Kia Ora and Spring Greetings!
Here in Aotearoa the sun is finding room to peek through the clouds, bringing its warmth. The birds are singing and the flowers have started to bloom. We thank God for the different seasons as winter is passing and spring is coming!
In July, we celebrated the graduation of two students and completed the orientation of one new domestic and four international students. Yes, you read it right, we got some new international students again. After nearly three years of restrictions and chaos with world travel, the borders have finally opened and Eastwest has the opportunity to welcome students from overseas again.
The words of Isaiah 43:19 ‘See, I am doing a new thing!’ remind us that God can truly be trusted. His ways and timings are good.
Enjoy this edition of our news!
Blessings,
The Eastwest Team
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Graduates
We had a great time celebrating our two students who graduated mid-year in July. We sent them off with prayer and encouragement. It's an honour for us to journey alongside people as they commit a season of their lives to training at Eastwest College, and we look forward to hearing as their next steps unfold. Kia kaha!
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Did you know?
Eastwest graduates have gone onto serve in more than 47 countries!
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Student Activities
During Term 3 the students and staff have been engaging in topics such as New Testament Survey, Global Theology, Foundations in Language Learning, Communication in Ministry, Hinduism and Buddhism, and Mission and Church history. Speakers from various mission agencies have also come to college to encourage, inspire, and educate the Eastwest family by sharing their mission experiences. This has given opportunities for students to ask the relevant questions like: What happens when things don't go to plan? How do I get supporters and prayer partners? How can I prepare for serving in multicultural teams? How do I discern where to go?
But it’s not all study here! We also spend time doing practical work around the college and ministry activities in the wider community. And then we just enjoy the beauty of life together as a diverse multicultural group of people by socializing with each other.
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Block Courses
We have four more block courses coming up this year:
- Church planting across cultures (Two week course 19th – 30th Sept)
- Huia come home (One week course 26th – 30th Sept)
- Secular Age (One week course 17th – 21st Oct)
- Digital Mission (One week course 17th – 21st Oct)
More information on the block courses can be found on our website: Click here
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Social Media
Did you know that over 56% of the world's population are connected via social media?
One only needs to go back 25 years to 1996 when Eastwest was started, to see that the scene was quite different. No smartphones, no internet, no Facebook and no WhatsApp. At those times digital media use was quite limited and not readily available but students were still trained and sent out.
Now in 2022, social media has an important part in the life and ministry of Eastwest college. Here is a snapshot of some of the posts that our creative media team has shared lately:
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“Worship is the believer’s response of all they are
– mind, emotions, will, body –
to what God is, says, and does.”
Warren W. Wiersbe
As a community, we want to centre our hearts and minds on God before we start classes each day. So, we gather each morning and take turns sharing a short devotion and joining together in worship. Today's session was a creative one, inspired by Psalm 63. A great reminder that, as people made in the image of a creative God, there are many creative ways of expressing worship 🙏🏼🖌🔨✏️🌼
📷: Creative worship using paints 🎨
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Ministry teams are an important part of college life. All students are placed in ministry teams which help them grow in many ways—practical ministry skills, spiritual development, and experience working in cross-cultural teams.
One of the ministries we're able to partner with is the GlobalRize initiative. GlobalRize offers online Bible courses in several languages for people to know more about the Gospel. Some Eastwest students get the opportunity to be mentors to people all around the globe 🌎
📷: Prayer, the most important part of any ministry team.
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An Eastwest College crew had a great time at 'The Big Quiz' over the weekend, organised by Tearfund New Zealand and hosted so well by the team at Fairfield Baptist Church in Hamilton. What a fun afternoon for a worthy cause. We enjoyed meeting new people and getting to share about Eastwest (and chatting about some of the awesome Block Courses coming up soon; keep your eyes peeled on our 'Events' tab for more info 👀).
📷: Team Eastwest (tied for first place) 🥳🏆🍫
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Applications 2023
We'd love to equip and empower even more believers to share God's story among the nations. If there is anyone you know who could benefit from studying at Eastwest, don't hesitate to connect them with us as we are currently taking applications for 2023. Orientation will start on the 15th of February for the first semester, and 24th of July for the second semester.
If your church or ministry is looking for guest speakers, or you are interested in receiving our printed brochures, please get in touch — we'd love to hear from you. You are always welcome to pop in to see us at the college as well.
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Merch Shop
Remember that we have a Merch shop online! We have partnered with a New Zealand business to offer quality Eastwest College merchandise for our alumni and friends. Please note we make no profit on these items. Click below to visit the shop.
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Open Day
Save the date: Saturday 12th November! Eastwest College will be having an Open Day and we would love you to come along, as well as spread the word with your churches and friends. This will be a fun and informative day showcasing the college and keeping the kaupapa (purpose, goal) of missions alive and known. We're planning for both online and on campus events—keep an eye on our social media profiles for more info.
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Food for thought:
"It is a privilege to take the Gospel to the least reached where very few have gone before.”
Privilege, priority, and perseverance. These were the themes weaved into the life story of our Mission’s Café speaker sharing about her family reaching the least reached in Central Asia. There is so much we can learn just by listening to other people's testimonies of God’s faithfulness! How is your story being interwoven with God’s big story? Whom could you share your story with?
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Blessings and ngā mihi nui,
Martin, Joyce, and the Eastwest team
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