Signs of Life from Hungary -- 85

Budapest, 30th August 2003.

“He leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name sake.” Ps 23:2-3.

Dear Friends and Family,

Sitting on the terrace of an old castle with a view over the characteristic hills of Tuscany, I felt myself recovering just like that. Enjoying a good book, visiting beautiful cities like Florence and Sienna, a delicious meal in one of the numerous little restaurants, playing the exciting game “The settlers of Catan” with my nephew Alexander (who always won), catching up on all the news and the occasional dip in the swimming pool to cool off. That was needed because temperatures went up to 42 degrees Celsius! These were the ingredients of a fantastic weeks' holiday in Italy with my sister Corien and brother-in-law Marc and their children. The previous week, I had already had a great time with my other sister Willemien and her husband Jan and my four-month-old nephew Mattias, who came to Hungary on holiday. I was able to practice my skills as an aunt again. It really was a time to recover from a very busy period, and to recharge my batteries. 'He leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.'

I realised that after two really busy years without a proper holiday, I really needed one. You will no doubt know exactly what I mean.

Please pray that in the future I will be able to use my time wisely and will be able to distinguish between what is important and what is urgent.

The ins and outs of the Missions Institute

In the meantime, a lot of work has been done at the Missions Institute to work out the plans to extend the library. Every week Kati, the head of administration and finances, and Kati, our librarian, sat around the table with Veronika and the architect and his team. There is a great deal involved before everything has been discussed in detail.

Zita was invited to speak at a women's conference with several hundred participants in the Hungarian-speaking part of Romania. An ever-recurring theme in her talks is how women can study the Bible together in their congregations, and how these Bible study groups can be instrumental in the work of evangelism. Hilda led a seminar at a conference for Christian students about how the gospel can be communicated in a comprehensible way to the unchurched and those on the fringes of the Church.

Ready for the off

The summer period was also used to prepare for the coming academic year. For the first time, a sixth year group will be started at the Reformed Theological Academy in Papa. As the chairs in Practical Theology and Missiology are responsible for this year with a special focus on placements, there is a lot to do to get this up and running for the first time. The students have a period of practical work of ten weeks in a local congregation, followed by a week's placement in a deaconal (social care) organisation. It is unique that there is also the opportunity for a week's field work in a cross cultural setting. Between the placements, intensive study weeks are held, in which, besides an evaluation of the placements, there is also room for teaching in the subjects of missionary church development, evangelisation, diakonia etc. The aim of this year is to help the students take the step from theory to practice, so that they are able to clearly proclaim the Word of God, and to help their churches to take on the challenge of missions, evangelism and social work (diakonia), and to also equip their Church members to be witnesses in today's world. All together, it will be an exciting year, not only for them but also for us as teachers.

At the Theological Faculty of the Karoli Gaspar University and the Lutheran Theological Faculty, a course about missions to gypsies will be given by Eszter Dani, who has personally worked for years among gypsies (Romanies) in the Lower Carpathians. Please pray that many students will enrol.

A new initiative is the evening class in Gospel and Culture, which will be led by Dora Bernhardt for interested Church members and students. The credit system, which has recently been introduced in the universities, requires that all students obtain 10% of their credits in another subject. This provides a great opportunity for the Missions Institute to provide courses about missiological subjects for students from other faculties.

And of course, we are also continuing the postdoc course in Missiology. These students, too, will also have to do field work. We hope that it will be possible to find practical placements outside Hungary as well, so that the students can be exposed to the challenges of missions in another culture. If you know of any opportunities please let us know!

Long-term plans

In June, we started making long-term strategy plans. The first step was to evaluate our ministry of the last few years. What was successful, what are we good at, and what less good?

Please pray for wisdom in this respect and that we are able to spend sufficient time on the process of evaluation. There is always a great danger of being too busy putting out fires, so that there is little time left to quietly consider long-term policy.

“VIP” visitor

Last week, I received a pastoral visit from the president of the Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church, Rev. Arie W. van der Plas. The purpose of his visit was to strengthen the ties with one of the members of his national 'flock'. His years of experience in Eastern Europe before the 'changes' made it particularly interesting to talk about the blessings and concerns of today and the challenges linked with the new situation, as many countries of the former Eastern block will be joining the European Union on 1st May 2004. What will be the consequences for the Churches? It was also good for me to catch up on the Church situation in the Netherlands, the deep concerns regarding the unification process of the three main protestant churches, but also to talk about the challenges of the future, how the new unified Church could fulfil its missionary calling in the secularised Netherlands. It was very encouraging to note that the work that I am able to do on behalf of the Dutch Reformed Church in Hungary is also prayerfully supported by the 'higher echelons' of the Church.

Thankfulness

With great thankfulness, we recently heard that one of the board members of the Missions Institute, Rev. Peter Gancs, has been elected the new bishop of one of the three Church districts of the Lutheran Church in Hungary. His grandfather played an important role last century in the Hungarian revival in the twenties and thirties (see my dissertation). His mother-in-law Veronika has been working at the Missions Institute for many years, and Peter too has made a considerable contribution in the almost ten years that he has been on the board.

Pray for him as he is granted this office, for wisdom to lead the flock entrusted to him.

Finally

At the end of June, I received my professors degree. It was good that family and friends from the Netherlands were represented on this happy occasion. We celebrated with a garden party with famous Hungarian goulash soup, cooked in an iron pot over a wood fire. Members of my Hungarian 'home Church' took care of this. There were lots of people present. It was really heart-warming!

It is my prayer that you too may experience the truth of ps. 23 in your personal lives. Thank you for your faithful support and prayers.

Yours sincerely in Christ,

Anne-Marie Kool

Signs of Life from Hungary -- 84

Budapest, 5th June 2003

'But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses ...'

Acts 1:8

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Dear Friends and Family,

The headline in the Moscow Times this morning read, 'Extraordinary June snow in parts of Moscow!' I felt quite jealous about this during a meeting of the Missiological Research Fellowship held for the first time in the new seminar room of the Missions Institute, situated in the attic. For the second day in succession, despite all sorts of preventative measures like sunblinds, ventilators etc., the temperature was near to and sometimes even above 40 degrees centigrade. Boiling hot. We almost melted. To be honest, it was not easy to concentrate on the particularly interesting lectures by, for example, Prof. Dr J. Andrew Kirk, about apologetics and secularisation, and Rev. András Lovas about his recent study trip to China.

In the past two weeks during the intensive block weeks of the postdoctoral course, the temperature was not much better. Even for the South African guest lecturer Prof. Dr Nico A. Botha the reception was a bit too 'warm'. One thing was very clear - the installation of the air-conditioning cannot be put off any longer.

Heart-warming ...

Many of you responded to my last Sign of Life of over three months ago about 'rejoicing' and 'not being anxious'. It was really heart-warming. Donations began to flood in from Hungary and from abroad. We even received a check for a considerable sum from an organisation whose shares had been reduced to almost nothing due to the crisis on the stock market. I simply could not believe my eyes. Partner Churches, missionary organisations, foundations and friends of the Missions Institute showed an incredible willingness to support financially, which was a great encouragement to us. One American donor wrote that recently Roma people broke into his home. Just at that time this family received a newsletter from the Mission Institute sharing about training people for ministry among the Romani. They re-committed themselves to regularly support the Mission Institute! Even the building contractor chipped in and suggested that we paid part of the bill later in the month.

Even more surprises

There were surprises of all sorts: what do you do if you are expecting a group of fifty students for an intensive two-day course and you do not have the money to buy chairs? It appeared that a Church conference centre about a hundred kilometres from Budapest was just in the process of renovating the kitchen and was prepared to lend us fifty chairs until the middle of June. (We still do not know what we will do after that!) A couple of friends from the Netherlands came to visit and during the farewell dinner said that they had decided to adopt-a-student in the postdoc program.

And the Hungarian Churches took their share as well. A quote from a letter from one of my colleagues Zita: 'I left with Kati (our business manager, AMK) a gift of 61 euros from the pastors' fraternal in M. for the support of students for the postgraduate program in missions and evangelism, and 40 euros for the same cause from the organisation Serving Love. The Reformed Women's Union in M. collected 80 euros for students who have families with several children. I expect that Reformed women's unions from other towns will also give money for the support of the students, because everywhere plans were being made for collections.' To date we received over 12,000 euros from the Hungarian Churches.

All together, in the last three months, we have received more than a hundred thousand USD of which about half are for the extension projects and the other half for the operating budget. This means that our reserves have risen from six weeks to five months, while we always aim to have six months' reserve. Thank you all for your response! It is a great encouragement to continue.To complete the seminar room - including the air-conditioning and tables and chairs - a sum of about 25,000 USD is still needed.

Chronicle

At three o'clock in the morning of Saturday 22nd March the telephone rang. I jumped out of bed. It could only be my brother-in-law Jan. He shared the good news that Mattias Cornelis had joined their family, exactly three years after the doctors had told my younger sister Willemien – at that time suffering from cancer - that she would probably never have children. Something like this only takes place once, and you have to be there. A surprise visit of one day was the result.

This event occurred exactly in the middle of the first intensive teaching weeks of the postgraduate program. By now, the second teaching weeks are. As youi can image there is a lot involved in setting up a program like that. In February, there was an unexpected spanner in the works with regard to the discussion about international recognition. But a new door opened, as it happened in South Africa. Intensive discussions were conducted with the University of South Africa (UNISA), with a positive outcome. An interesting - providential - coincidence was that I have known the head of the missiology department for years; we followed the missiology lectures of Prof. Jan A.B. Jongeneel, Missiologist at Utrecht University.

Some responses of students: 'These teaching weeks forced me to conduct a personal re-evaluation. My whole life was shaken to the core.' Another, who had been a pastor for ten years, said that he had come as 'a dried out sponge, now able to suck up spiritual and intellectual water'. Many agreed that the lectures by experienced lecturers from the Netherlands, Norway, England, South Africa and Hungary were a huge stimulus and offered them a new perspective on the work of missions and evangelism. It seems that eleven of the sixteen students have been 'adopted'. The support from within Hungary is also taking on shape.

At the end of April, a delegation from the Rhine Evangelical Church in Germany paid a visit. It was mutually very stimulating to gain insight into what it means to be a missionary Church in each of our situations, and in the questions we face

A few days later, I visited some Reformed/Presbyterian Churches in Ukraine and Poland with an international delegation. We heard of vast Church growth, especially among the Baptist Churches. One of the high points was undoubtedly a service in a small Church in a Czech village which was not even on the map. Christians from different backgrounds and nationalities who had never met or wanted to meet came together to praise and glorify the Lord. We heard of God's faithfulness in families, in which the parents or grandparents had been imprisoned for their faith. It struck me particularly how important the role of grandparents was in passing on the faith. Many had prayed faithfully for years for their children and grandchildren. They literally kept the strain of praise going. I wish you could have heard the wonderful singing - in Czech!

Relaxation after a hectic time

You will understand that the past months were not easy because of the financial problems at the Missions Institute. Besides this, on a personal level, other disappointments and uncertainties played a role, which did not leave me unmoved. 'But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses'. In missionary work, there is always a Comforter at our side. We are not alone. I was able to experience this, when the responsibilities sometimes weighed very heavy. This meant that it was good to be able to get away for a few days in the middle of May with my German friend Ute. In three days, we cycled round Lake Balaton, a trip of about 200 km. It was wonderful to leave everything behind and enjoy the beauties of nature.

Finally

'A friend in need is a friend indeed.' In recent months, we have experienced this at the Missions Institute. It was good to stand 'shoulder to shoulder' with colleagues in the battle. What motivates us in this? To help the Churches to be a shining light and the salt of the earth in Hungarian society, so that they can live out the gospel! The new Bishop Istvan Szabo expressed this recently in conversation with a colleague: 'We look to the Missions Institute for help in analysing the situation of the Churches and of society, and to offer a significant contribution in missionary training of the congregations.'

On a personal note, on Saturday 28th June, I will be awarded my professors degree at 10.30 in the Great Church of Debrecen.

Yours sincerely in Christ,

Anne-Marie Kool

Signs of Life from Hungary -- 83

Budapest

6 March 2003

'Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!...

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.' Phil. 4:4; 6-7

Dear Friends and Family,

Recent weeks have been characterised by significant highlights and serious disappointments. Paul’s admonition to “rejoice in the Lord always” has been as real and relevant as his reminder “not to be anxious about anything”. Recent financial figures have revealed that we have enough money in the bank for another two months. What to do? 'Rejoice in the Lord!' and 'Do not be anxious.'!

About “Rejoicing” and “not being anxious”

When Paul wrote these words to the Church in Philippi, he was in prison. One wonders how it is possible to rejoice when everything around is against you. His secret lies in the fact that this joy is not based on the situation in which he finds himself, but on the Lord! What a lesson, to remind each other of constantly! In the following verses, he expresses himself even more specific. Do not be anxious. Do not take any notice of the situation around you, but focus on the Lord! Hand over your burden, give thanks for what you have and do not be bothered about what you do not have.

The fruit of this attitude is 'the peace of God', the shalom of God, a deep peace based on the knowledge that whatever happens, our life is in God's hand.

Rejoice (1) - 'Passed'

When I think back on this month, there is much reason for thankfulness, for rejoicing. Valentine's Day took on a very special colour this year, because the exam to be fully qualified as a professor took place. The previous evening, shortly after midnight, Sára and I had finished the final corrections of the lectures. It was indeed a 'difficult delivery'. Fortunately I had 'expert' help from my sister Heleen, a midwife by profession. She had come with my parents to share in this momentous day. The colloquium with the qualifying “habilitation” commission of the Reformed University of Divinity went very well. The professors asked very good questions, and showed a real interest in the topic! It was followed by a 'happening' in the auditorium, where I had to deliver my “Public Lectures”, to show that I am able to teach at university level. I had the feeling that with this exam there was much more at stake than obtaining a qualification. It was a unique opportunity to underline the relevance of the discipline of missiology in the theological curriculum in Hungarian and Central European seminaries. Students, friends and colleagues from all over the country came. From all over the world I received signs of encouragement. Thank you so much!

During a spontaneously organised celebratory gathering on Sunday evening, there was the opportunity to rejoice with a house full of friends, Church members, colleagues and board members of the Missions Institute, as well as my neighbours. It was a real open fellowship where the love of Christ was present.

Rejoice (2) – Courses

Usually Wednesday is really the highlight of the week. Together with two of my colleagues, Hilda and Dóra, we then go to Papa, a journey of 175 km. On the way, there is plenty of opportunity to talk about current affairs. In this Reformed Seminary we teach two courses this semester. One about 'Missionary spirituality' and another on 'The missional Church in the twenty-first century'. They both prove to be very popular, all together attended by almost thirty students.

Just a glimpse of last weeks class. I had asked the students each to ask five people who call themselves Reformed but never go to Church. It turned out to be quite a new experience for them to break out of their sheltered environment in the seminary. I was not really surprised to hear one of their conclusions, that about 40 to 50% never go to Church because of a great disappointment with the Church or pastor. Often these disappointments date back to Communist times. However, a surprise for us all was the conclusion that 75% of those questioned demonstrated an openness to hear more about the gospel. We wondered, whether the hindrance for many people not to come to church does lie with us as 'Church people' rather than with those hardly attending church?

I was reminded of the crucial importance of training the local churches to grow into open, missionary communities and recalled the women’s conference we had just attended before we went to Papa, at which we gave talks on the importance of open, welcoming small group bible study in the Church. More than fifty women attended this three day conference organized by a colleague of ours, Zita. There was a real desire to learn!

Rejoice (3) - Many applications

In the 1980's, Csaba, born in Rumania, was in prison for eighteen months because he wanted to study theology in Hungary. He was intercepted at the border. Now he is actively involved in prison ministry, besides pasturing a Church. Gabor was not allowed to continue his studies because he was too active in his Church in the work of evangelism among Roma. Elena grew up in Orthodox Russia and studied to be an English teacher. After the 'changes', as a translator for evangelical groups, she came in touch with the gospel for the first time. Now she has been living in Hungary for several years, and is involved in child evangelism. Tiina born in Estonia, has a great desire to look into missiological questions which apply to the context of her country. It is her church’s desire that she teaches missiology at the Lutheran seminary. László has for several years been a pastor somewhere in rural Hungary. He is very concerned about how to reach those who only formally adhere to the Reformed Church. Erzsebet has just been appointed as the missionary instructor in her town. Carlos comes from Brazil and is a missionary in Hungary. Péter has worked for years in Venezuela. Eszter is an artist and has the desire to go into missionary work.

What do these people have in common? Each one of them has a desire to be better equipped for their ministry, how to spread the gospel in a contextual, Biblical and relevant way, in local or global mission. They have all enrolled for the postgraduate diploma in missions. Last Tuesday was a real high point in recent weeks. The whole day there were entrance examinations. It was wonderful to talk to such motivated future students. In the end, we accepted eighteen people, representing seven nationalities and seven denominations.

Will you pray for the final preparations of the program and for these students as they start their course on 17 March? Pray also that the necessary finances will be found to fund their studies. For each student still USD 1,500 is needed. Five of them are already “adopted”.

Rejoice (4) – Great progress in expansion project

Tomorrow the first course will be held in the new seminar room. Even although it is not completely finished yet, we are very excited about it, since the project has been going on for almost two year. The interest in the course is overwhelming: more than fifty students from all over the country. Theme: What do people in Hungary and Central and Eastern Europe think about faith and religion? Why do they go to church, or not go to church?

“Do not be anxious”

But besides joy, there are great concerns. Two weeks ago, Kati presented me the precise figures, after her four months illness. It was a great disappointment to hear that we have money in the bank only for another two months.

Cause 1: the fall in the exchange rate of the dollar by 25%, which especially affected the expansion project. We urgently need USD 50,000, which we now had to borrow from our operating budget.

Cause 2: a reduction in the donations for the operating budget of last year of 25% - due to the same reason -. In addition we have to cope with a situation that donations pledged (USD 15,000) were not transferred because of the collapse of the stock market.

Will you pray with us for a solution? Should we now close the missions institute, stop the programs, at a point were the interest never was so big?

'Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.' Phil. 4: 6-7

In partnership for gospel of Jesus Christ,

Anne-Marie Kool

Signs of Life from Hungary -- 82

Budapest

31 January 2003

'My God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.'

Phil 4:19

Dear Friends and Family,

My 'furlough' in the Netherlands is over. It was good to meet many of you and to be encouraged by your faith, hope and love. Despite everything, the Lord is still at work in the Netherlands, in the Churches, in your families and in your lives. I praise Him for each of you. Thank you for your hospitality and warm welcome. During the five weeks that I was in the Netherlands, I shared meals will at least thirty-two families, attended more than fifteen meetings in some way related to my work, and gave seven talks. In total, I drove about 4,000 km in the Netherlands. I don't even manage that in Hungary! It was a wonderful experience when two days before my departure, a dream became reality. We were able to skate on the Alblas, a small river, in the village where I am born. The skating trip to the windmills of Kinderdijk gave me a huge kick. How pretty the Netherlands can be!

I also recall with much thankfulness the farewell service and the sing-in on 16th January. It was good to be reminded of Ps 77, the text with which I was commissioned almost ten years ago. Did you know it is the Scriptural basis of the well-known song, the title of my doctoral thesis: God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform. How true this has proved to be! He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. That is more than enough to live with for today and tomorrow. He does not change!

'Otthonrol haza jottem' - Home again!

And now I’m back home again. In Hungarian there is a nice expression: From home, I come home. This is how it felt. The first few days I was overwhelmed by the mountains of work, which had piled up during my absence. But there were many encouraging reports. I would like to share a few with you.

Vast interest in the postdoctoral program

As you know, in March we hope to start a postdoctoral program in missions, Church development and cross-cultural ministry. During my absence, my colleagues sent out about 140 letters with information about the new programme. In response to this, we received in total more than 160 (!) telephone calls and email messages with requests for more information (including e.g. from Slovakia, Poland, Estonia, Switzerland, Romania, Ukraine, Finland and Egypt). In response to a letter sent to fifty-seven pastors in Hungary, within three days we received more than ninety telephone calls. Interest is being shown in various denominations. We have planned to start this first round with a maximum of fifteen students, but we may have to come back to this decision. Registration closes on 15th February. (Information from Hilda Rohn (rohn@pmti.edu.hu)). When you are interested, or know others who are interested, do let us know!

Big drop in exchange rate of dollar

We are really very pleased that after four months of recovering from a serious illness, Kati Kerekes, head of finances and administration, is back at work. At last I again have a good insight into the financial situation. Again I realise that even though a bit of common sense in financial matters goes a long way, it is easy to let something slip. Every man (or woman!) to his trade, we'd better say.

The problem, which became very clearly evident last week and which I had not fully realised, is that due to the sharp drop in the exchange rate of the dollar and the rise of the forint, we are getting 30% less Hungarian forints for every dollar. This means that the budget for the expansion project, which was drawn up in USD just over a year ago, is by far not valid anymore. This is not because the expenses in forint have increased that much, but because far more dollars are needed to make up this sum. In the past, we always drew up budgets in USD because the inflation of the Hungarian forint was so high. But the world has changed a lot.

To give you an idea of the consequences of this:

* The expenses for the expansion project of the seminar room have increased by over 32,000 USD in a year. This sum is needed as soon as possible in order to complete this phase, because this room is to provide accommodation for the new postdoctoral program from 15^th March onward.

* Besides this, at least another 13,000 USD is needed for the expansion of the library with new study desks. At present, we have five only study places for the students. There is one computer available for them (which to make matters worse crashed completely last month). At the end of March, a minimum of fifteen students will regularly be using the library. Please pray for a solution to this situation.

* Besides this, another 57,000 USD is needed for the furnishing, computers, shelves etc. We have already received part of this, but the vast majority is still lacking.

And as if this were not enough, last week it also became clear that last year the donations from abroad for the running costs had decreased by 40% - to a great extend due to the same problem as mentioned earlier). We had to draw on 60,000 USD of our reserves, even though it was possible to reduce the expenses by 10%. A reserve is left of only three months to cover running costs. No wonder that this week I received an e-mail from Kati: Top Priority Issue! Money is running out.

A third challenge which we recognise is that the students who are going to be following the postdoctoral program will only be able to pay at most one third of the tuition costs. Fortunately we perceive a great willingness to support on the part of the Hungarian Churches. But additional grants are needed!

* A sum of 1,500 USD per student per annum is needed. Please pray that we will find fifteen Churches, organisations or persons who are willing to adopt a student.

God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform…

On the one hand there is an overwhelming interest in training and education; on the other hand, we face these tremendous financial needs. Two weeks ago, I had a conversation with someone from an international missionary organisation. He was of Indian descent, grew up in South Africa and had worked as a missionary in Albania for ten years. Now he was responsible for the training of new missionary workers in Central and Eastern Europe. He was with a colleague of Brazilian descent, who had also grown up in South Africa. Their request was: We would like to ask the Missions Institute for help in the training of our missionary workers. The international director of another organisation had made the same request a few days previously. In Hungary, there would be sufficient capable people available to give instruction. This is not the problem. An increase in the teaching staff would be a consequence, which would have significant financial implications.

Last week, the financial, administrative and PR staff decided to hold a prayer meeting every day for this untenable situation. Will you pray with us?

'"Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit", says the Lord Almighty.' (Zec 4:6)

Praise and Prayer…

* …for the many responses we have received, which show that there is a great need for this new program

* … that the right people will apply, who will benefit from the program

* …that the obstacles will disappear! For many, the tuition fees are a great obstacle (even although they are heavily subsidised). Please pray that we will find Churches, organisations and persons who are prepared to adopt a student.

* …for the admissions interviews to be held during the last two weeks of February.

* …for the lecturers and tutors, please pray for their preparations.

* … that the seminar room will be ready on time, and that it will be possible to undertake the extension of the library in the very near future.

* …that the Lord 'will meet all our needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.'

“The examination”

Only two weeks to go. Then I have to undergo the examination - of my qualifying thesis for the “professors degree”. The exam will take place on Friday 14th February in the Reformed Theological University of Debrecen, from ten to eleven o'clock. After that, I have to deliver two public lectures at eleven and twelve o'clock. Please pray for peace and concentration during the preparations in the coming two weeks. Pray above all that Gods Name may be glorified and that it may serve the cause of the extension of His Kingdom.

Thank you for your continued concern and prayer.

Blessings and Peace,

Partnering with you for the sake of the Gospel

Anne-Marie Kool