MISSIONS REPORTS
From Tanzania
Park SeungKyu, Ra ChaeWon, Park JongHwi
Greetings to all the co-labourers in missions in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Thank you for your prayers and support of the mission field. We are doing well by the grace of our Lord despite our busy schedule. We would like to share the Lord’s grace and doing in the mission field.
Baraka Mission House
The mission house is finally completed. It took about two years to complete. We repeatedly discontinued and continued the construction according to the situation. We had to postpone it for the reconstruction project of the Campus Church, the Glory Bible Presbyterian Church.
As soon as the construction was completed, a mission team from Tabernacle BP Church, Singapore, visited us the next day. It was the first helpful opening of the Mission House. Including the missionaries from Kenya, 14 guests visited, and there was no lack of gathering in the Mission House to have fellowship and meals. We truly thank God for His grace that we could finish the construction just before their visit.
We named the Mission House as “Baraka Mission House”. “Baraka” means “blessing” in the Swahili language, and it came from 2 Samuel 7:29, “… with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed for ever.” We built this house for the short/long-term missionaries, including us. It is also for the next generation of missionaries to focus on the Gospel work without any worry about the insecurity of their lodging. We hope and pray that this Mission House will be usefully used as a place of rest and fellowship for the missionaries who are serving the Lord in this far foreign country.
Bible College of East Africa, Tanzania
By God’s grace, we are doing well this semester without any problems. We started the Fall semester with 25 students, and they are going through the Mid-Semester Exam period. Please pray for the students that they may be diligent in learning and studying God’s Word with honesty.
We would like to share a few thanksgivings of the College:
Water and electricity supplies are not smooth in Tanzania. Thankfully, we received special support for Bible College students on water purifiers from Korea. Since this place is a volcanic zone, there have always been harmful factors to health because the water here is mixed with lime and fluorine. But thanks to the support of water purifiers that fit the local situation, this water problem has been solved to some extent. Please pray that the students will be healthy while they study at the College.
With the help of one Korean missionary, the students could enjoy P.E. time every Monday afternoon. They are excited for this P.E. time as they are pressed hard by daily studies, quizzes and assignments. Male students will play soccer (Tanzanian people’s favourite), and female students will play badminton. We can try other activities apart from those. Please pray that the students may be healthy in spirit and body and that they may enjoy College life.
An academic atmosphere is made among students. After years of wrestling with the dense lectures and the strong requirements for the amount of learning, the academic atmosphere first began among the students who were good at or willing to study. Now, many students seem to perceive this: “If I do not study diligently and put in much effort in the College, I cannot survive.” The lecturers cannot hide their surprise as they see students studying late at night or very early in the morning and sometimes staying up all night. However, we believe that theology is studying the Word of God; therefore, it should be studied more earnestly and diligently than any other academic field. Please continue to pray that students will be able to study sincerely and truthfully so that many good pastors who are prepared for the Word can be produced.
Church Building Construction Project
After completing the construction of the Campus Church and the Mission House, we thought that the Lord would give us a rest. But we realised that God’s will differs from human thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). As soon as Dr Park completed the construction of the essential buildings inside the compound, God led him to do the construction work outside the campus. After joining Tanzania, the Lord has led Dr Park to build a church for a graduate only once in ten years, but now it seems He leads him to build more churches for our College graduates.
As the first step, we are building a church now. One of our College students, Elias, is a pastor in a barren rural area called “Samaria”. When we visited the church for an investigation, we found that they had worshipped under a shabby tent that could barely keep out the sun, with only pews inside. Elias had to be there and serve as her pastor because this place uses a unique local dialect (different from Swahili and Maasai), and Elias knew that language well. Even our local lecturers could not speak and understand this language.
Thankfully, the church’s construction began with the help of the missionary Ma YoungJin, who is teaching as a part-time tutor in our College. The construction is going well now, and what is surprising is that the church members voluntarily came to help with the construction from time to time without asking for any remuneration. We pray that the new church building, built on the barren land, will be a place of rich heavenly blessings. Please pray that God will provide all the necessary construction needs without shortage.
In addition to this, we will continue to build additional church buildings for students and graduates of the Bible College of East Africa Tanzania.
Jacob’s Dream Project
(Chun-Sik Project)
Missionary Park JongHwi bought a calf last year with the desire to supply meat to students and has been raising it with the name Chun-sik. This small act became the starting point, and the Lord moved the hearts of many believers. As a result, some supported in buying more calves under the name Chun-sik Project.
The English name for “Chun-Sik Project” is “Jacob’s Dream Project,” we took this name from Jacob’s 20 years of hard work when he became independent from Laban (Genesis 31). Since this project aims to support College students and graduates, we pray that the Lord will provide material resources to help their ministries through this project.
The Chun-Sik project is currently ongoing. So far, there has been support for purchasing six calves, but only three have been purchased. Due to the recent rise in local prices in Tanzania, getting a healthy and strong calf at an affordable price is not easy. We will try not to rush but wait slowly with prayer until we can get good calves. Please pray for good calves for this project.
The number of calves has increased a little, reducing students’ efforts to mow the grass. The calves are also growing healthy, eating to their heart’s content the quality grass that is constantly growing on the campus site. We pray that this project will help the Tanzanian churches and the pastors from our College. Please continue to pray and support this project.
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” (Eph. 6:10).
From Myanmar
Bro Thangno
Greeting you in the blessed name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
By the grace of God and your prayers and cheerful love gift supports, we at New Life Student Centre (NLSC) are safe and sound, fine and doing well, till today. Praise God.
We are very happy and really thankful to the Lord and to you and to True Life BPC because of your prayers and cheerful love gift support, we are running well and are fruitful physically, spiritually and educationally. Please pray for NLSC constantly to be fruitful more and more to the glory of God.
God willing, Elder John Leong and his team will come to Yangon, Myanmar for VBS at NLSC from next month 16 to 20 October 2024. There are six people who will come during mid-term school holidays in October 2024.
Please pray for the students for their mid-term examinations from 4 to 15 October 2024. All the students are studying hard every day and they do their best on their part. Thank God they have good health and strength and they can do their daily work. Not only do they study hard, they also do well in prayer and read the Bible every morning and every evening.
We at NLSC do pray for True Life’s missions and missionaries for Africa, Australia, South Korea, Japan, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia etc, and for the elderly and those who are not well or are sick in the church. We pray especially for FEBC, for the lecturers, staff and students for their good health and wisdom to understand well the lecturer’s teaching of the Word of God and to do well in all subjects so that they can be ready to serve the Lord and the kingdom of God. Please pray for NLSC for our daily needs and safety, to grow in our spiritual life and to be fruitful more and more to the glory of God.
Again, we at NLSC are very happy and thankful to the Lord and to True Life BPC for your love, concern, kindness and prayers and cheerful love gift support to NLSC. To God be the glory. Thank you.
