Prayer letter

Dear friends, We send you greetings in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Colleagues Last year we mentioned Dr. Gabriel Olaniyan was joining the faculty but we have just heard he is leaving in January to start work at the Baptist Seminary. This is disappointing since he was helping to teach education courses here but the other Seminary will, no doubt, be pleased to have him on board. Pray we get someone else to strengthen the education department at the Seminary. Three of the faculty members who were working here on a contract basis are also ending their contracts this year and the Seminary is recruiting two more people on contract. We are expecting another two new faculty members and have heard that another two will be leaving to work elsewhere with ECWA (Evangelical Church Winning All). The number of expatriate missionaries here is set to increase by one. Dee Grimes, from the US, has been working in Jos and is moving here in January. Her master’s degree is in ‘spiritual formation’ so she will be teaching primarily in that area. So it looks like there will be quite a few changes in the new year and we would appreciate your prayers as these people bring their gifts, skills and experiences to the Seminary and as the faculty adjusts to the changes. Fellowship meal Our provost likes to encourage the faculty, non-teaching staff and students to consider ourselves part of a community. In line with this, each semester he arranges a meal for everyone here. This is quite an undertaking since we have over 300 students and 50 people working at the Seminary. When you add in the families of these people the number exceeds 500. It was a good time which started with worship together, then indoor and outdoor sports and finally the meal. Most of the cooking was done by the traditional method of burning wood under large black pots sitting on three stones each. One of our colleagues, Dr. John Habu, studied in Korea and has a black belt in Taekwondo. During the sports time, he introduced a group of students to some of the basic moves. Graduation 2012 One hundred and twenty one students graduated on 24th November 2012. This is the highest number of graduates who have graduated from here on one occasion. One of them was the first student to complete the new one-year Post-Graduate Diploma programme. Pray for these graduates as they determine where our Lord would have them work or study next and that the things they have learned at the Seminary will help them in their future ministries. The graduate with Debbie in the photo is Pastor Micah Goje who is in pastoral work and also coordinating the work of the Prayer and Worship Team we mentioned last year. Seminary Management Since returning to Kagoro I have been back in the registry. Our deputy provost left to pursue further study in South Africa in September and with that post vacant, I have been doing extra administration at the Seminary in recent months. The Seminary will appoint a new deputy provost soon (the person still has to be chosen) and that will take the pressure off. I hope this means I will be able to do more teaching in the new Semester. Building projects A foundation in the US has donated $25,000 towards the completion of the two-storey married students’ dorm. They have also promised to give a ‘matching grant’ of up to $50,000 if the Seminary can raise the same amount before December 2013. It would be great to have that building finished and such amounts would go a long way to seeing that happen. We thank the Lord for this generous gift and ask you to pray along with us that our Lord will provide the extra amount targeted. Christmas We are going to spend our Christmas here at Kagoro. I am taking a series of three messages in a church near Kafanchan on 17, 18 and 19th December and then speaking on Christmas Day at the same church. Pray these messages will help us celebrate the arrival of the Son of God and all He accomplished during the time He was physically on earth (John 17:4). Please note we are not sending out as many Christmas cards as we used to these days and hope this prayer letter will serve as our expressed wish for you that this will be a blessed season. Thanks for your prayerful support. In Christ, David and Debbie Colvin