Sydney Bible Baptist College Graduates Testify
“To a man who has an American accent, an Australian passport and a Lebanese heart, thank you for making a college like SBBC possible. I thoroughly enjoyed your OT and NT Survey courses and refer to the Handbooks all the time for assignments. Your and Mrs. Hester’s testimony is a great encouragement to me.”
“Thank you very very much for developing the Bible History courses. They have been a great blessing to me and I hope to teach them to others. Though I may not remember all the material, I will remember your life testimony and faithfulness to the Lord.”
“Thank you for your labors of love in developing the Old and New Testament Bible History courses. Thank you also for your many years of service at SBBC and among the independent Baptist movement in Australia.”
“I remember your chapel message challenging us to make God our security and our all which has been a great blessing to my spiritual life.”
This was the off-year for my courses, but Kathleen and I could not go to the college anyway. The graduates kindly made us feel we were not forgotten in the above testimonies written on a card and given to us at the Thursday night graduation service. Thanks to all of you also for remembering us! We sincerely trust that all of you will have a blessed Christmas and a fruitful 2016 until the coming of our Lord!
A Personal Update
The coming New Year will mark 60 years of happy married life and ministry together for our Lord. Every day we thank the Lord for allowing us to still have each other. We also thank Him for giving us the measure of health so that we can help each other and assist each other’s weaknesses.
I lost a piece of vision last year which impacted my ability to see my notes for preaching. But a laptop computer on the pulpit is pulling me through. I am so thankful to still be able to preach in both English and Arabic every month.
Recently I lost some of the hearing I had gained through the cochlea implant. The doctor and the experts are perplexed and are trying to find a cause for this surprising development.
God has graciously allowed Kathleen to be at my side to help me through these limitations of sight and hearing.
Kathleen was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2012 after a long period of suspected Alzheimer’s. She lost her driver’s license in 2013. Things were very discouraging and any hope of change was hard to find. However, to God be all the glory, the doctor changed her medication and she began to stabilize. She has been stable all of this year and we see areas of improvement. We both are so thankful and rejoicing in the Lord’s goodness and grace! Of course, neither of us knows what the future holds, but our hearts overflow with thanksgiving for God’s blessing upon Kathleen. Our pastor recently told Kathleen she was the best member in the church because she grabs new visitors and brings them to him! I do not know how she can do it, but she is amazing, picking out new visitors in a crowd of several hundred, even though she struggles to know names of people whom she has known for many years. We have no explanation for some of her improvements other than the mercy and grace of a loving God!
Special Note
Please replace my old personal email rkhester@bigpond.net.au, with hrichardhester@gmail.com
Missionary Outpost 