Thank you so much our dear partners in ministry. Hope you had a wonderful Christ honoring Christmas and are looking forward to a Christ honoring new year.
I’m going to include a letter I recently sent out to a few brethren here in South Africa. Please pray about the matters it mentions. Our new SMTI two-year course starts in February. Thanks for prayers about that. We are expecting a good group of students.
Yesterday, I met with Dr. Robert Somerville (professor of biblical counseling at The Masters College and Seminary) yesterday for several hours. Bob, of course, has been a good friend since 1978 when we did the doctoral program at Westminster Theological Seminary together. He also had been on the NANC (now ACBC) board with me for many years. We discussed the whole concept of ACBC Africa with him. He thought it would be a great asset to the biblical counseling effort for us to move forward with an ACBC Africa. He personally didn’t think there would be any problem with us moving forward with this since I, as an Academy Member of ACBC, can direct the movement. We talked extensively about us becoming an affiliate of ACBC USA in Africa. He will take the matter to Dr. Heath Lambert (Executive Director of ACBC) and get back to me with a decision before our January Steering committee meeting, but he personally thought that it would be a great idea. Right now, I’m the only person in Africa who is qualified to supervise/mentor others into membership. To mentor, a person must at least be at the Fellow level of membership. Getting others to the Fellow level is something we need to work on. We have a few other people (pastors) who are academically and experientially qualified but still must pass the ACBC Fellows exam. So there is much to pray about!
Here is a note I received from a former student who is a pastor in Capetown. I thought you’d be interested and encouraged by it.
“I am very excited about ACBC – Africa. I am writing a blog post for the Biblical Counselling Coalition soon, would you like me to mention that ACBC Africa is being developed? It might be a nice opportunity to create more awareness for it. But I will only do so if you would like me to.
I am ACBC certified (Level 2) and am excited about bringing ACBC to Africa! Please let me know if I can serve in any way.
Finally, my church is bringing Dr Tim Lane out to Cape Town in October 2015 for a series of meetings. That might be something you and folk in your church might be interested in joining us for? I will email you and Tim Cantrell and Sybrand with more information about it.
It is wonderful to hear of all that you are doing in Pretoria. Thank you for coming to South Africa. Your ministry has changed my life, and and the lives of many others. I am grateful to God for you Dr Mack.”
Warmly in Christ,
Wayne Mack
SMTI
LBC
ACBC Member of the Academy