FOCUS ON ASIA

SUNSET INTERNATIONAL BIBLE INSTITUTE

SINGAPORE

Newsletter of Charles and Tamara Cook
Pasir Panjang Church of Christ
347 Pasir Panjang Rd.
Singapore 118688

ccook00@gmail.com                                            http://focusonasia.wordpress.com
October, 2009

A WORD OF APPRECIATION: I feel that real progress has been made towards establishing SIBI Singapore as a viable training institute for Singapore and all Asia. Both missionary families, the Cooks and Gorackes, are well into our second year. Our partnership with the mission-minded brethren of the Pasir Panjang Church and the blessing of having faithful supporters back home could not be more appreciated by us. The photo to the left shows us with several members of the SIBI Singapore board of directors, without whom we would be spinning our wheels. We are deeply grateful to all the visiting instructors who have sacrificed their time and resources to help keep our standard of teaching high. We give all praise and glory to God who makes all good things happen.

RECRUITMENT SEASON: Following the two and a half months of having both local and foreign students with us, with classes being held at times for seven days a week, we will now turn our attention to recruiting students (both fulltime and part-time) from India,  China, Malaysia, The Philippines and other places. To the right is a photo of Immanuel Maddala from Andre Pradesh state in India who represents our first full-time student from his country. He will join us in January, 2010. Our goal for this recruiting season will be to enroll as many full-time foreign students as possible along with any who can only join us for a month, two months, or whatever. And, of course, we have a hundred names of Singaporeans who have taken one or more of our courses offered so far. Some of these are working towards fulfilling the requirements for the SIBI certificate of completion and perhaps the Bachelor of Arts degree that Sunset has just started offering. Tom will be away most of October recruiting students, then he and his family will be on furlough in the U.S. for the latter part of the year. Tamara and I will be visiting family and supporters in June of next year.

OPEN BIBLE STUDIES: These classes (locally referred to as OBS) are ongoing every
Wednesday morning at 10 A.M. at the PP Church, they are offered to both the church members and the Singapore community. We have just finished a 15 week study of Romans and will now take up the book of Ephesians for the next 15 weeks. We are encouraging Singapore brethren to attend (if possible) and bring a friend. These classes are calisthenics for the soul… to stay strong and in shape.

OTHER THINGS GOING ON:  In addition to OBS, I have been conducting several Bible studies for what the PP Church calls “Care Groups.” These are small groups formed for closer fellowship and disciple making and we require our SIBI students to participate in them as well.  We consider this activity a kind of practicum, a way to apply what they learn in class.  Early in 2010 SIBI will host another group of mission internship students from the PP youth group.  Last year we helped train 10 young people in Mission Principles who afterwards spent a month in the Philippines with chaperones to put their learning into practice (sort of a mini-AIM endeavor).  Later in the year Tamara and I will be doing some seminars, one in Malaysia and tentatively one in Perth, Australia (more about this later).

The courses offered from January through September this year have been:
Life of Christ (Nat Cooper)
Open Bible Studies (OBS) (Charles Cook)    
Sermon on The Mount Studies (Nat Cooper)
Mission Principles (Charles Cook)
Character Counts (Nat Cooper)
Effective Bible Study (Charles Cook)
Scheme of Redemption (Ed Wharton)
Homiletics (Charles Cook)
Premillennialism Examined (Ed Wharton)
1st Corinthians (Charles Cook)
Distinctive Nature of The NT Church (Ed Wharton)
Identifying The New Testament Church (Charles Cook)
Historical Christian Evidences (John Massie)
Christianity and World Religions (Charles Cook)
Christian History (c100 to c1517) (Stuart Jones)
Introduction to Missions (Charles Cook)
Science Supports Scripture (Stuart Jones)
Historical Christian Evidences (Tom Goracke)
Minor Prophets (Edwin Myers)
Evangelism Message (Tom Goracke)
Epistles of John (Tom Goracke)
Christian Home (Edwin Myers)

PP Members who enrolled in the First Corinthians Class:

   

Request:   Please be praying for SIBI Singapore during this planning and recruiting month. Pray that doors will continue to be opened in those places were Christ cannot be openly proclaimed. Pray for house churches where freedom of public assembly is not permitted or where poverty makes it impossible. Pray for Myanmar, China, India, Viet Nam… Pray for the earthquake victims in Indonesia.

In Christian Love,
Charles and Tamara Cook
www.focusonasia.wordpress.com