What God Can Do Through a Few Good Bible School Students

What can God do through a few good Bible school students? The answer is simple. A lot! Here's a sampling of a few events in Ghana, during recent weeks:

• Three preaching points have been established in collaboration with one of our local churches, the pastor, and three students. Thirty-five have recently been baptized in Jesus name. Three received the Holy Ghost.
  

• In another location, during the school break, a student working with one of our Bible school instructors, and a local church baptized twenty-eight in Jesus name. A new church plant has been established.
  

• Another student pastor had three receive the Holy Ghost at his church.
  

• At our newest Bible school church plant average attendance has reached forty-seven including children with nine receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
  

• A special children's event was held at the Bible school church plant. Over ninety kids attended and five received the Holy Ghost.
  

• During break, a Bible school student and intern travelled to minister in our northern-most city. Nine were baptized in Jesus name and four received the Holy Ghost.
  

• Two students were recently sent on weekend ministry to a village church. Five received the Holy Ghost and three were baptized.
  

• Lashibi, one of the Bible school church plants, reported seven being baptized yesterday!
  

• Earlier this year one of our Bible School students was teaching at a church that had not yet experienced full truth. Twenty-four people were baptized in Jesus name for the remission of sins. Eleven people were filled with the Holy Ghost!
  

Update on Associated Schools

As of today, October 1, 2008 forty-four nations and fifty-six schools have expressed intent of joining the Global Association of Theological Studies. 

Seven of the nations (or twelve of the schools) have received membership status for various programs offered.

Our goal is for fifty schools to send their letters of intent by the end of 2008, and for twenty-five to finish the appropriate application process.

Africa Report

 

A total of twenty-four African nations have pledged intent of being involved with GATS. Four of these have submitted applications, and have been approved. Welcome to our newest membership nations and schools in South Africa and Zambia.

 

Brother Sisco, our regional representative recently promoted GATS in the sub-regional conference in West Africa.

True Teachers

 

True Teachers

 

What, pray tell, is a teacher?

What does a true teacher do?

A teacher loves without a reason

A teacher pulls you through . . .

All the lazy days, the hazy days

A teacher lets you know

What you are now, what you could be

True teachers help you grow.

A teachers knows that real respect

Is something that you earn,

And although the teacher teaches

She's always willing to learn.

A teacher is more than a chalkboard

A teacher is more than a pen

A teacher changes the future

Though she never knows quite when.

So as you stand in your classroom

Know you're part of the race of rare creatures

Who stand out from the average instructors,

And call themselves true teachers.

 

                    Melinda Danae Poitras

 

"A teacher affects eternity: she can never know where her influence stops."

(Henry Brooke Adams)

Pacific Report

Kevin Vacca reports: In the Philippines, I was able to make a presentation to the Board of Christian Education which was well received with all the Bible school presidents expressing enthusiasm for the program. The chairman of the Board of Christian Education recommended that I make a presentation for GATS at the February 2009 Executive Board meeting. At this meeting we scheduled Bible School teachers training for two days (sixteen total hours) during the month of May. This will involve forty teachers from the five schools. We will use the GATS Advance Educators Series. We presented GATS at the Micronesia West General Conference. I will be traveling to Samoa, American Samoa, and Tonga in March to introduce GATS. We also have a regional retreat next year in October, and we can do more promotion there. And perhaps start a Pacific Bible School Association.

Regional Update; Brother and Sister Roger Buckland, GATS Regional Representative, Europe/Middle East

Continue to pray for the Sister Buckland's father. He suffered a slight heart attack, his heart is extremely weak, and he has cancer.

 

Quoting Jesus, Brother Buckland writes: "...that your fruit may remain..." indicates how important training and mentoring were to our Lord. Bible School endeavors are one of the principle means in which we invest in the harvest. A worthy goal is to provide Bible School education opportunities in each nation of our region. The EME Christian Board of Education is pledging itself to assist you in this invaluable ministry.

 

They have recently established scholarship funds for EME Bible School students.

 

Brother and Sister R. Kelley and Harvest Bible College report: We have just received some excellent news! We have passed the first stage of the accreditation process! We are both shocked and excited. It is just hard to believe we have actually made it thus far. Now we will be subjected to on sight inspections.

 

Following are recent regional stats provided by Brother Buckland:

 

• This school year, there is an average of fifteen students per school.
  
• Nearly 400 students have graduated from these schools within the past 12 years.
  
• One hundred and eight former graduates and students are presently in the ministry (25%), resulting in one of every four entering the ministry.
  
• Two hundred and ninety are now working in a local church ministry resulting in more than half of those who graduate actively involved in the local church.
  
• To date, eleven national district officials and three regional missionaries have been trained in our Bible
  
• Schools. Two more applications have been received for Regional Missionary Status from former EME Bible School students.
  

Graduation in Ghana

We recently had a fabulous graduation service in Ghana. Brother Raymond Woodward, from Fredericton, was our special speaker. He did a great job. At the end of the service seventeen received the Holy Ghost.

One other highlight in the graduation service was the gift from the Bible school to Jim Poitras, for twenty-five years of service in West Africa (Ghana and Nigeria). Principal, Nick Sisco, pulled off this great surprise and is pictured above.

Ghana now has five schools that are part of the Global Association of Theological Studies. The main campus in located in Accra, and there are four extension schools in various locations throughout Ghana, with more planning to open in the future.

And Taught Much People

I’m sure you’ve noticed the first time the word “Christian” was used in God’s Word. “They assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first at Antioch” (Acts 11:26). Alan Redpath once said, “The conversion of a soul is the miracle of the moment, the manufacture of a saint is a task of a lifetime.” We at the Global Association of Theological Studies, and our training programs are pursuing the task of a lifetime - developing saints and ministers for the kingdom of God.

News Flash from Serbia

Our GATS representative and Regional Director just reported forty students that have signed up for the new Balkan Bible Institute in Serbia! They are rejoicing. We are too!