December Update

Dear friends,

We send you greetings in the Name of our Lord.

Some semesters seem busier than others and this has been one of them. Thank you for praying we would get through November. Both preaching engagements at the seminary went well. One Sunday sermon was from Revelation 17 and the other chapter 18. I have never preached from those chapters before so I learned something and hope people in the congregation gained something also. Next week is exam week after which we will not be teaching but need to mark the exams and written assignments.

Graduation

One hundred and twenty students graduated on 27th November. About one half of these were at the B.A. level but we had our first seven master’s graduates this time. The service was well attended and surprisingly short at less than three hours. Pray for the graduates as they plan what to do next. Many of them are already pastors, missionaries, or teach the Bible in schools, but some will be looking for their first work assignment.

ACTS board

Debbie is on the African Christian Textbooks (ACTS) board. She has a meeting on Monday 6th which prepares for the board meeting on 13th December. The director of ACTS is Dr Sid Garland of Mission Africa. ACTS has been very helpful by importing theological books for sale here and also publishing and printing books written by mainly local authors. Many of the books in our seminary library have been purchased through ACTS.

Outreach teams

As usual, a number of our students will be away over the holiday to preach the gospel. Some are going to Chad, others to Cameroun and some will work in this country. Pray for safe travel and fruitful ministry (Col. 1:6).

Christmas

This year we will spend Christmas at Kagoro. Cheryl and Donna Pridham will join us for the main meal on Christmas Day. Our neighbours, Dennis and Coletta Shelly, are still in the US and will be spending the season with their son and daughter. Dennis and Coletta are booked to return in early January 2011 so we look forward to having them back at Kagoro.

Thank you again for your prayers and we pray you will enjoy the Christmas season.

Yours in Christ,

David and Debbie

December update

Dear friends,

We send you greetings in the Name of our Lord.

Thank you for praying for the baccalaureate service. David was asked to preach at that and it went well. The graduation service also went well with 105 students graduating in the end. It only lasted three hours so it was a relatively short service for the seminary here.

David is speaking at another wedding on Saturday 5th December. No more meetings arranged after that and we are looking forward to the Christmas break. Exams are next week so pray for the marking of those. Thanks. We plan to spend Christmas here in Kagoro and have a get-together with other SIM missionaries in the area on Christmas Day.

As mentioned in our prayer letter, don't forget to pray for the team of students and staff going to Chad over Christmas. The seminary is also arranging two other missions trips to local areas during the break.

Thanks again for your prayers and we trust you have a great Christmas and happy start to the new year.

Yours in Christ,

Debbie and David