I am listening to more joyful singing this
morning!* This time it is coming from the classroom down the hall where our
Bible Institute students are starting their first class of the day.
We praise Thee, O God! For the Son of Thy love,
For Jesus Who died, and is now gone above.
Hallelujah! Thine the glory. Hallelujah! Amen**
We do praise Him this morning! The sun is shining after
yesterday’s rain, and everything is green and beautiful! What a joy it is to
see our students’ smiling faces as they come in to the building to start their
second day of classes! Our current enrollment is eleven students and there is
the possibility of one more.
For this first seven weeks, our students will
be taking Panorama of the Bible, Orientation to Ministry, English
1 and Portuguese. I was also thrilled to see them in the library as
soon as it was open yesterday afternoon! (And also wishing we had more books!)
Please pray with us:
For our students–
·
That they will continue to be
enthusiastic and apply themselves to their studies
·
For the safety of the off-campus
students as they travel back and forth to classes
·
For the well-being of the
on-campus students as they live in less than ideal conditions
For faculty and staff –
·
Pray that we will have wisdom and
energy as we prepare, teach, and mentor.
·
For this first seven weeks the
professors are: Pastor Sebastião da Silva (Panorama of the Bible), Pastor Mario Rocha (Portuguese)
Paula Troutman (English/library/record keeping), and Dr. Philip Troutman
(Orientation to Ministry/Academic Coordinator/General
Problem Solver!).
For finances –
·
Angola is currently in an
“economic crisis” in which prices are rising and simply surviving is becoming
more difficult which makes paying school tuition a financial burden at best and
a financial impossibility for many. Although some of the students have received
sponsorships, others still need help with their tuition. Due to economic
difficulties we have lowered tuition to 5000 Kwanza (approximately US$33) per
month for full-time students.
·
We are finding that a major
expense that is not being covered is the cost of feeding the 6 students that
live on campus. We want them to have good nutrition, but we lack the necessary funds
especially in light of rising food costs.
·
We would love to be able to add
more books to our library as well as supply our students with additional
resources.
Thank you for reading and for your prayers.
-- Please contact us if you would like more
information on how you can help with these needs. --
*Referring
to our blog post and newsletter “Joyful Singing” of 1/27/16.
** “Revive
Us Again” by William P. MacKay
