MINISTRY / Well done!

Faithful Leadership

Pastor Bob Balza has served the past six years in the role of Education Administrator for 316NOW. His duties increased from writing courses and curriculum, getting translations worked out, and teaching weekly classes to setting up and promoting courses, working with the liaison pastor to find new students, recruit regular students into distinct pathways of learning, as well as advising pastors on how to use our materials. All this he has done as a volunteer.

Tons of Transition

Bob’s work in this capacity spanned the whole of the Covid crisis. This transition also coincided with less and less travel to China by our faculty, due both to the pandemic and changing governmental controls over western visitors. We lost a fair amount of students simply because we didn’t have enough information to communicate with them. However, in the past two years we have not only stabilized but also grown our student body and participation.

Thanks for seeking the interests of others

So, we offer thanks to Bob for his consistent service and prayers of thanks to the Lord for his considerable influence to keep our education efforts alive during these times of turmoil. Bob, you are one of the kingdom’s unsung heroes and a great role model of humility, gentleness, abounding in Jesus’ grace. As Paul wrote in Philippians 2, Make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

Bob’s stepping back has come about because of his health, not because of his desire or willingness to serve. We pray that he will be able to continue on our faculty at a slightly reduced level, still writing, teaching and guiding curriculum.

Thanks to our Lord for hearing our prayer

In the meantime, we have prayed for a pastoral replacement, a man with equal skills who can pick up the mantle of administration and enable 316NOW to continue to fulfill the great commission both in China and abroad.

God has supplied that person in the form of a highly trained, deeply committed missionary – Pastor Kevin Stellick. Kevin knows the field and most of the laborers there because of his more than fifteen years of service in China. In a couple of weeks I’ll let him tell his story and give you insight into his qualifications. For now, join our Board of Directors in thanking the Lord for his involvement and his readiness to assume the administrative duties of Grace Bible Institute.

We are heading into our fall season of classes soon, employing a new website and new strategies for recruiting students. We’ll share as many of these developments with you as we can and still keep our international interface with individuals as safe and secure as possible in today’s digital exchange. Pray, as you are able, for the Spirit’s blessing on this new phase of making disciples for our Lord Jesus Christ!