Yesterday was a full day. In the morning, I gave the convocation address at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary (PRTS) for the 2022-2023 school year (photo 1), and a photograph was taken in front of our building of the attendees (photo 2). Please pray for Puritan Reformed Seminary for this school year, especially for our new crop of incoming students! We are now serving about 250 students per year—half of them from overseas. They need your prayers, as do the hundreds of alumni serving in active ministry in a few dozen countries around the world.
After the convocation address, I left immediately to lead the funeral service on Job 14:1-3 for John VanderBoon, a dear brother and member of our church who died at the age of 94 (photo 3). At the cemetery, I spoke only a few minutes on John 14:1-3 due to the heaviest rainstorm we have ever encountered in a graveyard. Please remember this mourning family, especially his dear wife, Margaret, to whom he was married for 73 years!
From there Mary and I went to our annual welcome picnic for our Puritan Reformed seminary community, which was attended by about 150 seminary students, including their family members (photo 4). Afterwards, Mary and I competed in a game of Cornhole with several of the students and their wives (photo 5). We survived the first round but got beat on round 2, which was really a good thing because the winners got some free books—and the students need those more than me at this point in life!
And from there Mary and I ended our evening by visiting Joyce Pols, who lost her husband Pete—another dear brother and member of our church. He died very suddenly at the age of 78 (photo 6) while we were in Asia some days ago. Please pray also for this dear widow and her family that God would fill this huge, empty place with His presence. May you and I ever be ready to meet our Lord.
