Pastor's retreat on the decline of the Presbyterian Church

We had a very encouraging field experience last weekend at Malo. It was our first time visiting the village, and we found the people to be full of praise and thanksgiving to God through Christ. The students worked hard and we are all very thankful to God for the weekend.

Tomorrow (Friday) the director of the Ministry Training Program in Australia will be visiting Talua. Please pray that Ben will say many helpful things to the students and staff, and that it will help us to see the importance of training people in ministry and give us ideas for how to do this better.

Next week (29th August - 2nd September) many pastors and elders will meet in Luganville to address the problem of the decline in the Presbyterian church. Ps Tony Wan will lead some of the sessions and call people back to preaching, teaching and discipleship. This is a wonderful opportunity. Please pray that those attending will see the importance of focusing on the Gospel of Christ and be filled with greater passion to preach Christ and teach the Word of God.

The following week is the Presbyterian Church Assembly. There are many administrative matters to deal with, but please pray that in all that we discuss we will remember Christ and be making decisions that help people throughout the nation know him and grow to maturity.

There are many exciting things happening and also many challenges. Thank you again for your prayers.

Connor prayer points for 5th August

Hello everyone,

We hope this email finds you standing firm and growing in the Lord. There was a lot of tiredness and minor sickness in our family last month, but we are all back to full health now. Students at Talua have been studying this week and will sit their exams on Monday and Tuesday. This has been less demanding on us and Glen has been doing more marking and preparation. We also had very helpful staff inservice training for two mornings.

The calendar is very different this year because of the date of the church Assembly. Students will have 5 days rest after exams and then term 3 will begin on 15th August. This will be very demanding on staff and students.

• Give thanks for good health, for the encouragement from recent visitors, and for the training Talua staff received.
• Pray that staff will work together, united in a common desire to see Christ proclaimed and glorified through our lives and work and through the students we are training.
• Pray for students doing exams next week, especially those who have little formal schooling and are very nervous.
• Pray that God will give strength to both staff and students as we begin term 3 after a very short break.
• Give thanks for Emily's time with us, and pray for her safe return to Australia in about two weeks time.
• Give thanks that Talua has decided to increase mentoring time to one hour each week beginning next term, a wonderful answer to prayer!

Yours in Christ,
Glen, Rachael, Sophie, Bethany, Matthew & Lachlan

Connor prayer points

Hello everyone,

Last Sunday we had a visiting Korean missionary come to Talua and preach on the importance of the preaching of the Word and prayer. He showed very clearly that the Presbyterian church of Vanuatu is in decline and that we need urgent change. We need to stop being distracted by administration and money, and start focusing on preaching and discipleship. Many people were challenged by what he said and the Principal asked students to meet in Presbytery groups to discuss how we need to change.

We have had the same burden for a long time but have found it hard to put clear preaching and prayer on the agenda. God has been clearly working here over the last week to call the church back to its true foundation. Please pray for what is happening.

This week (11th-15th April) Campus Crusade will run an evangelistic training week for the whole college. This is wonderful timing in God's plan and could lead many people back to building on the only foundation, which is Christ.

Please pray that there will be deep change at Talua, so that we will focus on praying and preaching Christ and his Word. Pray for our family as we try to encourage this change. Pray that we will take initiative to take up opportunities to preach and teach, and that we will provide resources and support for others. And give thanks to God!

(The landline phones were repaired this week (+678 37005) and we have also been reconnected to the internet. This will make it much easier for us to keep in touch with you again.)

Yours in Christ,
Glen, Rachael, Sophie, Bethany, Matthew & Lachlan

Many things to give thanks for...

There are many things to give thanks for:

• Field experience in March went very well. The students took the initiative to plan the weekend and review all the activities afterwards. I have been very impressed with their maturity and seriousness and their growing focus on teaching the Bible well and telling people about Christ.

• The Easter weekend was more focused on the death and resurrection of Jesus than we have seen previously. Rachael led a children's program that went very well and overall it was a great weekend.

• I spoke a couple of weeks ago with Jiroy, a D2 student from Sarete (6km from Talua), about the crusade he and some other students ran in Sarete just before Christmas. They said it went really, really well. Many hundreds of people came from all the surrounding villages and about 50 people made commitments (although it is sometimes hard to work out what this means). Villagers said that the week before Christmas is normally a time of drunkenness and trouble but this year it was quiet and people were worshipping God. One of the elders said that it needs to happen again and asked the students to help organise a crusade in Vunavus (8km from Talua) from 5th-9th May. Thank you for your prayers last year about this event and praise God! Please continue to pray for the follow up of those who were converted, for Jiroy and others as they plan the next crusade, and for regular faithful teaching of God's Word in the churches here.

Some prayer points:
• We have two more teaching weeks until the end of term 1. Please continue to pray for our teaching.
• This Friday we will meet with our mentoring group and then we will go to Weilapa again on 16th-18th April.
• We still have no bursar and the principal is still on leave, so the administration here is quite a mess. Please pray that this will be resolved quickly.

End of exams

We have now finished classes and exams for term 3. Graduation will be
held this Wednesday and then students will head back to their islands.
Students are being encouraged to reflect on what they have learnt
during their time at Talua, and how it can affect their lives and
their ministry.

The final field experience weekend in Sarete went very well. The
Saturday women's bible study looked back over the studies they had
done during the year. It helped clarify basic Christian teaching for
many of the women. On Saturday night we showed a movie about the five
missionaries martyred in Ecuador and Joel gave a talk on God's
judgment. The Sunday service and farewell went well. Overall it was a
great weekend of teaching and fellowship, and we were encouraged to
see that we and the people in the village have grown a lot through the
year. Please give thanks for the work we were able to do in Sarete and
that the final weekend went well, and pray that God would provide good
teaching in the village in the future and help people keep growing.

Jiroe is a student who came from Sarete and has just finished 1st year
at Talua. He is planning a mission/crusade week in Sarete from
21st-25th December on the theme "Be ready to meet Jesus". He has
spoken to leaders from different churches in the village to get their
support and has organised some college staff and BMin students to
speak during the week. If it goes well he then wants to organise
leaders from Sarete to do similar work in other villages. Give thanks
with us for Jiroe's enthusiasm for people to know Jesus and pray that
the mission would go well.

Term 3, week 4

• Rachael's health is continuing to improve. She stills feels very
tired but has picked up a lot.

• We are in week 4 of term. Classes are going well. This week Glen is
looking at providence with 1st year diploma students and Hebrews 4-6
with 2nd & 3rd year diploma students. The Bible studies are continuing
each Sunday afternoon at Sarete.

• There has been confusion over some college dates and our programs
for the term. This is quite normal, but please pray that the program
will be sorted out and that students will be trained well.

• Glen is still doing the bursar's work until a full-time bursar is
found. Over the next two months he will be cutting back the bursar's
work to a minimum and being more restrictive on the hours people can
come to his office concerning financial matters. This is already
causing tension and many people will probably become angry at him.
Traditionally it has been understood that you can go and see the
bursar anytime about anything and he should do it straight away (for
those of you who know Talua, think about Ps Frank's old job!). This
perception has changed a little, but it will have to change a lot more
over the next two months and there may be anger and frustration.
Please pray that people will be understanding of why Glen needs to set
aside time for teaching and preparation and cannot do financial work
during these times.

• Our college accreditation expired last year and their may be a re-
accreditation visit in October. Please pray that this will go well and
that the college will be accredited.

Start of term 3

Term 3 begins tomorrow and students have been arriving back at College
yesterday and today.
• Please pray for safe travel for returning students and staff,
especially those coming by ship.
• Please pray for staff as they prepare and teach classes, and for
students to work hard at their studies and grow in knowledge, ministry
skills and godliness.

Rachael has been back from Australia one week. She still feels very
tired and is resting a lot, but is recovering well now.
• Please continue to pray for Rachael's improving health and that the
rest of the family will be helpful and cooperative during this time.

This term Glen will be teaching "Humanity and Sin" to 1st year
diploma, "Hebrews to Revelation" to 2nd & 4th year diploma, and Greek
to the BMin foundation year students.
• Please pray for all of Glen's preparation and teaching.
• Please also continue to pray for the Bible's studies at Sarete which
will recommence next Sunday.

Assembly was a great chance to meet up with many former students and
other pastors in the church and to find out what is happening in the
wider church. While there were many encouragements, it was also
difficult seeing the acceptance of liberalism in the church and the
almost total absence of the Good News of Jesus from the programs and
planning of the church.
• Please continue to pray that pastors throughout the the PCV will
read the Bible and understand clearly who Christ is and what he has
done, and that they will faithfully teach these things to people
throughout Vanuatu.
• Please pray that staff and students at Talua will be able to produce
more resources to help pastors in this work.

Finally, please pray for us as a family. The last two months have been
difficult because we haven't been able to follow our regular routines.
Glen's mother was with us for most of August and helped greatly and
the children have been very helpful and understanding. But we now need
to return to some regular patterns of life!