MALAWI - New Plan

For those of you who have been keeping up with our progress... I am so sorry for the delay in updates! I want to let everyone know that, due to a major change in the school's schedule, we are having to postpone our mission trip to Malawi. For many years, Bear Valley has started the school year in early September and ended in June. This next year, it will start in early August and end in May. This means that we would go to Malawi in July and start right up when we returned, which was "do-able" for David and I, but not for Wayne Burger, the instructor we were going to be travelling with. This causes a major problem for him since he would not have adequate time between our return and the beginning of the school year to do everything he needs to do to prepare for his classes and take care of things at home.

While we greatly appreciate the donations that we have received - and we will continue to be raising funds throughout the summer and the following school year - we will not have the newsletter as planned with all of the exciting details about our trip until next summer. This does, however, give us a much needed opportunity to travel in the states during the month of July. We hope to have the chance to visit some of our supporting congregations as well as spend some time with family. Thank you again to those who have generously contributed to this effort, which, while delayed, will be worth the time spent preparing and certainly a great work. It will be a wonderful opportunity to build up the brethren in Malawi. God bless, and thanks.

-The Rollerts

Technology in Ministry - Are You In?

I’d like to introduce you to the 3rd largest country in the world – Facebook. In population, Facebook has officially just passed up the USA. While this may seem irrelevant, the truth is that much of the world has become an internet-dwelling people. An evolution has occurred in the way people communicate and how they spend their time. While it used to be extremely effective to advertize a gospel-meeting at your local congregation, people today what to know upfront what's in it for them – why should they pencil such a meeting into their busy schedule?

The reality is, if they are looking for the information, it is at their fingertips. They don't have to suffer any of the discomforts of a new environment full of new faces – they can Google anything they desire to know from the comfort of their own home. As of September 2009, worldwide internet users reached over 1.7 billion people. The statistics on which age groups use it the most probably won't surprise you; the newest generation has not even needed to learn the art of using the internet – it's their first language. So how are we as ministers of the gospel going to respond to these changes?

This is the focus of our Ministry Technology class. Our first assignment was to add 100 friends to our Facebook accounts by the end of the quarter. Why? Not because they need to know that I've just finished brushing my teeth. But because Bible verses in status updates are seen by literally hundreds of Christians and non-believers alike. Because people are coming to Christ by seeing the way Christians interact with each other simply by observing them online. Does Satan use the internet? Certainly. But that is all the more reason to understand how we can use it for God's glory. People have set up barriers that simply didn't exist 50 years ago. Front porches no longer exist in some areas; people pull into their garage and we don't see them again. We need to know how we are going to get behind those barriers and reach people, get them to our website, and teach them the gospel!

Our next assignment is to begin blogs with a spiritual, encouraging focus to our writing. Please take some time to check our posts and maybe follow us on Twitter. If you're not our friend on Facebook, please look us up! Suggest us to others. Meet some of our friends. It's all about spreading the gospel, and the more lives you encounter, the more you can touch. If you have questions about how to do this effectively, send us an email at DavidAndKeeley@Live.com. See you online.

David's blog: SpiritualPreparedness.wordpress.com
Keeley's blog: WifeofaPreacher.wordpress.com

MALAWI UPDATE

We now have approximate dates!
We will be leaving on Wednesday, June 30th to arrive in Malawi on Friday, July 2nd. It is not certain yet whether we will fly to London then getting a connection Malawi or if there will be a straight flight from Atlanta, as there sometimes are. For our return trip, we will be home on Tuesday, July 27th since Wayne has shortened his trip to 3 weeks. Generally, each class goes for one month, but since Wayne is doing something special it will not require the full four weeks.

More updates to come!! - Keeley

Ah, mid-terms... everyone loves midterms...

Ok so most of us don't actually like mid-terms, but they are a great way to show your progress. Sometimes we may not want that, but I like seeing ways that I can improve myself and tests are an extremely honest way to do that. The thing about it is that we only have mid-terms when we are in school; there is no "Christianity Mid-term" to let us see how we are progressing in our spiritual walk. So how do we measure how we are doing spiritually? The answer is simpler than some of us would like, that is compare ourselves to the standard of the Bible. There is the obvious comparison of, "are we displaying the fruits of the spirit?" But is there more beyond that? Because I have known some very obviously non-Christians who display the fruits better than some “Christians” that I know. Well to see how we are doing spiritually we can look at some examples in the Bible of people who were educated more correctly in the gospel and see how and why they grew.

We can look at Acts 18:24-28 where we see a man named Apollos who was educated in the scriptures, who eloquently and accurately taught about the things concerning Jesus. But he only knew the baptism of John the Baptist, so Pricilla and Aquila took him aside and taught him more accurately the ways of the gospel. After witch his was a great asset to the early church.

We can also look at Acts 19:1-7, here Paul encounters some disciples of John the Baptist. When he asks them about if they had the Holy Spirit, they told him that they did not know about the Holy Spirit. On top of that they also had only knowledge of the baptism of John. Thus Paul taught them about Jesus, His death and resurrection. When they learned the truth, they were immediately baptized, and after Paul laid his hand on them they were given the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

There are many other examples of people finding out that they were educated wrong, and after being properly educated, fixing whatever was wrong. They were willing to do this because nothing was more important to them than getting to heaven! That is a great lesson to us today; are we willing to put our pride behind us, and honestly look at our lives to see if we truly match what the Bible says a Christian should be? Are we willing to look at our Christian walk and see if there are traditions of men that we have been taught all of our lives that don’t match up with the Bible? And if we do find those unscriptural traditions of men, are we willing to get rid of them and follow the Bible?

If you are then congratulations, you are what is called a truth seeker! That is a person who wants to know the truth, and is willing to do what it takes to learn the truth. But if you are not willing to leave the unscriptural traditions of man, then you need to ask yourself what is more important in your life; heaven, or your pride? Because let’s face it, if you are unwilling to change because; “This is the way I’ve always done it” or “if I change then that means that all the people before me were wrong” or worse yet “I’m older than you so there is no way I will admit you know better than me.” If one of these is your mindset, can you really say that you are seeking fist the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33)? This is your Christian mid-term; will you pass and follow the example of the Bible, or will you fail and follow the traditions of the world?

Report January 2010!

Wow - I can't believe how quickly this quarter is going... and the last one has disappeared altogether!

Several factors are making this second quarter even better than the last. Namely, that I am a little more able to keep up with the bookwork and housekeeping since I backed down on the school work-load. I have definitely been learning a lot about myself - it was a difficult pill to swallow that I wouldn't be able to stay up with everything in the day-time classes, but somehow a household must be taken care of. My number one priority is taking care of my husband, being his support in every way. It was kind of working out the other way last quarter, and that just isn't what this experience is for - this is for his learning academically and for both our learning spiritually. If I don't walk away with a degree, I have come to grips with the fact that I am no less of a hard-working person - my focus is just on other priorities.

Having said all of that, the classes I am taking are still phenomenal, the information well-put-together and biblical, and the instructors ever concerned about our success. This is an unbelievable school. I especially appreciate their emphasis on family - the motto is that a student who receives all A's in school but has not met the spiritual, physical, and emotional needs of his family has failed in the end. The program is intense, but the essential part of life at this point is to learn to be a good preacher while remembering that the family God has given us is the responsibility here and now. It's all about balance. It's all about knowing that God has provided for every need - now our job is to use what we've been given to further the kingdom, starting at home. God bless the men who are working so hard to provide this rich learning environment.

On a final note, and more on this in the future: yes, it is official. David and I are going to Malawi in the summer. We will leave the last week in June and be there for most of July. One of our instructors, Wayne Burger, goes to Malawi, Africa every July to teach as part of a program intended to raise the biblical knowledge of the everyday Christian in that area. They are an extremely evangelistic people: churches that collectively had between 200-300 brethren converted over 3,000 people - LAST YEAR. This is incredible: this is what the gospel does in places where materialism has not blinded people to their need for spiritual riches. But the general knowledge has needed strengthening, so for 6 months out of the year these people have the opportunity to attend 6 different classes taught by a different man each month. Students who attend every class and finish the work receive at the end of the four year program a book form of each instructors notes on their material. 400 BRETHREN are receiving the final additions to their personal starter-libraries this year. THAT is dedication. And we are going to be there when they finish Wayne's class, the last of their program: hermaneutics. More on our work there later...

Please pray for our preparations, and please spread the word. It will cost $3,000 each for us to make the trip, and we are asking our brethren to consider assisting us in this - while we have already made progress toward this goal, there is a long way to go and only 5 1/2 months to get there. Thank you for your encouragement and thanks be to our God who has richly supplied our every need - so that we in turn may give to other children of the kingdom. Amen.

Report: October 2009

We have officially had our first major evangelistic assignment this morning: David and I were one of several pairs of students who would each knock over 100 doors and invite the people in the community around Columbine to join us for Sunday evening lessons on “prophecies from the Bible and current events.” With the movie 2012 coming out this year, we are taking advantage of this opportunity to reach out to people who have questions about the end of the world and teach them the what the Bible has to say concerning these things. We have already done 2 sessions – excellent information. Wayne does an excellent job bringing answers from the text and addressing many of the false ideas preached around the world.

Although this was an effort to bring people to the building for information instead of an effort to have in-home Bible studies with them, David and I had a wonderful opportunity at one house that encouraged us greatly. A man and his mother welcomed us into their home. Praise be to God – we laid the foundation and they've agreed to have a Bible study with us. Out of 125 houses, we found one that was not just tolerant of what we were telling them, but hungry for people who cared and for what we have to offer. It was difficult to refrain from jumping right to the point and telling them all about the wonders of God's Word.

Thank you, thank you, to everyone of you that has helped make this effort possible. It is incredible to be taking just the first month's instruction and already having it make an impact on our effectiveness. Our interactions with people have already become more purposeful. We are seeing a world of opportunity, and we offer thanks to God daily for those who are making it possible for us to enter that world more prepared to proclaim His gospel and lead the lost to our Redeemer, Jesus.

Report - late - August 2009

Hi everyone!! August is almost over, but we had a good reason to hold off - being busy folks trying to meet up with busy folks, it took a while to make sure we had our ducks in a row, but we managed. :o) We have made arrangements with a family at Columbine that has expressed their desire to open their home to us during the school year, alleviating our budgetted need for rent when we move in this November. Another family, an uncle and aunt of mine in Aurora, has offered to take us in during the summer months. Incredibly sweet, these families! What a blessing...

We continue to work hard raising the remaining percentage of our support need, knowing that our God is aware - probably more than we are - of what we will need for the next two years and how to take care of us. As we mention in our request, every gift, every word of encouragement - these are blessings we could not do without. Our God is so good; His love, and the love of our brothers and sisters, is refreshment to our souls. What a summer it has been!

Please feel free to ask us any questions you might have regarding the program, the schedule, etc. Next month will have a snapshot of these kinds of things, but we are always happy to answer questions. More in Septemeber! -KR