International (MNN)–Michael Southworth is the Bible League’s newest member of the leadership team. He joins the group as the Executive Vice President of Ministries.
Southworth explains that the thrust of his work with the Bible League is: “…training and equipping people in local churches around the world to utilize simple Bible studies, to share their faith, to share the Gospel with their non-Christian friends, neighbors and family members.”
It goes deeper than that, though. He says once the initial steps are taken, the team then moves “to take them on to a discipleship series of Bible studies.”
His most recently experience came through the International Festivals for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. While there, he was able to work with churches and communities in advance of Graham crusades.
That experience led to more vision. Southworth now leads the team aiding ministry partners and volunteers in more than 50 countries. His love for different cultures and peoples will help focus the Bible League’s global vision.
As for the ‘how’ of getting the Gospel into difficult or resistant areas, he shares that, “One of the things that we really try to do is to contextualize our methods and our materials so that they really work in a particular setting.”
The Gospel needs to go into the region wearing an indigenous face. Southworth adds, “We don’t go in with a fixed program and say ‘this is what we’re going to do.’ We say, ‘these are our goals and this is what we want to accomplish. How do we do that best here?'”
