NEWSLETTER FOR JANUARY 2018

 

FORTY YEARS!!!

2018 will be a very special year for us.

On 4th July it will exactly forty years since we arrived in Malaysia with our four children to commence our service as missionaries. What a wonderful forty years it has been.

Two days before on 2nd July Julia will be celebrating her 70^th birthday. She had just celebrated her 30^th birthday when we arrived in 1978.

FIFTY YEARS

In June last year we celebrated our fiftieth wedding anniversary. The anniversary was actually on 4^th March but we postponed the celebration until June so that all our family could be together. What a great time of memories that was. We are blessed to have such a great family and such wonderful friends.

HEALTH

As we are getting older we do face some health challenges. Over the past couple of years we have both had some problems.

Julia is having difficulty controlling her type two diabetes. She also has problems with arthritis and a recurring pain in her leg which started when she was horse riding in New Zealand a couple of years back and the horse stumbled. She also has bladder problems.

Colin has largely recovered from the minor stroke he suffered in 2016, except for an occasional lack of balance and weakness in his legs.

We would greatly value your prayers for these issues so that we will both have the strength and energy to keep serving the Lord in his kingdom.

Recently Colin noted in Numbers 1:3 that the minimum age for enrollment was twenty, but there was no maximum age as long as they were able to go to war.

SCHEDULE

Our schedule for the first quarter of 2018:

January

6^th Seminar in Asia Pacific Seminary

7^th Preach in Evangelical Free Church, Seremban

8^th – 13^th Teach in PIP in Tung Ling Seminary

14^th Preach in Alpha Colors Church in Shah Alam

21^st Preach in Ignite Church, Serdang

22^nd – 27^th Teach in PIP, Tung Ling Seminary, Ipoh

28^th Preach in Full Gospel Tabernacle, Kota Kinabalu

February

4^th Preach in High Praise Church

7^th – 9^th Teach in Tung Ling Bible School, Singapore

11^th Preach in Rock of Ages Church, Singapore

17^th – 18^th Preach in Full Gospel Tabernacle, Subang Jaya

25^th Preach in New Life Community Church, Subang Jaya

March

4^th Preach in Harvest Community Church, Kuala Lumpur

9^th - 10^th Preach in Full Gospel Tabernacle, Johore Bahru

11^th Preach in Full Gospel Tabernacle, Melaka

12^th – 14^th Teach in School of Ministry, Tung Ling Seminary

17^th – 5^th April Teach in Bible School in Nepal

FINANCE

We rarely mention finance but if you feel the Lord would like you to participate in our ministry please email us at colhurt43@gmail.com so we can supply you with details.

YOUR SUPPORT IN PRAYER AND PRACTICAL HELP MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE

NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 2016

CHALLENGES

The period since our June newsletter has been very challenging.

Before Julia flew to Malaysia in July she was walking our grandson’s dog though a ford near our home in Penderyn. She slipped and fell backwards, hitting her head on the  concrete slab. She spent the whole night in the A&E at the hospital waiting to see the Dr. Although she had no concussion she has since suffered whiplash problems. She has also been having problems with her blood sugar level. On a more positive note, her food allergies have greatly improved.

In August Colin was admitted to hospital in Kuala Lumpur suffering from a mild stroke (TIA). This affected his speech and resulted in weakness in his legs. An MRI scan of the brain showed no damage, even though he had experienced a couple of falls. In fact the neurologist said he had a spotless brain. Julia asked if this meant he could not spot a brain. Because he was not allowed to fly for four weeks several meetings in Melbourne, Australia had to be cancelled or postponed.

Both of us are now doing better, mostly because of the prayers of God’s people around the world. Thank you for praying.

THE FUTURE

In January we will be returning to SE Asia for preaching and teaching in Malaysia and Singapore. As our medical advice is to take things more easily in future, please pray that we will have the wisdom what to accept and what to refuse. We plan to be in SE Asia until the end of May when we will return to the UK for a month to celebrate with our family our 50^th wedding anniversary. Our anniversary is actually in March but we are delaying the family celebration until June when all our children and grandchildren can join us. We also plan to take a rest throughout the month of June.

SOMETHING NEW

In 2017 we will be involved in the Full Gospel Tabernacle (Malaysia) ministry in Nepal. We will be teaching in their Bible School and ministering at their leaders’ conference. This will be an ongoing annual ministry for the foreseeable future.

We have also been asked to help set up a Bible School for the Tongan churches in Melbourne, Australia. What a joy to be involved in new things at our age.

PAULA

Earlier this year our daughter, Paula, was a student in the School of Ministry in the Bible College of Wales. Then she was invited to attend the School of Leadership in Tung Ling Bible School, Singapore. After graduating she joined a missionary team to Kalimantan, (the Indonesian part of Borneo). She has now returned there to serve for a year ministering among 600 tribal children in Living Waters Village. Please pray she will be blessed to be a blessing.

PRAYER POINTERS

Please pray for our continued health and strength. Recent health problems have made us realise more than ever our total dependence on the Lord. That in itself is a good thing.

Pray for us to have wisdom to be involved in the things that will maximise our usefulness in the kingdom, and to avoid being busy just for the sake of being busy.

YOUR SUPPORT IN PRAYER AND PRACTICAL HELP MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE

 

NEWSLETTER - JUNE 2016

 

THE RECENT PAST

For the past year Colin has been the principal of the Bible College of Wales in Swansea. (BCW was founded in 1924 by Rees Howells). There have been two semesters of twelve weeks’ duration. In the first semester which ran from August to November in 2016 there were 24 students and in the second from March to May in 2016 there were 33 students from many nations who have now returned home to serve God in various ministries. It is exciting to think what a impact they will be making in the kingdom of God. To have worked with them has been a real joy and our relationship with many of them will be ongoing for years to come.

One great blessing to us both has been that our daughter, Paula, was a student at the second School of Ministry in BCW. She is now going on to Singapore to study in the School of Leadership in Tung Ling Bible School. Please pray that after graduation she will find God’s purpose for the future of her life.

A MAJOR CHANGE

And now for the next episode of our lives and ministry together. We will be returning to Malaysia in July to be involved in teaching in the School of Acts, seminars and Sunday ministry in several local churches and other varied ministry.

From Malaysia we will travel to Melbourne, Australia to preach and teach in Tongan, Samoan, Filipino and Malaysian/Singaporean congregations.

After that we will be travelling to New Zealand to minister in Tongan churches. Whilst we are there we will visit our daughter, Julia, who emigrated to Christchurch last year.

FUTURE

Since its formation in 1981 we have ministered a lot in Full Gospel Tabernacle in Malaysia. From very small beginnings they have grown exponentially and now have more than 120 overseas churches. From 2017 onwards we have been asked to have input into some of their missions churches, particularly in Nepal and Bulgaria. Colin has already made one visit to Nepal to teach in the FGT Bible School, but Bulgaria will be a new field for us. Please pray that the Lord will enable us to equip these churches to make an impact in their nations.

Besides these new fields, we will continue to teach in Tung Ling Bible School both in Malaysia and Singapore, the School of Acts and Asia Pacific Seminary in Malaysia and preach and teach in local churches in various places.

HEALTH ISSUES

Both of us have had some ongoing health issues recently, but nothing so serious as to prevent us from continuing to serve the Lord. We just ask you to pray that we will have the necessary health and energy we need. On our part, we will be cutting back on the amount of travelling we have been doing over previous years.

THANKS

We both want to thank all those who are still faithfully praying for us. Your prayers are definitely making a difference.

Many thanks also for all those individuals and churches who continue to support us financially. We really appreciate you all.

YOUR SUPPORT MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE