January 2025

laurelannette

1 year ago

The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace (Number 6:24-26).

The photo above provides a glimpse into the beauty God has shared with us in this part of the country. My brother and I took a trip to a portion of Antelope Canyon during his recent Christmas visit. God’s face has certainly shone upon us in mercy over this past year. May He do so again in this new year!

We are experiencing another extremely dry spell in the southwest but the beauty surrounding us never ceases to fill me with wonder at His mercy! Please pray with us for moisture, in His will.

We are back in the office again, eagerly anticipating the new semester. Regular classes resume January 20th after an accelerated two-week term class. In the meantime, we continue to prepare for the accreditation site team April 28th through May 1st. Please continue to pray that we will demonstrate accurately who we are and what we are doing as an institution.

You may have noticed our name change from Indian Bible College to Indigenous Bible College. This name, we trust, will be less offensive to various people and will also allow us to partner with other like-minded ministries and recruit more effectively. January marks the official month to promote our new name.

Another accomplishment for an IBC team is the culmination of five years of effort in the soon release of the Native version of the Mending the Soul workbook. Mending the Soul is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing “healing from trauma and abuse in Jesus’ name” (https://mendingthesoul.org/). A primarily Native team from IBC has rewritten and re-illustrated a version that specifically addresses the needs of Native American people.

We are always dependent upon God’s mercy. Sometimes we are aware of it and sometimes we live in the illusion of self-sufficiency. Please pray with me for His mercy as I prepare and teach (for the first time ever) a course in Ethnomusicology this semester. In addition, I will be teaching the usual Piano and Voice students and team-teaching Personal Finance.

We are entirely dependent upon God to provide the students to make Indigenous Bible College worthwhile and productive. Please pray with us for fifteen new students in the fall. Pray also for the protection and perseverance of prospective students.

One more request is that you join me in praying for my summer trip to visit you all in person. I am looking forward to seeing so many of you again after such a long time.