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Updates
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August 28, 2008 -- The third quarter of this academic year began one month ago and both instructors and students are very busy as they work on courses. Our Introduction to psychology is being taught by Dr. Lindalva Nunes, a Reformed psychiatrist in Belem, Brazil. Rev. Paulo Henrique Brasil e Souza, presently following postgraduate studies at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Greenville, SC, is teaching on Old Testament Historical Books. A course on the Revelation is being taught by Rev. Jorge Luis Barros, an Orthodox Presbyterian home missionary, ministering to Portuguese-speakers in Mississauga, ON. Dr. Paulo R. B. Anglada, pastor of Central Presbyterian Church in Belem, Brazil, is teaching Homiletics, a course on the principles of preaching. Evangelization is being offered by Dr. Elias Medeiros, professor of Missions at Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, MS. Finally, Rev. Leandro A. de Lima, a pastor in Sao Paulo, is providing a course on Contemporary Theology.

The IRTC is in urgent need of help for support services. She is looking for volunteers to seek financial support among members of their churches, a volunteer to coordinate promotion of the College among Christian brothers and sisters, and someone who might be able to help with matters of educational administration. While our student body is growing and receipts from student fees are increasing, we are still well short of our needs for giving gratuities to our instructors. This year our total receipts by July 31 were US$13,454.35, while our budget for the year is looking for US$62,500.00. Could you help us? Would you pray for us?


June 4, 2008 - The 32 students in our second quarter have three more weeks to complete their courses. Please pray for them and for our support. We have received a little less than US$10,000.00 of our budget of US$62,500.00.

March 24, 2008 - Half way through our first quarter of this year, instructors and students are working diligently to please the Lord in their teaching and studies. We are delighted that there are presently 25 students. We also give thanks to God for permitting us to offer  two courses that have not been taught previously. Gradually, year by year, we are building up a full program of studies. Please pray for all of us that we may be found zealous and faithful in all we do.

December 5, 2007 - In just over two weeks our fourth and final quarter of study in 2007 will draw to a close. We have 19 students taking one or more courses, a number that is encouraging. We are thankful for the rich blessings God has given us in faithful instructors who labor diligently even though for all of them the IRTC is not their first calling. With much commitment, they make time for our students in addition to serving the Lord as pastors or teachers in His service in their churches or in other educational institutions. Although the year is far advanced, our receipts are falling significantly behind last year. We have received less than 40% of our budget so far. Please have a look at our "Support Us" page for more details.

October 4, 2007 - We miss our brother, James Olin Coleman, who was glorified by the Lord on September 23, 2007. Olin was a member and the moderator of our Board of Governors. For more information about this brother you can visit http://puritanpro.blogspot.com/ .

Our fourth quarter of this year is scheduled to start on October 15. We are encouraged that six of the seven courses to be taught have not been offered before. We thank the Lord for this growth in our work. Please pray for us and be sure to visit our "Support Us" page to see what you can do to help this educational ministry.




August 16, 2007 - We are now in the third quarter of the academic year. 17 students are taking one or more of five courses: Hermeneutics, Research Methodology, Hebrew II, Missions, and Doctrine of Salvation. Our teaching is proceeding well, with more students than last year. Our administration has gotten behind a little due to our limited human resources, but we think we'll be able to get caught up. Please pray for all of us and have a look at our "Support Us" page to see how we are doing financially. May the Lord grant us all we need as we continue to dedicate ourselves to building a complete program of studies for students who do not have the opportunity to study in a traditional college or seminary.

March 20, 2007 - We apologize for not keeping you posted more often on how the Lord is leading us in our service to him. Our academic year began on February 5 and we presently have 13 students working on four courses. Our prospects for this year are good as we have several more instructors and are now offering about half of the courses in our programs. Each year we are encouraged as the Lord enables us to add more courses to our offerings. For the current year, we have adopted a budget of US$40,000.00. This is an increase from last year, due to the increase in the number of courses. Please pray that our God may supply our needs and that we may reach a greater number of students around the world.


November 6, 2006 - Please pray for our 4 instructors and 12 students who are working on courses this quarter. We rejoice in the Lord and give thanks for receipts that now total US$21,611.00 for the year. This is 70% of our budget. Would you be able to help us meet the full amount this year?

September 13, 2006 - We are now in the third module of studies for 2006. Please pray for our 14 students and 5 instructors who are hard at work at this time. We rejoice in the Lord for our receipts thus far this year. We have now received US$18,686.00 towards our budget of US$31,000 and pray that our gracious God may grant full support for this year.

March 25, 2006 - Eleven students are well under way in following their courses in the first quarter of 2006. We got off to a bit of a slow start and also had a couple of days delay because some of the configurations on our teaching environment needed to be changed. Now the teaching is proceeding well. We thank the Lord for continued blessings that enable his work to go forward. We also rejoice in the prayers of God's people. Our financial support is still limited this year, having received less than 10% of our budget so far.

January 14, 2006 - In December rhe U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has determined that the IRTC is exempt from Federal income tax under section 501 (c) (3) of the Tax Code. Last week our Board of Directors adopted a budget of US$31,000.00 for 2006. We pray that the Lord will provide the necessary funds through the generosity of his people. See Support Us for more details.

November 15, 2005 - During the course of the year we taught the same courses as last year and added several new ones: Christology, Biblical Counseling and Hebrew I. Some 30 students were enrolled in one or more of the courses.

Our administrative advances included filing an application with the IRS for non-profit status and participation in the Association of Institutions of Theological Training of Reformed Churches in Latin America.

Our financial support is lagging behind last year's receipts. We have received USD$4,950.00 towards a projected budget of USD$34,000.00 for 2005. Please pray for us and bring our needs before our heavenly Father.

February 9, 2005 - The Lord has continued to grant us significant developments. On January 20, the Virginia State Council for Higher Education granted us certification as a religious institution of higher education, which means we are exempt from state supervision while meeting the basic requirements for a school of our character. We are now able to receive donations online. For this, you may click the link above. You may also be interested in our English-language catalog which fully describes the IRTC. See the link at the top of our home page. We have just initiated the first quarter of instruction for 2005 and look forward to the Lord's blessings on this important teaching ministry. Our financial base increased last year, while so far this year we have received US$1302 toward a budget of US$40,000. Please continue to pray for improved vision for our president, Rev. Ralph Boersema. He is very thankful for continuing improvements, but is not yet able to read.

September 17, 2004 - On June 16 the International Reformed Theological College was incorporated in the state of Virginia, USA as a non-profit educational institution. We thank God for this significant development. Our president, Rev. Ralph Boersema, had an infection in his eye on April 30 and is still recovering after two surgeries. He has not been able to read and this has limited our communications with our supporters. We thank the Lord for blessing the surgeries and ask for continued prayer that his eyesight may recover sufficiently to permit him to read again. In the meantime, our teaching has continued under the Lord's care. We had a successful second quarter and are now about halfway through our third quarter. Our financial support has been quite limited. We have received US$15,539.10 of our annual budget of US$40,000.

March 31, 2004 - Seventeen students are enrolled in one or more of the four courses being offered in the first quarter of this year. With regard to our budget, having reached the end of the first quarter of the year, we have received US$9,456.00 which is 23% of our goal. We give much thanks to the Lord for his great mercies!

January 17, 2004 - The IRTC is now entering its fourth year. Our first quarter of teaching will start on February 2. Pray that the Lord may continue to increase the number of students who seek us out for a sound Reformed education.