Teaching Students to Be Better Ministers of Jesus
September 9, 2023
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ,
If you are reading this report, thank you. Thank you for taking an interest in what we are doing for the Lord in Kenya and for partnering with us for the glory of Jesus and for the spread of His kingdom. I really do appreciate your thoughts, prayers, and support and do not take it for granted, especially today as I not only am struggling with what to write in my report but I’m also struggling in my spirit. There is an anxiousness and strain in my spirit that I cannot explain and a very heavy spiritual and emotional weight that I am carrying today. Because of the inexplicable heaviness in my spirit today, I will remind myself what I am teaching my students in my Pentateuch class and see if it helps me. (An aside here: I had a number of students come to me before classes opened and told me that they were very excited to be in my Pentateuch class. Then they said, “What is the Pentateuch, anyway?” I had to laugh). I have been teaching my students that the Old Testament is the foundation of the New Testament and that it is difficult to comprehend what the New Testament is teaching without the revelation of the Old Testament. The Pentateuch is the foundation of the Old Testament and without it you would have a hard time understanding the rest of the Old Testament. Genesis is the foundation of the Pentateuch and gives us the origins and beginnings of the world, humanity, and God’s relations with humanity. Without Genesis you would have a hard time making sense of the Bible. The Abrahamic Covenant is the engine that drives the book of Genesis and thus, in turn, the Pentateuch, the Old Testament, and the New Testament. And the Abrahamic Covenant reveals the beginning of God’s plan to redeem the nations, to fix the universal problem of sin and rebellion, and to bring eternal blessings to his people. God has a plan – to redeem the nations. God has inaugurated his plan – in the Abrahamic Covenant. God has brought his plan to fruition – through his Messiah and Son, Jesus Christ. God has made his plan effectual in the lives of His people – you, me, and my beloved Kenyan students. Now, I have finished reviewing my initial lessons that I taught my students in my Pentateuch class, but I still am carrying the heavy spiritual weight in my soul. I must now try and have a spirit of thankfulness and gratitude today, in spite of the weight and struggle in my spirit. I know I must not be the only one with such a weight today and so I encourage each of you to also strive for a spirit of thankfulness and gratitude in all the struggles you also are facing today.
The new school year opened last week, and it was good to have all our returning students back on campus. It was also good to see a large batch of fresh, new faces on the brand-new students. Some were fearful, being so young and away from home for the first time in their lives. Others were older, experienced and married, and not as anxious and nervous about their new surroundings. But all are eager to learn the Bible and to love Jesus. In my orientation session for new students, I stressed that while academics is important, gaining knowledge is vital, and they all want good grades, that the real reason they are at our school is to grow in their love and service of Jesus and to learn to become better ministers for God’s people. I told them that our goal at Moffat was that at the end of their tenure at our school that they would be better ministers of Jesus: better at ministering God’s Word, better at serving and loving God’s people, better at pointing people to Jesus, and better at ministering to people’s souls through the Word of God and love of Jesus.
Please be in prayer for the Kenyan people. I don’t really know what the economic situation for all the nations around the world is, but I do know that in Kenya the situation is not good right now. Many people are striving financially, and many families are struggling. I know this is a common and repeated prayer request that I include in my newsletters, and you may be tired of hearing it. But the situation is still one of constant struggle for many families, and I wish that you would fervently pray for the people of Kenya, not just that economic struggles would be relieved but especially that they would know and love Jesus as their Savior.
Blessings to all,
Roger, Julie & Chloe
CONTACT INFO
Roger & Julie Tate
Moffat Bible College
P.O. Box 70
Kijabe, Kenya 00220
rojuta@gmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.