Jordanian leaders ‘hear it thru the grapevine’ from Ashland County pastor

SAVANNAH — Pastor John Bouquet of Savannah Bethel Baptist and his wife Sherry recently came back from the Middle East after speaking to evangelical pastors and their wives at a conference in Amman, Jordan. The trip was their second to the desert nation.

Ephesians 3:16 was the theme of the gathering: “I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being.”

According to Bouquet, “The message was overwhelmingly received. We drove home the point that ministry is not about good preaching or leadership-it is about addressing the core issues of the heart, like: fear, rejection, self-pity, and unforgiveness, According to the pastors we met with, this message was an epiphany for them since they had never heard it.”

It can be said that pastors can be highly-driven and performance-based. Often times the only guy without a pastor is the pastor; and when under pressure, the ugly side can come up; not only in the United States, but also in the Middle-East.

“Pastors are to love their wives just as Christ loved the Church, ” Bouquet says.

He points out that many American based conferences, seminars and mega-church ministries have conducted conferences in the Middle East with emphasis on church planting, evangelism and church growth. But few have addressed the need for self-care for the pastor and his spouse.

“Church growth without spiritual self-maintenance can be very dangerous. It’s like a cardiologist conducting heart surgery on a patient but offering no rehabilitation options.”

“Sometimes we bury our heads in the sand in regards to spiritually attaching ourselves to Christ. He is the True Vine and we are the branches. If we are bearing no fruit, then we are not attached to the True Vine. The more attachment we have, the more fruit we will bear.”