Friday, November 27, 2015

SFATC Report: Annual Area Assembly 2015

Greetings to:
Our honoured guests, Archbishop Mouneer Anis, Bishop Peter Tasker, David Mansfield of Anglican Aid Australia, representatives of other denominations, mission societies, and organisations, local government officials, and other friends.

Area Bishop Grant LeMarquand, Dr Wendy LeMarquand, General Secretary Rosemary Burke, Office Manager Meaza Tefera, St Frumentius’ Anglican Theological College Faculty, Anglican Centre staff, all Clergy and Delegates.

Special thanks to the translators.

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Louise and I went to an ICETE consultation recently and one of the questions we were asked to consider was simply this: “What will the world be like when our students graduate in three years’ time?”

Unfortunately, this simple question does not have a single simple answer.

Things are changing so quickly all around us and so, as a Theological College, we have to ask ourselves, will we have prepared our students to deal with these changes and will they be equipped to help you, their people, understand the Gospel message in the midst of those changes? With the arrival of cell phones and the Internet – with things such as Face Book and You Tube a mere ‘click’ away – many of our people in the Gambella Region have been exposed in an instant to cultures and ideas and teachings and manners and behaviours very different to their own ancient and traditional ways.

If we at SFATC are not helping our students to think about these differences critically and to evaluate them in the light of the Scriptures, then we will have wasted their time, and our time, and we will not have served you, our community, well at all.

So, we have questions…and we will seek answers to these questions – and, no doubt, discover many new questions as we go along and as we learn from our students as much as they learn from us. But, God willing, when our students graduate in three year’s time, they will know the Lord well and they will know His Word well and they will know how to use what they have learned to serve the church and the society in general here in the Gambella Region.

As most of you already know, Louise and I arrived more than a year ago and we have spent that year asking many of these types of questions. After much thought, prayer, learning, and preparation (which included two intensive English Grammar and Reading Courses in the summer), we started SFATC in August this year with 13 full-time students (one of whom is from South Sudan, another is from the Lutheran Church) and 12 part-time students.
We also offer training for our lay leaders who struggle with the English language.

Unfortunately, one of our full-time students graduated from this life and went to be with the Lord he loves so much. We will always remember Ojulu for his desire to know His Lord and His Word better so that he could serve the church better.

Another full-time student could not cope with the financial pressures and decided to join our 12 part-time students instead, changing the numbers to 11 full-time and 13 part-time students. (Student introductions)

At present, we offer three programs: a Certificate in Theology, a Diploma in Ministry, and a Diploma in theology.

We have completed three classes so far this semester. Introduction to the Bible and Biblical Interpretation, Introduction to the Old Testament (I), and a course on Healing, Prayer, and Deliverance which was taught as two one-week intensives, with instructors from the UK, Ethiopia, the USA, and from Kenya. We still have three classes to be completed before the end of the first semester. African Traditional Religion, Theological English (I), and Biblical Theology (I), the last of which will be taught as a one-week intensive course. Our 13 part-time students join our 11 full-time students for the intensive courses.

God willing, along with our regular classes, we will offer two more intensives next semester, the first on Bible Story Telling and the second on African Church History.

We have four full-time faculty members. Karen Salmon, who teaches our Bible courses, is currently in Ireland doing all the paper work necessary for her to return to teach in Ethiopia. Karen also heads up our Servant Leadership Program in which our students learn to serve by doing various chores on and around Campus.

Jeremiah Maet Paul teaches African Traditional Religion and will be teaching on Islam and various other subjects in the future. Jeremiah is also the head of our Field Education Program in which students get the opportunity to work with some of our senior clergy in their churches. We have already had one very successful Field Education week and have received good reports about our students. I wish to thank all our clergy and church councils for their help in making this program successful. Without you this program would not be possible. Jeremiah also oversees the student Spiritual Development Program, in which he counsels our students, prayers with them, and teaches them wonderful new songs.

My wife, Louise, is our acting librarian and has catalogued more than 1,500 books by hand…she has 3,500 books to go. She has had some expert help in Barbara Hathaway and Muriel Teusink, for which we are grateful…and our students have been most helpful as well.

Along with the position of Dean/Principal, I teach Basic English Grammar as well as Theological English, in an attempt to help our students learn the kind of theological words and terms they will read and hear while studying the other courses. Another part of my position is to raise funds for student scholarships (with lots of help from Rosemary Burke), for buildings and furnishings, as well as for books both for our students and for our library.

Special thanks to all donors: Anglican Aid Australia, CMS Ireland, Crosslinks, IVP-UK, IVP-USA, Langham Literature, many individual donors and churches.

At the recent ICETE consultation, I was able to establish a few good contacts with individuals and groups such as Langham Literature, the Executive Director and the Executive Admin Assistant of the Association for Christian Theological Education in Africa, various members of the Middle Eastern Association for Theological Education, and many others from all over the world who have and who will continue to help us in the future, whether through the provision of books, scholarships, advice, or other forms of valuable assistance. So, please do pray that the Lord will continue to lead us to those who will be willing to invest in the great work the Lord is doing here in Gambella.

We are especially grateful and honoured to have Bishop Grant LeMarquand serve as part-time faculty and as advisor and mentor to us all. Bishop Grant will be teaching an intensive course on biblical Theology in December.

We will be taking in a new group of 1st year students next year, so if you believe the Lord is calling you to enter into Christian ministry you need to pray about it, talk to your pastor or church council, and then talk to me as soon as possible. We would like for you to be recommended to us by your pastor and/or your church community. Then, you will need to pass an English entrance exam before taking the English Grammar Course in the summer. After that, the Academic Committee will interview and evaluate those who pass the English exams before any will be admitted into the College as students. We do want to make sure that those who come are called by the Lord and are serious in wanting to serve Him and His Church.

Of course, we are open to taking in students from other Christian denominations as well as other countries, but scholarships are limited to those who are Ethiopian Anglicans.

As always, we welcome your input as the church community at any time. It is encouraging to hear good reports from churches where our students serve. Please pray for us as we seek to equip those who will be your leaders in the future. Thank you.

Respectfully submitted

The Rev Dr Johannes W H van der Bijl
Dean/Principal of St Frumentius’ Anglican Theological College
Gambella, Ethiopia

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