Martin Odi holds a BA in Bible and Theology from Global University in the USA in conjunction with Alpha Omega Seminary in Uganda. Martin is currently working on his MDiv with MINTS seminary and he is involved in teaching and mentoring in East Africa and Southern Sudan.

Martin Odi was a pastor of a successful church at Ngora for ten years and Overseer (Bishop) of 200 churches in the Kumi district of Uganda for ten years before fully joining EPI as full time director of it in Uganda. Both Helen and Martin are involved in teaching and training with EPI in this region. They travel out of their home for almost half of every month, pouring their lives to the Body of Christ, including in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, DR Congo and Southern Sudan.

God blessed Steve and Monica with four sons – Joshua, Daniel, Jacob and David – who are all now happily married and have given Steve and Monica seven grandchildren (with more on the way)!

Steve served as a local church pastor for 25 years.  From the beginning he had opportunities to be involved in numerous mission trips.  Having ministered in Jamaica, Mexico, Italy, Indonesia, China and India, Steve’s passion for ministering overseas continued to grow.

After working among an unreached people group in India for six years, Steve clearly saw the desperate need of biblical training for church leadership.

These experiences led to God drawing Steve into a ministry with EPI.

Carol was born in Hollywood, California, May 19, 1937. She and her two older sisters grew up in Los Angeles. The family moved to the island of Guam when Carol was 10 years old. After graduating from high school in Guam, she left to attend UCLA in California, returning to Guam during the summer months.

Carol came to Christ through the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ and the prayers of her Gamma Phi Beta Sorority sisters. (Bill and Vonette Bright were just starting the ministry of CCC.) It was at UCLA that she met basketball player Jack L. Arnold. After their marriage in August, 1957, they moved to Dallas, TX where Jack attended Dallas Theological Seminary.

As a pastor’s wife and homemaker, she with Jack served churches in California, Virginia, South Carolina and Orlando, raising four sons: Mark, Brian, David (“Arny”) and Dean.

Carol has served as member of the Women’s Advisory Sub-Committee (representing the Southeast) for the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) Women in the Church (WIC), later representing Florida. She has been a WIC Advisor on the Covenant College Board of Directors and past WIC Advisor to the Board of Mission to North America (MNA) of the PCA. She was the only female member of the Covenant College Presidential Search Committee whch recruited new president, Niel Nielson. She is a retreat and conference speaker throughout the PCA as well as at conferences around the world.

In 1997, Carol and her husband, Jack, began Equipping Pastors International (EPI). Carol has traveled to all six continents, speaking at conferences and seminars to both pastors and their wives, as well as to lay women of all denominations.

She has been a guest speaker at Reformed Theological Seminary, Knox Seminary, New Geneva Seminary, Regent University School of Divinity, Bible Institute of South Africa, Jordan Evangelical Theological Seminary and Nairobi International School of Theology, teaching on the subjects, “The Pastor’s Wife” and “Attacks of Men in the Ministry from a Wife’s Perspective” among other topics. She was the keynote speaker for a National Women’s Conference in Kampala, Uganda.

After Jack’s death in January 2005, she has continued as a full-time missionary with EPI.

Carol enjoys spending time with her 12 grandchildren (ages 10-22), needlework, reading, cooking, and traveling.

David James, serves as a missionary to North Africa and the Middle East. He
is adjunct professor of Humanities, and has also taught courses in World
Religions, Bible, Philosophy of Religion, and History at several colleges in
the United States. David is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church
in America, and he has over 20 years experience in pastoral ministry.  David
also served his Presbytery as the Chairmen of the Minister and His Work
Committee for nearly ten years.  He holds a B.A. in Biblical Studies and a
Master of Arts in Theological Studies.

In 1997, David helped Dr. Jack L. Arnold launch the ministry of Equipping
Pastors International. From the beginning, David has been involved with the
ministry of EPI and has traveled annually equipping pastors from all over
the world. In 2008 David accepted a call to go fulltime with EPI. His vision
is to equip pastors in North Africa and the Middle East where Islam is
firmly entrenched. This region was once the intellectual and theological
capital of the Christian world, and David desires to see its true Christian
heritage recovered.

Ken Aull was born (July 9, 1955) and raised in Columbia, SC. He graduated from the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology in 1976. Soon after, he enlisted in the US Navy where he was trained as a medical technologist at the Naval Medical Center of Bethesda, Maryland. From there he was stationed at Balboa Naval Hospital of San Diego, CA, where we spent the rest of his military career. It was while in San Diego that Ken earned a Masters in Business Administration from National University, met his future wife, Alison Williams, an elementary school teacher, at College Ave. Baptist Church, and met the Lord Jesus Christ through John MacArthur’s radio ministry.

After six years of military duty, and after marrying Alison, Ken returned to his hometown with his new bride in order to attend Columbia International University where he earned a Masters in Divinity. During those seminary years (1985-1989), Ken and Alison were leaders in the single adult ministry of Shandon Baptist Church.

After seminary, Ken served as the associate pastor of singles and evangelism at Brandywine Valley Baptist Church in Wilmington, DE (1990-1994), and then as the senior pastor of Grace Evangelical Free Church in Newark, DE (1994-2003). He took his first trip with EPI in 2005 and has been full-time ever since, teaching in Africa (Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda) and India, and coordinating EPI’s M-Bag Leader’s Libraries in which he sends sets of books (from as few as 3 to as many as 40) to the key leaders he and other EPI instructors encounter during their travels. In the last two years (2007-2008), he has sent over a hundred sets of books to under-trained pastors in Africa, India and Romania. Recently he began a partnership with TNARS (The North American Reformed Seminary, www.tnars.net) whose staff is currently writing curricula to match the books in the M-Bags so that the recipients can begin earning a degree.

Ken and Alison have been happily married for 24 years and have two adopted children, Kevin (17) and Rebecca (12). They attend Covenant Fellowship Church (www.covfel.org), part of Sovereign Grace Ministries (www.sovereigngraceministries.org), in Glen Mills, PA.

A letter from Founder Josiah Katumu:

Hello. My name is Josiah Katumu, I am a student in the Master of Divinity program at Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS) in Orlando, Florida.

I am from Kenya (East Africa). I grew up in Nairobi (for the better part of my life), which is the capital city of Kenya. I am a member of the Africa Evangelical Presbyterian Church (AEPC), where my father is a pastor. I was introduced to RTS through the late Dr. Jack Arnold, Carol Arnold and Rev. Jim Fitzgerald, members of the missions team of Equipping Pastors International (EPI). It was while attending and leading worship at the EPI seminars that I met these faithful servants and God led me to attend seminary at RTS.

EPI has been doing a great job of training and equipping pastors in the AEPC. They provide theological training and counseling to many AEPC pastors and their wives in Kenya who cannot afford seminary education. But more needs to be done. In a country where the church is growing faster than ever, the need for a sound and firm foundation is now more crucial. Something that can be done to help meet this desperate need is a Christian resource center that would provide the tools needed for the church in Kenya to build a solid and firm foundation.

The presence of a Christian resource center in Kenya is the burden God has laid upon me. I desire with all my heart to serve the church in Kenya by providing pastors within and outside the AEPC with Christian resources that are biblically sound, reformed, and relevant. One of the reasons why the church in Africa has been described as being “a mile wide and an inch deep” is because they have lacked Christian resources with sound doctrine and theology, especially books! Growing up in Nairobi, I know exactly what kinds of books are found in the handful of Christian bookstores there. The bookshelves are full of motivational and prosperity gospel material.

The dominance of such unbiblical books and resources on the shelves has made it difficult, if not impossible, for reformed pastors to get good books. This tragedy has not only affected the pastors, but also the youth of Kenya. The young people, ages 15-35, make up over 60% of the population.

God has put a burden in my heart to see the body of Christ in Kenya have access to good Christian resources. A Christian resource center in Kenya is an attainable solution to make this a reality. This center will help pastors shepherd their flock faithfully and preach Christ-centered sermons. It will encourage the youth to study the word of God diligently and grow in their spiritual walk. What we read influences the way we think, act and feel immensely. This is why it is urgent we make good and relevant resources readily available to Christians in Kenya.

This is not the first time an effort has been made to provide Christian resources to Kenya. Past efforts have been successful in books and resources on the shelves has made it difficult, if not impossible, for reformed pastors to get good books. This tragedy has not only affected the pastors, but also the youth of Kenya. The young people, ages 15-35, make up over 60% of the population.