As the second semester of the new Chimala Bible Institute draws to a close, I reflect back on the past quarter.
I was proud of our student body who, under the leadership of Boaz, spent hours cleaning the grounds and school buildings, creating new walkways, and fellowshipping in preparation for the Masters program. The two teachers, Denton Landon and Jonathon Jenkins, arrived safely with Menard Swila, one of our instructors, and the Masters students have been pouring in from Malawi and Tanzania.
It was a peaceful Saturday and I was sitting on my porch enjoying the warm morning air. Navie Theu, a second year English student, and Clergyton, a 2010 graduate, walked up to the porch. I had not seen Clergyton since his graduation last November. He had just arrived for the start of the new Masters program. He expressed his, his family’s, his village’s, and his congregation’s gratitude for his acceptance into the Masters program. It is times like these I really appreciate the tremendous opportunity we are blessed to give those men and women striving to improve their education and be better servants of God.
As I taught my last lecture in Church History and stressed the Restoration Plea, one of the students raised his hand. He requested the information from the class be translated into Swahili and bound in a book for use in congregations across Tanzania and Malawi. Rebecca Benson, our Administrative Assistant and Librarian, has already printed the notes for our instructors to translate into Swahili.
One of the great training opportunities of our school is the weekly evangelism trips our students make to different places. We were reminded of that this weekend, when two of our translators, who are also instructors at the school, were out in the bush with the students preaching the gospel. We had to call in another translator for Denton. He preached on the resurrection at Mahango, the first time any of us had attended there. Jonathon presided over the Lord’s Supper. Rebecca taught the children out of the back of our car because there was no where to sit outside. They were so excited to climb into the trunk!
Students traveling from afar, preaching in the bush, finishing term papers, taking finals, and preparing for the next phase in the new and improved Chimala Bible Institute: all these are snapshots of the end of this second quarter and the beginning of the second short course. The students will then return to their homes for the summer where they will apply the things they have learned for the furthering of God’s kingdom.
Thank you to all our supporters for your thoughts and prayers.
God bless,
Garry L. Hill
Administrator