May, 2024
“Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” (Rev 2:10)
Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to all co-laborers of the mission. These days, the world is suffering from unexpected climate changes and extreme weather events. Tanzania is also experiencing a series of casualties and property damage, including the deaths of 155 people this year due to extreme heavy rains. Please pray that God will look after Africa in its difficulties. In the meantime, our mission field is also going through it with a heavy heart and praying for God’s protection. This is the first prayer request that we would like to ask the co-laborers of the mission, and share some of the things that have happened in the Tanzanian mission over the past few months.
1. Bible College of East Africa, Tanzania, Graduation Service
The 2024 graduation ceremony of BCEA/TZ was held on Saturday, April 20th. Four students graduated. Two of them will continue their studies at Bible College of East Africa, Kenya. In recent years, Tanzanian students who have studied abroad at the Kenya campus achieved good results from their studies. This is an encouragement to the lecturers and students here at the Tanzanian campus.
Meanwhile, as we mentioned in our February letter, to help local pastors and believers in Tanzania who are in dire need of sound doctrinal education based on the Bible, two subjects related to the Bible and core doctrines are recorded every semester and are released on the BCEA/TZ YouTube Channel (BCEA TZ Archive Project). These are available for free. Anyone who wants to know the core doctrines of the Bible can watch. This semester, two subjects were offered: Westminster Confession of Faith (Swahili) and Systematic Theology III: Soteriology (English).
The Bible College has now entered her three-month summer vacation. Please pray that the Lord will keep all the lecturers and students safe, both physically and spiritually, until the start of the fall semester. Pray that they may spend their vacation meaningfully.
2. Glory Bible-Presbyterian Church – Reconstruction Project
The 2024 graduation ceremony of Bible College of East Africa Tanzania was especially meaningful, as it was held at the campus church, the Glory Bible-Presbyterian Church, with her dedication service. At first, the plan was to renovate the parts of the building that were at risk of collapse. But as it progressed, reconstruction became necessary.
Due to unusual climate changes, the rainy season started early. We prayed for good weather throughout the construction period. By God’s grace, it was clear during the day and rained only at night. As a result, the construction was completed the day before the graduation ceremony, and the interior and exterior of the chapel looked much better than before.
We give all glory and praise to God. We would also like to thank once again everyone through this letter who helped this project. We pray that God, who knows everything, will reward you with heavenly blessings.
3. Park SeungKyu, Ra ChaeWon, Park JongHwi – Parsing & Declension Guide Publications
There were so many things that happened this past semester, but the first thing for which we would like to give special thanks to God is the publishing of books together, as a family. Following the publication of missionary Ra ChaeWon’s book in the United States in 2022, the books that missionary Park SeungKyu published in the United States 10 years ago, were able to see the light of day in revised and expanded editions during this spring semester. There have been repeated requests for these books for several years, but it was so massive a project that it was difficult to get the courage to do it. But, two years ago, missionaries Ra ChaeWon and Park JongHwi began the revision and expansion work, and it was completed this time.
| Park, S. K. and J. H. Park, A Parsing Guide: To the Textus Receptus Greek New Testament Underlying the King James Version, 2nd Edition (The Old Paths Publications, Inc., March 2024)Park, S. K. and C. W. Ra, A Declension Guide: To the Textus Receptus Greek New Testament Underlying the King James Version, 2nd Edition, Volume 1: Four Gospels (The Old Paths Publications, Inc., March 2024)Park, S. K. and C. W. Ra, A Declension Guide: To the Textus Receptus Greek New Testament Underlying the King James Version, 2nd Edition, Volume 2: Acts to Revelation (The Old Paths Publications, Inc., March 2024) |
The next publication is also planned, and is to be related to the Greek New Testament (The Greek New Testament, The Textus Receptus, with Parsing and Declension). Please continue to pray for us three missionaries, for the wisdom and strength to write useful volumes for a deeper study of the Word of the God from the original languages.
Thank you for always praying and helping us. Your three missionaries in Tanzania are also always praying for the co-laborers in mission.
In Christ,
Rev. Dr. SeungKyu Park and Dr. ChaeWon Ra