July 16, 2009
July News 2009
Dear Partners in the ministry
It is simply gorgeous up here in the Pacific Northwest. Spring finally arrived the middle of May and now summer has promise of being just perfect. And after last winter, phew! I’m not kidding, we had the snowiest winter on record, with almost 130” in our area. But after 5 months of snow it finally melted. The tulips popped open and thankfully, the deer didn’t eat ours. The apple, pear, and cherry trees are all in full bloom, along with the blueberries, raspberries, marionberries and strawberries. We even planted a wonderful veggie garden. And we already have a great crop this summer. All this activity reminds me of living in Guatemala, “the Land of Eternal Spring”, where it’s always Spring and never winter (Hmm. Reminds me of a story I once read). Oh, sigh!
Something else is promising our first crop. We are hopeful of our first three graduates of the Online Masters Degree program this fall –
Luís Rodríquez of Puebla, México, started his Masters program at SETECA and was able to go home to serve in his church and teach at a seminary in Puebla and continue working to finish his degree through the Online Masters Program.
Ricardo García, also of Puebla, México, has pastored churches in that area and is now teaching at a Bible Institute in Puebla.
Alejandro Zabala is the Dean of Students at the Seminario Bíblico Hebrón in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. He did his entire Masters Degree online as he continued serving the Lord and his students in a school in need of qualified professors.
These gentlemen are in need of your prayers as they are finishing writing a thesis this summer. They are very close to finishing. Pray that God will give them time, energy and focus to be able to finish in the short spaces of time they have available this summer. (Remember, for Alejandro in Bolivia below the equator, it is winter.)
Pray for Alvin. He will be reading and evaluating both of their theses. He is still teaching and sometime students need a little extra explanation or a little extra encouragement. Alvin needs extra insight into how to help these students.
This July, our son and his family, Vaughn & Traci and Stefen & Liam are coming to spend some time with us. We hope you have a wonderful and relaxing summer. Enjoy your vacation. We certainly plan to. And let’s all remember to continue worshiping and serving the Lord. After all, He’s the one who blessed us.
Serving Christ with joy,
Alvin & Laurie
*By the way, check out our new shopping page at http://www.alvinthompson.org/text-links.html
