सुर्खेत कॉलेज लैटर ओक्ट 2006

Dear Friend,

You may remember I wrote to you earlier in the year regarding a proposal for a new church leaders training college in Nepal. It would be the first such course available outside Kathmandu, enabling greater access to quality theological education for pastors of the many new fellowships in the remoter regions of Nepal. I wanted to once more bring you up to date with progress on making this vision a reality.

First of all, a big thank you to everyone who responded to my original appeal. It’s not something I do well or often, but the positive encouragement has been really appreciated. A small group of supporters was formed, whom I’ve been able to inform as events unfold. Several requested an established UK charity to handle donations, and I am delighted that ex-INF director John Bradley has agreed to do this through his Corinthian Trust.

Meanwhile the principal of the Himalayan Bible Institute who is spearheading this initiative, Dil Bahadur Tamang, has visited Surkhet on a number of occasions while holding conferences in the Mid West and Far West. He has won backing from all the local churches, and the YWAM discipleship training which has been going for a number of years there. He is putting together a steering committee representing all the church denominations in the region, and this unifying effect locally seems to have been a welcome spin-off from this initiative.

We plan to start the first 5 month intake in February, God willing. Faculty, including local church leaders with academic qualifications, is in place. A candidate for long term principal has been identified, a gifted teacher with a Surkhet wife currently completing an MTh in Pune, India. Accommodation and training facilities are being provided by the churches.

Regarding finance, we have raised the initial capital costs for setting up the college, thanks to your generosity. Now, we are looking for sponsors for individual students to help them cover their expenses during the course. Of the planned 20 students per 5 month intake, we have enough promised for 5. The cost is £40 per month per student, or £200 for a completed leadership training. In return, we want to establish a direct correspondence between supporter and the sponsored student, to enable us to understand and better pray for the growing church in Nepal.

I believe there must be others God is prompting to take part in this faith exercise, which is why I’m writing to you again. If the regular amount quoted is too much, a partial contribution is of course welcome. If I’ve forgotten some important information, please reply and ask. If you can’t give at this stage, but would still like to be informed of developments, again let me know.

Thanks for reading. Please pray for Dil and his team as they work hard to make this happen. Please also pray for the churches in Surkhet as they learn to work together, some for the first time, for a vision that has been there for a number of years. And thank the Lord, ‘for every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything’ (Heb 3:4).

Yours in Him, Rod.