May, 2022
“Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” (Rev. 2:10)
Dearly beloved brethren,
Greetings from Tanzania, in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
1. New Library Building (STEPHEN Library)
By God’s unfathomable grace and love, the Bible College of East Africa Tanzania’s new library building (STEPHEN Library) was finally completed just one day before the 2022 graduation. This new library is named after Rev. Stephen Khoo, a professor of the Far Eastern Bible College in Singapore who has donated many good theological books to the Bible College of East Africa Tanzania. We finally have enough space to hold over 10,000 books. So, we pray that this will be filled with more books. Naturally, your donation of conservative and sound theological books is always welcome!
The Bible text to encourage our students, who will be studying in this new library from next semester, is Psalm 126:6 (“Sow in Tears, Reap in Joy”). All of our faculty members hope and pray that they will study hard, pondering deeply the heavy responsibility of being prepared as the servants of God’s precious and Holy Word.
We must express our gratitude to three institutions for their financial support for this library: True Life BP Church (Singapore), Service of Love Church (Korea), and W-ASSET (Korea). Yet, all glory and praise is to God who is the true Master and Owner of the Bible College of East Africa Tanzania!
2. 2022 Graduation Service
On April 22, the Bible College of East Africa Tanzania’s 2022 Graduation Service (12th) was held with the joy of the new library. Again, we give all glory and praise to God, especially for protecting us all, and bringing us safely through the past one year in the ongoing Covid-19 situation.
We thank God for our two graduates this year.
Since these graduates will no longer have the shield of college, all of the faculty members sincerely pray that they carry out well their respective callings as the servants of God’s Word, with humility and faith. May the Lord be with them always!
3. Bible Project
Another important thing we did this semester was to distribute the Bible to Tanzanians. About 1,000 Kiswahili Bibles have been distributed over the past four months. Bible distribution has been done through local faithful missionaries and pastors. We extend our heartfelt appreciation to the brethren and churches that have helped in this important work, the Bible Project. Please pray for the continued distribution of the Bible to Tanzanians.
4. Visa Renewal
We are visiting Korea during the College vacation. There are two main purposes:
(1) We both need to renew our visas for Tanzania. This is especially needed since Dr. Park received his Final Grant last year from the Tanzanian government; he must go through all the required procedures again as if it were a new application. Dr. RA also needs to renew her visa. Please pray for our visa reapplication and renewal to go smoothly. Also, please pray for Dr. Park’s Kenyan visa that needs to be renewed. There has been no news for the past 2.5 years from the Kenyan government.
(2) The other reason is the couple’s medical check-up. Please pray with us that we will be found in good health.
5. Book Publication
There is one more item for which we wish thank God. A book by Dr. ChaeWon Ra (Mrs. Park) has been just published, titled “Verbal Plenary Preservation and Human Responsibility: The Law of Inalterability in the Bible” by the Old Paths Publications in the United States. I pray that this book will be used for the authority of the Word of God.
6. Prayer Items:
1. For visa renewal in Tanzania and Kenya
2. For Dr. RA’s work for a new publication during vacation
3. For journey mercies to and meaningful time in Korea
Christ, Rev. Dr. Park SK & Dr. Ra CW