Pictures: Darryl teaching, Morne Morais (in beanie), Dan Willis on the left and Thabo on the right, Jason and Dan, the Richard's Bay missionaries (Davis, Farran and Ausfahl)
On the second and third days of our survey trip we were able to spend time talking through goals and obstacles facing the Baptist Bible College, observing classes, getting to know students, etc. We also spent time with missionaries both in prayer, meetings and over coffee. It was very helpful to find out more history related to the college. It began small with one missionary, Dale Marshfield, who began teaching theological courses. It eventually grew to be a degree program offering the equivalent of an undergraduate degree in Bible and a certificate degree that is the equivalent of the first year of a Master's of Divinity degree.
The ABWE Durban team desires to take it to levels offering higher degrees, but it has been difficult in recent years just to maintain what they have at the moment. In particular, there have been changes related to maintaining their accreditation. Especially the last couple of years the requirements of the government and the educational entity they are under have changed on them yearly. The college has been forced to comply with all expectations and goals of the educational entity that's over them and thus the relationship has changed enough to try and make BBC become their clone institution. It is forcing Darryl and BBC to investigate what is required to get their own accreditation and the puzzle pieces of figuring that out are hard to make fit. This area needs a lot of prayer.
Another difficulty has been 2 key leaders of the BBC and ABWE Durban family returned to the US two years ago. With their exit it caused the BBC to have to focus on maintaining the most important thing for their students getting a degree and that is making sure those courses are being offered. The difficulty is that one area that is also very important for the students' education and preparation for ministry is that of apprenticeship or internship. This is the focus on practical ministry preparation and training as well as character development. There has been no one to oversee this area. I was very encouraged to hear Darryl share with me about the great concern that the BBC has in providing this aspect of their training and education. Darryl sees that Kim and I can provide leadership in this area and he has asked me to be Dean of Students for BBC. His words were the answer to a very specific and long term prayer that the Lord would be able to use us in this way and in this specific role somewhere in the world with a Bible college, institute or seminary. Pray the Lord will provide for our support needs and bring us to full support status so that we will be able to get there and work with the ABWE Durban team and the students of BBC.
The BBC presently uses the Grace Baptist Church in Queensburgh (central Durban) as the sight for their Wednesday evening courses and for the college library. We were able to visit the evening courses and meet some of the students before and during the break. I spent time talking with a young man named Morne Marais. Morne is a very outgoing student who shared with me he plans to work as a missionary among Arab Muslims. The heritage of his family is Afrikaaner of French descent. Dan Willis is another student at BBC. We had spent a late afternoon lunch with Dan and his parents Vic and Nikki Willis. Vic has been serving as senior pastor at Fellowship Baptist church for 19 years. He and Nikki gave us some wonderful insights into life there. Interestingly, they shared with us that with all the problems of crime there, the surfing subculture is quite clean and healthy as opposed to what it tends to be in say California with drugs, etc. Dan has been the youth and worship pastor at Fellowship Baptist while he is working on his degree. He's engaged to be married and then he and his wife will be moving to Cape Town where he'll serve in a church in a similar role. Jason and Dan hit it off really well and I was so encouraged to see it because Dan's love for youth and leading worship was so evident. Jason has similar interests. We also met Thabo. He serves in youth ministry at The Phoenix Fellowship. He is a gregarious and focused student who works in insurance during the week and on his degree in the evening and weekends. Pray for Thabo as we just received word this week that his mother has passed away. While we were there she had been hospitalized and was not doing well.
As we sat in on the courses and listened to Darryl and others teach and the interaction they were having with the students. I remembered the passage in Titus 2:6-8 which says, "Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech ..." A complete education is so important and encouraging character and values that are in line with the Bible are equally important. It requires mentoring and discipling to the best of our ability to pass on to a new generation what is required when they are called to shepherd and expand the Lord's work. It can't just be academics and degrees. I could tell that Darryl and the others who teach with him at BBC desire so much to have students trained so that their character and practical aspects of ministry are growing along with their ability to dig into the word, defend the faith and preach and teach the Bible doctrines well. In addition, to these things we were able to spend time at a growth group for The Phoenix Fellowship. It was a special time to see the families have time in the Word together and especially I was impressed by the younger children who sat and listened well and even took out their pencils and dug into the Bible to answer the questions.
During the morning and afternoon of the third day we were privileged to be at a team meeting. The week before we had arrived one of the missionaries had experienced a traumatic event. All the meeting agenda items were moved to the afternoon so that the team could spend the morning and after lunch focused on prayer, looking into the Word and mutual encouragement. This was a great confirmation for us because Kim and I were concerned the team would be solid and demonstrating this kind of dependence on the Lord and one another. Vic wrote to me later about our visit coming at an unusual time and circumstance, but that it also reflects the realities that all of the team members serve under. Following this meeting we went out for coffee with the Ausfahls, Farrans and Davises. It was enjoyable to see the Farran and Ausfahl children enjoying one another. We spent most of the time fielding questions about ourselves, which was not a problem at all because I think it's beneficial for the other members of the team to feel they know us better. All of these missionary families serve 2 hours north of Durban in Richard's Bay. Kyle and Heather Farran serve in HIV/AIDS ministry and they will drive into the black townships on a motorcycle. I asked why and they told me it was because nobody will steal a motorcycle there because nobody knows how to drive them. The Ausfahls and Davises serve in a church plant in Richard's Bay and teach at the college when needed, which has been often enough in the last couple of years. They are doing other things I'm sure and Kim and I look forward to finding them out. Please be in prayer for these students and missionary families and that we'll be able to join them soon.
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