Newsletter January 2009 — No. 1

$12,000 GIVEN FOR SCHOLARSHIPS! Member of Llano, Texas Church is Touched with the Need Back in October I made a presentation to the Llano church of Christ regarding our work and the needs of our school in Sydney, Australia. I emphasized that one of our greatest needs was student support. Because of our thin population of members of the churches of Christ in Australia, raising support there is very, very difficult. Many talented and committed men and women who would give their lives to preaching and teaching are unable to attend due to the expense of living in Sydney. Scholarships are a must if we are to expand the reach of the school. One sister in this fine congregation was touched with the need and has generously given that others might hear the good news of Jesus.

A Great Soldier of the Cross Goes Home

Jack Merrick 1908 — 2008

Lester Bagley, former New Zealand missionary and preacher and elder for the church in Llano (mentioned above) writes, “In case you have not heard, Brother Jack Merrick (of the Greerton congregation in Tauranga) died a few days ago at the age of 100. Jack, with his family and friends, wrote a new chapter to the “Restoration Movement” when they studied their way out of denominationalism and began teaching and worshiping in the New Testament pattern over a half century ago. Much of Lord’s work in the North Island of New Zealand is derived from their faith and efforts. Countless Christians know the Lord because of their work. And Jack was both the patriarch of the clan and served as one of the first elders of the church in New Zealand of the 20th century. A great soldier of the cross has gone home and I was privileged to know and work alongside him for many years.”

Alison Brown of the Rotorua Daily News wrote a story about Jack’s 100^th birthday that was picked up by the New Zealand Herald:

Jack had turned 100 on Saturday, October 25. It was a chance for his two children, Rex Merrick and Bev Mossop, to reflect on their father’s achievements and for Jack, to finally get his hands on a letter from the Queen. “For the last 20-odd years he’s been talking about getting a message from the Queen and his birthday he was holding that letter pretty tight,” his son said.

The former dairy farmer was born and educated in Tauranga, travelling on horseback as a schoolboy from his parents’ farm at Pyes Pa to his school in the suburb of Greerton. He left school at 12 to help his father develop their farm and it was that year that he lost an eye in a farm accident. Never considering himself disabled, Rex said his father grew up with a strong work ethic. He married one of his neighbour’s daughters, Mavis Taylor, fighting off a few admirers to win her heart.

Rex said, “…the thing I remember most about him was his integrity. I never knew him to lie about anything.” Daughter Bev said their father also had a softer side and loved the land. “Even after he retired, he would spend hours outside in his vege garden — that was his pride and joy — and he would graze on the veges while he worked. He would give bags of fruits and veges away to anyone less fortunate than himself.” Jack has 21 grandchildren, 51 great-grandchildren and “a handful” of great great-grandchildren.

springing forward in autumn

Trip Planned for 2009

Colleague Ron Downey (recently appointed Regional Dean/Asia) made me aware that Qantas (airline of Australia) was running a sale. I quickly took advantage of it. And, if all goes well, I leave the 14^th of April and return the 3^rd of June. My goal was to leave right after my teaching duties are over around the middle of March (Autumn in the Southern Hemisphere (I like the weather better). We’ll try again next year. As usual, I have offered to help in any way that I can, including the following:

1. Back on Track seminar – recapturing the mission and purpose of the church.
2. Classes, sermons or consulting on special topics.
3. Gospel mission
4. Evangelism Training with Jerry Tallman an in-depth and practical method for personal evangelism (see his website at http://www.hiseternalplan.com/).  Jerry travels the USA presenting his workshop at congregations.  He is blocking out time to present his workshops in Australia and New Zealand in April and May.
5. MSOBS Sunday – a PowerPoint presentation about your school in Sydney combined with a sermon or class.

THE TOP TEN MINISTRY MILESTONES OF 2008 FOR SIBI

Truitt Adair Reports Reasons for Rejoicing

Friends,

We ended 2008 in gratitude for one of the best years in our history and in faith-filled anticipation of the work of God in our ministry in 2009.  We thought that you would like to know about some of the ministry milestones and the significant events which have helped to round out a great year of ministry at Sunset International Bible Institute.  We consider these to be the “top ten” out of a much larger list of works.  These are not necessarily in priority order and we do not have space or time here to fully explain each of these happenings.  We are working on a more detailed explanation which will include pictures and examples to illustrate each.  For now, just so you can rejoice and praise God with us, here is our top ten list for 2008:

10.  We completed and surpassed the largest financial campaign goal in the 47 year history of the school.  As a result of that and very generous year-end contributions from some of our most committed donors, we ended America’s worst financial year since 1929, debt free and in the black.

9.  We received authorization from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to offer religious degrees, and already have over 200 students working toward the Bachelor of Biblical Studies degree.  We announced and recruited the faculty for the Master of Biblical Studies degree, which will begin in April of this year.

8. We moved our External Studies Division with all our books, CDs, DVDs, and other study materials into a beautiful new building named for our founder.  We call it the “Cline Paden Ministry Resource Center.”

7.  We saw two Sunset trained mission teams (six families in all) arrive and begin their mission work in New Zealand and in Ukraine.

6.  We started 10 new video satellite schools and enrolled 120 new students, bringing our total student population to over 7000 in over 300 schools.

5.  We received the primary funding commitment to remodel a building which, when completed in 2009, will become the new “World Missions Center” to house our resident missions department, our international division and our global conference center (this will be my new “digs” – DW).

4.   We began International partner schools in six more nations, bringing our international school total to 58 in 37 nations.  We are training over 2500 preachers, teachers and evangelists in those schools and graduated nearly 500 in 2008.

3.  We completed our full online curriculum of 40 courses in preparation for offering our bachelor’s degree online.  We currently have 245 students enrolled in our online courses from 21 countries.

2.  We initiated a program to train Chinese evangelists through our branch school in Singapore.  These men will return to China to evangelize the world’s largest nation and work among the thousands of “house churches” in China.

1.  We began an aggressive push to reach the Muslim world through the translation of Bible study materials into the Arabic language and through evangelistic training programs in Nazareth, Cairo, Paris, Athens and Batam, Indonesia.

We give God the glory for all this, knowing that our job is to “plant and water” but “God gives the increase.”  We also want you to know these and other ministries are only possible because of the many partner churches and Christian individuals who participate with us.  We are confident that God will cause the “fruit to abound to your account” as you share in our ministry.  May God richly bless your life and ministry in this new year of 2009. 

AHEAD:

15 February — Bronte Church of Christ — Bronte, Texas

27-28 February – Teachers of Mission Workshop – Hurst, Texas

14 April – 3 June – Annual Australian

REMARKS FROM READERS

From a Beloved mentor:

Dwight:

One does not have to search long before he discovers why you are so greatly appreciated by such a wide circle of mission loving people.  Passion, faithfulness, fruitfulness, clarity of thought, compelling purpose, winsome dedication, vision and marriage to a like-minded, like-spirited lady begins to tell the story of why you have endeared yourself to so many.  Your best days are still ahead of you!

From a Colleague:

So much good news, Dwight! Thanks for sharing this. And thanks for being available to God for this good work. To God be the glory!!

Brenda and I have been working on tax reports to donors which some of you who made contributions in 2008 will find in this envelope. As we began this process, we were filled with fresh gratitude for all our partners. We are well aware that each dollar you give to Mission South Pacific could have been spent elsewhere. That you have chosen to work with us to bring the precious message to the South Pacific and train others to do the same fills our hearts with thankful joy.

The past year—our first full year as a ministry—has been challenging but gratifying; frightening but encouraging. We advance into 2009 with the solid confidence, firm resolve and constant perseverance that result from having you as our allies in the struggle for the Kingdom in the South Pacific. Thank you!

Dwight Whitsett,

Director, Mission South Pacific