All Dressed Up ...NOT!

Last Friday the SBTC students had their Christmas Party. They were all challenged to come 'dolled up' and looking bad! Well, they succeeded ... on both counts!

Check the girls out ... don't they look lovely? MMmmmmm.... Funny thing was that they decided (in true Filipino fashion) to have a time of worship before the party started. So you could imagine these lot with hands in the air, singing & praying away .. looking like this! Good job the Lord looks at our hearts!

The students are doing well and are home for their Christmas break. Please pray that they have a good time with their families and that they enjoy being back in their home churches. Pray also for their finances. Very few of them have been able to pay their fees and this has caused us big headaches inn the last few weeks. Our power was cut off for 5 days because we had no money to pay the bill. Really, really hard. Praise God, the District stepped in and paid the bill but the financial struggle still goes on. Their whole fees for the year - board, lodgings, notes, teaching and three good meals a day comes to around 175 pounds!!!!!! But they struggle so much to find it.

Next year is the 10th Anniversary of Sefton Bible Training Centre. Over 200 people have been trained for the ministry since we began and the hand of the Lord is upon us. We had a Board (not B-O-R-E-D) meting today and we planned next years events by faith. The greatest days are ahead of us!

Have great weekend. Hope you've bought all your Christmas presents by now. The shops in UK will be chocca blocka this weekend .. now hat's something I definitely don't miss! But here it does not feel like Christmas ... yes, there are Christmas trees and tinsel up in our house but the 30 degree heat makes it all seem a bit unreal. In fact, in our Cornerstone leaders meeting on Tuesday I announced that we would tackle a particular agenda "in next Tuesday's meeting" to which they all shook their heads and said "Christmas Day!"

We are really looking forward to having our great friend Catherine Young here for Christmas. She is here for a whole week... a miracle if you know Catherine's travel schedule! We are also having friends who are SIL missionaries from Northern Ireland here for boxing day ... so it should be a lot of fun for us ex-pats!

By the way, if you double click the FLIKR photo badge on the right, you will be able to see a lot of our Sefton Village photos. I have downloaded a lot recently so have a wee look!

Take care and take time for your family this Christmas...

... and be thankful you won't meet this lot in your travels!

Face the World Face Down ...

Last week was ultra busy yet ultra excellent. So many things were squeezed into a few days and it seemed like we were on a roller coaster that wasn’t stopping anytime soon!

We started off with our FEBC Radio Programmers Seminar from Monday to Wednesday. We are praying that by Oct/Nov we will start to build the radio station at Sefton Village, but before that FEBC have to train people to run the programmes. Around 20 progammers came – comprising from housewives to businessmen to pastors – and they had a great time. Their final assessment was that they all had to plan and execute a 15 minute ‘live’ progamme … they did so well.

A bonus for us was to meet a Scottish FEBC Trainer – Peter McIntyre – who is from Edinburgh but who has been ministering in Manila for 20 years. When I first met him he said that his wife was from a place I had probably never heard of (Tain), but he got the shock of his life when I told him that we often drive through Tain because my wife was from much further north in Wick!

From Tuesday – Friday we had our ‘Week of Refreshing’ which is designed to give our students and former students a few days to feel special – to relax, un-burden, be ministered to, to have fellowship and plenty fun. We had seminars, ate out, went swimming, played sports .. but the most important thing was that the Holy Spirit really broke into some of our meetings and touched the lives of these precious young people.

Many of them come from very difficult pioneering works and they receive next to nothing for their support. They really know what it is to ‘live by faith’. In one meeting the Lord really impressed on my spirit that he wanted to ‘break the chains of disappointment’ over some of their lives … and it was tremendous to see many respond and to see God breaking many things in their lives.

On Friday afternoon we had a very special occasion – our SBTC Graduation Service. We had a great time and the students did so well. We had the marching of the students, their parents and SBTCF staff, praise & worship, testimonies, Graduation song and then Keith gave a great message. We gave out their certificates and then all the Pastors prayed for the students – this is always a special time. At the end, the students are given 2 flowers to give to the people who have helped them through Bible School. It is so touching to see them thank and pray with their mums, dads, pastors and relatives. There are very few dry eyes!

I watched over the week at these young students and Alumni (former students). One thing that struck me was the amount of time they spent just bowing before the Lord. Just kneeling at His feet. Waiting for His voice. Sitting in His presence. Not flustered about time. This is not a place of weakness … but a place of strength.

If we are to face the world with the Gospel of Christ, then we must go from our knees. We must learn to rise up before we speak out. We must learn to listen in quietness before we speak with power. We must learn to bow in surrender before we walk in victory. These young people don’t have much in the eyes of the world … but in the eyes of God they have surrendered lives and open hearts; and that is all He needs.

Selah…