Mack - March 9,2008

Dear Friends and partners in Ministry,

This has been a great week at Grace School of Ministry in that we have finished and graduated the students you'll see in these photos after two years of intensive training in Biblical Counseling. Your prayers and financial support have been a vital part of this ministry.  To God be the glory great things He has done and is doing to and through the students of GSM.

My heart is full of praise for what God has done to and through the students at GSM. To God be the glory. And to top it all off, just this morning we had one of our students, a black brother pastor from Zambia preach at Grace Fellowship Church. He preached with biblical accuracy, power, clarity, skill, and controlled enthusiasm and with great application in our church, which is largely a white congregation. No white pastor could have done a better job. What a thrill to have black brothers who can handle God's word so effectively. There is hope for the church in Africa if God will be pleased to raise up more men like this dear man who can counsel and preach as well as he. What a searching, helpful message he preached.

Anyway, give God praise. Please pray for GSM. We already have more applications at this time for the next two-year course that begins in October than we did two years ago at the same time. Some of these applications are coming from people in African and outside of Africa countries that were not represented in the student body we had from October 2006 until March of 2008.

One of the particular requests I will pass on to you is a prayer request that God would raise up people who will contribute to a scholarship fund. This year we provided free tuition as well as transportation funds for some students who could not even afford the low cost of our tuition. We will have to do the same in the future. For example, there is a godly, dedicated colored pastor who pastors a church in one of the poorest settlements (squatters camps) in the Cape Town area who would love to come, but cannot unless we can provide free tuition and transportation expenses. He represents other black and colored pastors who live on very little and barely make it just to provide meager food and lodging. But they are dedicated and want more training. Please pray for this need.

This is especially important at this time in that many of the rather affluent professing Christian white people who have and can provide funds are making plans to immigrate out of the country to Australia or New Zealand or England because of the dangerous economic and safety situation which seems to be occurring here. Talk of and plans for immigration fostered by fear is a very prevalent, even dominating topic among white people here. If this continues to happen we will face increasing financial pressures at GSM. We must reach out to and train the black and colored pastors here. 

Every blessing in Christ,

Wayne and Carol