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| 68th BBSI Graduation & New Board of Trustees, etc |
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![68th BBSI Graduation & New Board of Trustees, etc]() |
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68th BBS&I Baccalaureate & Commencement - 2018! Last weekend marked the 68th annual Baccalaureate (Friday pm) and Commencement (Saturday pm) for this year's graduates. There were 36 seminarians who were graduating from the 4 year degree program. Recognition awards were given out for non-graduating students at the Baccalaureate service this year and a message of encouragement and challenge was given to them from BBSI Board of Trustees President David Sariga.
During the commencement ceremonies 3 of my graduates received presidential awards for outstanding students, which are named after past BBSI presidents:
~ Kenneth Rapsing received the Dr. Manuel Badar Outstanding Student in Theology.
~ Trix Caramat received the Dr. Mariano Leones Leadership Award.
~ Lalaine Castillo, received two awards. The Dr.
Rosendo Collado Outstanding Student in Christian Education AND the Dr. Richard Guzman Deportment Award, which is awarded to the student exemplifying excellence in character and ministry. I had the privilege of presenting Lalaine with the deportment award!
All in all it was a very challenging but a very fruitful year for BBSI and its staff and students. I count it a privilege to be working among these students whom the Lord is calling into ministry. Thanks for praying for these fine young seminarians who now are graduated and will serve in local churches as interns. They are all an answer to the prayers of many!
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Pray for New Board of Trustees & BBSI Administration!
I managed a quick shot down the line of men on the new Board of Trustees (BOT) as we were being introduced and prayed over at the end of the graduation. I am privileged to be counted among those who serve as the BBSI Board of Trustees and to represent ABWE on the board.
Rev. Rector Cadayday prayed over us. He is the president of Doane Theological Seminary in Iloilo City and was our featured speaker for the graduation this year. Standing next to Dr. Cadayday (with mic in hand) is outgoing BOT President David Sariga. Our new BOT president is Attorney Richard S. Castillo (in pink barong) and Dr. Rosendo Collado (4th in line from me) will now take on a board member role. Dr. Collado served as the president of BBS&I from 1998 to 2018, but will continue in a teaching role.
Following the festivities we had a picture taken (below) with a
number of the administration staff and teachers of the seminary. Many changes occurred this year due the accreditation board CHED visiting last August right at the time younger men were placed in new and important roles. They did a great job considering all they faced all year...including certain renovations that had to occur in offices!
So, while they learned and served in their new roles, they were also trying to accommodate new and required accreditation board system changes. Some of that is still in process even while we all carry on with the training of seminarians for their calling and service.
The new school year will shift one month this year beginning in July and ending next April. I will be teaching Biblical Hermeneutics, Missions & Book of Acts, and Missionary Life and potentially a fourth course, Apologetics. Thanks for praying!
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John Dreisbach: Faithful Missionary, Friend to Pastors! In the short time Kim and I knew veteran missionary John Dreisbach, I was quite impressed with the man's faith and his obedience to his calling as a missionary to the Philippines for 30 years! He was a man of deep faith and convictions, but he didn't have to make a big splash or scene in his work. Yet, his faith and faithfulness were obvious.
John was content and joyous to be faithfully finding those that needed his aid or his mentoring. I always thought of him as having great wisdom and extreme patience. John seemed to minister to those who were getting overlooked, yet needed a mentor.
John especially served for many years among a cluster of pastors in Baras (a very difficult province east of Manila). He was a Barnabas and a faithful friend to them.
John became for me one of those men whose faith was contagious and who caused me to feel encouraged every time I spent time with him. He was a Barnabas to me as well, a Son of Encouragement.
Sunday, April 15th, marked the day of John's memorial service here in Manila. John's wife Libby and their children and grandchildren and many Filipinos and missionaries attended. John has left a great legacy here that Libby and their son Hans encouraged us to carry on with.
As his son Hans said to us, John loved to be behind the scenes affecting lives and bringing people together. Kim and I observed this again today as people met one another at his memorial. Kim and I met other missionary and Filipino educators who we hope to get to know better and maybe even partner with in ministry.
I was able to reconnect with the pastors who serve in and around Baras. These are
the men John introduced me to in 2016. He was eager for me to bring training to them. I was told by these men at the service that I am always welcome to their pastors' fellowship on Tuesday nights.
We would ask you to pray that this door could open up again for me to serve among them. I can't replace John, but I will do my best to add to what he started among these men. Also, pray for the Dreisbach family as they carry on without John. Thanks for praying!
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Balikbayan Box Away!!! Once again the Lord has provided through the donations of our supporters! A balikbayan box has been sent to us containing the donated training resources needed for our Ministry Enrichment Seminar at the end of May. It contains 22 copies of each of our needed training resources (22 Holman Study Bibles, 22 NIne Marks of a Healthy Church & 22 Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and its Cure)!! Please be in prayer that it will arrive by mid-May for our seminars!
A huge thank you to all who donated these resources! Since there's no way for us to know who you all were, we ask you to accept this and other public declarations thanks that we send out as our thanks to you personally. We will of course update you on the training plans and event as it happens! Blessings to
all!
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Partnering for a Generational Legacy!
The seminarians Robert equips at BBSI are training for their calling to serve in His church with excellence. The missionary kids Kim works with at Faith Academy need an education and to be challenged with the truth of the gospel, even while their parents serve in ministries all over the Philippines.
Out of 2 Timothy 2:2 we find a premier passage related to passing the baton of ministry to the next generation... "The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also."
When you join us in prayer ministry and regular financial partnership, you are investing in a movement of equipping a new generation for Christ and thereby partnering in a legacy for future ministry in the Philippines and beyond.
We are presently down in support by about
5% of our pledged monthly needs, which is common after arriving to the mission field again even after a long and fruitful furlough. To invest in this work, simply click the button to go to ABWE's secure online donation page. There you can arrange automatic monthly support. All support donations are tax-deductible.
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 | Visit our Website to Learn More! Click on the Equip logo and you will be directed to our website to know more about the vital ministries we are involved with in Manila and beyond. It's been said that the Philippine Islands are the "gateway to Asia". Well, in regards to the gospel being taken to Asia that could very well be true as many young Filipino men and women are preparing for ministry even as missionaries in other Asian countries. They need our prayers! We need to help prepare them. Click on the button to see my new ministry blog..."THRIVE!".
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