June 2020
"Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate: it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.... But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream" (Amos 5:15, 24).
"The LORD within her is righteous; he does no injustice; every morning he shows forth his justice; each dawn he does not fail; but the unjust knows no shame" (Zephaniah 3:5).
"Can wicked rulers be allied with you, those who frame injustice by statute? They band together against the life of the righteous and condemn the innocent to death. But the LORD has become my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge." (Psalm 94:20-22)
|
|
| | Santiago Theological Seminary - Praise God for the great course taught through Zoom on Pastoral Counseling by Rev. Michael Gembola in May. Some of the comments were: "He exemplified well what he taught. He was excellent and interesting." "Well prepared, concrete, and practical. I was impressed by his philosophy of counseling." "Impressive, with a lot of preparation, humility and erudite." Pray for our three mentors as they meet with their students virtually to cover more course material.
- It seems our next few courses will have to continue to be taught through Zoom, as the pandemic has hit the Dominican Republic hard. A course on Soteriology (Doctrine of Salvation) will be taught in July by a local professor.
- Pray for God's provision for the balance needed to complete the seminary classroom, and for $500 left to complete our library's Spanish books purchase. In recent weeks Bruce has packed many boxes of donated books to ship for our library.
|
|
| | Family Update - During the social isolation from the pandemic, Bruce has had the opportunity to distribute food to the elderly and to a refugee family. We have especially found more time to focus on a ministry of prayer.
- Bruce gave a class to seminary students in Santa Marta, Colombia through Zoom on God's call to mission.
- Anne has focused on raising Kaleah, doing weekly English tutoring, and keeping the household going smoothly.
- Bruce's daughter Brooke, Executive Director of AlphaCare, got married to Kevin Nearman on May 30th! Due to the pandemic, the event had to be kept small, but was a very lovely time in University City, West Philadelphia. Rev. Dwight Yoo, their pastor at Renewal Presbyterian, officiated.
- Bruce's daughter Abby has been safe through the pandemic in working as nurse practitioner with newborn babies at Hospital of Univ. of Penn, even though some birth mothers have had Coronavirus.
- Our foster daughter Kaleah has made progress so that she has graduated from receiving physical therapy, but has now started speech therapy. We are waiting to hear when her court hearing date is rescheduled.
- Mercredi finished the second half of his semester at Haverford College from home. He has started working in food delivery via bicycle, as internships are cancelled. Pray for more steady work.
|
| | |
|
| | | | | |
Racial Justice / Coronavirus
I recently wrote a blog article for our STS students on the topic of "Racial Justice," in light of the George Floyd murder and protests. The previous week I wrote on God's perspective regarding the Coronavirus. Click here to view: www.bruceamcdowell.com/blog/bruces-blog/ |
| | Racial Justice:
Jesus vs. Muhammad During the pandemic/social distancing we are experiencing Bruce has done some writing on comparing Muhammad and Jesus. One of many radical differences between the two was in their treatment of others. Muhammad had many African slaves, traded slaves, sexually used them, and called them derogatory names. The Hadith emphasizes that he was white. On the other hand, Jesus took the form of a slave, washed his disciples dirty feet, and in humiliation and shame at the cross in love gave his life for all peoples of the world. He taught us to accept one another as brothers and sisters in the household of God and as members of one body by the Spirit. See Bruce's first book on Islam here: https://www.wtsbooks.com/products/muslims-and-christians-at-the-table-bruce-mcdowell-zaka-9780875524733?variant=9996839944239
|
| |
Prayer Requests - Pray for Kaleah's next court hearing to be scheduled and a determination made that she can be adopted.
- Pray for how we can recruit new students for Santiago Theological Seminary in light of the pandemic.
- Praise the Lord for blessing Brooke and Kevin's wedding. Everything was beautiful and a wonderful evening.
- Pray for ways that we can be an encouragement and witness to our neighbors and friends in light of the racial tensions felt in our society now. There have been demonstrations and destruction of police cars and businesses, looting, leading to closed up supermarkets and pharmacies, and a blown up ATM (50 around the city), all a few blocks from our house.
Mailing address for support checks:
Reformed Evangelistic Fellowship PO Box 847 Bristol, TN 37621-0847
Be sure to include "McDowell" on memo line of check so it goes to correct account.
https://www.refglobal.org/mcdowell-bruce.html
|
|
Santiago Theological Seminary
Non-Profit Website
ACTS Beyond is the fundraising arm of STS. Donations for the seminary can be made through http://actsbeyond.org .
STS is seeking to raise $146,000 per year for the next three years, which includes three administrative positions. Contact Bruce for details at bruceamcdowell@gmail.com; 267-441-0734.
The STS website: https://stsantiago.edu.do
|
| |
|
|
|
