March update

Dear Friends.

Greetings to you in the Name of Jesus our Lord.

Thank you for praying for the various meetings in February. They all went well. In March I (David) have been asked to preach at the Seminary's Church on Sunday 24th so pray for that service also. Thanks.

We are now almost half-way through the semester. During the one-week break the Seminary conducts more entrance exams and interviews. This involves most of the faculty members, including us. Normally about 100 people come during the break to write the exams, etc. Then the Admissions Committee has to meet and determine who should be offered admission into the various programmes of study. We also have some marking to complete and would like to do some of that in the break. So it is not a really a break for the members of the faculty. The students should get a break, though, and ask us to pray for them as many still owe fees and will use the time to contact donors in the hope that they can complete the payment of their fees when they return.

It is getting hotter. March is our 'hot season'. The temperature in the shade was 38C this afternoon and the humidity has been up and down in recent days. As we near the start of the rainy season, the humidity will increase which, in conjunction with the heat, tends to sap one's energy and makes it hard for students (and teachers) to concentrate. This is especially true during the afternoon classes. Your prayers for stamina would be appreciated.

Some of you may have heard about terrorist groups kidnapping expatriates in the North-East of the country. We pray for the safe release of those kidnapped, that this practice would end, and that peace and security would soon return to the region. Please join us in prayer for these things.

Overall, things are going well at the Seminary. The new members of staff are settling into the work well and getting involved in the various committees. We thank the Lord some funds have come in to help renovate some of the student dorms and staff housing. A recent gift will be used to roof one section of the new married students' dorm. Debbie and I have just purchased a new generator to replace one we had that has worn out. When we returned to Kagoro in August the electricity supply was on about 30% of the time but is has worsened over the months. We have to run a generator most evenings. It gets dark here around 6:30 pm all through the year. We were able to purchase the new generator through a gift we received for this purpose and we thank the Lord for this provision.

We enjoy teaching here. It is great to see the students learning the Word of God as they prepare for more effective ministry (2 Tim. 3:16-17). Thank you for helping to make this possible. Both of the pastors at Fada Gospel Church, where we worship, are graduates of the Seminary and it is encouraging to see them actively in the ministry.

Yours in our Lord,

David and Debbie Colvin

July prayer update

Dear friends,

We send you greetings in the Name of Jesus our Lord.

Many thanks for praying for our time in the UK. It was great to visit close relatives and some friends in the four weeks. The time just flew past and we were not able to visit everyone we wanted to see but should be back in the UK for some months early next year on home assignment. Pray for our mothers both of whom have ongoing health concerns.

While in the UK, we purchased about fifty books for the library and put them in the two extra suitcases we mentioned last month. We thank the Lord that someone in the US has promised to send a sizeable donation (about £3,000) to the seminary for library books so we hope we can reclaim the cost of the books we purchased from that gift once it comes through.

We would also like to thank people for their generosity. Several people gave us financial gifts and Debbie's home church paid for our flights to and from the UK. This is especially touching since we know the economy is not as strong as it used to be in the UK (Phil. 4:19).

My secretary is on leave in July so I will have to spend quite a bit of time in the office running the registry. Both Debbie and I have a lot of marking to do and need to get that completed this month. This is an aspect of teaching we do not particularly enjoy but it needs to be done. Pray we will be consistent in marking the assignments. Normally it would take several working days to mark an assignment since the classes are so large. The new semester starts in mid-August and we need to take time to get ready for that.

This morning the service at Fada Gospel Church lasted three and a half hours. That is longer than usual but it reminded us we are definitely back in Africa!

Please keep on praying for peace and stability in the nation. On our way back to Kagoro from the airport there were noticeably more 24-hour police and army check points along the road.

Thank you again for your prayers.

In Christ,

David and Debbie