Greetings to each of you. We just wanted to send some updated prayer points as we transition from summer to fall. Thank you again for praying.
1. We have received the galley proof of Volume Two in the series Africa’s Burning Bush: A Survey of Presbyterian Mission History in Africa. Most contributors have now read through their typeset material, and we have also been busy editing. We anticipate returning this volume to the publisher, Barnabas Academic, Wellington, SA, by the end of the week. Thank you for all who continue to pray so faithfully for this project. The publication date is still projected to be November 2025. Distribution will begin shortly after that. As with Volume One, if anyone wants to sponsor copies of Volume Two – costs HH about $100 (1 book + shipping) – to distribute to colleges/seminaries in Africa, please designate accordingly.
2. The summer marking for a distance course is now completed! This was for a World Missions course (ARTS, Kampala, Uganda). New courses have also been developed for 2026, and the syllabi have now been approved.
3. For those who have been praying over the years, Dr Whytock’s fall teaching schedule will look familiar, yet also a bit new:
Public lectures here in Charlottetown on Maritime Presbyterianism
Speaking at The Presbyterian Scholars’ Conference, Wheaton, Illinois on American Presbyterian Missions in Africa
Teaching an Ancient Church History Course at Gillespie Divinity, Woodstock, Ontario
Teaching Westminster Confession and Catechisms, African Church History, Calvin’s Institutes at Africa Reformation Seminary (ARTS), Kampala, Uganda.
Each of the four courses listed above requires 30 lecture hours per course. Please remember the preparations required by both the lecturer and the students prior to entering these intensive block courses.
We had some very positive feedback with the October format of the newsletter, so we are using a similar version for this winter newsletter.
Each numbered point has two sections: • first, the activity and a short report or announcement, • second (in italics), focused prayer points from that activity.
We covet your prayers for this winter. Please use this at prayer meetings; perhaps you will consider giving one prayer meeting over to praying through this Winter Prayer Letter. Thank you for your encouragement.
– Dr. Jack Whytock, Director
1. Marking for courses taught and tutored through to December—of the almost 100 seminary students taught in the fall of 2024, I am now down to marking for the last eleven. I am just so very thankful for these students and the wonderful interactions with so many of them. Many of them have now taken six courses over the last few years from me, so we have really been able to develop good relationships.
• Pray that the last eleven student materials to mark will receive proper attention and Lord willing this could be all finished by the end of January, which is the goal.
2. The itinerate tour in Northern Ireland and Ireland with Principal Wilbert Chipenyu of Dumisani Theological Institute, SA went very well. Those who organized our schedule and hosted us were so helpful, and the fellowship in the Lord was great.
Continue to pray with thanksgiving that the fund is now growing for Dumisani to purchase, Lord willing, another house to use as a male dormitory. Continue to pray that more pledges and donations will come into the special fund (both globally and in South Africa) for a house purchase.
Here are some other prayer points from Dumisani:
❖ It is with a heavy heart that we ask for prayer for Nolundi, one of the cleaning staff at Dumisani Theological Institute, who lost her daughter Khanyisa in a tragic murder on New Year’s Eve. Please pray Nolundi and her family will know the Divine comfort of the Lord.
❖ Pray that textbooks and books for graduation will arrive as quickly as possible. There have been increasing difficulties in getting such needed materials to Dumisani with mail bags missing or not being delivered. These materials are really needed for Term One.
3. Volume Two of the Africa Textbook Project update: 16 chapters plus the introduction are (as of December) with the editor and the publishing team in South Africa. The artwork for the cover of Volume Two has been completed by an artist in Uganda who works at ARTS in Kampala. Nancy was able to complete her work in Edinburgh in November and see more
chapters finalised and many images secured.
• These facts are all matters of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord. Volume Two has over 30 contributors, so this is a major advancement to now be at this stage of such a large project.
We have a real issue now over one chapter in Volume Two, which we must now (unexpectedly) research and complete by the end of April. Concentration on this one very critical chapter— which cannot be pulled at this point—is of top priority.
Please pray earnestly that we can secure the research materials needed and complete the writing of this one remaining chapter during February through April and keep the whole project on task for being released later this year. Likewise, please pray for Nancy as she finalises the last of the images for some chapters and indexes these.
Please pray for final editorial changes to be made efficiently over the next three months and that writers will return galley proofs promptly.
Several opportunities were given throughout the fall to promote and discuss Volume One in Canada, the United States, Northern Ireland, and Africa.
• Pray that now more colleges will continue to use these as textbooks for courses in Africa and globally and also that mission agencies will use these in training courses for sending out new missionaries. It is critical that mission history not be ignored in training indigenous leaders and also in preparing new missionaries.
6. Over the last twelve months, we have been trying to navigate through some family health concerns – particularly for Jack’s mother. Many have been so very helpful and supportive, and we are most thankful for this.
• Pray that we can be patient and know the Lord’s grace through these ongoing matters and keep various commitments balanced and properly honoured.
Haddington House has received a request for used theology and Bible books from a small training institute in Burundi, Africa, run by graduates Jack has taught. We have such books on hand, but the shipping is costly. If individuals or churches want to designate funds for this, the funds will be used for shipping expenses.
Other funds are for General Operations, Dumisani in South Africa and the Dumisani principal, the Africa Textbook Project, and Overseas Travel for Teaching in Africa.
A very helpful comparative table for studying the Westminster Confession of Faith 1646 beside the London Baptist Confession of Faith 1689 may be found here.
Also. a comparative table for the Westminster Confession of Faith 1646, the Savoy Declaration of Faith 1658, the London Baptist Confession 1689, and the Philadelphia Confession of Faith 1722 may be found here.
I want to share a blog post with you that has blessed me in the current context of Covid-19 and theological training. It was written by Dr Graham Cheesman of Belfast, Northern Ireland on his Teaching Theology blog site.
Theological educators have been reminded over the last 13 months that the mode of delivery may change, but, as Dr. Graham Cheesman has written, “what we are delivering needs to be preserved.” The Lord we serve and declare does not change!
Please continue to pray for theological training and education at this time. Many strains and stresses have been added, but we serve a faithful, unchanging, and glorious God. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Hebrews 13: 8.
