November, 2025
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. We want to share with you some of the tokens of God’s grace in Tanzania during the past several months.
(1) Opening of a New Semester
We praise God for the opening of a new semester of BCEA Tanzania on August 4th. As the number of students is increasing rapidly (a total of 35 students, including eight new ones), we need much prayer for the maintenance of the College’s operation. Please continue to pray for the faculty members and the students. We expect 40 students next semester.
(2) Archive Project and Online Lecture
This semester, Joyce (our daughter) is participating in the BCEA Tanzania ministry by offering an online lecture. Please continue to pray for it. Also, the archive project to provide sound biblical doctrinal lectures for BCEA Tanzania students, church ministers, and lay people, is ongoing. This semester, we are offering Systematic Theology II (Anthropology), along with Cults and World Religions.
(3) Visitation of Mission Teams and Mawanjeni Church (Kilimanjaro Area) Dedication Service
Two mission teams (Citizen Church of Korea and a team from the US) visited BCEA Tanzania from August 11th to 20th. They went to the Maasai tribe with our College students to share the Gospel, and conducted a Bible School program in the Chemchem Kindergarten. In addition, a new church building at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro was completed with the support of the Citizen Church of Korea in Mawanjeni, where one of the graduates of BCEA Tanzania is serving. The dedication service was held together. We thank God for His providence.
(4) Establishment of a Regular Sunday School Teacher Training Program
a. Teacher Training Program for the College Student – Glory Bible Presbyterian Church, which is a campus church of BCEA Tanzania, is running the Sunday School with the College students (as teachers) during the semester. However, as Dr Ra observed for several years, with prayer, she felt the urgent need for a teacher training program for Sunday Schools. She began a regular, official, teacher training program from the second week of September. Every Friday, she offers a two-hour lecture for training teachers, guiding students to apply, giving feedback, and supplementing it for immediate Sunday School.
As soon as the teacher training program began, missionary Rev. Ma YoungJin (co-working as the College tutor) requested a dispatch of a College student for the nearby church’s Saturday children’s ministry. We sent a student, and he had the opportunity to apply what he learned from the teacher’s training program in the ministry.
b. Saturday Bible School for Missionary Children –With the strengthening of the Sunday School program, we are having a Saturday Bible School for missionary children every two weeks. For this year, it will be held until November.
c. Daily Vacation Bible College (DVBC) – Sunday School Teacher Training Program for College students and lay teachers. Since the first year of the Vacation Bible School Outreach Project (VBSOP), we have been asked to operate a teacher training program for lay teachers. Starting this winter, we will offer the DVBC program for teacher training not only to college students but also to lay teachers from local churches. After receiving practical training on the core and operation of Sunday school education, teachers, including College students and lay people, will provide an opportunity to participate in the VBSOP as long as the schedule is allowed.
(5) Upgrade on the College Kitchen System
a. Change to Gas System. Tanzania still has many institutions and households that use wood to make fire. Recently, however, due to environmental issues, organizations with more than 100 people are required to change to a gas system. BCEA Tanzania has not yet reached that size, but we have upgraded to a gas system in advance. We provided safety training with the upgrade, but some facilities need to be supplemented to ensure safety.
b. Rodent-Proof Construction of the College Kitchen Ceiling. To prevent rodents from entering and leaving the kitchen and to make a more hygienic environment, a dense iron net was constructed on the ceiling of the College kitchen.
(6) Replacement of male and female dormitory beds and main building desks
a. Replacement of dormitory beds (under progress and further planning). All the iron beds used since the start of the boys’ dormitory construction were worn out, necessitating the production of additional beds to accommodate the increased number of students. Therefore, after discussion, we decided to take this opportunity to contract with a specialized company to make and replace all double-decker beds in men’s and women’s dormitories. Production started in April. It was completed and replaced with the College’s opening in August. Since the ready-made industry is very vulnerable here, it takes a lot of time to make furniture.
For now, it has been manufactured and replaced according to the number of current students, but additional double-decker beds are required as the number of students is expected to increase next semester. Among the existing old steel bunk beds, the beds that are still available will be repaired appropriately and used where necessary, or donated.
b. Replacement of the main building desk (in planning). Most of the desks in the main building are already too old, and with a good number of new students, the need for additional desks has become urgent. In addition to producing double-decker beds, we have decided to replace the desks in the main building, and we are currently praying to secure the funds along with the right company. When the new desks are completed, the existing desks will be placed in the College library, children’s libraries (planning), men’s and women’s dormitories, and churches for recycling.
(7) Drainage construction within the College
Despite the maintenance and road leveling with various construction projects of the College, there were still sections that could not be drained properly during heavy rain. As a result, we secured passages for draining and constructed drainage pipes. It is to prepare for the upcoming rainy season.
(8) BCEA Tanzania became the approved Bible College of two denominations
Currently, BCEA Tanzania has become the approved Bible College of two Tanzanian denominations: AMEC (Africa Mission Evangelism Church), and PCEA Tanzania (Presbyterian Church of East Africa Tanzania).
(9) Election of AMEC denomination general president and vice-president
Rev. Judah Pallangyo, a lecturer of BCEA Tanzania, became the Bishop of the AMEC denomination, and Rev. Wilson Kaviche, one of the distinguished alumni of BCEA and a minister in the newly constructed Mawanjeni Church, became the Vice-Bishop. This provision enhances the credibility of BCEA Tanzania and also serves as a personal thanksgiving for Revs. Judah and Kaviche.
We are sincerely thankful for the prayers and support of co-workers for missions, so that the work of establishing God’s Kingdom and proclaiming the Gospel is able to continue in Tanzania today. We are always thankful, and we are also praying for you.
In Christ,
Rev. Dr. SeungKyu Park and Dr. ChaeWon Ra