A BIG HELLO FROM THE BIGMAN FAMILY
Dear Friends & Family,
We are happy for this journey God is taking us through. From the depths of our hearts, we are greatly blessed to serve our Savior with fellow staff, brothers and sisters in Christ, who continue to be pivotal voices in our lives. We have longed to share with you on a regular basis and plan to do so through MailChimp. Our hearts continue to be overwhelmed with God’s love and provision for us through His people…You! Every time we reflect on the prayerful support and financial gifts we receive, we are truly humbled and immediately express our gratitude to our Father for allowing us to be a part of His ongoing kingdom work here at IBC and He is making it possible through you. We pray for you, our supporters, who have joined us in the ministry God has orchestrated for us. We pray for your health, safety, blessing and growth in your relationships with those in your life and with our heavenly Father. Please send us your specific prayer requests so we can continue to pray for you.
Since our first letter from the summer of 2019, our lives have been an array of new adjustments. Luckie left his job of ten years at Loomis Armored in September ’19. What a step of faith to trust God and move into full-time ministry! Many prayed for and with us for five years. God answered those prayers and our family has experienced His goodness in abundance! Thank you for partnering with us in God’s ministry here at IBC!
The Spring 2020 semester was a sad time for our community, not only with the challenges of COVID 19, but also seeing a very close friend and brother suffer through illness, then needing to move away. We have shared life together with our SOMA Cell Church family for almost seven years and our families are very close. He is a Bachelor’s graduate of IBC and was our Maintenance Supervisor who helped me learn the ins and outs of facilities and vehicles. I miss working with Richard and we miss his family immensely.
Just recently we moved into a new home! More of that in another letter.
Commencement: Graduation was quite the new experience but also fun. Many have said that it was even more meaningful than having a highly esteemed speaker to hear directly from our students and mentors about the work of Christ in the graduates’ lives. Here is a link to the Youtube recording:
Fall Semester: We have 19 full-time students on campus, 2 fulltime online, and 23 part-time students, most of whom are also online.
Luckie — I am fully transitioned as Business Administrator. Bob, who helped train me and pass on the BA role after his 10 years, is now our new Office Manager. In the business office I work closely with our CFO Emily. I am learning Quick Books and working to stay informed of COVID protocols. I am thankful for reliable maintenance help from student workers after the loss of our maintenance supervisor, Richard. I oversee and train student workers for campus security. It is cool to see God using my former security experience here. I am currently taking two IBC classes and working towards a Bachelors in Business. I am also a Life Coach for a freshman student, Aaron, who is Navajo and close in age.
Lanora — I still get to serve as Executive Assistant to Jason Koppen. He and his family were able to take a five month sabbatical in Hawaii for refreshment, precious family time, mentoring, and powerful time with the Lord. While they were away I helped Vice President and Dean of Students, Clint Ross, as acting President. When COVID-19 was realized and we were given the stay-at-home order by our governor, I stayed home to be with our children. We are thankful for God’s wisdom in continuing to serve our students by keeping our dorms open and continuing classes.
Now that I am back on campus, I help host guests, give tours and schedule volunteers for the lunch program for our students. In the past two years on staff, I marvel to see God work through his people in and out of the seasons. He has taught me through weaknesses and struggles to trust Him more as He increases my faith. I am Jason’s TA for two classes and also taking one class, Crisis Counseling.
PRAYER LIST
- Leading in our church
- Support raising
- Tuition cost covered for our children through financial gifts or AZ dollar for dollar tax credit
- Freshman, Aaron, wants to continue learning from convictions in classes
- The October Site Team visit for Accreditation was very encouraging!
- Maintenance supervisor and volunteer coordinator needed
- Staff fatigue
- Richard Smith’s family & for his healing
(Note: if you would like to support the Bigmans financially, use the link in the left hand column to go directly to Indian Bible College’s online donation portal. Or use the form below!)
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