| This has also been a grand year
for the McGilvary Faculty of Theology. We have 117 students studying
in preparation for the ministry. We have increased our faculty
by two members and we have sent a third faculty member abroad
for further study. We are working very hard on having a master
of divinity program in English in place and ready for students
in September 2004. We are doing this in order to help the churches
in this part of the world where theological education is very
limited. We have great hopes for this new program, which should
prove helpful in that students will no longer need a two-year
intensive program in the Thai language before beginning their
program. Through this program we hope to serve the churches of
Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Burma, and China in particular.
Our McGilvary artist, Sawai Chinnawong, is currently in New Haven,
Connecticut, under a program sponsored by the United Board for
Christian Higher Education in Asia, the Overseas Ministries Study
Center, Yale University Divinity School, and the Yale School of
Sacred Music as guest Artist in Residence. Sawai Chinnawong and
his art have been a very special part of my life over the past
twenty years. I am particularly pleased that he has received this
recognition and opportunity in presenting his work to the wider
world of Christian art.
Although this has been a very good year for the seminary in many,
many ways, financially it has been quite another story. I support
the scholarship needs of the seminary students from the interest
earned on our endowments. The interest on the endowments has now
fallen to one percent (1%!). Although the endowment has grown
since 1986 from two million baht to over twenty-five million baht,
the interest rate during the same period has dropped from 16-17%
down to 1%. We have gained almost nothing over the years. Be that
as it may, the scholarships were disbursed a month ago with the
faith that the arrears of many hundreds of thousands of baht would
be covered as contributions continue to come in from friends of
the seminary. We need your help. And, of course, McGilvary will
continue to need your help until the economy takes a turn for
the better. Presbyterian Churches can help us by giving to Extra
Commitment Opportunity Giving at the Louisville offices.
Contributions may be sent to: Central Receiving Service, Section
300, Louisville, KY 40289. Write the title (McGilvary Scholarship
Fund) and the ECO number on the subject line (ECO #862414) of
the check and put it on your cover letter, too. Send a copy of
the cover letter to the Office of Global Education at 100 Witherspoon
St. Louisville, KY 40202-1396. Or click here
to give online.
My friends, we are living in very difficult times. Terror and
fear seem to be the hallmarks of our lives these days. In the
midst of such uncertainty we tend to strike out with bitterness,
suspicion, revenge and cruelty. Christ did not die upon the cross
for this. He died that we might have life, and have it abundantly.
“There is no fear in love. Perfect love casts out fear.”
Even though he is in America at the moment, Acharn Sawai has
done another beautiful Christmas card for me: “Light in
the Darkness.” May the light of Christ’s love shine
through the darkness of our times.
Grace and Peace,
William J. Yoder
The 2004 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.
207
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