by Matt and Sora Colvin | Jul 30, 2015 | Indonesia, SAMS Missionaries
Before leaving STT St. Paul’s in Bandung, Indonesia, I left the students some essay questions, which were then translated into Bahasa Indonesia by the Rev. Yopie B. I reproduce them here for our readers’ enjoyment.
(Recommended sources: R. Hays, Reading Backward; N. T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God; R. Bauckham, Jesus and the God of Israel.)
Essays:
In 10 pages or less, answer ONE of these questions:
1. Explain how the NT epistles and the book of Revelation identify Jesus as divine while still holding to monotheism.
2. Explain how Jesus Himself and the authors of the four canonical gospels use the Old Testament to make the claim that Jesus is identified with the God of Israel.
3. List and explain five main ways that the OT asserts monotheism and show how the NT used those ways to say that Jesus is included in the identity of Israel’s God.
by Matt and Sora Colvin | May 24, 2015 | SAMS Missionaries
Thanks to my friendship with Pastor Vic Bernales, I was introduced this afternoon to Rev. Michael Hong, the owner and proprietor of Mango Radio, which broadcasts evangelical radio programs in Zamboanga and here in Davao City. Pastor Hong has a heart for bringing the gospel to Muslims here on the island of Mindanao by using radio.
It was a fruitful discussion, and the result was that I will be starting a live one-hour radio show on June 1st. There will then be a four week break while our family is in Indonesia and Cambodia in June, and I will resume broadcasting after June 28. We hope to air the show at rush hour, but Mango is currently still trying to obtain a frequency for broadcasting in Davao. It will also be broadcast via the Internet.
The show will be devoted to explaining Scripture, using history and the original languages and the Jewish background. I’ll be trying to make these things clear and accessible — something I have striven to do for many years in my high school classes.
I need a name for the show. Any suggestions?
Above: Matt and Pr. Michael Hong in the Mango Radio studio.
Pray that the show will be a success and a blessing both to Filipino Christians and to those who do not yet own Christ as the world’s Lord.
by Matt and Sora Colvin | May 1, 2015 | SAMS Missionaries
I’m feeling a bit remiss about blogging. We keep to our deadline for publishing our monthly newsletter, but it’s easy to forget to write on this blog, and that for two reasons, both of which are good for missionary work, but not for missionary communication: first, life in the Philippines feels more “normal” for us than it did during our first two years; we encounter less that seems remarkable and needing to be photographed or shared. Second, we are both crazy busy with our respective ministries and have a hard time carving out time to blog.
Here are some photos from March and April, which may be taken as fairly representative of what we’ve been up to:
On the way home from dropping the kids at school one morning, the words of the Psalmist came to mind: “Many bulls have surrounded me; strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.” OK, maybe just cows, and a calf that decided the middle of the road looked like a good place to enjoy sunbathing.
Sora continues to do outreach with other midwives from the birth clinic to bring prenatal care to the women of Isla Verde. Here, laundry hangs on a line and bicycle taxis (pedicabs) ply the streets beneath the coconut palms, while the ubiquitous Coca-Cola ad serves as a silent missionary of Western consumerism even in this very poor neighborhood.
Of course, the birth clinic continues to welcome Filipino babies into the world, and Sora continues to supervise shifts and take care that they arrive safely. Here are three from the past few months:
Sora continues to teach, too. Most recently, she’s been teaching statistics for this enthusiastic bunch of student midwives. Here, the students are lined up in a “living histogram” by height:
Water lillies from Sora’s visit to Thailand in March:
Matt’s ministry continues apace. Introductory Greek is finished now, so we have moved on to Hebrew, while continuing to read the Greek New Testament so that students don’t lose their skills. Here, Carl, one of Matt’s friends who has been with him from the beginning of his classes here in Davao, puts up answers to the second Hebrew homework assignment on the whiteboard.
by Matt and Sora Colvin | Mar 23, 2015 | SAMS Missionaries
A truck has been parked on the street leading to the clinic for months now. It is a disabled dump truck parked with its box in an elevated position. Since it is a convenient distance from a concrete wall, an enterprising fellow stretched some tarps across the intervening space and turned the truck into a dwelling, complete with a refrigerator. To make it feel a bit more like home, he also painted various parts of the truck in brighter colors: purple, yellow, green. I say “he”, but I’m pretty sure there were multiple people living there. A family?
Well, someone evidently persuaded them to move out, for the truck is now no longer inhabited. It’s not running either. But that doesn’t mean its usefulness has been exhausted. Behold, what Pinoy ingenuity has devised:
Yes, that is a basketball hoop. And it is at a pretty good height, with what can only be called a very expansive backboard. You could hit all kinds of interesting bankshots off that box.
by Ian and Polly Montgomery | Jan 25, 2015 | Peru, SAMS Missionaries
Dear Ones,
God has blessed us greatly with your friendship, prayers and support. THANK YOU. This has been a busy year past and will be a busy year ahead. God has blessed us with a retirement from Heaven.
Polly is ever more involved with the local community. Apart from volunteering at the local thrift shop, primary school and our Church ministry, she now chairs the “Friends” of the local library. When the ground is not covered with snow, she is busy in the garden. Winter provides lots of time to cook, read and write while I am traveling. We minister together at the healing services at the Spiritual Life Center of the Diocese of Albany.
Last August, Polly was the featured speaker for Mothers’ Union of the Women of the Diocese of Toliara, Madagascar, where she ministered with the Rt. Rev. Todd and the Rev. Patsy MacGregor. She did really well, using a hands-on booklet of felt squares for evangelism and witness.
The climax of 2014 was a gala event to celebrate my 70th birthday. Family came from England, California, Ohio, Maryland and New York. What fun. I do not feel that old, and someone said that 70 is the new 50. We shall see.
In October I was surprised to be invited by Bishop Bill Love of Albany to be the interim priest in Cambridge, NY, which is only 8 miles from the diocesan Spiritual Life Center where Polly and I are members of the healing ministry. What a joy it is to serve St. Luke’s, Cambridge, on a part time basis. They are a small congregation and yet very much alive and spiritually energetic. They were thrilled to balance this ministry with my travel for SAMS and SOMA. Indeed one of the wardens, and family, was with us on a visit to Peru a few years ago. We are there for Sundays and then later in the mid week.
I have continued my ministry with SOMA and with SAMS. SOMA sent me to Myanmar and Kenya. With SAMS I was in Madagascar, Peru twice and spent some personal ministry time in Kenya with my old Diocese. While in Myanmar I was able to spend a morning (just short ride from Mandalay where I was speaking) discovering where my mother was born a hundred years before – very moving to visit the church and see the font where she was baptized in January 1915. I continue to serve on the board of SOMA-USA which is a delight.
This coming year looks busy. The SOMA board meets in early February, then Polly and I will spend St. Patrick’s Day in Northern Ireland as representatives of the Diocese of Albany. We then go on to a family wedding in England at the end of March. May and June will hold two trips to Peru, the first for preparation for the June visit, and then mission work with the team from New Grace Anglican Church, Jacksonville, FL. In July, Polly and I return to Madagascar where SOMA will lead a men’s conference, and I have been asked to lead that team. We will probably combine Madagascar with a mission to Kenya so as to make sense of an expensive airfare.
We have our health and strength – God is so good. Thank you and bless you for your being so much a part of this exciting and fruitful time in our lives.
To those of you who have given financially, and I know sacrificially – a special thank you. The need continues as these trips to the far side of the world are getting expensive. SAMS handles all our ministry funding, including SOMA ministry. I have now led three SOMA teams, each on a different continent and with team members from different cultures. It is challenging and exhilarating as we seek to listen to God and minister accordingly. Without your support, daily prayers and passion for this ministry, God’s Kingdom would be diminished. THANK YOU and BLESS YOU.
In Christ’s love – Ian and Polly.
frianm@yahoo.com montgomerypolly@yahoo.com
Tax-deductible contributions to the Montgomery’s ministry may be made online.
https://give.samsusa.org/missionaries
Checks may be sent to SAMS PO Box 399 Ambridge, PA 15003 –
in the memo line please note for “Montgomery Ministry.”
by Guy and Summer Benton | Mar 19, 2014 | Cambodia, SAMS Missionaries
Big news in the Benton household! We are thrilled to announce the arrival of a new one in the coming months. sorry we have not been active on our blog, a few things including this have been occupying our time. But we are BACK!!! more updates to come. meanwhile, please pray for Summer and baby’s health and wellbeing.
