Time sure flies…we are already gearing up for Christmas and soon preparing to greet the new year. I am writing this update in Ringlet, Cameron Highlands; no, I’m not on holiday though today is a public holiday (Deepavali). I am teaching a class in Church Admin and the students have been great. A bit boring here with the constant rain and super poor internet reception; but yesterday we visited an OA settlement in the BOH tea estate nearby. Prospects are good to network with the SIB OA churches here to expand the school. There are about 10 SIB OA churches in this region and the pastor we met was very keen to work with us. I’m trusting God to provide the necessary while I continue to dream big for Him.
A couple of days ago, I was very encouraged to receive an unexpected phone call. The caller wanted to invite me to preach at her daughter’s wedding. She told me that her daughter specially requested for me to preach on her special day. It was such an honor and encouragement to know there’s someone in some church who thinks I’m a good preacher; unfortunately the date was not appropriate. I’m scheduled to be in Medan 1-7 Dec for a preaching circuit in 4 churches to kick-start the Christmas season. And I’m now wandering why 3Dec is such a popular date. So far, I’ve received 4 invites to different events by different groups on this very date.
The BM school is progressing well. The OA pastors pursuing their studies in MBTS have officially transferred to SAM. I’m pretty upset when I received an email from the academic dean with a request to help them correct rumors that the BM dept in MBTS is closing. Upset because they are too sensitive and insecure; upset that they do not know the BM students well. Hanging around with those fellas, I know they always joke, but somebody must have overheard them joking and took it too personally. I’m disappointed that certain insecure individual is still trying to push blame on me for his inability to execute the ministry properly.
We will be meeting with STM personnel early Nov to elaborate on an official MoU. In the meantime, our center in Penang (Bayan Point) will launch its second class, a repeat of the course conducted in Prai earlier this year. If things go well, we will greet 2012 with a center in Prai (mainland) and Bayan Point (island) for SAM Penang; a center in Ringlet, Cameron Highlands and Ipoh for SAM Ipoh. We also hope to begin sending final year students for optional short-term internship practical in Sarawak. Pray for us as we seek to grow this ministry. The church in Malaysia is the responsibility of Malaysian Christians; and we seek to train and raise local ministers to minister to their own people groups. Pray for the Gua Musang center that they will grow strong and stable in their pool of students and teachers.
As of now, I have all registered OA students sponsored for the course fees of their entire programs. 6 students transferred from MBTS have yet to be sponsored. More students are expected for next year, so our SAM Student Adoption program will continue to invite partnership from individuals and churches. I will soon send out updates to all sponsors; just waiting for the final class of the year to close in November.
My study program is still on hold. The director of Graduate School is still looking for a replacement to supervise my dissertation. But I’m glad to know that plan B is he’ll assume that position if no suitable candidate is found.
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