“You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all.”—2 Corinthians 3:2
One of the greatest gifts to our school is our alumni. As of Spring 2020, the school has graduated 432 alumni from Bethlehem College & Seminary programs. Our alumni are the fruit born from our ministry and therefore are reflective of the root of our mission. As with all we do at Bethlehem, our desire is that our mission to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ would be so ingrained in our graduating students that they would carry this mission with them into whatever vocational endeavors the Lord has for them.
In this sense, our alumni are Bethlehem College & Seminary’s “letter of recommendation.” Our alumni represent our mission to the home, church, and world. Our alumni hold us accountable to our mission. Our alumni are prayer warriors on our behalf to the Lord. Our alumni are generous contributors. Our alumni connect us to other generous friends of the school. Our alumni recommend prospective students to us, and us to prospective students. Our alumni pastor God’s flock. Our alumni proclaim the gospel to the nations, at home and abroad, having been equipped and sent out by us. Our alumni have been “written on our hearts” in that we boast of God’s continued work in them and have exceeding affection for them.
They are for us both evidence of the fulfillment of our mission and a gracious means by which God allows us to continue to fulfill that mission. Our alumni are not only the fruit of our institution, but also aids in those tasks that fuel our institution, so that they themselves become sources (and means to sources) for advancement, student recruitment, and gospel endeavors in the world. In a very real sense, what you see in the heartbeat of our alumni is the heartbeat of this school.
So we ask that you pray for our alumni. Pray that they would honor God during a tumultuous season in our nation. Pray that they would hold fast to Jesus by holding fast to the truth of the Bible. Pray that they would display, for all the world to see, God’s unparalleled worth in their suffering and in their joy. Pray, more than anything, that God would glorify his great name through our alumni by drawing the peoples to himself, both at home and abroad.
In Christ,
Lance Kramer
Prayer Requests:
- Please pray that we would care for our alumni well.
- Please pray that God would continue to supply for our alumni all the grace they need to spread the gospel to the nations.
- Pray with gratitude for the Lord’s provision of our president-elect, Joe Rigney.
- Pray for graduating students that they would finish well.
- Pray for our current students, that they would love the mission of our school, grow in sanctification to reflect that mission, and would be equipped to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ.