Last year in Sydney, Regional Coordinators for Preaching from across the Asia–Pacific region gathered for a series of meetings along with senior leaders of the global Langham Preaching Team. During this time, we were able to spend time with Munir*, who is a Langham Scholar and the Regional Coordinator for Langham Preaching in his home country in South Asia.
Munir became a Christian while at university after attending Campus Crusade for Christ, and from that point, God began shaping his call to ministry. “As a young person, I wanted to become an economist, but the Lord drifted me and slowly worked in my life and my passion completely turned from becoming an economist to serving the Lord in Christian ministry,” he shares.
In 2004, Dr Rev Chris Wright travelled to South Asia to lead a Level One Langham Preaching training, which Munir attended. That experience had a profound impact on him as he learned about expository preaching and saw the transforming power of the Gospel when it is shared faithfully. He shares, “Since then I’ve been very much involved with Langham. I committed myself to expository preaching, that wherever I go to preach, my preaching is based on the text and I have to expose God’s word.”
Munir received a Langham Scholarship to study at Melbourne School of Theology in Australia, where he completed a PhD in Practical Theology, applying the New Testament to the lived reality of persecution in South Asia. After returning home, he continued his involvement with Langham. He is the President of Open Theological Seminary (OTS) in Lahore, and served as the first Langham Preaching Country Coordinator in South Asia before taking on his current role as Regional Coordinator.
Langham Preaching is having a significant and growing impact across South Asia. As he shares, “Langham preaching has a great impact in South Asia and it’s getting very popular because the people have a great respect for the Langham expository preaching. Now we just advertise our workshops on social media and hundreds and hundreds of people, particularly the preachers, lay preachers and the ordained preachers, apply to come to the workshops. Sometimes we don’t have much space and we can’t take all these people.”
He continues, ”Recently we had a training program in the north of South Asia and 400 people applied but the place could only hold 90 to a hundred people. So 300 people had their applications turned down…It has been over 20 years Langham has been in South Asia, but now it has reached that level where it has a huge impact, not only in one church, but very interdenominationally. The people really respect Langham because they have learned the skills to preach God’s word. We want to promote biblical preaching so people preach God’s word. And in our context, previously it was very random preaching. So we are encouraging the preachers who are being trained by Langham to commit themselves to this kind of preaching where you simply preach God’s word.”
South Asia is a Muslim-majority country where Christians are a minority. While there are many challenges, believers have freedom to practice their faith. “The church is not underground, but there are lots of challenges. I thank God that over the years, when I look back, I see God’s gracious hand upon me, upon our ministry… When God’s hand is upon you, that gives you the strength to do the work in this kind of a context where sometimes it’s really not easy.”
Munir asks for prayer for South Asia as the country is going through significant economic challenges and the impact these are having on Christian communities. “Christians are generally poor in the community, and the economic conditions of the country are seeing many young people, from all communities leaving the country because they think there is no future, that there is no hope. So there is a huge exodus of the young minds and especially the university graduates,” he explains. He asks for prayer that young people would be encouraged to change their outlook and remain committed to contributing to the future of their country.
Please also pray for more facilitators in South Asia to help increase capacity for training. The Langham Preaching movement is now firmly established, and there are growing requests from many regions to host workshops. Praise God for these opportunities, and pray that more people will be equipped to teach God’s Word faithfully, and that many will come to know Jesus.
*Name changed for security
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