July prayer letter

Dear praying friends,

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

UK Trip
We thank the Lord we were able to spend a month in the UK. The plan was to have some holiday time and visit our parents. As the Lord would have it, my father (in photo) passed away while we were there. Many people noted that it was God’s timing that we should have been in the UK before my Dad passed away, be there for the funeral service, and still have some time afterwards with my Mum and other family members. We praise the Lord my Dad was ready to go and we are confident we will see him again when our Lord returns or calls us home (1 Thess. 4:13-18). Thank you to all who communicated expressions of sympathy and for your prayers for the family circle.

Coagh Baptist Church
Please pray along with us for my home church: Coagh Baptist. It has been several years since pastor David Scott retired and though he has been helping with visitation, preaching occasionally, and such, the church needs a full-time pastor. It has not become clear whom the Lord would have minister in that capacity so we are asking the Lord to guide the members as they seek His will.

Work at Kagoro
Now that we are back at the seminary, the stacks of assignments to be marked are calling out for our attention. The new semester starts in mid-August so we need to get ready for that. Thirdly, we have been asked to take part in a conference organised by one of our students. That is scheduled for 6-8th August and is about four hour’s drive from here. Pray we would know what the Lord would have us say at that conference, for the event itself, and for safety in travel to and from the conference venue.

Thanks again for your prayers.

David and Debbie Colvin

June update

Dear friends,

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

Just a short update this month since we are on holiday in the UK! We flew here on 3rd June and will be in the UK for a month. It is great to be here and see our parents again. As time permits, we will also visit other relatives and friends though we cannot visit everyone in this short period.

Our contact phone numbers for our time in the UK are Debbie: 07810203459 and David 07833145995.

We are staying in an apartment near Dungannon provided by a family for missionaries to use. We are enjoying this luxury, having fast internet access, and constant electricity. Our relatives have lent us two cars to use. The Lord is good (Nahum 1:7).

While we are here the Summer Programme is still running at the seminary. Pray for Dennis and Coletta who are teaching in this module before flying to the US for home assignment towards the end of June.

Thanks for your prayers.

Yours in Christ,

David and Debbie

May Update

Dear friends,

We send you greetings in the name of our Lord.

Praise the Lord with us that the rains have started and we are feeling a bit cooler. Inside two weeks the grass has grown and it’s time to exercise the lawnmower again.
Thanks for praying for David’s speaking engagement in Kaduna. It went well and they had a safe journey there and back.

Thanks too for praying for the Five Year Development Plan Committee. It was with a great sense of relief that I (Debbie) handed over the plan to the Provost last Thursday. He will take it with him when he travels to the US this Thursday.
This is our last week of teaching before the final exams. We are thankful for the way the Lord has sustained us throughout the semester. Please pray that both staff and students would finish well.

We will go to Jos this weekend as David will attend an SIM Area Council meeting on Friday. Sometime in May I will be involved in a Guest House Board meeting. Please pray for safety in travel and for good discussions and decisions in these meetings.
We’re really looking forward to our month’s holiday in NI beginning on the 3rd June. It’ll be great to see family and many friends again although it’ll be a flying visit. Please don’t laugh if we’re wearing jumpers when you are sweltering in the heat (surely it’s time for a warm summer!!). Our lowest temperature has been 21 C!

Please continue to pray for the peace of this nation and that the Lord would protect and strengthen His people as they face so many difficulties (Heb 10:23-24).

Thank you so much for your faithful prayers on our behalf.

Yours in Christ,

Debbie and David

Update for April

Dear friends,

We send you greetings in the Name of Jesus and thank you for your prayers.

Electricity
The local mains supply is on about 5% of the time. It is also impossible to predict when it will be on and for how long it will be on each time. Hence, we thank the Lord for the diesel generator we have, the kerosine fridge, and the 12 volt DC system, all of which help us to run our home.

Easter break
We spent the Easter holidays at the conference centre run by SIM at Miango. There was an evening campfire service on Good Friday and an Easter service on Sunday morning. It was great to get a short break from normal routines, eat some great food and spend the time with a number of other missionaries at Miango.

Extra duties
Pray for Debbie as she chairs the five-year planning committee and produces a report by the end of this month. The provost is hoping to travel to the US in May and share this plan with supporters of the seminary. I (David) am booked to speak on 11th April in a church in Kaduna city and on 29th April at the seminary.

My Dad
Dad was able to get home some weeks back and seems to be stable. Thank you for praying. Thankfully, we are in good health here though finding this hot season hotter than most.

Anniversary
We celebrate twelve wonderful years together this month. Praise the Lord!

In Christ,

David and Debbie

Prayer letter, March

Dear praying friends,

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

Thank you for being a source of encouragement to us through your faithful prayers and financial support.

The Chad outreach was successful. They were kept safe on their long journey and had the joy of seeing many come to faith in Christ during that time. Pray for good discipleship of the new believers and that the students would continue to have a vision for mission and evangelism.

Paul

Paul , one of our students who went on the Chad outreach, has a gift for evangelism. While he was on his practical assignment with a church last June and July he led five people to the Lord. Last semester, the young man he was discipling introduced him to a lady who was dying of HIV/AIDS. Paul led her to Christ a few weeks before she passed away. While in Chad, he discovered that the man assigned as his interpreter was not born again and Paul led him to faith in Christ. When I get discouraged in the work here, I remember students like Paul who make our work a joy and privilege (Heb 10:24). Please pray that Paul would continue to develop his gifts and that the Lord would use him to win others.

Evelyn

Another source of encouragement is the visit of friends. Evelyn, from Windsor Baptist Church, visited us for a week in February. As well as being blessed by her company we were blessed by her lemon meringue, cinnamon scones and other goodies which are NEVER on the menu in Kagoro!

Daunting Tasks

Teaching the largest classes we have ever had is a daunting task. David has 75 in one of his classes and I have 80 in one class and 70 in the other. We would really value prayer not only for the teaching but also for the marking.

I (Debbie) have been made chairperson of a committee to create a five-year development plan for the seminary. Pray for wisdom in our discussions and decisions.
Jos

Many people lost their lives as a result of religious conflict in Jos in the middle of January. Please pray for the success of the relief effort as many also lost their homes and all their property. Pray too for peace to reign in Jos and the nation as tensions are still high.

Thanks again for your prayers.

Debbie and David Colvin

February update

Dear friends,

Greetings from hot and humid Kagoro. While most of you have been experiencing one of your worst winters for many years, we are having an early hot season. Thankfully, it still cools down a bit in the evenings which is a help. During the day it is over 35 degrees C!

Thank you so much for your prayers as we are now three weeks into the new semester. The students are all back now as well as the new ones who were admitted in January. David is thanking the Lord for a successful admissions process especially as the numbers of students has increased.

David is happy about this but it means I have two of the biggest classes ever and I really do not know how I will cope with the marking as well as managing the classes on a weekly basis. One class has 68 students and the other has 79! To balance it out I have one class with only 8 students, most of whom I have taught before. At least I know the names of this group. David has one class of 73 and another one of 22. Please pray for us and the rest of the faculty as we face the challenge of teaching such large groups.

We really appreciate your prayers for David’s dad. He got out of hospital but had to return a week later. Please continue to pray for him. Thanks.

Our friend, Evelyn Greer, will arrive on Saturday morning to stay with us for a week and then she will go to Jos to stay with another friend. Pray for safety in travel as well as a good time of fellowship together.

Many of you may have heard of the recent violence in Jos. Our hearts go out to the people who lost loved ones, their homes and all their property. Pray for those involved in the relief effort that they would be able to assist those most in need. We are thankful that we were not affected directly but we would value your prayers for peace in this region as well as the rest of the nation.

This semester we are studying James in our devotional services. We need the wisdom James talks about in 3:13-18. Taming the tongue (3:1-12) is even more of a challenge!!

Thank you again for your fellowship in this ministry.

Debbie and David

January update

Dear friends,

May you grow in the knowledge of our Lord this year.

SIM Conference

We are looking forward to the annual SIM conference at Miango this year (6-10 Jan.). The speakers are Charles and Hilary Price from the People’s Church, Toronto, and the conference topic is ‘press on’. We heard Charles at Keswick in 2008 and appreciated his ministry from the word of God. It will be great to receive some good teaching and also renew fellowship with our SIM colleagues.

Chickens

This Christmas was the year for live chickens. After one of the weddings I spoke at, we were given two live chickens to put in the car and take home! Then one evening a member of staff came to the house and presented us with another one. The fourth came from one of our students. Thankfully we have a student who helps us with gardening and he knows how to slaughter and divide up chickens. We appreciate the generosity of all these people since chicken meat is much more expensive than beef here.

New semester

We have entrance exams and interviews for prospective students this month. These are set for 11-13th January. Then registration for study in the new semester is on 14th and 15th. We will be teaching familiar courses in the January to May semester: I have been assigned Hermeneutics and Third World Theologies; Debbie is teaching Interpreting Parables, Old Testament Prophetic Books, and Pentateuch. Pray we will be able to keep up with the marking as well as our teaching this year.

Please pray we get some more suitably qualified teachers for the seminary. The areas of need are in Education, New Testament, and English.

Outreach teams

The students and staff who went on missions trips in December have given reports of many people coming to know Christ and individuals being restored to fellowship with our Lord. Praise the Lord. The team that went to Chad isn’t back yet so we will send you a report from them later.

My Dad in hospital

My Dad was in hospital for a few weeks with a chest infection. He is back home but still quite weak. Pray for greater strength.

Thank you for your prayers as we remember many of you regularly in our prayer times.

In Christ,

David and Debbie