From Bhutan to Nepal to Canada to the Philippines to . . . Cyberspace?

Have you heard of the country of Bhutan?  It is a tiny country sandwiched between India and China.  There are tens of thousands of ethnic Nepalis who were born in Bhutan but were forced to leave their country because of ethnic tensions.  (You can read about it here.) Most of them spent years in refugee camps in Nepal and were eventually resettled in western countries, including Canada.  Our church in Canada, Ebenezer Baptist Church in Saskatoon, has an outreach to refugees and immigrants from many countries, including these Bhutanese Nepalis.  About 15 of them have been attending Bible studies, and several have even been baptized -- clearly an indication of great openness!  But our pastor was concerned that they were not able to understand well because of their limited English.

That's when our friend Hal had a creative idea.  Hal is one of the pastors of Ebenezer Baptist Church, and he visited us here in Manila last year.  He knew that we have a lot of students from Nepal.  Why not set up a Skype Bible study, using an IGSL Nepali student to lead the immigrants in Saskatoon?  We tried it and it worked!

This is Rajen and his wife Shristi, leading the study from their dormitory room in IGSL.

When the internet connection is weak, they have to try different options to make it work.

 Sometimes they bring the computer outside where there is a better wifi connection.

 Don't you love the bamboo hut with the wifi connection?

The main thing is that they are really studying the Bible.  It's working!

We don't usually join them, since we can't speak Nepali, but sometimes we do, just to encourage them.  It's so nice to see this couple's growing concern for the young believers that have been entrusted to their care.  That's the ministry of dis-skype-leship!

Scholarship Miracles

Another part of my job that has become somewhat expected or normal for me is "scholarship miracles".  When we first started our scholarship department about 20 years ago, we raised about $10,000 for the whole year, if I remember correctly.  I was amazed and astonished as I saw God provide that amount.  In the years since then, our budget has grown.  Hugely.  This year's budget is $575,000. It sounds even bigger in pesos, and I do most of my thinking and planning in pesos!

Our director and president and I do most of the visiting and connecting with the potential supporters.  The people in my office do the work of producing the photos and stories about the students. God does the miracles! Each year, the new amount seems overwhelmingly impossible.  My faith has grown so much -- but I still have to learn to trust God in new ways each year, because He keeps stretching me.

Last month, one of our long-time major supporters contacted me. He usually gives $75,000 every October.  It is more than 10% of our budget, so we really, really appreciate him.  When he contacted me, he was very positive and encouraging, and he said many good things about his partnership with us.  Then he said that he is going to direct his giving elsewhere because he knows God will take care of IGSL.  Ouch!!!  That hit hard!  After turning off the Skype connection, I actually put my head on my desk and cried.  (I know, not very professional of me!)  After crying, I told God that I do trust Him, but . . . I just wish it wasn't all by faith.  Couldn't we just have a giant trust fund or something?  But the next day I told my assistant about it, and I assured her that we would watch and see what God would do.  And I meant it.  I was ready to trust God again.

Last Tuesday one of our new professors dropped in at my office. She comes from a developed country, and she finds herself in shock sometimes at the poverty in the places where our students come from.  This professor was walking on the campus, and a student started walking/jogging with her.  The professor noticed the student was wearing flip-flops.  She commented, "It would be better if you wear gym shoes when you are exercising."  The student said, "I don't have enough money to buy gym shoes."  The professor was shocked.  She was so surprised that she wrote about it in her next newsletter.  And one of her friends, back in her home country, was also shocked when he read that a student would not even have enough money to buy a pair of $10 gym shoes.  The friend wrote and asked how he could help.  So the professor asked me for some information about sponsoring students.  We emailed some photos, stories, and some options for giving scholarships. 

By Wednesday morning the friend had emailed our professor, saying that he would be sending a check for $50,000.  Wow, God!  I think I can keep trusting Him for the rest of the amount we need for scholarships this year!

An Unusual Day

My life is never ordinary. The fact that I am interacting with people from more than 20 countries on a daily basis means there will never be a dull moment.  Some days (as in my last post) I find myself eating rose petals!  But almost every day, there is something.  I think I have just gotten used to these amazing things that happen every day, and they have become normal to me.  But I have decided to try to keep track of a few of them.  You can decide if they are normal or not!

So, yes, I think yesterday qualified as an unusual day.  I am part of the IGSL Admissions Committee, so I often do interviews for incoming students.  Usually we do the interview after we have reviewed the applicant's forms.  But yesterday, our president asked me to do a quick interview with a student who was just submitting his forms--he wanted someone to give the applicant a bit of feedback to let him know if it was worth his time to pursue the application process.

Since IGSL focuses on training leaders, we really don't want kids.  We prefer that college graduates get a few years of ministry experience after their bachelor's degree.  Generally, we prefer applicants who are at least 25.  Occasionally we will accept a 23 or 24 year old if they seem exceptionally mature.  And many of our students are in their 30's or 40's or even older.  Yesterday's applicant was 16!  It seems he is a boy genius -- he was home schooled for elementary and high school, then started college when he was 12, and just graduated recently. 

The interesting part is that he had a good deal of ministry experience and had even coordinated some major outreach ministries at his church!  And he was president of the Student Council at his college!  He was articulate, pleasant to talk with, and confident. He has a full-time job, but felt that he could adjust his hours in order to study.  He wants to be used by God!  I thoroughly enjoyed interviewing him, and couldn't really think of any good reason to tell him not to pursue the application.

So, now his application will move to a committee who will evaluate him.  I will write a summary of my interview -- but I am guessing the committee will ask to interview him again because no one will believe the things I am going to write!