INTRODUCTION
Soldiers going into real combat are never trained in a day. Such is the case for a soldier of Christ. Ours is a spiritual battle. The task of winning souls to Christ is ever present in our minds. At BVBIZ, we continue to put one block on top of another to achieve this. The teachers at BVBIZ did their bit in the month of October. The view is to produce a well trained soldier for Christ. The following are some of the few things that we can report on.
CURRICULUM PROGRESS
This term has 3 short courses and these have already been taught and finished in October. These three are the books of James, Romans and Hebrews. We appreciate Brothers’ Karikoga, Estep and Suwari respectively for teaching the courses. Only memory verses and assignments for the three are in progress. Our long subjects for the term are still in progress. In Biblical Counselling and African Traditional Religion, we witnessed our full time instructor, Ishmael Mutichu and a visiting teacher, Ringisai Gushakusha, tackling issues together. Other subjects being taught this term include; Hermeneutics II, Pastoral Epistles, Congregational Development (church growth) and Greek .
DONNIE ESTEP’S VISIT
BVBIZ was blessed to have Donnie Estep, our Regional Coordinator visiting for a week. He arrived on the 1st of October and left on the 6th of October. He was received at the airport by Hailey Mlangeni (one of our Board members) and Ishmael Mutichu our full time instructor. We would like to thank Hailey for his role he played. Our appreciation also goes to the Raradza family for the hospitality they rendered to him. Brighton Raradza is another Board member. During his stay, Donnie had an opportunity to teach the book of Romans, one of our short courses. He also had an opportunity to teach one of the congregations during their mid-week service. BVBIZ is always blessed by his presence. Notes are always exchanged in the process.
SEMINAR ON HANDLING CHURCH FINANCES
On the 21st of October, we held a seminar on HANDLING CHURCH FINANCES. The major focus was on Finance, budgeting, reporting and transparency. The facilitator was Bro. Brighton Raradza. Leaders attending the leadership Training class and the entire student body benefited a lot from the seminar. Students are currently doing assignments based on the points taught. It is our hope that churches practice these ideals.
SEMINAR ON STRATEGIC PLANNING
One of the key courses at BVBIZ is Church Growth (Congregational Development). It demands tha some seminars be conducted which helps students to understand the local church’s environment, prevailing situations and proffer solutions inorder to take the church out of her predicament. In line with this, there shall be a seminar on Strategic Planning and Church Growth. Both leaders and students stand to benefit. Church leaders in and around Gweru will be invited. It shall take place from the 16th-17th of November (for students), while leaders will attend on the 18th. We are hoping, if funds permit, to make these seminars full fledged next year.
WEEKEND EVANGELISM
Each weekend at BVBIZ, students go out for evangelism. However, in October, 2 of our Saturdays were disturbed. The first was because of a seminar which students attended while the second was due to wet weather conditions which inhibited movement. The following represent what the school could do in October.
CONCLUSION
BVBIZ could not have reached this far without the unwavering support we have been receiving. Thank you for your moral, spiritual, financial and material support. To God be the glory!
In Christ,
Mathew Muchingam, Director BVBI-Z