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Notes
from Ron Downey - Asia Ministry Training Schools |
February 2010 Along with my February newsletter I wanted to appeal to you who serve
in congregations, those who can share this newsletter with others, and
those who by God’s blessings have had an opportunity to be generous
. To those who have made the last year possible I am grateful. I hope
you are following the work with the interest of our partnership. The following is a letter from Sany Yang, South Korea, to Ron. The Joy of Translation (Bible Study) As we met together with our students for the August-October 2009 session,
brother Jack Burch emphasized the importance and necessity of studying
the word and applying it to our daily lives. He is right. The more we
study God's word the more we can appreciate our Lord. I didn't realize
how much I have been blessed by the teachers like Phil Slate and many
others who come over here to teach for the BCC-SBI program. Since we have
very limited manpower (especially translators) I had no choice but to
translate hundreds of hours for the classes conducted by American teachers
for many years. Teachers coming over here for the BCC-SBI program might not know this, but I must confess that I learned a whole lot from them as I translated their classes hundreds of hours. I, too, must confess that I would never have life transforming chance if I was not being forced to translate because of lack of our resource. Now, I want more of our Korean people to be blessed like me, not necessary
by translating hundreds of hours but realizing "The Joy of Bible
Study" and applying it to their lives. The eunuch could find joy because the Lord let him meet Philip who could teach. Teaching faithful men who can teach others well describe our reason to raise fund and finding Bible students. We do want more people find this overflowing joy as the old eunuch did. Because this is the true and eternal joy we can find only in Him. October 3, 2009 “Philippine Letter” Dear Ones, Mary Ann was well enough to fly to Maryland to help our youngest daughter, Brooke prepare for her wedding on September 19th. I went up a week later to “Give Away” my daughter in a beautiful wedding by the sea near where English immigrants first settled in America. Another beautiful lady at the wedding was my bride of 49 years, Mary Ann. We are happy to have Marc Shubrooks as our new son. This month in the Philippines was filled with Faculty and Students of
the 4 Schools, teaching and learning the Word of God, and in sharing with Some of you have been in Hurricanes, and most of us have seen the destruction
on T.V. from Hurricanes. In the Pacific Ocean there is also a “Typhoon
season,” and the Philippines have been hit very hard this past month,
especially last week in the Manila area. It is too early to get substantial
reports from areas where our schools are located, but it has been very
hard on our brethren. So far in Manila more than 200 people have been
killed by the floods, heavy rains, and strong winds. We do not know of
any deaths among the Christians there at this time. If you would like
to help some of these Christians, and want to send money (SEE THE LETER-over) (page 2) If you are able and would like to send help to the Christians in the Philippines who are suffering from the destructive “Typhoons,” (perhaps your congregation wants to help)? “Money” is the only way to assist…they can buy clothing
very cheaply there. Make checks payable to: “Odessa Church of Christ” Philippine Missions August 26, 2009 The following is a note from Herbin Simanjuntak our director in Batam, Indonesia Dear brother Ron: I really appreciate for your zeal to work in Southeast Asia. With joy in the Lord greatly, I just want to let you know that we have finished the second term of two year programs of the school in Batam, Indonesia and already did the graduation ceremony on late July. Attached are some pictures. The first term that we have at this time are 14 students. They are practice at their each congregation in Indonesia. They will return to Batam on January to continue of their second term. At this time there are already 4 new students enrolled for the first term in January 2010. I presume there will be 12 new students plus 14 students for the second and totally 26 students for the next year. All the graduates are working as local teacher at their congregation. I received their report last week that 5 graduates student have converted 10 persons into Christ. The other great blessing is we have received our BBS DIPLOMAS from SUNSET in Lubbock, Texas. Praise and thank God. I just returned from my mission travel from Pekanbaru, another Province in Sumatera to help the mission team and the congregations there. It was wonderful to have a great fellowship with the brethren. Please keep us in you prayer. In His grace,Herbin
August 22, 2009 The following note is from Rich Dolan our director in Cambodia: Tuesday evening, Tawn and I met with the current landlords. We had a
cordial meeting and were able to part as friends. What we agreed to was
that we would be out of the current location by August 31st. We did not
pay rent for August, but credited that as part of the $1,500 deposit we
gave at the contract signing. We agreed to let them keep the other $1,000
of that for reparis, repainting, etc.. Basically, it was just a way to
cut our loses and move on. They seemed to be happy with that arrangement.
August 10, 2009 Here is a picture of the school in Seoul, South Korea. The installed projector is part of the video-conferencing system that now allows this school to connect with our reeal-time network of live Internet classes around the world.
August 10, 2009 The following letter if from Patinya, the directory of our school in Thailand: Two things I would like to ask you to pray for this week end. First, three others and I will leave Bangkok tomorrow morning at 6.00 a.m. for Vientiane, Laos. Hongkham’s grandmother passed away this morning at almost 7.00 a.m. Pray for our safe drive to the border and back. Pray for Hongkham and his family as they are trying to live their lives as Christians in Laos. I will preach at the funeral tomorrow evening at 8.00 p.m. It will be the first Christian display of love and support for each other to the world around them. If I have time, I will visit with Mr. Phu-ngen who is the head of the religion affair at the National Construction and Edification Head Office. I visited with him once before three months ago. This will be a good time to further relationship with him. Hongkham is our BSLI graduate. Second, pray for Serm who will be baptized tomorrow morning at Watcharapon Church of Christ. Serm found out about the church and LST through searching the web. He came to study English with LST and the Bible with Tuli, Ben, Aaron and I. He made decision today. He is the first fruit of WOM, Watcharapon Outreach Ministry, an outreach work created by Tai for the Savior and Watcharapon Church that is based at Watcharapon Church. This baptism will encourage so many people at the church to do more for the neighbors. Our Watcharapon-LST Team is finishing up their work this summer this week end. Leonard, David and Kathy are such a wonderful servants. They have been here just two weeks, but they performed well for the Lord. The readers love them. They helped created trust from the readers for the church. I hope they will come back next year. Our Bible students at BSLI are working hard studying Job, Scheme of Redemption, Sacrificial System and Romans. All twenty-three of them are also travel to many different places to visit and to encourages churches. They are gaining much needed experiences for the future. Paeng, who is seven months pregnant, is still sitting in the classes learning as much as her husband does. She will have to stop soon to prepare herself for the big day in October. My mother passed away for almost ten weeks now. This coming Tuesday is the Mother Day in Thailand. It will be first Mother Day without her. It is hard to look through window into her room not seeing her sitting at her favorite desk reading the Bible or writing lessons for ladies around the country. She was a great Christian woman. God’s blessings, Patinya August 8, 2009 Below is a note from Rich Dolan, director of our school in Cambodia: Just a quick note to catch you up on some things happening here.
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