Baltic Methodist Theological Seminary
Greetings from the President
March 2011
It’s Springtime!
After an unusually long, cold and snowy winter it’s finally spring here. The snow is slowly melting and the days are growing longer. In this hopeful and sunny time of the year we ask for your prayers as we expect the state accreditation commission’s visit April 19th. They have by now studied all the papers we have presented them and they will be inspecting us prior to making a final decision about the academic quality and sustainability of the Seminary. Please pray for wisdom to answer their questions and to present our work in the best way possible.
Our Students and Graduates
Please take into your special prayers all the students who hope to graduate this year. There could be up to 14 of them depending of the success of their final efforts in months to come. Some of them have to work harder than others. All of them are diligently finishing their final papers and preparing to defend them in June.
A group of young people from Latvian UMC visited the Seminary this week and inquired about the possibilities to study here. Please keep them in your prayers as they seriously consider their future plans and their involvement in Christian ministry in Latvian UMC based on getting their theological education at BMTS.
Our graduate Andrus Kask spent some time at the mission field in remote Khanti villages in Siberia, Russia. He is writing his PhD dissertation about these people and their religious thinking. Please pray for these people who live in a very primitive setting and rejoice about every opportunity to learn more about Christian faith.
Financial Matters
The giving for the Seminary has been quite modest this year compared to the years before. However, we have been also modest housekeepers and thus survived so far. The good news is that we have received some financial support from Finland and Sweden. Please continue to pray for all our faithful sponsors who continue to give graciously year by year and for finding some new sponsors. We are also grateful for any good and creative ideas on how to develop our financial support base.
Faculty and Staff
On March 3, we had our Academic Committee meeting and revised the current situation with implementation of our Development Plan that was compiled last spring. We celebrated the improvements and growth in several areas and took note of things yet undone. As a result of this “revision”, the development committee met a few days later and outlined more concrete tasks and task groups in order to keep pace with all good intentions we had written down in our Development Plan. Please pray for wisdom and good cooperation between all faculty members so the Seminary can continue to develop to its full potential.
In the beginning of April, our Academic Dean Anne Saluraid will celebrate her jubilee. We ask for your prayers to carry and support her in her responsible job.
Friends Near and Far
Wilfried Bolay from Germany who was really inspiring while teaching the postmodern challenges to Evangelism to our first year students and also to UMC pastors at the separate session, needs our prayers concerning his suddenly worsened health situation.
In April, Ken Collins from Asbury Theological Seminary will teach Wesleyan Theology as the does every year.
Wishing you a joyful springtime. I finish with words from Psalm 46:1: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” It has certainly been our experience that God has been “ever-present” and we can always trust His providence and love.
Blessings
Meeli Tankler
President of the BMTS