July 14, 2025
Bill Dyck
On one of the rare occasions that I’ve ridden the bus in Canada, I ended up sitting beside an old Ukrainian woman, a widow. She said something, by way of encouragement, “As long as you have your health, you’ll be OK.” She told the story of her husband getting sick, and passing away, but said that as long as they had their health, they’d always been fine. I was in my early 20’s; it didn’t mean much to me then, but it stuck with me.
Now in my 60’s, I appreciate the truth of that encouragement more. Stated negatively and in colloquial language we could say, “If you ain’t got your health, you ain’t got nothin.”
One of the things that strikes me in my weekly meetings with pastors in Latin America is how often they are sick—almost perpetual colds, flus, headaches… You might chalk it up to aging, but I’ll summarize what one of my pastors attributes it to—overwork. Most do not get a minimum wage from their church or churches, some get a small offering to cover travel, and sometimes not even that. As Pastor Orlando says, “This has led them to make a double sacrifice, burdening themselves with both their pastoral ministry and their secular work. Unfortunately, we have seen cases of pastors who have ended up with fatal outcomes due to failure to address their health problems in a timely manner.”
As we know, health is complicated. The cause or causes of illness could be multiple as is the solution. I like the solution that the pastor who pinpoints the problem gives, or at least the part of the solution that meetings of Pastoring of Pastors provide. He says, “The Discipleship and Pastoring of Pastors meetings have helped me to improve my physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being through training and tools for self-care and managing the wholistic health of my family and church. It has fostered self-awareness and understanding of my limits by identifying my strengths and weaknesses, as well as recognizing my needs for support and care for the successful development of my ministry.” One of our mottos is “Healthy Pastor, healthy church, healthy community.” The meetings and mentoring focus on all aspects of the pastors’ life and ministry.
So how has this movement toward healthy pastors been progressing? This March I (Bill) was able to help 10 key pastors from 5 countries attend a summit of discipleship in Bogotá, Colombia. Here they were able to meet some 500 leaders in discipleship from 22 countries and 19 supporting organizations. Baptists were well represented, but so were Pentecostals, the Alliance, Mennonites, Salvation Army, Presbyterian, and more. I know of at least three from my group who are continuing to receive weekly training on the needs of pastors from Otto Rodriguez whom they met in Bogotá, and two who are augmenting their discipleship efforts with the ALPHA evangelism program as a result.
One of the bright spots recently has been the impact, enthusiasm, and growth of ministry with pastors in El Salvador. I have a weekly meeting with seven pastors, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Before forming his own Pastoring of Pastors group, Oscar used to be virtually alone, isolated in his place of ministry. He organized a group of five other Baptist pastors to meet monthly, and it has rejuvenated the region. Not only are the pastors supporting each other personally, but they have been coordinating evangelistic and children’s ministries in each other’s sites. Solito no! Not alone!
Another member of my weekly group, Orlando, conducted training events on three weekends in June, in three regions, with 30 pastors. The expectation is that all 30 will be joining new groups in their regions. It even attracted the attention of a local TV reporter who did a great job of covering one of the trainings. He has a vision, and detailed plans for seeing this reach their entire Baptist denomination. It’s been so encouraging to me to see my weekly group do their homework, apply what they’re learning, and take initiative in sharing their blessings. It’s so good to see Pastoring of Pastors being part of the solution for the health needs of the pastors in all its aspects.
