Teaching in Sarete

Hello everyone,

Field experience went well last weekend, although Rachael and the
children weren't able to go because Rachael sprained her ankle on
Wednesday night.

Even though there has been very little bible teaching in the village
and many people are struggling spiritually, they are still keen to
learn from the Bible. Most weekends this year there was no sunday
service in Sarete itself and none was planned for last weekend, but
the elders were keen to meet when we suggested it as they are aware
that the lack of time together for community worship and teaching is a
problem. Also, the elders have agreed for us to come each Sunday
afternoon to teach the Bible. This Sunday we will begin to read and
discuss 1 John with anyone who wants to come. Sunday School also had
not been planned, but on Saturday night and Sunday morning Joel led a
time of singing and Bible stories with the children.

The students had opportunity to speak with people around the village
and are focusing on helping people clearly understand the Gospel and
respond appropriately. We also met someone from the Praise & Worship
church who has a DVD player and shows religious movies or singing or
teaching almost every night. We gave him a DVD of John's Gospel and
about 40 or 50 people watched chapters 1-14 on Friday night. He asked
us to bring more material that he can show people.

Please pray:
• that there will be more regular services on Sundays, with faithful
Bible teaching.
• that people will come to the Bible Study on Sunday, and that we will
learn from God's Word and grow together.
• that we will have more opportunities to teach the children in the
village, and to encourage parents and others in the village to teach
them, and that these children will grow up to know and trust our Lord
Jesus Christ.
• that as students share the Gospel around the village, God will work
by his Spirit to bring more people to know him.
• giving thanks for the man from the Praise & Worship church who is
using his DVD player to help and encourage people in the village.
• that we will be able to encourage and support him in this ministry
and that it will bring the message of Christ and good Bible teaching
to many people in the village.
• that the tension between the villages of Hasavaea and Vimele, and
that the field experience group in Hasavaea will be able to continue
their work.
• for students doing their exams next week

Trip to Sarete

We're just heading out to Sarete for field experience for the weekend.
(Glen, Billy & John with our familes, and Joel and Kalmara who are
single.)
We will visit different people and meet with the church leaders and
people involved in different ministries.

On Sunday there is a very large combined service for all the villages
in the local area. Joel will be preaching on the judgment of God from
the story of Sodom and Gomorrah.

There is also a Langham preaching conference on next week. This will
be held in Vila and includes pastors from all over Vanuatu.

Please pray for us and these events.

End of the first week of classes

We are all well and enjoying the many blessings of life at Talua.

Philip attended his Father's funeral in Ambrym and has now returned to
Talua to continue the BTh program. Thank you for your prayers for him.
There are some students in the Diploma and Mission program who haven't
arrived yet. Transport is difficult here and some people are waiting
on ships. Please pray that everyone will be able to arrive quickly and
safely.

This week fourth year diploma students will be looking at the death of
Christ with Glen over 8 class hours. Please pray that we will also see
more clearly God's love and mercy and justice and just how much he has
done for us. Pray also that we will respond to this teaching with
renewed trust in God and thankfulness to him and desire to share with
others how wonderful our God is.

Some other events coming up:
20th Feb - Rachael is leading devotions on John 4:7-42
27th Feb - First field experience weekend with Billy, John, Joel &
Kalmara, at a nearby village called Sarete.
1st March - Glen will be leading a prayer night with the College
community

Term 1 begins for Diploma students

This week is the first week of lectures for term 1. Glen will be
teaching "God's solution to sin" and "Biblical Interpretation" to
final year Diploma students as well as Greek with the BTh students.
These are all subjects he greatly enjoys, although it has been hard
getting enough preparation time. Please pray for Glen's preparation,
and that he would be able to show the students the benefits of
studying these subjects so that they will work hard. Pray especially
for the final year students, that these subjects will help them to be
focused on our Lord Jesus Christ and paying careful attention to God's
Word.

Philip Joses is one of the degree students. His father passed away
last week and he has gone back to his home island of Ambrym. Please
pray for God's comfort during this time, and for Philip as he has a
lot of responsibilities to carry out in his village at this time.
Please pray also that he would be able to come back to Talua soon and
continue his studies.

There are a lot of activities in the last half of February. We'll try
to give you more information next week, but the phones have been quite
problematic and we wanted to get this email out quickly while we can.

BTh foundation year begins!

Hello everyone,

We have returned to Talua again for 2009 and we look forward to your
prayer support again. Our Father delights in the prayers of his
children! Here are some ideas to guide your prayers.

• The BTh program began in January with a 3 week Greek intensive, and
this week is now week 1 of term. Please pray that the students will
work hard at their Greek and their other subjects and not find it
overwhelming. Give thanks that most students have enjoyed their
studies so far and have kept up with the Greek. Three students (Ps
Kalotap, Fr Boe & Fr Tari) arrived late and are behind on their Greek.
Please pray that they will be able to catch up. Please pray that all
the students will grow in knowledge and godliness as they train for
future ministry.

• This week is orientation week for the other programs, with bible
studies on obedience. Please pray that these studies will challenge
and encourage students from God's Word and that the students and staff
will be serious about out personal growth during this year. (Glen will
lead the Tuesday morning study.)

• Pray for staff as they prepare lessons ready for classes next week.

• We are short on married accommodation this year and some families
are having to share one house. Please pray for patience in this
difficult situation and the families involved will be able to rejoice
even in this difficulty. Pray that the families will be able to get on
well, especially those with young children, and that God would use
this situation to bring great blessing to the families involved.

• Please pray for Rachael as she teaches Sophie (yr 1) & Bethany
(kindy) at home. Especially pray for her patience with the children
and that she would be a loving and godly example to the children as
she teaches them.

Thanks for your prayers,
Glen, Rachael, Sophie, Bethany and Matthew

General prayer points

Glen is teaching through 1 Samuel this week, looking at the rise of
the Kingship in Israel. He wants students to understand what God is
teaching us in 1 Samuel, but also to become better at reading Old
Testament stories and applying them to us through Jesus. He is also
teaching Paul's second and third missionary journeys.

We are organising for about 6 people from Vanuatu to come to Australia
at the end of November to attend a conference called "South Pacific
Regional Training Event." This could be a great help and encouragement
to these people. Please pray for passports and visas to be given, the
remaining funds needed for the trip to be provided, smooth planning,
and that it would really help the people who go. You may be able to
meet some of these people during their stay!

We are also hoping that some people will visit Australia for a much
longer period during 2009 to help in their ministry training. Please
pray that this will be able to happen.

We had a very enjoyable visit from Glen's brother (Wayne) and two of
his children. He did a lot of electrical work and this has helped us
and the Williamson's greatly. We are very thankful for this.

We had our final mentoring night last Friday. The students have learnt
a lot through this year from our times together and from their
experiences on field. The new program has been a wonderful blessing to
the students and we are very thankful. It has also changed the way
they do their ministry as they are seeking to base what they do more
thoroughly on the Scriptures and to keep the good news of Jesus at the
centre of their ministry. This is wonderful to see!

Ban Ban Again

We had a good weekend at Million Dollar Point (Ban Ban). Although the
church was locked and the problems have not been resolved, a sunday
service was organised in a house and quite a few people came. It was
an encouraging time together. We were also able to pray with different
people over the weekend. People rejoiced that the problems did not
stop us meeting together and that God is with us wherever we meet.

We will return again this weekend. As far as we know the issues are
still not resolved and we will probably meet in the house again. Glen
will preach on part of Ephesians 1. Please continue to pray for the
situation and for our work this weekend. Pastor Philip, the local
pastor, has returned from Assembly and will need to deal with the
issues. It is difficult for him because he is pastor of about 15
different congregations and his time is limited. Please pray for
wisdom for him!

Glen's brother Wayne has been with us over the last week, with his
sons Ben and Tim. It has been great spending time together and Wayne
has fixed a lot of electrical problems in our house and around Talua.
This is a real blessing!