May 9, 2006

From: Chris McKinney

I'm excited right now to be teaching Greek 3 and 4 to a group of 16 men and one woman. Already experienced in ministry, they have sought advanced training in order to be most effective as they follow God's leading in their lives. My students come from countries in Asia and the Middle East. I've enjoyed listening to them share their visions for the future. Some are keeping themselves sharp for leading urban churches; some are preparing to teach in Bible colleges; some intend to work in community development; one plans to be a missionary, and another plans to translate the Bible into the language of his tribe in Myanmar--a language a large Bible translation mission has told him is spoken by too few people to be considered a priority.

Leonardo Lopez, or "Doods" as he likes be called, is preparing himself to teach at a church of Christ Bible college near Manila. It is important to him to earn a government-recognized degree, because the school he'll be teaching at is just achieving government recognition itself, and so they're looking for faculty members who are not simply well-qualified to teach, but who also have the credentials to satisfy government requirements. I'm proud to be Doods' professor this term.

As you know, for several years I've been preparing myself to help train just such Christian leaders. I'm in the process of upgrading my own academic credentials, and have taken time to become conversational in the Tagalog language. So you can imagine how thrilling it is to find myself already playing a role in training urban church leaders in a fully-accredited graduate school, complete with all the systems needed to support that training.

Our family is visiting the States for the months of June and July to touch bases with our ministry partners. (They will be with us at Pomeredo on Father's Day, June 18th) At the same time we're sending another one of our children out of the nest--Caitlan starts at Wheaton College in August. We'd also appreciate any special gifts to help defray our travelling costs (they're significant), and we are in need of a car or minivan to borrow while we're in southern California.

Please be praying for the developing partnership between the churches of Christ in Asia and Alliance Graduate School. Thanks for all your prayers which have brought us to where we are today!

In Christ,

Chris McKinney