As I write this update, we are finishing the last week of classes at Heritage and headed into finals week (next week). What a year it’s been! So many challenges and changes. But so many evidences of God’s grace and goodness. Our prayer from September has been, “Lord, help us to make it all the way to graduation.” He’s answered that prayer, keeping our students physically safe and spiritually vibrant. My heart rejoices.
Last Friday, I asked you to pray for a Pastoral Leadership course I was teaching that day. Thank you for praying. The day-long class went very well. I’m excited to see how the Lord will use these men and women to serve Him in the years to come. God continues to send us stellar students to train for life and ministry. Linda and I feel joyful and fulfilled in pouring our lives into them.
On Tuesday, we had our Commissioning Chapel as the final chapel service of the year. It was an important time to encourage and challenge students who will be graduating and those who will be heading into summer jobs or ministries before returning to complete their studies. You can listen to my 20-minute message to our students in the video below (it starts at the 10:40 mark). I’d encourage you to listen to the song some of our students sang before my message; it’s beautiful and powerful (starts at 4:20 mark).
Here are several prayer requests for the coming week.
Pray for students as they finish term papers and take final exams next week. Everyone is weary from an arduous year and we need God’s enablement to finish well.
Pray for us as we prepare for two virtual graduations (one for the college and one for the seminary). We’d love to be able to gather in person for these important ceremonies. This year, because of COVID restrictions, we will be having them online. Pray for our team as we prepare for the college graduation (April 30) and the seminary graduation (May 1).
We continue to lag behind previous years in terms of college applications for next fall. Please pray that the Lord will direct students to Heritage who want to invest one or more years in preparing for a lifetime of living for Christ and serving His Church and global mission.
Thank you for praying!
Rick and Linda Reed 