News and Prayer Letter

                                                Summer 2024  

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

The Lord gives us life, breath, and all things. He works and directs all for the good of His people, to the praise of His glory. Psalm 90:12 asks that the Lord would “teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom”. Our lives are in the Lord’s hands, and may we live each day for His glory, seeking first His kingdom and righteousness. 

In the Lord’s providence and good purpose, Rev. Rudy Poettcker has found out that he has a health situation that needs your prayers. Here is an update from him on his health and the work of RCM and Christian Liberty Academy:

Thank you for your continued prayer for my health situation. I have been experiencing a variety of pain (from lower back radiating down right leg).  I had an MRI which showed that there are a few cancer tumors on the spine, and one of them is a bit larger that is probably causing the pain.   In the past week the Lord just opened up one “door” after another (appointments and treatments).  We are so thankful. We do pray for God’s will in granting healing through the treatments, and for grace to trust the Lord if that healing does not take place in this life.  Either way we know that God is good and right in all He does.  As His people we have the greatest of all blessings, eternal life.

Let us also join together in thanks to the Lord for the Graduation Ceremony we had in May.  We focused on the glory of God and His blessings to CLA for another year and another graduation class (the 44th!).  Of the class of 14, 10 graduated.  They are from 6 different countries.  Four of them had been students in CLA from K-4!  What a great blessing!

I must confess I feel sad to not be able to be present for the beginning of the school year (including the teacher preparation day), but this too is in the Lord’s hands.  Please continue to pray for the ongoing plans which also includes ongoing work in the yard and side street (which includes drainage and laying of street tiles).  PTL for the workers and for all the teachers who are preparing.  I am thankful that I have been able to complete the teaching plans for the courses I normally work on.  I still have exams to revise, and hope to get them completed as soon as possible, by God’s grace.

For His kingdom and for His glory, together with you all,

Rev. Rudy Poettcker

COLLEGE AND SEMINARY UPDATE (RITS & RIC):

Last time we mentioned the enrollment of another student in our seminary program, who lives in France but is from Pakistan. He continues in his studies, as do our other college and seminary students. We also have several Ruling Elders taking courses through our seminary program, with the goal of being licensed to exhort in the Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church denomination.

Please keep these students in your prayers, as well as the other RCM students (College, Seminary, CLA).

Seminary Student/Church Partnership Program:

To help students and churches train men for the ministry, we are offering the following:

• We will reduce tuition $10 per credit for every man who is enrolled into our M.Div. program and is supported financially by his local church for the purpose of preparing him for the work of ministry.
• To receive the discount, applications must include a note from the church that they will be sharing in tuition cost.
• Students should complete a minimum of 18 credits per calendar year to maintain the discounted price.

To learn more about this offer and to see our M.Div. course program, listen to free lectures, sample syllabi and outlines, etc., go here: https://reformationseminary.org/course-lectures/   

Would you continue to pray with us that God would bring many more students who are zealous to learn God’s Word and be equipped to serve as teachers, church officers, pastors, and missionaries? We greatly desire to see biblical reformation in our churches, but sadly so many are caving to the cultural moment, along with many seminaries and academic institutions. Pray that God would use our college and seminary programs to raise up a faithful generation of Christian laypersons and church leaders who will stand firmly on God’s Word, as Paul said to the younger Timothy –

Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching (2 Tim. 4:2).  

The Good News Bible Series Update:

The Good News Bible Series (GNBS) is a program which has enrolled more than 30,000 people from all around the globe. It is an evangelistic Bible study that covers basic biblical teaching on God, sin, Jesus Christ, faith and repentance, and obedience and holiness. Currently, Rev. John Otis and others are migrating GNBS courses online.

If your church would like to know how to utilize the courses of the GNBS to reach your community and further instruct your congregation, please contact us and we will show you how to do this just as we did with a church in Oregon!

Also in the Lord’s good purpose, He called Christine Otis home to glory in May. Here is John Otis:

My dear wife Christine left this vale of tears and entered into glory to forever be with her Jesus at about 8:00 PM.  Her translation into glory was peaceful. I will terribly miss her, but she is not missing me!

She was a godly wife, and her contributions to my ministry for these 46 years was profound, and her work with the Good News Bible Series will go on for generations. She has left a wonderful legacy.

One of my major prayer requests I mention to people is that I need to replace Christine’s technical talent with someone else.  The Lord may have helped me find this person; we will see.

Blessings,

John

__________________________________________________________________________________

In 2019, the great catechism titled Questions About Christianity With Scripture Proofs: A Catechism for Children, Young Converts, and Inquirers was printed and published. This catechism has been used in Sunday School classes to help children learn the Christian faith through Questions and Answers with supporting Bible verses listed below each answer.

To learn more about GNBS and the catechism, take this link here:  https://goodnewsbibleseries.com/. 

College/Seminary Website & 50 FREE Lectures! 

We are now offering the Bavinck course for $95, and if you complete it, you get a $50 credit toward a future course. In addition, we have made 50 of our lectures across 17 of our courses available for free on our website. These lectures are the first several from each of these courses, giving you an opportunity to learn more about them and enroll if you like what you hear. The new college & seminary website now allows you to sample syllabi, view study guide assignments, listen to free lectures in our seminary program, & more. Stay tuned, as we hope to do more with our lectures and other materials, to make them readily available online in the future.

REFORMATION INTERNATIONAL THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY SPOTLIGHT:

This time we are focusing on our Biblical/Covenant Theology Course. The course is designed as an introduction to much of what the student will be studying in future courses as well as an application of biblical theology, i.e. how this subject is developed and expanded through successive expansions and insights into God’s covenants of promise.  The various covenants are all progressive parts of the one overarching covenant of grace as promised and fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus Christ.  This course approaches the subject from an exegetical and biblical-theological perspective, so that the richness of the covenant shines through and the Christ of the covenant is proclaimed.  This study will help the student to understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ, especially as shown in the Old Testament and brought to fulfillment in the New Testament.  It will also show both the unity of Scripture through all of the sixty six books of both the Old and New Testaments.  Since the covenant of grace is perhaps the most dominant theme throughout Scripture, each of the successive covenants of promise serve as a plumbline against which many errors and heresies so common today may be measured, understood and critiqued.  False gospels become much more clear when measured against the true gospel of the Christ of the Covenants who saves always and only by grace alone and evidenced in their works of holiness from the God who promised to call a people to be His people and to be their God.

TEXTBOOK:  The Christ of the Covenants (paperback) by O. Palmer Robertson. 

LECTURES:  Covenants of Promise Lectures and Outlines (DOWNLOADABLE VERSION with 35 audio MP3 lectures, PDF transcripts & PDF Outline) These lectures are by Rev. Dr. Joseph Morecraft III and were given in 1983.

If you or someone you know is interested in enrolling for this course, you can find more information about it here https://gorcm.org/product/bts-501-covenants-of-promise/ or email us at tfb@reformation.edu

REFORMATION INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE

A one-year Bachelor Certificate in Theology is now offered through RIC to interested students at just $75/credit (courses pictured on the right), or for only $2000 if you pay for the whole program upfront. Please visit www.reformationseminary.org for more information and to check out our full Bachelor’s in Education program.

Donations to RCM

Your generous gift to RCM is greatly needed and sincerely appreciated.

Reformation Christian Ministries

U.S.A.:	1300 East University Blvd. Melbourne, FL 32901	(772) 663-8844	tfb@reformation.edu
Canada:	74 MacKenzie Crescent, Lacombe, AB T4L 0B3	(403) 597-7244	canada@reformation.edu

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	SALT (Ministry of Rev. Rudy Poettcker)			EQUIP (Ministry of Thomas F. Booher)
	Overseas Seminary Student Subsidies			Courses t o Oversea Pastors ($50 per course cost)
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[This is Rev. Rudy Poettcker,
missionary with Reformation Christian Ministries (RCM), giving you a brief update.]

Greetings dear prayer partners,

I do pray that the Lord would assure you that your prayerful support is so much needed and appreciated. Let us always be reminded that the Lord has sovereignly chosen to work His eternal counsel through the prayers of His people. What a blessing the communion of saints is!

CLA is now beginning the 4th week of the 4th Quarter. Thank you for your continued prayer for teachers, staff, and students. Please also pray for Rev. Hamid and me in Administration. Pray also for Rev. Hamid’s encouragement as Pastor in FPC.

The construction is still progressing. Recently much work has been done to re-do our drainage system in the yard of the new building. The neighbors are thankful that we are working with them to also help with their drainage. It has been a large undertaking and PTL is going well.

PTL also for the students in the College and Seminary programs and pray for my online work with each one. At times students express their thanks for how the communication between us is helpful, and I am truly thankful for being used of the Lord in this way.

Serving our Lord together with you all,

Rev. RP

Some pics of work for the drainage:

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The ministry of SALT (Scriptural Advanced Leadership Training) includes:

• Director of RITS & RIC (Reformation International Theological Seminary & Reformation International College).
• As Dean of Studies, I work with students in College studies (especially teacher training for a Bachelor of Arts in Education Degree).
• As Dean of Studies, I work with students in Seminary studies (especially training for ministry and eldership in the M.Div. degree program).
• My work, together with Rev. Hamid, in Administration of CLA (Christian Liberty Academy) in Suriname. I serve as Headmaster, and he is Administrator.
• I also serve as Elder in First Presbyterian Church in Suriname (FPC).

Pray for my preaching ministry at King’s Reformed Presbyterian Church in Melbourne, Florida.

Link to church website (and live stream of Sunday worship): https://www.krpc.us/

Link to RCM website: https://www.reformation.edu

To support this ministry (tax-exempt), you may write the check to “Reformation Christian Ministries” and designate it to “SALT” (Scriptural Advanced Leadership Training).

Mailing address: 1300 East University Blvd. Melbourne, FL. 32901

If you wish to donate online, you may use this link (and select SALT for designation):

https://gorcm.org/product/donate-to-rcm/

[This is Rev. Rudy Poettcker,
missionary with Reformation Christian Ministries (RCM), giving you a brief update.]

Greetings in Him Who lives and reigns forever!

I trust you all had a blessed Lord’s Day (in a special way celebrating the resurrection of our Lord).

CLA in Suriname returns to classes this Tuesday. Please pray for all who work there to be renewed in their service to the Lord at CLA. PTL for how the construction is going. Many items are being completed on the inside for the residence of the Hamids. While they are still having to wait to move over, they are very thankful for this new residence for them. The Lord truly is blessing CLA through them and it is a joy to see that they will have a more comfortable place to live.

In the Seminary (RITS) we have just enrolled a new full-time student. He is living in France, from Pakistan, and is most eager to be trained in Reformed theology for ministry there in France. His personal testimony is rather moving and encouraging. I’ll copy a small part of it:

Since in Europe, I had the privilege of visiting over 30 churches across various countries and engaging with Christians from diverse backgrounds and ethnicities. It is disheartening to realize that a significant portion of Christianity in Europe adheres to doctrinal beliefs that deviate from bible teaching. … This misinterpretation portrays God as lacking in holiness and justice, emphasizing only unconditional love that seemingly tolerates sin without a call to repentance. Such theological distortions undermine the core principles of biblical doctrine. … I have faced expulsion from churches simply for asking questions from the bible about how they practice things which the bible does not command. Under the shadow of European culture people tend to stick to tradition they have been taught, and completely destroy the teaching of Christ. Their focus is often on keeping others happy rather than honoring the Lord. … Their worship often takes on more theatrics to entertain the people than to glorify God. God helped me to understand things more clearly and He put the deep desire in me to serve His church faithfully.

Please do pray for him in his studies, along with prayer for all the students with RCM (College, Seminary, and at CLA).

Praising the Lord for His work through RCM/SALT,

Rev. RP

Some pics of work inside the residence:

The ministry of SALT (Scriptural Advanced Leadership Training) includes:

• Director of RITS & RIC (Reformation International Theological Seminary & Reformation International College).
• As Dean of Studies, I work with students in College studies (especially teacher training for a Bachelor of Arts in Education Degree).
• As Dean of Studies, I work with students in Seminary studies (especially training for ministry and eldership in the M.Div. degree program).
• My work, together with Rev. Hamid, in Administration of CLA (Christian Liberty Academy) in Suriname. I serve as Headmaster, and he is Administrator.
• I also serve as Elder in First Presbyterian Church in Suriname (FPC).

Pray for my preaching ministry at King’s Reformed Presbyterian Church in Melbourne, Florida.

Link to church website (and live stream of Sunday worship): https://www.krpc.us/

Link to RCM website: https://www.reformation.edu

To support this ministry (tax-exempt), you may write the check to “Reformation Christian Ministries” and designate it to “SALT” (Scriptural Advanced Leadership Training).

Mailing address: 1300 East University Blvd. Melbourne, FL. 32901

If you wish to donate online, you may use this link (and select SALT for designation):

https://gorcm.org/product/donate-to-rcm/

[This is Rev. Rudy Poettcker,
missionary with Reformation Christian Ministries (RCM), giving you a brief update.]

Greetings in the name of our crucified, risen, and ruling Lord!

May we all rejoice that the Spirit has worked in our hearts to give us repentance for sins and a faith to believe that the Lord Jesus paid the great price for those sins, and that, as risen Lord, He also now rules over all, and in His time will bring them to glory those He died for.

CLA in Suriname has a “break” this week and begins classes again on the Tuesday after “Easter Monday”. Pray that all the teachers and staff will have time to relax and be refreshed and return to their work with renewed purpose in serving the Lord.

Hamids were hoping to be able to move to their residence during the break but at best they will only move over some things. There are still many “small things” needing to be completed. PTL that they trust the Lord in it all.

Please continue to pray for the students in College and Seminary, and for my online work with them. And also, please pray for Mrs. Otis (Good News Bible Study) and her trials in illness.

Prayerfully and thankfully,

Rev. RP

The ministry of SALT (Scriptural Advanced Leadership Training) includes:

• Director of RITS & RIC (Reformation International Theological Seminary & Reformation International College).
• As Dean of Studies, I work with students in College studies (especially teacher training for a Bachelor of Arts in Education Degree).
• As Dean of Studies, I work with students in Seminary studies (especially training for ministry and eldership in the M.Div. degree program).
• My work, together with Rev. Hamid, in Administration of CLA (Christian Liberty Academy) in Suriname. I serve as Headmaster, and he is Administrator.
• I also serve as Elder in First Presbyterian Church in Suriname (FPC).

Pray for my preaching ministry at King’s Reformed Presbyterian Church in Melbourne, Florida.

Link to church website (and live stream of Sunday worship): https://www.krpc.us/

Link to RCM website: https://www.reformation.edu

To support this ministry (tax-exempt), you may write the check to “Reformation Christian Ministries” and designate it to “SALT” (Scriptural Advanced Leadership Training).

Mailing address: 1300 East University Blvd. Melbourne, FL. 32901

If you wish to donate online, you may use this link (and select SALT for designation):

https://gorcm.org/product/donate-to-rcm/

[This is Rev. Rudy Poettcker,
missionary with Reformation Christian Ministries (RCM), giving you a brief update.]

Greetings in the name of our sovereign Lord!

May we all be comforted and assured that He is sovereign in all that is taking place in our countries (US & Canada) and in the world. There is much that could cause us to fret but that only causes harm (Ps.37:8).

We are beginning to make plans for Board meetings for both US Board and Canadian Board. PTL for those members on the boards, who so willing give of their time for service to the Lord.

This past week the school and Church in Suriname experienced the valley of the shadow of death. A member of the Church passed away (she is mother to one of our teachers who is also a member of FPC). Pray for God’s good purpose also in this, and for comfort to those who know the Lord.

Once again, PTL for the ongoing progress in construction. Pray for Hamids as they get things ready to move ASAP. I’m sure you can appreciate that many things need to be done and planned for.

Profoundly thankful for your partnership in prayer,

Rev. RP

Tiles on front stairs:

The ministry of SALT (Scriptural Advanced Leadership Training) includes:

• Director of RITS & RIC (Reformation International Theological Seminary & Reformation International College).
• As Dean of Studies, I work with students in College studies (especially teacher training for a Bachelor of Arts in Education Degree).
• As Dean of Studies, I work with students in Seminary studies (especially training for ministry and eldership in the M.Div. degree program).
• My work, together with Rev. Hamid, in Administration of CLA (Christian Liberty Academy) in Suriname. I serve as Headmaster, and he is Administrator.
• I also serve as Elder in First Presbyterian Church in Suriname (FPC).

Pray for my preaching ministry at King’s Reformed Presbyterian Church in Melbourne, Florida.

Link to church website (and live stream of Sunday worship): https://www.krpc.us/

Link to RCM website: https://www.reformation.edu

To support this ministry (tax-exempt), you may write the check to “Reformation Christian Ministries” and designate it to “SALT” (Scriptural Advanced Leadership Training).

Mailing address: 1300 East University Blvd. Melbourne, FL. 32901

If you wish to donate online, you may use this link (and select SALT for designation):

https://gorcm.org/product/donate-to-rcm/

[This is Rev. Rudy Poettcker,
missionary with Reformation Christian Ministries (RCM), giving you a brief update.]

Greetings dear prayer partners!

Thank you for being a very important part of the ministry of SALT with RCM. Be encouraged that the Lord works His perfect will and purpose through the prayer of His people.

It seems almost surreal that we are now into the Fourth and final Quarter of school at CLA in Suriname. I was just reminded to order graduation tassels! Lord willing, I will be there in May for the Fourth Qt. Exams and Final Exams, as well as graduation. Please pray for all who work at CLA to be encouraged in their callings there. The construction work goes on and we are still hoping that Hamids can move into the upper level by end of March.

Thank you for also praying for the students in the College and Seminary and that God will bless their studies for His purpose and calling in their lives.

On a more personal note, the month of March has been a month of many memories which the Lord found wise for us to experience. In 1992 our son died, in 2003 we had the fire in Suriname which destroyed all our possessions, and we also have had other difficult experiences. I say it only to PTL that He is gracious in the deepest “valley” and takes us through them.

Serving our Lord together with you,

Rev. RP

PTL for ongoing construction:

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The ministry of SALT (Scriptural Advanced Leadership Training) includes:

• Director of RITS & RIC (Reformation International Theological Seminary & Reformation International College).
• As Dean of Studies, I work with students in College studies (especially teacher training for a Bachelor of Arts in Education Degree).
• As Dean of Studies, I work with students in Seminary studies (especially training for ministry and eldership in the M.Div. degree program).
• My work, together with Rev. Hamid, in Administration of CLA (Christian Liberty Academy) in Suriname. I serve as Headmaster, and he is Administrator.
• I also serve as Elder in First Presbyterian Church in Suriname (FPC).

Pray for my preaching ministry at King’s Reformed Presbyterian Church in Melbourne, Florida.

Link to church website (and live stream of Sunday worship): https://www.krpc.us/

Link to RCM website: https://www.reformation.edu

To support this ministry (tax-exempt), you may write the check to “Reformation Christian Ministries” and designate it to “SALT” (Scriptural Advanced Leadership Training).

Mailing address: 1300 East University Blvd. Melbourne, FL. 32901

If you wish to donate online, you may use this link (and select SALT for designation):

https://gorcm.org/product/donate-to-rcm/