiding the ministry of men in Honduras and beyond through student scholarships.

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Training Church Leaders Worldwide

TMAI provides strategic academic, financial, and operational support to biblically sound theological and ministry training centers around the world. Partner with us in strengthening local churches by supporting the training of indigenous church leaders worldwide.