Dear Friend,
Thank you for your partnership with the CGM.
During this past year, our CGM team has worked hard to see Bible based resources made available to a growing number of partners around the world. We have responded to enquiries from ministries in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America involving conversations about access to the Moore College Correspondence Course material (PTC), translation into various languages and the continuing rollout of our new IT platform. In this newsletter we would like to share with you some interesting highlights.
Farsi Translation Project
One of our newest partnerships is with N, who runs an online Iranian ministry. N became a Christian in Iran and subsequently lived in Sydney for 10 years before moving to the USA. During his time in Sydney, he completed a Bachelor of Theology at Moore. He now has over 900 people around the world participating in courses online in Farsi. This is a growing ministry and he would like to have the PTC translated into Farsi so that he can use it as a training resource. Once translated into Farsi there are endless opportunities for such a resource as the Farsi-speaking church is the fastest growing church in the world (by percentage).
Would you support the Farsi Translation Project?
Hindi Translation Project
Gladwin is from Delhi and he finished studying at Moore College three years ago. He and his Australian wife are now running a church back in Delhi. He sees great potential in translating the PTC into Hindi. People from the India Gospel League (IGL) have been teaching the PTC in India for some years and have translated some PTC subjects into Hindi, but a full translation project is required. We intend to get going on this new project when funds are available.
Would you like to support the Hindi Translation Project?
Portuguese Translation Project
Give thanks to God that funding has been secured for our Portuguese Translation Project. The translation team have just begun this work and intend to complete the translation of all 19 units in just over 2 years. Please pray for this team in this valuable work. The PTC in Portuguese will be an important addition to the resources we can offer and will be useful immediately in Brazil and Portuguese Africa, with potential use in Portugal as well.
Korean Translation Project
We have been in conversation with Korean Christians here in Sydney who are seeking to reawaken the Korean Translation Project. Six subjects were translated into Korean some time ago, but translation checking was only completed on two of these. Work has already started in checking the translation of the four remaining subjects. We hope to have the first six Korean subjects online sometime next year. Please pray that this may be possible.
New Online Learning Platform
In December last year we successfully rolled out the new online learning platform to partners around the world for those studying in English. In March, the first six subjects in French were uploaded to the online platform for the Anglican Diocese of Mauritius. Their students can now study in English or French. A further six subjects have been translated into French and we are in the process of getting these subjects online.
Russia
In February we received a call from an Australian Moore College graduate who is now working in Russia. He would like to use the PTC course as the basis for the curriculum at the Bible College in Kazan, Russia which trains people for ministry right across Central Asia. Our team is now working hard to get the first subjects online in Russian so that this new ministry initiative can begin.
Bible Basics – New Resource
Work is also progressing on our new ministry resource called ‘Bible Basics’, designed to train people for word-based ministry in the context of low literacy communities around the world. Having spent time researching the best strategies for teaching people from this type of background, we are now working on the first pilot units which we will test on the field.
Strategic Planning
At the end of last year, we began a strategic planning exercise, with the aims of defining our identity and mission, and setting our direction for the next five years. This process was completed in March and has been very useful in prioritising our projects and producing an accountability tool for the team. We also realised what a large amount of work we do for such a small, mostly part-time team!
Please pray for solutions as we seek to increase the capacity of our team.
All Nations, All Ages, All In?
On 28th April CGM sponsored a Public Lecture here at Moore College. The event had the primary objectives of stimulating missiological thinking in Sydney and publicising the work of CGM. The speaker was the Rev Dr David Williams, who is the Director of Development and Training for CMS Australia, based at St Andrew’s Hall in Melbourne (CMS Missionary Training College). His topic was the Homogeneous Unit Principle. This practical and relevant topic stimulated thought in the way we organise and carry out ministry, both in our own culture and in cross‑cultural situations. If you missed the event, please see the recording below and let us know of your thoughts!
COVID-19
Lockdowns, second and third waves, economic impact, grief and long-term health issues are some of the impacts that are affecting our partners.
Would you join us in praying for our CGM Partners during this current pandemic? Please pray for God’s protection, guidance and help in every situation.
Thank You
We have many opportunities to serve our partners and form new partnerships. Thank you for your interest in the Centre for Global Mission. We value your prayers for us and our partners.
Check out our website and learn more about the ministry of CGM and our gospel partners. Please consider partnering with us in prayer and also by financial support of one of the exciting new translation projects.
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