MISSIONARY PROFILE
Steven
White
Missionary Update 02/14/2020
Greetings to you from Pacific West Baptist College! Our Spring Semester started last January 28. We thank the Lord for how He preserved the teachers and the students during the winter break. Thank you for your continued support for the college and, most of all your prayers. We know that God rewards His people that are faithful. This year, we are seeking to become a registered charity in the eyes of the government. Being a registered charity have three primary advantages that we can get. Registered charities: · can issue official tax receipts to donors; · receive favorable income tax treatment; and · benefit from the perception that our organization is doing a good work. So, this is one thing that we are aiming to have. Another one is online courses. In this day in age, technology has become part of our lives and in most of the colleges. We can teach more Christians and church workers who desire to refresh themselves from a specific subject or Christians who do not have ways to come to the Bible college but still wanting to be trained for the furtherance of God’s kingdom. There are lots of things that need to be done on these two goals. We humbly ask your prayers for the processing and the direction of these goals. Also, please pray for wisdom and God’s leading for the Bible College for teachers and students. Thank you and God Bless. Sincerely, Sylvester Estrao Vice President
Missionary Update 12/23/2019
December 19, 2019 Dear Faith Baptist Church, Greetings to you from Pacific West Baptist College! The days have gone by quickly, and the Fall semester is already finished. We thank the Lord for His faithfulness to the faculty and staff, students, college, and to our faithful supporters. May our gracious Lord supply your needs according as He promised in His word. We want to thank all of you for praying with us as we seek to become a recognized ‘Degree-Granting’ institution. God, however, has introduced a delay to our timetable. We know that God makes no mistakes and that He moves with purpose, and so, we gladly accept this delay as we pray and plan to continue growing the college for God’s glory. We humbly ask that please pray for wisdom and strength for the leadership of the college as we move forward and prepare for 2020, thus completing seven full years of service to God. Pray also for the students as they have their winter break, and please pray for the teachers as they prepare for the Spring semester. Thank you and God Bless. Sincerely, Sylvester Estrao Vice President
Missionary Update 11/15/2019
November 13, 2019 Dear Faith Baptist Church, Greetings to you from Pacific West Baptist College! Our Bible College is always grateful to our Lord for giving us faithful supporters like your church. Thank you, dear church, for your continued prayer and support financially. We always felt your love and generosity to our college. We also thank the Lord because He always shows Himself strong in times of trials and difficulties. This semester, Satan is moving the college with some discouragement, but we know God is always there and faithful in fulfilling His plans and will in the lives of the students and teachers and the college as well. Four more weeks and semester will be over. It’s an uphill battle for us, but we know we have prayer warriors who faithfully praying for us. Please pray for one of our students, name Ivan, who went to the Philippines to attend the funeral of his grandfather. Please pray for students that they will always be faithful to God and their calling. Please pray for the ‘Degree-Granting’ status for our Bible College. The MLA postponed their meeting last time, and the lawyer said that the Legislative Committee would hold their meeting this month. There is no specific date yet, so please join us in prayer about this matter. God bless and thank you very much! Sincerely, Sylvester Estrao Vice President
Missionary Update 09/20/2019
September 20, 2019 Dear Faith Baptist Church, Greetings to you from Pacific West Baptist College! Time dashes. PWBC is now in its seventh year by God’s grace. For seven years, God showed His faithfulness, mercy, and grace upon us. He faithfully gives us teachers, students, and financial needs. Thank you for being part of this great ministry. Thank you for your continued prayer and support for God’s work here in Surrey. This school year, God gave us nine full-time and one part-time student. We had a great start this year with many challenges from the Word of God. Last Wednesday, we had a privilege to listen to the preaching of Evangelist Dan Knickerbocker and left an exhortation for each of us to not be drifting away from the truth, to always rely on the power of God, and to preach the truth from the Word of God. We want to ask for your earnest prayers for the Bible College, especially for the upcoming Legislative meeting this coming October 7th of 2019. As we mentioned from the previous letter, the Members of the Legislative Assembly will be having a meeting, and part of their agenda regards our application to become a Degree-Granting College that will be recognized by the Provincial Government. Our church is currently praying that the MLA will unanimously say yes and pass the Private Act for our college. As you all know, Mr. Luke Johnson, the attorney, is spearheading this process and working with us with matters of legal documents. We approached one of the MLA, a Christian man named Marvin Hunt, and he promised us that he would represent our college in the meeting. We know that these people are just men, just like us. That’s why we want to rely on God. So, we covet your prayers and ask God to give us favor in the sight of these men, and His will and way will still stand in this institution. God bless and thank you very much! Sincerely, Sylvester Estrao Vice President
Missionary Update 08/02/2019
July 31, 2019 Dear Faith Baptist Church, Greetings to you from Pacific West Baptist College! We thank the Lord for His grace and faithfulness to our Bible College. In about a month, college classes will resume, and we praise Him for giving us faithful teachers, students, and loving, faithful supporters just like your church. Thank you for always partnering with this great ministry – our Bible College. For the past two months, we have been preparing for the coming of the Fall Semester. Included in those preparations are the lesson plans for the courses that will be taught. The teachers are already working hard to prepare for their lessons. Praise God for faithful teachers we have. We have been praying for more students, and thankfully God has added 3 new, full-time students that will attend our college this upcoming Fall Semester. That will bring our student count to a total of 10! We would like to ask for your earnest prayers for the Bible College. This coming October, the Members of the Legislative Assembly will be having a meeting, and part of their agenda regards our application to become a Degree-Granting College that will be recognized by the Provincial Government. Our church is currently praying that the MLA will unanimously say yes and pass the Private Act for our college. Please continue to pray for Mr. Luke Johnson that God will give him wisdom and strength as he continues to help us in the process of dealing with government regulations so we can become a DLI. Lastly, please pray for the leadership of the college that His will and way will be done in this institution. God bless and thank you very much! Sincerely, Sylvester Estrao Vice President
Missionary Update 04/26/2019
April 25, 2019 Dear Faith Baptist Church, Greetings to you from Pacific West Baptist College! We want to thank the Lord for His faithfulness to our Bible College, and we’d also like to thank all individuals and churches who have been supporting us. We thank you, Faith Baptist Church, for your part in this College that God has entrusted to us. In our last letter, we mentioned that our college was working on government papers to become a Designated Learning Institute (DLI). We thought that it would be an easy process, but it has proven to be the opposite. There are plenty of legal papers that requires the assistance of a person who is well-versed regarding British Columbia’s legislations. And because of that, we have asked for the help of a Christian lawyer named Luke Johnson. There are certain matters that are beyond our knowledge and Mr. Johnson is gladly helping us in this process. For sure, it will cost us a lot of money, but we want all things to be proper and legal in the eyes of the government. We are praying that all these requirements will be fulfilled and that the processing will be complete a year from now. Please continue to pray for the Bible College, teachers, and the students. Also, pray for Mr. Luke Johnson that God will give him wisdom and strength as he continues to help us in this process with the government. Pray also with us as we are asking God for more students this coming Fall Semester, and for a full-time teacher to help us in the training of men and women for the Lord’s work. Lastly, please pray for the leadership of the college that His will and way will be done in this institution. Thank you once again for partnering with us. God bless and thank you very much! Sincerely, Sylvester Estrao Vice President
Missionary Update 03/25/2019
March 21, 2019 Dear Faith Baptist Church, Greetings to you from Pacific West Baptist College! For more than two months, our Bible College has been busy dealing with the government requirements that will allow us to become a Designated Learning Institute (DLI). We mentioned last time that being a DLI in Canada will allow us to accept foreign students from anywhere in the world. This would mean a greater opportunity to train more students who feel the call of God to full-time service. It will also enable our Bible College to expand God-given ministries to reach out to more unsaved people here in Canada and the “…uttermost part of the earth.” – Acts 1:8 We have finished the first half of the Spring Semester, and the students are on their spring break this week. We thank the Lord for how He is working in the lives of the students and how He has graciously supplied the needs of everyone, the Bible College included. Our hearts are filled with joy always knowing that we are not alone in this ministry and that God is continually using individuals and churches like you to take part, not just to train the younger generation, but also to have a greater impact in their lives. With this letter, we attached some pictures in classroom settings and chapel services where you can see the students and some teachers. Please continue to pray for the Bible College, teachers, and the students. Also, pray with us as we are asking God for 20 students this coming fall semester and that His will and way will be done in this institution. Thank you for partnering with us. God bless and thank you very much! Sincerely, Sylvester Estrao Vice President
Missionary Update 12/03/2018
Dear Faith Baptist Church, Tacoma Greetings to you from BC Baptist College! Two weeks from now, the Fall Semester will be over. We cannot believe how the semester went by so fast. Having this in mind, we can’t help but always look back on God’s faithfulness throughout the past semester. We may have had struggles along the way, but God led us through all of it. Whether it was physical or spiritual, God always supplied our needs. We thank you for your part in being a blessing to us. Thank you for praying for us always, just as we pray you. We would like to ask for your prayers for the students’ final two weeks in school. We know that our enemy will work double-time as well to discourage the students. Please pray for the upcoming final exams that they will finish strong and do their best for God. Also, please pray for the teachers as they prepare for the final exams. Lastly, please pray that God will build British Columbia Baptist College and that many will answer His calling to full-time service. God bless and thank you very much! In Christ, Sylvester Estrao Vice President
Missionary Update 11/02/2018
Greetings to you from BC Baptist College! Mid-terms are finally over, and the students had two days off after a grinding week of exams. Last Friday, we had the privilege of hearing a challenge from one of our guest missionaries at our Missions Conference about making the things of God our priority and staying focused on it. We thank the Lord for the visit of the missionaries and using their lives to be a blessing to the students. Thank you also for your continued support of the college. We would like to ask for your prayers for the students to stay focused on and dedicated to their studies until the semester is over. Please pray for good health for both the students and the staff. Some of our students have jobs after class so having good health is very important for them. Lastly, please pray that God will build British Columbia Baptist College and that many will answer God’s calling to full-time service. God bless and thank you very much! In Christ, Sylvester Estrao Vice President
Missionary Update 10/12/2018
Dear Faith Baptist Church, Tacoma Greetings to you from BC Baptist College! We had an amazing start to the Fall Semester. We started with an Orientation Day followed by a school retreat for the students. On the following week, the Lord blessed us by added another full-time student and several part-time students to our roster which stretched our attendance to 7 full-time and 10 part-time students. Praise God for He is good! Thank you for your heart and willingness to support our Bible College. Mid-term exam is fast approaching, and we would like to ask for your prayers for the students to stay focused on and dedicated to their studies. Also, the changes in weather have been causing sickness among the students’ that lasts from a couple days to even a week. Please pray for good health for both the students and the staff. Lastly, please pray that each teacher’s and student’s relationship with God and with each other may strengthen as we face inevitable challenges this coming Fall Semester. God bless and thank you very much! In Christ, Sylvester Estrao Vice President