Student Cell Group Ministry Sunday

Sue says:

Ministry Sundays with our student cell group have begun again. This year we are serving at a church that Jeff and I ministered to in 2007. They are a welcoming group. One man talked about how the student cell group in 1984 that came from CLTC was instrumental in him and his wife becoming more dedicated to the Lord--and they still are today. Our current assistant principal was in that 1984 cell group.

The thing that struck me the most this Sunday was the a testimony by one of our new students. She talked about how God had sustained her through losing an eye and being pickpocketed of her school fees for this year. He tells her He still has work for her to do despite these setbacks. He didn't heal her eye, but some people did contribute new school fees for her. She is a delightfully well-adjusted young lady.

We'll see if we can add a photo of our group soon.

Check Out Our Bible College Website!

Sue says:

Our IT manager is doing an excellent job! Besides the day-to-day requests he must attend to, he's forward-thinking enough to prepare a website to help us communicate with people all over the world who want to know more about us. There are still sections being filled in, such as pictures and copy about the different campuses. (We're the Banz campus.) But, is this not a bonny website? www.cltc.spwd.net.nz.

Surprised by God

Sue says:

Have you ever had a situation when you were surprised by God? It could be by something as simple as enjoying beautiful fresh flowers in February or as complex as a ministry situation.

Yesterday, Jeff preached from Luke 5 at the Bible college worship service. In it Peter, the brash fisherman, had been out fishing all night without catching anything at all.

When Peter's partners were cleaning up the nets after the night's hard work, Jesus asked Peter to take him a little offshore so he could speak to a crowd of people. Peter obliged, and while the two were out in the boat Jesus asked Peter about the fish he caught.

No fish? Jesus, the seemingly uninstructed one about fishing, told the expert fisherman to put down his net again. Would Peter listen? To humor the carpenter's son, Peter did go out to deep water and put down his net where Jesus showed him.

And the net came back so full of fish that it was close to bursting. Peter had to call in James and John in another boat to have enough space to put the astonishing catch. Still, with both boats full, there was so much weight from the fish that the TWO boats almost sank.

Astounded, Peter realized that he wasn't dealing just with a carpenter's son. This area that Peter knew so much about, Jesus knew incredibly more about. And Jesus made the application that this situation wasn't just about where the fish were, but that men too needed to be apprehended for God's Kingdom. Peter was surprised that God would reach out to him individually through Jesus to enlist his service in catching souls. Surprised by God!

I had a recent encounter like that. In a study with a young gal about Jesus being stronger than sorcery, I was going over some points with her. As the book explained about how to be free from past sins, I was thinking to myself that surely she didn't have any of the problems being listed. But you know what? God knew she needed that section. His Holy Spirit was working in her life to break the bondage of past sin. She enthusiastically prayed and told the Lord she would go home and talk the lesson over with Him and ask for His full forgiveness. And she did.

Surprised by God! It clearly wasn't my Pidgin that convinced her nor any knowledge I had of her past. God's Spirit was at work. What a wonderful surprise to be used of God despite my shortcomings. He's marvelous that way. Praise the Lord for HIS mighty acts in calling both the gal and myself individually from the places we were into deeper relationship with Himself.

Where have you been surprised by God?

Spring Fever?

Jeff writes:

We took this video of the Kudjip Tea Plantation a couple of weeks ago.

So for those of you who are still under several feet of snow or are fogged in, we bring you this short preview of what is to come. Thanks to a most thoughtful Christmas-birthday-every-other-holiday-you-can-think-of present, we can now record HD video. Of course, what you are looking at here is not HD, but hopefully it will bring you 15 seconds of ... SPRING!

Enjoy!

Smile with Us

Sue says:

Some of you may remember that we asked God to help us locate a tax consultant to file back taxes. We were not aware that we must continue to pay taxes in our state even though we no longer live there. God did supply an able person to help us, and in fact we even got a small tax refund. Look at the amount on the check. It cost the state 98 cents to send us the check. It would cost us US $2.50 or so to send it back to deposit in our bank account. God must have a sense of humor.

School Fee Scramble

Sue says:

Because of unusual circumstances last year, students were allowed to begin our Bible college courses without having paid their course fees.

This year about half the students came to attend class without their fees. Maski! This year we said, "Forget it!" So, students have been scrambling around trying to scrape together their fees, missing class and assignments for the first two weeks.

We hope things settle down by Friday and it will be smooth sailing for everyone beginning next week.

Back to School Time of Year

This is the "Down Under" back to school time. Besides our Bible college, schools at all levels are beginning their academic year.

As I was walking to my office yesterday, this group of village girls was cutting through our campus to the elementary school on the other side of us.



You can see that the dirt road shows signs of the rain that fell the night before. To the left is a field of kaukau, a playing field, and our auditorium with it's green water tank. To the right is tanget, red leafy plants that mark the boundary of student houses. Almost all of us on campus walk back and forth to our jobs. The supervisors from the farm have motor scooters and that shows that they have an elevated position.