Note: You can download this update as a printable PDF file here.
Happy New Year!
Hello, family, friends and supporters. Happy New Year! We hope each of you has had a great start to the year and enjoyed the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.
I’d like to take a moment to share a few things that have been going on with us.
Wrapping Up The Semester
Our Online Bible School semester ended the second week of December. We had just over 150 students who completed their semester with us and most of them did very well in their studies. The end of a semester is a busy time, both for students and faculty. The students did reviews and studied for final exams, while the faculty was responsible for answering questions, grading exams and getting the final grades posted.
It was a very profitable semester for all of us. I’m sure many of the students are already using the material we’ve given them in their own ministries in local churches around the nation.
It is also great to have a little break from the everyday work with the students. Now it’s time to get new course material ready, as we’ll soon be opening registration for the spring semester which will start in February.
Advanced School of Ministry
November and December are always busy months for us, as this is the time when I work on material for our next big conference, which will be held the last week of January. My jobs include editing each speaker’s material, writing my own material, forming the conference notebook, handling online registration, conference promotion/advertising, on-screen conference presentations, and a host of other activities.
Our daughter Anna did another book translation, and I did the layout and editing of that book as well. Everything has been sent off to the printers now, so this part of the work is finished. This book will be a homework assignment for those studying the degree program.
Church Activities
We wrapped up our church year with several Christmas celebrations, including a service with the participation of the children’s ministry, a Christmas lunch, a Christmas dinner for our small groups, and a special service which included testimonies of God’s goodness throughout the year.
Now we are beginning a new series of Wednesday night meetings in small groups. These discipleship groups will be studying the parables of Jesus together, and learning the practical and spiritual lessons Jesus taught in each parable.
Christmas and New Years
What a blessing it was to have our son David Jeremiah with us for Christmas. We missed Daniel, as he had to stay in Oregon this Christmas, but we enjoyed being with David and Anna. We had a simple but nice Christmas with our family.
David returned to Michigan on January 31, and we spent New Year’s Eve with friends from church. We had a great time with them and enjoyed a meal of homemade pizza.
Thanks for partnering with us!
Sara and I would like to say “thanks” to each of you who prays for us, gives, or is somehow involved in our lives. We appreciate each of you.
We pray that the Lord would abundantly bless you with His wonderful grace, health and provision during this new year. May you have 20/20 vision to see His good plans and purposes!