Need : The Helios Projects

An estimated 95% of pastors worldwide have had no formal training.

Joshua Project, Status of World Evangelization 2020

The CSGC estimates a total of 5 million pastors/priests in all Christian traditions worldwide…Of these, we estimate that 5% (250,000) are likely to have formal theological training.”

Center for the Study of Global Christianity

The most serious need of churches in economically-challenged countries, is the need to train their untrained pastors and Christian leaders.

Woodrow Kroll

If a pastoral leader is able initially to provide pastoral care for a group of 50 believers, 1,000 new pastors are daily needed to serve the 50,000 new believers baptized every day.

Ramesh Richard, Training of Pastors - A high priority for global ministry strategy

86% of Christian leaders indicate that theological education is ‘most important’ for the future of world Christianity and the mission of the Church.

Global Survey on Theological Education 2011-2013

The Need

For 23 years, Dr. Woodrow Kroll served as the Senior Bible Teacher for an international radio ministry and through their international ministry he was able to visit over 100 countries preaching and teaching God’s Word. In those travels, he met many national pastors who were doing the best they could and all they could to serve the Lord and fulfill His call on their lives, but Dr. Kroll found that so many of them had so very little, especially in the way of training. He told the Lord “If I ever have time, I’ll do something about that.”

Dr. Kroll retired in January 2013 and about 4-5 days later the Lord reminded him of his promise. Dr. Kroll soon un-retired, started The Psalm 119 Association Inc. (doing ministry as Woodrow Kroll Ministries) and then created the HELIOS Projects to address the need of untrained pastors and Christian leaders worldwide.

How great is the need?

By some estimates, 95% of the 2.2 million evangelical churches worldwide are led by pastors with little or no Bible training.
1:60,000 = There is only 1 trained pastor in China for every 60,000 believers.
60% = Of the 24,000 Protestant churches in Haiti, more than 60% of their pastors have no Bible or theology training at all.
90% = A denomination in Peru lacks trained pastors for 90% of their churches.
5% = In the Philippines, all the seminaries and Bible colleges in the entire country could not train even 5% of the pastors needed.
8:1,000 = A denomination in Uganda has 1,000 congregations but only 8 trained pastors.
31:675 = The Evangelical Christian Church in Zambia has 675 churches but only 31 trained pastors.

The need is similar to that of the Ethiopian eunuch recorded in Acts 8:30-31. As the eunuch reads the Word of God, “…Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ Philip asked. ‘How can I,’ he said, ‘unless someone explains it to me?’…” Many of these pastors have the Word of God and they are doing the best they can to understand it but they are praying and pleading that someone would come alongside them and explain it to them.

The need is great but our God is greater!

Through the HELIOS Projects we can answer the prayers of His shepherds and provide the training they so desperately want and need!