Back at Kagoro

Dear friends,

We arrived safely back at Kagoro on Tuesday 20th. Thank you for your prayers. I had to go to London to get our visas processed and, thankfully, they were ready on Friday 16th Jan.

There have been a few changes at Kagoro. SIM has built a wall around the compound and strengthened the security of the house. We appreciate this concern and acknowledge that no matter how strong our security measures are, our security depends ultimately on our Lord. A few things around our home have broken while we were away and we are in the process of getting them repaired.

The new semester starts on Monday 26th. This is later than normal since exams for the last semester had to be shifted to January. This means we have arrived back in time to start teaching. Debbie will be teaching three subjects and they are ones she has taught before. I have been assigned two courses I have taught before and one new course. It will be good to be teaching again and we look forward to engaging in that ministry. The new course will mean extra work for me but a colleage here has taught the course before and lent me his notes which I can use to structure my version of the course. Some of the things I have been studying recently will plug into this course.

Unfortunately, I was unable to complete my dissertation before leaving the UK so I will still be working on that but it looks like the provost understands the situation and will not put me back in the registrar's position since that would be quite time consuming.

Thank you for your prayers as we settle back into life here.

In Christ,

David and Debbie

January update

Dear Friends

We send you greetings in the Name of Jesus and wish you a happy new year!

Thank you for praying for our farewell service at Ballynahinch Congregational Church. The meeting was well attended and thank you also if you were one of the people who was able to be there. The church forwarded a substantial gift to SIM to help us buy a replacement car and we thank them for this practical concern. (Our 21-year old Toyota Corolla at Kagoro is almost a ‘classic car’ and good spares are hard to find.)

I am preaching in both services at Coagh Baptist Church on 4th January so pray they go well (texts Psalm 95 & John 11).

We don’t have our visas yet so keep on praying they will be processed on time. We received a call from London and have posted some more documents to the High Commission. We hope to leave N. Ireland on 19th and arrive at Kagoro on 20th January. As I am sure you can imagine, there are lots of things to do before we leave. There will also be many things to do right after we arrive and the new semester will already have started at the seminary.

I am still working on my dissertation. I have received helpful feedback from my advisor which I will work on in coming days. It looks like I will not be able to finish the dissertation before I leave which is unfortunate but hopefully the bulk of the work is done.

Thank you for praying for the situation in Jos. It sounds like things are calm now. Pray for all those bereaved and for peace in that city. (More information can be found if you follow the links.)

Thank you again for your interest in the work at Kagoro. We look forward to being back there though it is always hard to leave family and friends, especially my father who still has limited mobility after his stroke in April.

As members of SIM we are supposed to produce an official prayer letter four times a year. Normally we manage three. We thank the Lord that people in our supporting churches photocopy and make these available to church members each time. We are, however, looking for someone to help us distribute the ones that are posted (approx 140). We thank Lyn at the SIM office for helping in this regard but we feel it is time to relieve her of that work. Anyone who would like to help should have a computer, some knowledge of word processing, and an email address. We will pay for the expenses involved. If someone reading this would be interested in helping with this task, please contact us using davidcolvi@aol.com. Thanks.

Yours in Christ,

David and Debbie

December update

Dear friends,

Season’s Greetings in the name of Jesus.

We have felt the benefit of your prayers during this busy time. Thank you for your faithfulness.

David has been at the computer fairly constantly as he continues to write up his dissertation. Thank the Lord for progress as he has now submitted two chapters. Please pray for positive and speedy feedback from his supervisor.

Almost three weeks ago we submitted our documents for the visas we need in order to travel on the 19th of January. We would value prayer that they would come through in good time.

It was a real blessing and encouragement to study God’s Word with some of the ladies from Coagh Baptist. The Bible Study finished last Thursday evening and I am thankful to the Lord for the great fellowship and all He taught us during that time.

On Monday evening I will take the ladies’ meeting at Cookstown Baptist and Tuesday will be the final evening class at Belfast Bible College.

Ballynahinch Congregational Church will hold a farewell service for us on 28th December at 6.30pm. If you can attend, it would be great to see you. David will preach at both services of Coagh Baptist Church on 4th January, 2009. We would value your prayers for this and all the preparations to return to Kagoro.

Please pray we would do everything in the Lord’s strength (1 Pet. 4:11).

We have been saddened to hear of the recent riots in Jos, a city one and a half hours from Kagoro, where we normally travel every three weeks to do our shopping. The following report came from SIM on 3rd December:

Jos City is still very tense after rioting last Friday and Saturday. There are rumours of reprisal attacks and some reports of armed personnel attempting to enter the city. Presently the police and military have control of the situation and we pray that there will be no further violence. Many of the SIM personnel are moving out of Jos for the weekend which is also a Muslim holiday. Hillcrest School has closed till next Wednesday.

There are ten to twenty thousand displaced people in refugee camps around the city. SIM is providing food for one of these refugee camps. SIM has a funding project for relief, medical care and rebuilding destroyed church facilities as a result of the crisis. Donations are welcomed to this project and can be sent to any SIM office earmarked with project number NG96038.


Debbie and David

Prayer Letter

Dear Friends,

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

PRAISE

As we near the end of our extended time in the UK, we have many reasons to praise the Lord and would like to list a few: 1. We thank the Lord that our college fees were provided in full. 2. The four-star accommodation we have been using is great. Praise Him. 3. Throughout this time, we have had access to two vehicles provided freely by relatives. 4. It has been good to have had extra time to spend with family and friends. Renewing fellowship with our main supporting churches has also been a joy. 5. Our support levels with SIM have been high so we thank the Lord and all others who were involved in meeting that need. 6. During this time we have been able to attend some conferences such as Mandate, New Horizon and Keswick (see photo links). It has been great to have had these opportunities to worship at such events. God is Good (Nahum 1:7).

PLANS

We are planning to return to Kagoro Seminary on 19th January 2009. Please pray for the preparations and especially that visas will come through okay. You are invited to a farewell service for us at the Ballynahinch Congregational Church on Sunday evening 28th December.

As usual, there are some things to be done before we leave. I am still working on my 20,000 word dissertation and would like to have that finished before we travel. Debbie is teaching First Peter in six evening classes at the Belfast Bible College and also leading a Bible study for a group of ladies at Coagh Baptist Church.

SARAH YOO

We just heard that one of our SIM colleagues at Kagoro, Sarah, has returned to Korea. She has been battling with malaria throughout this year. It looks like she will not be returning to Kagoro. Pray for her. She will be greatly missed at the seminary. By the way, the Seminary is still looking for someone to teach New Testament who has a doctoral level qualification in that area. Pray the Lord will send us someone with that training (Matt. 9:38).

As ever, thank you for your faithful prayers.

David and Debbie Colvin

Contacts (until we leave): Tel 02887752120, Debbie 07810203459, David 07833145995

Update for October

Dear Friends,

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

Many thanks for your prayers. We enjoyed our week of holiday in Portugal (see photos in the links section) but now its back to work. Debbie has many meetings booked this month and would especially appreciate your prayers.

Debbie leads a Bible study for a group of ladies at Coagh Baptist Church on 2nd, 9th, 23rd, and 30th. She is using a Beth Moore study called Living Beyond Yourself.

She is also speaking at ladies’ meetings on 6th at Bangor Congregational Church, 7th Hamilton Road Baptist, 16th Lambeg Baptist, 21st Portadown Baptist, and 27th Cairndaisy Baptist.

I am preaching at Cairndaisy Baptist on 16th and at the Stewartstown Baptist Hall on 26th.

Both of us are involved in the following meetings: 5th Missionary Meeting at Shankill Baptist, 14th GB at Ballynahinch Congregational, 18th Ballycrochan Baptist missionary meeting, 24th SIM Conference, and 28th SIM prayer group at Whiteabbey.

My Dad is enjoying being back at home and recovering some movement in his right arm. He still needs assistance when walking but there is gradual improvement in this area also.

September was a month for reunions. Debbie and I were both at a celebration at the Belfast Bible College which has been at Glenburn House for 25 years. (I was studying there when the college moved.) It was good to meet former students some of whom we hadn’t seen for over twenty years. Then on 27th Sept, I was at a reunion at the Rainey Endowed School. Again it was fascinating to meet classmates I hadn’t seen for over thirty years. While external appearances have, of course, changed a little, basic characters seemed to be much as I remember them.

Reunions remind us we have a limited amount of time to worship God on earth. Let us all make the best use of the time (Eph. 5:16).

In Christ,

David and Debbie

September Update

Dear friends,

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus.

We thank the Lord for answered prayer during this past month. Praise the Lord with us that David’s dad is now out of hospital. We are thankful for the level of care he is receiving at home. Please pray that he would regain a measure of mobility as the physiotherapists and occupational therapists work with him over the next three months. Pray too for David’s mum as she helps care for his dad. Thanks.

David’s preaching engagements went well which once again is an answer to prayer. He is continuing to do research for his dissertation so pray that the time spent in study would be productive.

On Saturday, 6th, we will travel to Glasgow where David will preach at the anniversary services of Harper Memorial Baptist Church on Sunday. I will give a short presentation of our work in Kagoro and we will take part in a meeting after the Sunday evening service. We would value prayer for safety in travel and for the Lord’s help in the services.

The ladies of Kilrea Baptist have invited me (Debbie) to speak at their meeting on Thursday, 11th September. Please pray for the Lord’s guidance in preparing and giving the message.

In two weeks’ time (18th Sept.) we’re travelling to Portugal with my parents for a week’s holiday. We thought it would be good to see the sun again!

In our calendar, September appears to be the calm before the storm of activity from October to December when there are many meetings to take and preparations for our return to Nigeria in January.

Thanks for upholding us in prayer. May we continue to remember that without Him we can do nothing but with Him we can do all the things He has called us to do.

Yours in Christ,

Debbie and David

August update

Dear friends,

We send you greetings in the Name of Jesus.

Thank you for praying for health and safety in July. We had a great time in England visiting friends and enjoying their hospitality. The week at the Keswick conference was well worth attending. Charles Price was the main speaker in the morning meetings and we appreciated his accurate exposition and practical application of the book of Colossians. Keith and Kristyn Getty led most of the times of worship and we enjoyed that aspect of the conference also (check out www.gettymusic.com).

The weather for most of the trip was excellent and we were glad the car we were using had air conditioning! We have uploaded a few photos of the trip with captions (see links section of this blog) but no photos of the conference since no one was allowed to take photos during the meetings. (No doubt Keswick Ministries will add some more to their own web page: www.keswickministries.org)

August offers several opportunities to take Sunday services (10, 24 & 31) and we would appreciate your prayer for those times. I (David) will start work on the dissertation this month and hope to have most, if not all, of the work completed by the end of the year. I plan to study African views of Christology (the doctrine of Christ). A number of African theologians have addressed the subject in recent years and it would be helpful in my teaching to see what can be learned from these authors.

My Dad is supposed to be returning home from hospital soon. He has recovered from the stroke to some extent but still has difficulty walking and has only limited use of his right hand. Please keep on praying for him.

The new semester will be starting at Kagoro Seminary this month. Pray for the teachers and students. We heard from Sarah Yoo that work has started on a new student accommodation block so we praise the Lord for that development.

Thank you for your prayerful interest in our lives.

In Christ,

David and Debbie