Grants update : Luke Baldwin
Our first few weeks at Oak Hill college
In our last update we said that we were hoping to go to Oak Hill College in September , and we are really excited to say that we have now arrived . We are extremely grateful for all your support and prayers over the last few months that has made it possible for us to be here .
We moved at the end of August and are now living on the college campus . Our road is full of college students and lecturers , so it ’ s a lovely community for us to be a part of and Xander has already begun to make friends .
Classes began properly for me in early September , and I have had to work pretty hard to get back into the rhythm of being a student . I ’ ve already been late to class once and as I ’ m writing this , I still haven ’ t finished my homework for tomorrow ’ s mission class ( for which my dad is the lecturer ). On a brighter note , I passed my first Hebrew quiz , and have learnt my first few Greek words ( with a bit of help from Claudette , who is still the household expert )!
We visited our new church for the first time on Sunday , Woodford Evangelical Church , which was lovely , but we are missing everyone at Kings Church Walton keenly .
Second semester and post lockdown at college
College now really feels like home to us , and God has kindly cared for us in so many ways . We have been able to make some key friendships that has helped us keep spiritually fit during this time .
As with the rest of the UK , we have gone through another lockdown on campus , but with the hardship of lockdown also came good things . Living on the campus meant we still saw friends and neighbours for walks , and it gave us some good family time . Sadly , lockdown also meant lectures moved to Zoom in December . Lectures on Zoom have been more tiring and harder to engage with , but at this point , up to six of us are able to gather outside and watch the lecture together , which is a pleasant change .
I have really appreciated the breadth of the course here at Oak Hill , studying languages , history , theology and culture . I have found Hebrew and Greek to be the most challenging courses , but am pleased to have been able to keep up and I ’ ve really enjoyed the Cross Cultural course and thinking about how to speak the truths of the gospel into a different culture .
Xander turned two on 17th of Feb , and seems to have adapted to life at college really well . He will be starting nursery in April , when the government will pay for 15hrs a week , and Claudette is excited to have those mornings to sit in on lectures and learn alongside me . We are excited to see how this will help equip both of us for future ministry . We are also excited that Claudette is pregnant , and God willing we will be a family of four in September 2021 .
Lockdown has also provided time for us to keep thinking about post college plans . We are hoping to go to an unreached people group post college to share the good news of Jesus Christ . We were hoping to visit Vietnam this summer but Covid restrictions and pregnancy has meant plans to visit will be on hold . We have managed to Zoom with about 3 people currently working in Vietnam and that has helped us more in our planning and prayer but we would appreciate more prayer as we keep seeking God regarding where to go after college .
We are enjoying the warmer weather and easing of restrictions and having people in our garden again . I am gearing up for the last 5 weeks of term before summer holidays and we are very thankful for a year of learning more about God and beginning to think more about where he might use us in the future .
In Christ , Luke , Claudette , Xander
Luke , Claudette & Xander
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