Thursday 7 March 2019

Prayer update for David and Debbie

Dear friends,

Greetings in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Thank you for praying for the orientation programme held in January. We enjoyed teaching the sessions assigned to us and getting to know the people joining SIM. Thanks also for praying for the various meetings and Bible studies we took since our last update.

I am still preaching at Carndaisy Baptist twice each month and just completed a series of five messages on Haggai. I would appreciate your prayers for the service there on 10th March and for guidance about the next Bible book to work through (DV). I am also booked to preach at Kilrea Baptist on Sunday 17th March and take the Magherafelt CWU on Tuesday 26th.

I have enjoyed teaching ‘Hermeneutics 2’ and ‘Theology Proper’ at the Mourneview Assembly each Saturday and have only two more sessions on those subjects on 9th and 16th. I may end up co-teaching another course in the next 10-week section with Pastor Paul Craig.

Debbie is booked to lead ladies Bible studies on 18th, 25th and 28th March and speak at a Methodist ladies meeting on 19th. She is also going to attend the Belfast Bible College’s Women’s Study Fellowship ‘Open Day’ on 11th.

We are both planning to attend a seminar on 'Effective Biblical Formation' being run by SIM at the Irish Baptist College on 29th March. Perry Shaw of SIM will be the main speaker. He has many years of teaching experience and been involved in curriculum development.

Thanks again for your on-going support.

Yours in Christ,

David and Debbie

Saturday 1 December 2018

Prayer update for December

Dear friends,

We send you greetings in the Name of our Lord.

David here.

Thanks for praying for the theological educators’ conference Debbie attended in Panama. She was able to make connections with many people who are also in that ministry and has some work to do following the conference.

I am booked to preach on 2nd and 9th December at Carndaisy Baptist Church and at Ballykeel Baptist on 16th December. Pray all these meetings go well. Thanks.

Debbie continues to teach two ladies’ Bible studies in the Coagh/Moneymore area though there will be a short break over the Christmas season. She is also speaking at a ladies meeting at the Agape Fellowship, Belfast, on Monday 3rd December.

The Missions course Debbie and I taught at the Irish Baptist College in Jan-May 2018 is, sadly, not being offered in 2019. Pray other opportunities to teach will open for us both in the new year.

Thanks for praying for the ‘Hermeneutics 1’ course I have been teaching at Lurgan. The last class of the term is on 8th December. I have received positive feedback from the class which is encouraging. I am preparing to teach two courses (‘Hermeneutics 2’ and ‘Theology Proper’) on Saturday mornings in the new year (DV).

Debbie and I run a prayer meeting for SIM at 8pm in our own home on the first Thursday of each month so the next one is on 6th December. Numbers attending are low but the prayers are great and you are welcome to join us.

Lastly, let us take this opportunity to wish you all a blessed Christmas season and thank you for faithfully praying for us through this year.

In Christ,

David and Debbie

Isaiah 9:6-7

Saturday 28 April 2018

Dear friends,

We send you greetings in the Name of our Saviour.

Many thanks for your prayers for the teaching at the Irish Baptist College. The semester is over and our next work there is giving lectures on 8-10th May for some students in the master’s programme. Dr David Sills, from the US, will also be teaching on those days. We are to work on essay topics with the students and guide their research in the summer so pray that goes well.

God willing, I will be preaching at Carndaisy Baptist Church twice and taking five mid-week meetings here and there during May. We enjoy these opportunities for ministry from the Word of God. On 22nd April we were at Tobermore Baptist Church speaking on missions at both services.
Debbie is still involved with the work of ACTS (Africa Christian Textbooks Service) and attended an ACTS meeting in Lisburn recently. She is also still working with Tim Jacobson who is the theological education consultant for SIM International. This may lead to some short trips to Africa in connection with theological education in coming years.

Last year we had planned to fly to Kagoro and teach some courses in the Summer Programme there this year but with Debbie’s father’s ill health and passing away we didn’t book a trip. We are hoping we can teach in the Summer Programme in 2019. Thanks again for praying for Debbie’s Mum, Doreen, and the Lyons family circle in this time of grief.

Debbie has one more meeting with her Bible study group in May and then they will take a break for the summer.

Thanks for praying for us (2 Thess 3:1).

In Christ,

David and Debbie

Sunday 4 February 2018

Prayer update for February

Dear friends,
We send you greetings in the Name of our Lord.

Praise items

I (David) am thanking the Lord for a good start of the series of messages on the book of James which I have the opportunity to preach at Carndaisy Baptist Church on the first two Sundays of each month. (I will have to miss this Sunday’s message, though, since I caught the flu and it is proving hard to shift.)

Debbie and I enjoyed being part of the orientation programme held at the SIM UK offices at Wetheringsett 19-25 January. We met several new members of the SIM team who are working in the UK and some short-term missionaries planning to go overseas in the near future. Praise God that people are still interested in the Lord's harvest (Matt 9:38).

Prayer items

Debbie is teaching Bible studies on two Mondays each month to a group of ladies at Coagh. They are studying the book of Mark this time. She continues to lead a series of Bible studies at the Ballynahinch Congregational Church on one Monday evening each month for the women's group.

Debbie's Dad, Len, completed three rounds of chemotherapy but the treatment isn't making any difference to the growth of the tumour so no more sessions are planned. Please continue to pray for Len, his wife Doreen, and the family circle.

Apart from the series of messages at Carndaisy, I have some other opportunities to preach here and there each month. Pray for the clear leading of our Lord in preparing and delivering each of these messages.

Both of us are teaching another course at the Irish Baptist College on Missions this semester and working on material to be presented in a master's level module in May.

I recently updated some details on the Kagoro Seminary's web site. There is a new provost there, Assoc. Prof. Bitrus Sarma, and another great teacher has joined the team: Prof. Samuel Kunhiyop. I remember meeting Sam in the early 80s when he was an undergraduate student at the Seminary in Jos. Please continue to pray for these lecturers and the others training men and women for ministry.

Yours in Christ,
David and Debbie

Saturday 2 December 2017

Prayer update for December

Dear Friends,

We send you greetings in the Name of our Lord.

David here. Thanks for helping us in your prayers. We have nearly finished teaching the missions class at the Irish Baptist College and need to do some work on getting another missions class ready which we will begin teaching in January. The students we have been teaching are a fine group of committed believers and we look forward to teaching a different set next year (DV).

Debbie had to postpone taking some women’s meetings scheduled for November since she came down with malaria. This was a surprise since neither of us has been aware of having malaria in the past and we have been away from Africa for some months. Thankfully the treatment worked quickly and Debbie is about to finish a second set of pills to clear the malaria from her liver.

Some of you know Debbie’s Dad, Mr. Len Lyons, was diagnosed with cancer related to exposure to asbestos in his work some decades ago. Apparently, surgery is not an option. He has been on medication to manage the pain and has had two rounds of chemotherapy so far. The medical people say this is not a cure but should help. Please remember him, his wife Doreen and the family circle at this time. We are thankful our Lord brought us back to minister in the UK since it means we can help them in various ways.
I would appreciate prayer as I lead a series of devotions in the week of prayer at Carndaisy Baptist Church (near Moneymore). This is how the believers there start each new year. I have also been asked to take a Sunday service there during the first two Sundays each month from January through to May. God willing, I plan to do a short series on the book of James in those services.

Debbie will continue her series at the Ballynahinch Congregational Church women’s meetings in the new year. Her ladies Bible study class will also continue in January and, no doubt, other opportunities for ministry will emerge.

We are still with SIM and will be doing various things related to the mission in the new year. For example, we will be over in the SIM UK offices in late January to help with the orientation programme for new missionaries. We are also thinking of starting an SIM prayer meeting in our home. There are several such groups in Northern Ireland which meet once each month but none in this area. Its main focus would be to pray for missionaries with SIM who are from the province. Please let us know if you would be interested in being part of that group. Thanks.

Lastly, let us take the opportunity to wish you a blessed Christmas season (Isaiah 9:6).

Yours in Christ,

David and Debbie Colvin

Friday 6 October 2017

Update for October 2017

Dear Friends,

We send you greetings in the Name of our Lord.

David here. Thanks for your prayers for all the meetings in September. The week of devotional messages we gave at the Ballynahinch Congregational Church went well with good attendance through the week and the four sermons I had the opportunity to preach went well, I believe. Debbie enjoyed the Kairos course on missions at the Belfast Bible College.

We are enjoying teaching missions at the Irish Baptist College. I taught four times on the theology of mission and Debbie will take the next two classes since they major on missions in the Old Testament. Then the students have a week of evangelism in which there will be no classes followed by a study week with no classes. The course starts up again after that.

Debbie has been asked to teach a series on ‘The Disciplines of a Godly Woman’ in the women’s meetings at the Ballynahinch Congregational Church. They meet on the first Monday of each month and the series will continue until May next year (DV). She is also taking a ladies meeting at the Cookstown Methodist Church on 16th and will be leading her Bible Study group through the book of James on two Monday evenings each month.

I enjoyed teaching a short series of Bible studies on Thursday evenings in September on the topic of ‘The Church’ and will start another short series on prayer to the same group of believers next week.

On 31st we are taking the prayer meeting at Coagh Baptist Church during which we will give an update of the work at Kagoro and our plans, God willing.
Please pray our Lord will be glorified through all these events and thanks again for remembering us in your prayers.

In Christ,

David and Debbie Colvin

1 Thess. 5:17

Tuesday 1 August 2017

David and Debbie's Prayer Update

Dear friends,

We send you greetings in the Name of our Lord.

Keswick Conference

It was great to be able to attend one week of the Keswick Convention meetings in Keswick. The main venue holds about 4,000 people and that was not large enough to seat all the people who came to the morning and evening sessions. Hundreds more were in overflow venues and it was possible to watch the meetings live on the Internet. The main teaching was well handled by Alistair Begg who spoke from several of the Psalms. Debbie and I had a small part to play in one of the missions seminars led by Steve Smith (the SIM UK director). Thank you for praying and we thank the Lord also for the couple who let us share their home for the week. On one sunny afternoon we managed to climb one of the hills overlooking Keswick and Derwent Water.

Teaching and preaching

The missions course we will teach at the Irish Baptist College starts in September so we are doing some work for that. Debbie is still taking a small group through the Discipleship Explored course on Monday evenings. I have been asked to teach four Bible studies on Thursday evenings in September and will be working on material for those this month. On 20th August, I will be taking the services at the Ballynahinch Congregational Church and on 3rd September the Sunday services at Coagh Baptist Church. We have already started taking some prayer meetings for SIM. Pray that on all these occasions our Lord will be honoured (Col. 3:23). Thanks.

Other ministry opportunities


Though we are not at Kagoro, we are still doing some things for the Seminary and keep in touch with the teachers there. I am finishing off the supervision of a student’s thesis this month, for example. We have been asked to help review some doctrinal assessments written by people wanting to join SIM as missionaries and Mike Ewan (SIM Director for Ireland) asked us to represent SIM at New Horizon in Coleraine on Wednesday next week.

Settling in

We are still settling into life at Moneymore. It has taken weeks to get our broadband connected. I thought that would be a simple thing to reactivate but BT really let us down. We are with a different company now but still have the same land line number 02886746484. As mentioned in our recent prayer letter, our mobile numbers are now David 07729077954 and Debbie 07803477992. It is easier to get us on those.

Pensions

We have some funds in pension schemes which, according to SIM UK, are designed only for people working abroad so we have to change that. We need someone who can help us with professional advice on pensions and tax issues since the SIM finance people say they are not ‘registered’ to give that kind of advice. Does anyone have any suggestions?

As always, thanks for your prayers.

In Christ,

David and Debbie