Happy Thanksgiving, my friends!
The semester is going very well! We are thankful that we are on pace to see all 23 of our full-time students finish the semester—a rare occurrence, given the incredible spiritual and cultural pressures they face to drop out.
I am thankful for my Human Relationships class, as this Fall I am teaching our nine new students about the biblical truths regarding the importance of our relationships with each other in the Body of Christ. I am currently teaching through the five IBC Core Values—you can explore the first two at indianbible.org/core-values/. The other three will be introduced in upcoming newsletters.
Steve Tracy speaking in chapel
We are thankful for the influential guests we have had on campus this semester, such as the Flagstaff Chief of Police, Flagstaff Mayor, Mending the Soul author Steve Tracy, Warriors for Christ founders Gordon and Jan Shadburne, and two very influential Native leaders this coming week: Casey Church (Wiconi Director) and Jonathan Nez (Navajo Nation Vice President).
I am thankful for the four students that have recently committed to Restorational Discipline, our process of helping students deal with defining sins (based on Galatians 6:1-2). This process requires a tremendous sacrifice on the part of both the spiritual mentors and the students themselves. Please pray for these four young people (two men and two women) as they walk the road of repentance from alcoholism, sexual sin, and habitual lying.
A packed room at the IBC 60th anniversary banquet
We are thankful for the 220 people at our inaugural 60th anniversary banquet in Flagstaff on November 10th. It was a great celebration of what the Lord has done in the past, as well as testimonies of what the Lord is doing in students’ lives today and a look at our vision for the future. You can learn more about upcoming regional celebrations (hopefully one near you) at indianbible.org/60th-yr-banquet/.
We are thankful for the four young women that Sarah is discipling once a week through the “Aftercare” program that she designed to help Mending the Soul survivors live out the freedom and healing they have in Christ. Over the next two weeks, Sarah will meet with each of these women one-on-one for 3-5 hours each to go through Neil Anderson’s “Steps to Freedom in Christ”. Please pray for Sarah and these ladies, as the spiritual warfare they are each going through right now is intense.
We are thankful for the 29 guests we had in our home today for Thanksgiving! We delight to be a “home away from home” for staff, students, and anyone else who needs to be with “spiritual family” on this holiday.
I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:3-6
Most of all, we are thankful for YOU, our partners through prayer, volunteering, and financial support! We wouldn’t be here without a mighty group of faithful partnerships with people like you! Thanks be to God for you!
The Koppens (Jason, Sarah, Abby, Lizzy, Angie, and David)