Dear friends,
We send you greetings in the Name of Jesus our Lord.
Thanks for your prayers during an exceptionally busy semester. We have reached the end with only the exams to be given and then, of course, marked. We still have other marking to do with Debbie having more to do than me since she was working on a module for her D.Min. course in these last few months. The latter, by the way, has been marked and Debbie received good comments from her tutor. She will have a break over the holiday season but start another major module next year.
At the graduation on 22nd November this year, 111 students graduated. The service was well attended and it is always a joy to see students we have taught completing their programmes of study and moving into the next phase of their lives. Some are already in full-time Christian ministry and others are looking for new opportunities for service. Pray they will all be fruitful in every good work they undertake (Col. 1:9-10).
While we are away Pastor Gambo will run the Registry. He helped me in the office back in 2004 so he knows about the work and I am confident he will be able to handle it. I am not planning to return to that position so we will have a full 'handover' process on Monday 1st December. I have been the registrar for over ten years and I believe the office needs some fresh input. I would like to concentrate on teaching in future.
My Mum is in Thomson House in Magherafelt recovering from a 'mild' stroke but also trying to get rid of a kidney infection. Apparently she is weak, not eating and on a drip. With this in mind, we decided to bring our flight forward a bit so we can be back in the UK sooner. SIM and the provost of the Seminary think we are wise to go early. So we should be back in Northern Ireland on the evening of 4th December though probably exhausted by that stage. It will be good to be home and see my Mum though she will have changed quite a bit since we saw her in the summer. Please pray she will improve. She turns 90 on Saturday 29th November (D.V.).
Our contact emails will all still work and our phone numbers from 5th December should be: Debbie 07810203459 and David 07513583581. These are mobile numbers and we think they should both still be okay despite being away from the UK for several months.
We have started taking some bookings for meetings during our home assignment which should last until the middle of July or so. We look forward to renewing fellowship with many family and friends in coming months. As always, thank you for your regular prayers for us.
In Christ,
David and Debbie
