I started studying the Moore College PTC course back in 2007, shortly after becoming a Christian at the age of 16. My large, suburban, Sydney Anglican Church offered the ‘Intro to the Bible’ subject to all new believers, and I loved it so much that I simply kept studying! I quickly completed all the PTC subjects and planned to move on to more study, but, my studies were put on hold as I got engaged, married, and then moved to the UK with my new husband.
After a few years, we ended up living and working in Brussels, Belgium, and quickly became involved in a Southern Baptist church plant, serving on the worship team. I started to disciple and teach women in the church, as well as taking on more responsibilities for worship, and found that my ability to answer questions and my theological understanding of certain concepts was lacking.
I decided to continue studying the PTC subjects that I had put on hold, and was happy to find that I could continue studying from Belgium through The Good Book Company (UK based publishers). This study helped me become a better discipler and apologist, as it gave me the biblical foundation that I needed to tackle so many of the challenges that we faced as missionaries.
Some examples:
– The ‘Christian Worship’ subject helped me so much in deciding which songs to sing at church, and how false teaching can slip through, even if the song initially seems fine.
– The ‘Reformation Church History’ subject helped me to understand the Catholic background of the majority of our Belgian church members and neighbours, and helped me better explain the gospel.
– The ‘Romans’ subject taught me how to read a Bible commentary (seriously!), a skill that I have applied to many many books of the Bible since then. I now teach this to women that I disciple at church, and we now have a rather impressive commentary collection in our home library. I recently did a deep study of Galatians for my own personal growth, and I used all the tools that I learnt while studying Romans. It’s a gift that keeps on giving!
– The subjects like ‘New Testament 3’, ‘Old Testament 4’ etc. gave me a really good grasp of where everything is in the Bible, and I’m able to quickly navigate to find a passage or verse when I’m discipling or teaching someone. I was discipling a women from church last week, and I was able to quickly find all the passages or stories that she was referring to, which allowed our time to ‘flow’ without me spending 10 minutes trying to find what she was talking about.
I could go on, but I am trying to keep this as succinct as possible. The PTC has had a direct impact on my ministry here in Brussels, and I am forever indebted to the wonderful men who wrote all the material and made it easy for me to digest and apply.
After 8 years of bi-vocational/lay ministry here, my husband accepted the call into full-time ministry, and is now the Pastor of our church in Brussels. He also completed several PTC subjects back in Australia, and would love to teach Intro to the Bible as a foundational subject for new believers at our church (once we figure out the French translation!).
I want to encourage all the people who have worked and are working on the PTC course: You don’t often get to see the fruit of your work outside of Australia, but I see it everyday here in Brussels. Thank you and may God continue to bless your work for the gospel. (Lifepoint Church, Brussels, Belgium)
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