Walk Thru Stories: Leonard’s Story

When Pastor Leonard Ntinda talks about his calling, he doesn’t begin with buildings or programs. He begins with the people no one else sees.

Leonard serves in some of the most remote corners of Southern Africa. As presiding bishop of Discipleship Ministry, Obo House Church in Namibia, he helps oversee 32 churches spread across Namibia, Angola, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Many of these congregations meet far from paved roads, city centers, and even basic services.

He and his team intentionally go to villages other ministries rarely reach—places that don’t appear on most maps, where people live in both material and spiritual poverty.

In these communities, there are often no schools, no churches, and no access to clean water. When Leonard and his team arrive, they come with a holistic vision: they help drill boreholes so families can drink safe water; they start simple literacy programs using the Bible; and under trees or simple shelters, they gather people to hear God’s Word for the very first time.

Most of Leonard’s “church buildings” are open spaces with cut logs for benches and a bit of shade overhead. Yet in those humble meeting places, the gospel is taking root.

“Where can we find this man?”

In one village, Leonard shared the story of Jesus with people who had never heard His name before. As they listened, they were amazed at the miracles they heard about—the healings, the power, the authority.

When Leonard finished, they asked him a sincere question:
“That man—where is He? How can we meet that man?”

They assumed Jesus must be a powerful Sangoma (traditional healer or witch doctor) who lived in a nearby village and wanted directions to go visit Him. Their question revealed just how deep the spiritual need is in the places where Leonard serves. Without even a basic understanding of the Bible story, people have no way to connect the truths of Scripture to the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. Leonard’s heart breaks for these communities. He believes that while many of Africa’s cities are experiencing spiritual growth, the rural and remote areas remain largely unreached.

Discovering “portable Bible clarity”

Recently, Leonard attended Walk Thru the Bible’s otLIVE training—our big-picture overview of the Old Testament. For three days, he joined other leaders in learning the storyline of Scripture through simple movements, key words, and memorable images.

This experience didn’t just refresh his theology; it reframed his entire approach to teaching.

Leonard holds a master’s degree in theology and spent nine years in formal study. Yet he says otLIVE gave him something he had never received before: a clear, simple, and memorable way to understand and communicate the whole story of the Bible.

Leonard calls this new perspective “portable Bible clarity.” It’s something he can carry with him into every remote village, every outdoor gathering, every open-air church. Using what he learned through otLIVE, he’s now equipping his pastors and leaders to teach God’s Word in ways people can truly grasp and remember.

He’s also working to translate this big-picture approach into Otjiherero, the local language spoken in many of the villages he serves, so that even those who are just learning to read can follow the storyline of Scripture.

Going deeper into the unreached field

For Leonard, the training he received through Walk Thru the Bible is not the end of the story—it’s a beginning.

With each new borehole drilled, each literacy class started, and each simple church planted under a tree or tin roof, there is now a stronger foundation for discipleship. Instead of isolated stories, he can help people see how all of Scripture points to Jesus and to God’s plan of redemption.

Leonard believes much of rural Africa is still unreached with God’s Word. But he also believes that with the right tools—and with partners who are willing to pray and invest—leaders like him can go deeper into the places no one else is going.

“Portable Bible clarity” is now traveling down dirt paths and across dry riverbeds, into villages where people have never heard the name of Jesus. And through Leonard’s ministry, God is writing a new story—one in which forgotten communities are discovering the hope of the gospel and the living Word of God.