Baldaeus Theological College,
News update, Nov. 2004
"And you shall find the baby wrapped in cloths, and lying in a manger"
Dear Friends,
What an amazing way for our almighty, majestic God to come to this earth!
May the wonder of the incarnation fill all our hearts with praise as we once
again celebrate the most awe-inspiring event that this world ever witnessed!
Our Bumper Modular!
We truly have cause for praise and thanks giving as we approach the end of
our fifth year. Last week we had a record number of students attending our
modular on 'Reformation Theology'! With 27 students not only was our lecture
hall overflowing, but also our hostels. All the beds were taken up and there
was not much room left on the floor either. We had to arrange for two
students to stay in a local church! A number of the students were pastors of
steadily growing (including charismatic) churches from the more remote parts
of the country around Batticaloa and the central hill country. What a sheer
joy it was to see them eagerly learning precious Biblical truths, sharing
fellowship together and encouraging each other in their ministries. The Lord
surely has a ministry for us to fulfill, supporting, teaching and
encouraging not just our present students but also those who are already
working fulltime in the Lord's harvest field.
Thanksgiving
The anniversary of Charles' departure from this earthly life was remembered
with a simple service in the college as we gathered to give thanks for him,
his vision, his teaching and his sacrificial Christ-like life that he lived
out before us all. We realized afresh the Lord's gracious faithfulness to us
in providing and enabling us to continue this work, leading us forward
through the 'desert' to Canaan.
The First Graduation!
A major milestone this term was our first Graduation Service when 18 of our
past students graduated, 8 with Certificate, 6 with Diploma and 4 with B.Th.
Everyone in the college community worked hard on all the preparations and a
gathering of 200, including many local friends and pastors, joined to
celebrate this special occasion in the local Urban Council Hall on October
29th. The Lord's hand was truly evident. Just fours days earlier the college
had unexpectedly received ATA's accreditation for the B.Th., something that
Charles had always hoped for. It was a true gift. Charles' absence from the
ceremony was keenly felt, but still there was much rejoicing and thanks for
all that he had taught, achieved and given. We were greatly blessed to have
Dr. Hannes Wiher, from Guinea with us as our chief guest.
Studies in Wales.
Newton is finding Wales a little colder than Sri Lanka, English a little
more difficult than Tamil and 'single' life a bit more lonely than family
life, but he is enjoying the challenges of his studies and soldiering on in
the confidence that God, who has called him, will also enable him. We are
thankful for all the gifts that have come in for him. Do continue to pray
for him, his tel. no. is 01656 641975. Alexander has made great strides in
learning Tamil this term, next term he will continue his Tamil studies and
teach a couple of courses with the help of his language teacher, Ramesh.
Old building - new hostel.
Very thankfully we have secured the use of the Methodist hostel just 2 mins
walk away for our new boys hostel. It is a large old building, so a number
of repairs, particularly in the roof, are necessary for all the rooms to be
habitable, but the past month's rain has hindered work on the repairs. We
have to move out of the present hostel accommodation by Dec. 5th, so please
pray that the building will be ready for us to move in.
Looking to the future.
The college is constantly growing and renting premises for the college and
hostels has proved costly in both finance and time. Rents are usually given
on 2 year contracts and on each successive occasion we have to spend much
time searching for more appropriate accommodation, also the advances are
getting higher by the day. The landlord of our present college building is
keen to repossess it, so we will soon have to find another college premises
too. We have been constantly on the look out for our own land so that we can
establish the college in a permanent place all in one location, rather than
continually seeing money drain away in rent. Recently we located an
excellent land on the sea front, just 3 miles from Trinco town. The 1 ½ acre
site would enable us to build the college with accommodation for students
and staff, as well as space for growing some of our own food and giving us
the opportunity to earn our own income through holiday-time renting, to help
us on the road to self-sufficiency. It is a big step, which we tread with
much caution, let us see whether the Lord would have us go through this
door. We are negotiating with the owner and need to work on raising the
funds. Please pray with us. If this present modular is any indication of the
future ministry the Lord has for us, we definitely need larger, more
permanent premises!
Thank you so much for your prayers and support. We hope you have a very
blessed Christmas, celebrating the wonder of the tiny baby!
Yours in Christ,
Jaqui
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