Bula vinaka from the Fiji Islands
We are coming to the close of our second term of 2019 with only two weeks to go. It has been a great term and the students continue to rise to the challenge of keeping up with their assignments and studying for their exams. We have a really good group of students who are engaged and enthusiastic about the classes that are being taught.
We have a couple of things coming up in the near future. Josh Pierce (my 2nd son) and Paul Merideth will be teaching our short courses this term. Josh has over 20 years experience as a youth minister and he will be talking about how to start a youth program in the local church. Paul, who has PhD in Theology, will be teaching our course on church history. This is Paul's second year to teach in the program here. He did an excellent job last year and was well received by our students. The short courses this term will strike a balance between the academic and the practical.
Lord willing, Emosi and I will be taking a trip to the "far North" to the Labasa Church of Christ. Brother Atu Tawake is working with the congregation there. In addition to preaching, Bro. Atu is a gifted song leader who holds singing practice on Saturdays. He has asked us to record their singing on DVD to be distributed to the other congregations to help improve the singing and to teach the other congregations some new songs. This will be the second recording that they have produced. The first one was very well received and there is a demand for another.
When we started the school here in Fiji, this was one of the the goals that I had set for the program. We wanted not only train preachers and church leaders, but help to provide resources for the local congregations. This DVD will be made available to the local churches free of charge as a resource for them
We also have a resource archive in our library where Sunday school teachers can find coloring pages and activity sheets to supplement their lessons. We have had teachers from several congregations to take advantage of this resource.
Thank you for all that you do to make this work possible. May God bless you with fruits of our labor together!
Your servant in Christ,
Rocco Pierce