Graduation is a Week Away!
It has been a long process to get the Bible Institute at Raiwaqa up and going. From spending more than two years raising the funds to move to Fiji to jumping through all of the government hoops necessary to enter into Fiji and get the school registered with the local government, our efforts to establish a school for training preachers, teachers, and evangelists in the South Pacific has certainly seen plenty of challenges. But, all of those challenges are finally about to bear their first fruits! On Saturday, November 3 we will be celebrating our first graduation! Lord willing, we will have five students who will be graduating next week. By then, these students will have completed two years of full-time instruction in forty-eight different courses that have covered the books of the Bible, Bible backgrounds, and ministry related courses. They have worked hard, made great sacrifices, and proven their love for God’s word and kingdom time and time again. We are so proud of each of these students, and we cannot wait to see the great works that they will do in their future service to God’s kingdom! Please join me in praying for these graduates as they complete their two-year training and begin applying the things they have learned in their service to God!
Campaign to Samoa
From August 3 to August 11, our students participated in a campaign to Aleisa, Samoa. Ten of our students were able to make the trip! They were joined by Rocco and Debbie Pierce (who led the campaign), four local members from the Raiwaqa church of Christ, and Devan, Austin, and Cory Pierce. The Samoa brethren had requested that our students conduct a workshop on the Old Testament book of Job. While our initial reaction was concern for our students being asked to speak on such a difficult topic, the students themselves were not the least bit concerned about it. By all accounts, the students did an outstanding job speaking on the workshop. The Samoan brethren were very pleased with the workshop. Perhaps the greatest thing to come out of this workshop is the knowledge that we have an absolutely outstanding group of students in this program. They are great teachers and leaders. But, more importantly, they are great Christians who love one another and love the Lord!
Third Term of 2018
It is so hard for me to believe that the third term has already come and gone. Unfortunately for me, most of the third term was marred by sickness that made it difficult to teach and keep up with all of my other responsibilities. But, things worked out and the classes turned out to be some of our most popular classes yet. This term, I taught three classes: 1) 1-2 Timothy and Titus, 2) New Testament Foundation for Missions, and 3) Greek Grammar II. The students did an excellent job in all of these classes. Dad (Rocco) actually ended up teaching four classes this term: 1) Revelation, 2) Church History (A History of Preaching), 3) World Religions, and 4) Introduction to Critical Thinking.
A special note should be mentioned about the Greek and Critical Thinking courses. After two terms of offering Greek, we decided that some of the students might be better served with an alternative class. So, seven our students continued with a third term of Greek, while four students took the class on Critical Thinking. For those electing not to continue in Greek, if they thought they were choosing an easier option, they were mistaken! While the Critical Thinking course was challenging, all four of the students greatly enjoyed it. In fact, the course was successful enough that we have chosen to add it to our regular curriculum for all of our students to take in the future! I really appreciate Dad taking on the extra course load this term. In the future, we have been able to rework the schedule so that he will not have to take on so many classes while also trying to keep up with his responsibilities as the school’s director.
Jason Pierce