I think Samuel’s life story motivated him to bring young people close, youth who were ready and willing to serve the Almighty, and so, form them for Him.

As a child, Samuel was taken by his mother, Ana, to the Tabernacle in Shiloh, as a fulfillment of a vow. She offered him to Eli, the High Priest, to perform services in the Sanctuary, but she did not know what he would do. She simply handed the boy over so he could be of God. Samuel became a prominent prophet, judge and even replaced Eli, thus occupying the top three positions of Israel.
Prophet school meetings were held in people’s homes. During these meetings, they ate together, studied the Torah and sought to build up their spiritual foundation. The candidates to the ministry lived “at the feet of the prophets,” noting their examples of a devoted life, miracles and challenges.

The Lord Jesus also founded His school when He brought 12 different and unprepared men closer to Him, so that He could invest in them. Then He prepared 70, and then 70 more (Luke 10).

One of the Universal Church’s secrets behind its growth is that it trains their pastors. While many invest in theological seminars to inform themselves about God and guarantee their position in ministry, the Universal recruits those who have been born again and are hungry to win souls.

Our preparatory course takes place on a daily basis in the Work of God. These young men are placed to auxiliary an experienced pastor, who will usually teach them about the Bible. They also visit people’s homes, hospitals and work in meetings. Overall, they witness first-hand the daily life of a pastor.

This phase can last up to two years, then he will become an assistant pastor and receive more responsibilities and trust. In other words, more work, more renunciation, and this will go on for an indefinite amount of time. Until the day when he can be the pastor of his own Church.

The secularization of theological courses, which aim to facilitate the development of pastors, has contributed, and a lot, to the downfall of evangelism. This is why many theologians nowadays unfortunately resemble the religious priests of the Old Testament more than the men of God. The hunger for religious knowledge has been greater than the hunger for souls. So much desire for the mysteries and depths of the Bible to squander knowledge, while the greatest talent is buried: helping others. Knowledge is important because it is one of the pillars of ministerial life, but what good is knowledge in a cold heart and adamant when it comes to a life of renunciation?

For these and other reasons, the harvest remains plentiful but the laborers are few! Let’s pray to the Lord of the harvest to send more workers! It can be simple people that have been neglected by the wise, but have the courage to work and humbleness to learn the ancient and effective way, from those who are truly prophets.