“I long to see you,” Paul wrote to Timothy from his prison cell in Rome. “Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus,” he continued, “and what you have heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others as well.”

Paul’s advice rings down the ages, and perhaps has never seemed more urgent than now. We continue to live in a world of closed borders and travel restrictions: some of us are afraid, some discouraged, some frustrated. But our calling has not changed – we are to overcome our discouragement, and keep passing on what we have learned to others.

And that’s what we have been trying to do with Rooted in Jesus – sometimes in old ways, sometimes in new ways. As we prepare to send our first post-pandemic training team to DR Congo later this month, here are some of the recent developments:

A New Training Manual

Twelve years ago we produced the first Rooted in Jesus training manual. The aim was to enable teams of Rooted in Jesus facilitators to provide enjoyable and effective training sessions for new group leaders. The manual has been revised and updated over the years, but until now was available only in English. We are delighted to announce that it is now also available in Swahili, translated by Canon Abel Obura of the Diocese of Mara, Tanzania, and formatted here in our UK office ready to be printed in Arusha. It takes its place alongside the Rooted in Jesus Junior Team Manual which was translated last year.

New Training Methods

As we wait patiently for travel restrictions to ease, some of us have also been experimenting with virtual training, adapting the sessions in the Manual for use over Whatsapp or Zoom. This is being pioneered primarily in South Africa, where the Diocese of Natal has just hosted an Online Rooted in Jesus Small Group Leader Training Course. About 33 people from dioceses across the Province of Southern Africa signed up for the four weekly sessions.

The conference leaders decided to open the first session by inviting some of those who had completed the Rooted in Jesus course during the pandemic to share their testimonies. It made for an electric start, with both group members and the group leader speaking movingly about their experiences.

The group leader explained that they had started their group before the pandemic, but didn’t want to stop when Covid came. So they moved to Whatsapp and met online. Many group members thought it worked better, she said, because everybody had a voice. People were not so shy doing it this way, she explained; God was right in the centre guiding them; “the growth was amazing.”

Group members were only too willing to confirm this:

“I signed up one Sunday. I attended and I loved it. I preferred the social interaction more at church but I enjoyed adapting to the whatsapp. I have got so much closer to God through Rooted in Jesus, and I have found a family. It has transformed my life because I now think of things from a different perspective, I often use my teachings from RinJ to direct my life.”

“Three years ago I was really sick, and I felt the presence of God. I asked someone if there was a Bible study group I could join, and I joined the Bible study group and then Rooted in Jesus. I was carrying baggage from my childhood, and RinJ has taught me from the Bible how to forgive, how to move on, to be a different person. I didn’t mind if it was church or if it was in whatsapp, but perhaps I learnt more in whatsapp because you can go back and read what people said.”

New Translations

At the same time, we have taken advantage of the quieter period of the pandemic to work on new translations of both the Rooted in Jesus adult and Junior books. Our aim has been to complete translations for languages in which the course had previously been only partly available, to update some of the older translations to bring them into line with the current edition, and to produce new translations into others. We will provide an update later in the year – but in the meantime we are delighted to say that Rooted in Jesus is now available in whole or in part in 47 languages! We have also been working hard to develop local print partnerships to make it easier for those who need additional books to order them: Rooted in Jesus can now be printed in Tanzania, South Africa, Kenya, Madagascar and Uganda.

It’s been a challenging but productive time, and we are not out of the woods yet – but we continue to minister together in hope and in trust.

Jesus said to them, ‘The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you.

Rooted in Jesus is published and supported by The Mathetes Trust, working with our partners across Africa. To find out more visit the Rooted in Jesus website.

Posted 9th August 2021